Ace of Hearts

Las Vegas was known as 'Sin City' for a reason. It was the place all businessmen went on their overnight business meetings, which would often conclude with losing a stupid amount of money in a casino, going to a strip club and waking up the next morning beside an unfamiliar, yet beautiful woman, with no recollection of the previous night's events, due to consuming triple their body weight in alcohol.

Tonight, Sin City had been tainted with a touch of class. Rosalie Palmer never did anything by half. She had gone all out for the sixth annual masquerade ball. The Plaza Hotel didn't know what had hit it when she strode in there two days ago, and between her and her expert team of party planners, they had stormed the room like some sort of hurricane, transforming it into a masquerade haven.

Madison was extremely jet lagged. She was high on caffeine, after Blair had literally poured an endless amount of coffee down her throat. Her great escape had happened in an instant and that evening the pair of them, plus Blair's toy boy, Austin Bradshaw, had been bundled onto a plane, arriving in Las Vegas the next morning. Madison had begged for a couple of hours of sleep, but she was never granted permission for that, as Rosalie had drafted the three of them to help her with the finishing touches of decorating the grand ballroom.

So, at present, an exhausted Madison was carefully placing champagne flutes into a pyramid shape, so one of the waiters could pour expensive champagne into the top one, allowing the golden liquid to cascade down, until it filled each glass within the pyramid. She paused for a moment and yawned to herself. The ball wasn't until the following evening, but ever the control freak, Rosalie had insisted that all decoration was finished by the end of the day. That way she'd have nothing to worry about tomorrow, but Madison knew her second mother all too well to know that she'd worry about everything.

She was alone in the ballroom. Blair and Austin had sloped off up to the hotel, the latter sending Madison a cheeky wink and telling her not to interrupt them for a while. So she had preoccupied herself with creating a glass masterpiece.

A yawn escaped her Vaseline coated lips. She dreaded to think what she looked like. She was still dressed in the night before's clothes, her tights were laddered up the back and her dress hung lazily on her frame. She had managed to cadge a pair of ballet flats from Blair, insisting that she had to take her heels off, feeling blisters forming all over her feet. She knew the little eye make up she hadn't cried off was still visible in the corners of her eyes, probably smeared down her cheeks as well.

The door to the room opened and a couple of tall boys stepped inside, carrying a heavy looking box between them. Each pair of knuckles was turning white under the weight, and their arms shook slightly, as they swayed.

"Do you need some help?" Madison asked, graciously. She knew full well that she'd be little help, but she thought it'd be rude not to offer it anyway.

"No, we got this," one of them tried to smile at her, but it came out looking more like a grimace.

They stumbled towards her, still swaying under the weight of the cardboard box. Whatever was hidden in the confines must be big. She observed them curiously. They stumbled again, slowly trying to steady themselves. The first one took a small step back, stepping on his shoe lace. He went flying, the box flew in the air and he fell flat on his back. His friend yelped out, jumping to catch the box before it hit the floor, but it was too late. The cardboard broke, and the contents of the box were revealed. An ice sculpture shattered into a few million shards, skidding across the floor.

Madison wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. She simply turned around and placed the final champagne flute on top of the pyramid, holding a couple of awkward giggles in.

The doors were thrown open and Rosalie stepped into the room, her face was like thunder. She glowered at the two boys. "My ice sculpture! Two thousand dollars that cost me!" She swept across the room, heading for the pair of them, who were still sprawled across the floor in shock, ice shards framing their bodies, glistening in the dim lighting.

"Personally, I think that was two thousand dollars you could've spent on something way more exciting," the first one, who was to blame for this disaster, said smartly.

Rosalie inhaled deeply, controlling her anger and stress. Madison looked at her sympathetically. She didn't need this right now. "I knew I should've got professionals to do this. You're just in the band," she trailed off, mumbling 'what ifs' to herself.

"So there's professional ice sculpture removal men?" The second one asked.

Madison bit her tongue. She shook her head. "Guys, maybe you should leave. The damage is done, there's nothing you can do." At her words, the pair jumped up, mumbling apologies to Rosalie on their way out.

The older woman shot Madison a warm smile. "Thank you, Maddy, darling, you should go to bed and get some rest, you look exhausted."

She nodded. "Ice sculpture's are over rated anyway." She left the room, shooting the two boys a small smile as she headed for the lift, hoping to god she wasn't going to walk in on Blair on Austin in the middle of a mushy couple moment. That was the last thing she needed right now.