MTLNOVEL Chapter 246: Frozen
Nothing prepared Tina for the sight behind her as she stood up like the rest of the guests, plastering a smile on her face, while craning her neck.
She was expecting to see a handsome man with healing bruises on his face, that makeup couldn't conceal. Or a man wearing a mask.
However, instead of one man, she saw two handsome-looking young men with a pretty lady in their middle, majestically making their way through the entrance amid a loud ovation.
Lots of people's hands were in the air, trying to capture this beautiful trio.
This made it slightly difficult for Tina to catch a glimpse of their faces until they were halfway through the hall
"Impossible!"
The world suddenly seemed to stop spinning, as Tina caught a glimpse of the men.
She recognized Blaze on the spot thanks to his distinctive attractive features that she would kill for. She also recognized Henry even in his luxury designer red sunglasses that partially concealed his healing black eye.
"Blaze and Henry together! Weren't they supposed to be enemies after the fight?" Tina queried her panicked thoughts as she almost tripped over while standing on her tippy toes to see the face of the lady in the captivating black dress. But thanks to her protective brother's reflexes, she was saved from an imminent wardrobe disaster.
"Oh my goodness! The lady in black is Amelia." Joanna cried out, from behind Tina while zooming in on the pictures she had taken so far.
"Amelia!" Tina raised her face again to see now that the trio were close to the front row.
Just then Blaze, who had been acting like his wife's bodyguard, moved aside revealing the goddess for everyone to see clearly.
The sight of Amelia, looking ravishing in that black dress, with Blaze's arm snaked protectively around her waist struck Tina like a bolt of lightning.
She instantly froze on the spot, her mouth opened and her eyes widened.
Time seemed to slow down, with all the chanting and screaming fading into the background.
Tina blinked severally, frozen and rooted to a spot. Her breath hitched and her chest tightened as she tried to make sense of the image before her. But none of it made sense.
None of it felt real. It felt like a dream. A very bad dream that she had to wake up from. She had already taken care of Amelia. Her recent interview was supposed to keep Amelia's head buried in the sand for a while.
So how is it possible that she's here looking at her best? How did she recover so quickly? Wasn't she supposed to be at home, with her head buried in the pillow, crying her eyes out? Wasn't Blaze supposed to be mad at her for cheating on him? Wasn't he supposed to be enemies with Henry for messing around with his wife? Weren't the couple supposed to be against each other When did they all make up?'
As if on cue, Amelia sluggishly turned her head to her left side. Her eyes swept across the crowd of beaming faces as if she were searching for someone.
When her gaze temporarily locked with Tina's, her lips stretched slightly in a lazy aloof smile.
Amelia's taunting gaze lingered just enough for the camera to capture Tina's paled face before redirecting her attention to her husband and following his lead.
For an actress who knew how to fit into different roles at every point in time, Tina was completely caught off guard, and on camera moping at the couple.
Suddenly it felt as if the walls of the hall were caving in on her.
She closed her eyes and tried to carry out a breathing exercise. But nothing could ease the tightness in her chest.
She felt breathless as if a violent force of nature had knocked out the air in her lungs. Her hands were shaking. Her body was trembling. Her stomach churned and twisted as if she was about to go all out on the floor.
"This can't be happening."
Tina echoed in her thoughts, her head bursting with little balls of flames that were threatening to consume her whole.
"Tina..."
She thought she heard the faint voice of her brother and someone else calling her from a distance.
"Is she alright?" Tina heard someone else ask.
"Tina."
Her brother's voice became clearer, snapping her out of her excruciating thoughts.
Then she felt his gentle touch on her hand, forcing her to snap her eyes open.
When Tina looked around, she observed that aside from the patrolling security personnel, she was the only one still standing.
Almost every pair of eyes in the hall was staring at her. Some with mockery. Others with concern.
'What the hell just happened to me? Did I just freeze in a hall filled with thousands of people?' Tina was mortified.
"Sit down, you're making a scene." Kelvin pulled gently on her wrist, his forehead slightly furrowed. His mobile phone was buzzing and he could tell from the ringtone that it was his parents worrying.
"Oh...sorry..." Tina quickly plopped down in her seat, her face flustered and her forehead covered with beads of sweat.
The event host made a light joke about Tina's aloofness, blaming it on her flamboyant red dress that needed extra attention. This caused a ripple of laughter around the hall.
Tina was forced to lower her head in shame while causing Amelia and Blaze for putting her in this situation.
The event of the day slowly kicked off with a brief opening remark given by the executive director of the Movie Academy Awards.
During the speech presentation, Kelvin decided to interrogate his sister seeing that she hadn't been herself since the arrival of her ex.
"Little sis, are you all right?" Kelvin asked observing his sister's slightly pale look.
"Yes." Tina nodded, forcing a believing smile on her face.
"Well, you don't look good. It seems you have a lot on your mind bothering you. You can talk to me."
"I said it's nothing." Tina hissed looking sideways, her heart skipping a beat every now and then.
"If you don't want me here I could leave right now." Kelvin threatened, forcing Tina's face back to him.
"Fine. You can be so annoying." Tina rolled her eyes as she thought of the perfect lie. "I was having a stomach cramp. But I'm fine now."