Everyone looked at Danica as she panted in anger. Shaking her head in denial of the obvious, Danica blurted out, “She didn’t deserve you Charles! She never even went to college, did you know that? What would she discuss at dinner with your colleagues? It was time for you to find out and your charity was the perfect place for her to reveal herself!”
The venomous and hateful comments coming from Danica took all present by surprise but she continued unfazed. “I’ve always hated you Cassandra… everyone thought you were sooo perfect and cute and what did I get…? Nothing at all!”
Flustered, she screamed, “I am better than she is Charles.” It was a cry of desperation, but it fell on deaf ears. Charles was now at Cassandra’s side and holding her hand tightly as he looked deep into her brown eyes. The butler smirked from the archway as the two ignored Danica and tried to glue together the shattered pieces of their broken love.
“You should have told me the truth Cassandra, I would have loved you anyway. Am I that bad that you thought I couldn’t love you as a waitress? I don’t care about your job or status in life… I only care about you being happy.”
Grabbing her hand more tightly than before he added, “let’s get out of here. A snake pit is no place for us to be.” With the last comment he shot a look at Danica who stood in suspended animation.
No this wasn’t the way it was supposed to end, Charles was supposed to fall in love with her and be with her… not Cassandra. As the two turned to leave desperation kicked in-Cassandra couldn’t have him and that was how it would go down. Grabbing the almost empty wine bottle, she smashed it into the side of the table creating a weapon of revenge. Lunging in the direction of the parting pair, Danica let out a blood curdling scream.
It was Cassandra who reacted first. Twisting around and assessing the situation quickly, she dove to the ground toppling Danica in the process. Confident that she subdued her attacker, Cassandra got up to leave Danica struggling with the length of the dress. Eventually she made it to her feet and approached them with rage again. The men intervened this time with the butler slamming her into a chair.
Finally, they were able to reach the door where Cassandra glanced back one final time. Running toward her was Danica with the same jagged broken bottle. Frozen in horror, Cassandra watched as her friend came steps away from reaching her. In a nanosecond the hem of the Danica’s long dress got tangled in the carpet and forward she fell, landing on her handcrafted weapon.
Frozen in horror, the three waited for her to move, but after a few minutes they all feared the worse. It was her friend, Cassandra, who stepped forward to see the pool of blood spreading on the Persian rug. Touching her neck gently, Cassandra confirmed Danica was dead.
Oddly, she felt no sorrow, only pity as the girl who had everything slipped from this world to the next over nothing. Charles stepped forward while the hotel security was summoned. This was definitely a traumatic way to begin a real relationship. One without lies and pretenses, one without friends trying to break down the precious little they had built, one that deserved to survive regardless of riches or poverty.
As the paramedics took the stretcher out, Cassandra watched the white sheet covering her friend, disappear behind the closed doors of the elevator. Charles stood by her side with his arm around her shoulder as police photographers flashed cameras in the background.
Turning to the woman he was learning to love again, he looked deeply into the sorrowful pools and said, “I guess it’s just us now… the two of hearts.”