Olympus

Chapter 14

Ricardo put out his hands and Megan took it, letting him lead her down the stairs to the party.

To her utmost surprise, the room went silent as they came, all eyes completely zoning on her to ignore Ricardo as if he was nothing more than a fly on the wall then.

What in the world is happening? Megan wondered at the sight of the attention. Why are they ignoring Ricardo for me? He's the big shot.

Out of nowhere, it dawned on her that that was exactly why they were ignoring him.

Thing is, virtually everyone at the party already knew Ricardo. They knew his face and his personality. They had already seen where he lived and probably visited it more than once before.

She on the other hand was an enigma hanging onto the hand of one of the most famous men on the planet, and that made her more attention-worthy than the man himself.

Ricardo gave no explanation as to Megan's identity, only smiling to the people that greeted him and giving her the chance to smile and wave too if she wanted— Megan was much too shy to do it in hindsight.

He led her to the middle of the room and the music stopped just as the floor cleared to give them the space they needed. It was almost like everyone knew that what was about to happen next was very important and none of them wanted to interfere.

"Are you ready, Miss Months?" Ricardo asked as he signaled to the DJ and a beat began to play.

Samba, Megan recognized it immediately. Apparently, the DJ knew exactly what taste Ricardo preferred, which was no surprise really as they were probably close friends.

Or maybe you're not the first girl Mr. "Can you dance?" has challenged to the dance floor and the DJ's already used to it by now, her mind offered up another suggestion but she quickly stomped it down- no point thinking that way now, Megan, she told herself.

Anyway, she concentrated back on the present as Ricardo beckoned her forward with his hands, the look in his eyes set. He's so not going to take it easy on me, she realised.

Fortunately, Megan didn't need any handouts. As it turned out, she had actually dabbled in samba dance during a curious period of her childhood; and while the steps hadn't really stuck with her, truth be told, she was sure she could still recall enough of them to keep up in a challenge.

She stepped forward and took his hands. "Ready when you are, Mr. DiSanto."

Ricardo smirked and spun her; and the dance began.

He led the moves first, dictating out the easy but not too easy rhythm of the steps; and then he relented- Megan suspected on purpose- and she took over, doling out the very advanced movements that she could remember from her lessons, but he kept in step with her every step of the way.

The music came to a sharp stop and applause rang around the room. Apparently, everybody had stopped to pay attention to their little dance battle, even those at the far ends of the room. They were thoroughly impressed by what they saw and they showed it.

Breathless as he was, Ricardo managed a huge laughter at the reception and Megan joined in. It didn't take powers to see that the both of them were having a good time in each other's company and neither wanted it to end.

He pulled her close and they began to sway in no particular rhythm to an R&B song that the DJ had cued up and everyone moved back to join them on the dance floor.

"You know, Megan, " Ricardo said as they danced, "psychologists are the people I distrust most in the world."

Megan quirked an eyebrow. That's a very strange thing to say, she thought.

"I know it's strange," he added like he had actually heard her thought, smiling, "but it's true. I find them too polite and overly helpful. Those translate as dishonest in my book."

"But?" she probed, figuring that there was one leading to the point he wanted to make.

"But I trust you," he confirmed and she looked up to see nothing but sincerity in his eyes then. "You, Megan Months, are perhaps the only psychologist I trust in the world."

Megan felt there was something equally open she should to say back, but just as she opened her mouth to, she suddenly spotted what appeared to be a shadow descending fast from the sky towards the ceiling.

"Umm, what's that?" She pointed at it.

"What's what?" Ricardo followed her hand and saw the shadow too just as it hit the ceiling and shattered it; and everything went to hell in the astrodome.