Look at Me

"Sweetie, be nice, okay?" Rachel warned Alice.

"Yes Mommy."

"You too, Oscar, don't be a pain in the butt to Ashley, ok?"

"Yes Mommy."

"Ash, thanks for baby sitting them today." Rachel turned to her best friend.

"No worries, now just have fun in the charity ball, ok? Just take pictures for me." Ashley smiled at her.

"For sure. Viktor! I'm ready!" Rachel shouted to Viktor. He appeared to the room and said his goodbyes to his kids and to Ashley as well. Off they go Hotel Ivy, a luxury hotel where the charity ball is happening.

After about thirty minutes of battling the Minneapolis traffic, they finally reached the hotel. "You ready, Rachel?" Viktor asked Rachel before they left the car.

"I think so."

"Don't worry babe. You look beautiful tonight. You'll look better than most of the other guests." He gave her a quick kiss then they head to the hall.

When they entered the hall, Rachel immediately noticed how simple things were. She had imagined that since this charity ball was set up by billionaires, it would look like a billionaire's party. But she guessed the whole point of the ball is for charity so what's the point of spending too much on decorations when you could you that money for donation. It made sense to her.

Viktor and Rachel spotted Emma so they bee lined to her.

"Emma!" Viktor gave his sister a hug, so did Rachel.

"Viktor! Rachel! I thought you two were going to be late."

"Nope. We head out early." Rachel intercepted.

"That's good because Viktor had a reputation of being late to these kind of events." Emma laughed at her brother's expense.

"Well, speaking of that, since it is our family's charity ball, unfortunately, I have tot talk to some people for a bit before I can join you, Rachel." Viktor informed his wife.

"Really? Who?" the thought of being alone in this party terrified her.

"Donors, mainly. Family friends too. I won't be long, I promise. Emma is going to be here with you until I return. Don't worry, Emma will stay with you."Viktor comforted Rachel.

"Yes, Rachel. I'll stay here with you. In fact why don't I introduce you to some people?" Emma cut in.

"Ok then." Rachel reached and kissed Viktor on the lips. He was stunned because that was the first time when she kissed him first. Well, it must be the hormones of pregnancy. Off he went to the crowd.

"Thank you for coming tonight Mr.Romanov and Mr.Bulayev, we appreciate your donation tonight." Viktor said t the two man.

"Oh, it's nothing. Your parents are friend of ours. This is just a small token of our generosity." the taller man said in a thick Russian accent.

"Well, then, I have to get going. Enjoy the rest of the night. Once again, thank you." With that, Viktor left the men to enjoy themselves. He was almost finish welcoming the guests. Suddenly an all-too familiar women appeared. The woman who he did not want to see ever again was one of them.

"Hi Viktor. You miss me?" said Wanda trying to seduce him. It did not take an expert to notice that she failed miserably.

"No Wanda. I did not miss you. And what are you doing here? Why were you invited? And you too, Valerie?"

"Wanda invited me." said Valerie.

"You see, Viktor, my parents are one of your family's biggest partner. You're smart so put two and two together."

"Your parents might be one of our biggest partner but I can still kick you out any time. Just stay away from me. My wife is here and I don't want her to see you." Viktor almost lost his cool. There's something different Wanda tonight. It was common knowledge that she always brings trouble but Viktor felt like there's a different kind of trouble tonight.

He was just about to leave them when suddenly, Wanda's friend, Valerie, stepped closer and hugged him. His first instinct was to move violently to shake her off. However, he controlled himself as he was holding a glass and did not want to spill his drink out to anybody's clothing.

"Get off me, Valerie!" He shouted. He just hoped nobody saw that, especially not Rachel. He did not want her to think of anything bad. Heck,he does not even know Valerie personally, he just knew her name and face. "Get off me, now!"

She did, which lead him to say "Why the hell did you do that?"

"Wanda was right. You got some yummy muscles underneath your clothing. You should show it more." He was stunned by what he just heard.

After that, Wanda and Valerie just simply walked away laughing like a bunch of twelve year old. That was the weirdest thing that has happened to him in a while. He, too, walked away as if nothing happened.

After a few minutes of joining the crowd, Viktor started to feel uneasy. He was feeling dizzy. He was lightheaded. Everything around him was spinning. What is happening?

He tried to find his wife or Emma. It must have been obvious that there was wrong with him since he was not walking in straight line. A lady which he thought was Rachel appeared.

"Viktor, are you dizzy? Something wrong?" the girl said.

"Rachel... is that you?"

"No silly! It's me, Wanda! Are you feeling dizzy?" Wanda squealed.

"Actually yes."

"Well, I better get you somewhere you could rest." Wanda was playing the nurse card.

"Actually, will you just call Rachel or Emma?" The sound of Rachel's name angered Wanda.

"No. I'll take you with me." From then on, Wanda executed her plan. She did not just do it, she did it flawlessly. Viktor was totally unaware of everything around him after a few moments. He did not notice that Wanda put a drug on his drink while Valerie was hugging him.

Now, it was totally easy for Wanda to escort him. She took him to the janitor's closet nearby. After closing the door to the closet, she quickly did her job. She started kissing him. He was not kissing back, he was too disoriented to do anything, actually. She also started undoing the buttons of his dress shirt. So far, her plan was running smoothly.

Meanwhile, Rachel and Emma on the other side of the hall was having their own kind of fun.

"Wow."Rachel said.

"I know!" Emma exclaimed.

"I can't believe he actually tried to flirt with me after telling him I'm married to your brother. Who is he anyway?"

"He is Mr.Silva from Brazil. Yeah, he is too old to flirt. Actually, once he tried to flirt with me too."

"Really?!"

"Yes. Although, yes, he might be a bit pervy but he is actually a nice person. He built a lot of orphanages in Brazil and actually donates -" Emma stopped in mid sentence.

"What now, Emma? Just randomly stopping in the middle of a sentence?" Rachel joked at her.

"No, I thought I saw someone..."

"Who?" Rachel looked at the direction Emma was staring at.

"No. This couldn't be!"

"Who is it?"

"It's Valerie!" Emma shouted.

"Who is Valerie? What's up with her, Emma?" Rachel did not know why Emma was so alarmed. She just assumed Valerie was Emma's enemy or something.

"Valerie was not invited here. The only way she could be here was Wanda." explained Emma.

"What!? Wanda's here?" Rachel was shocked at the announcement.

"Yes, didn't Vitkor told you?" Emma looked at her vividly.

"No he did not mention anything."

"Well, Wanda is here, so is Valerie!"

"Emma, I'm worried because Wanda is here but I don't get your problem with Valerie."

"Rachel, get this. Valerie is just as conniving as Wanda, ok? They were supposedly best friends, although I would not be sure if they really are true friends. The thing is though, the two of them together always spells trouble. They are known for causing scenes, playing hard pranks and just all sort of bad things." Emma explained thoroughly to Rachel.

They were still staring at Valerie from across the room. Valerie was now reading something from her phone then looked around. Valerie spotted Emma and Rachel and started marching up there.

"Rachel! She's coming over here!" Emma said in a completely hushed voice but her tone clearly said it was supposed to be a shout.

"Really? That could not be good, right?"

"Totally. Listen to me my dear sister-in-law, Valerie is just as conniving and just as manipulative as Wanda. She is a beast. Don't ever engage in a conversation with her. Most importantly, don't ever listen to whatever she was saying." Emma rushed her speech as she did not want Valerie to hear it since she was getting closer.

"Really? Why?" was all Rachel could ask. She was still oblivious on how Emma was treating Valerie. She felt like Emma was over reacting.

"She will literally say anything to you just to get on your nerves. Sometimes she will say anything to get something she wants and sometimes she just feel like it. Just please listen to me, she is not someone who you want to associate with. Got it?"

"Yes."

At that time, Valerie was right in front of them. "Valerie, what are you doing here?" Emma exclaimed.

"I was invited here."

"By who? Wanda?"

"Who else would invite me here? You?" Valerie laughed at her poor joke.

"Well, what are you doing here?"

"Relax bitch, calm down." Rachel was now understanding why Emma hated Valerie so much.

"You haven't answer me yet." Emma said to her.

"I don't have to." She turned to Rachel. "Are you Rachel?"

"Uhh... Yes." She did not know how to answer.

"Rachel, your husband it hot. I should have been with him." Valerie said as if it was not a big deal.

"What the heck!? What are you talking about!?" This girl really would say any thing. Wow.

"Oh, just a few moments ago, he was hitting on me and Wanda. I guess we could say we got a little too close dancing but he did not really want me. He wants Wanda."

"Stop it! You're lying!" Emma shouted at her.

"No I'm not. In fact, they are in a secluded room right now. Who knows what they're doing. Although if you ask me, they might be doing the nasty.

"Where are they?! Where is Wanda and Viktor?!" Rachel did not want to believe her. Just moments ago, Emma was warning her about this very moment. However, something told her to believe Valerie.

"Rachel, don't believe her. Remember what I told you?" Emma grabbed Rachel's arm.

"I'm just having some bad feelings, Emma."

"You know what, Emma and Rachel, you cans see for yourselves. They are there in the janitor's closet over there." Valerie pointed to a small door at the corner of the hall.

Rachel started running towards it. "Let's go, Emma!"

"Rachel, no! Remember? She was just lying? Maybe its just a prank. She is literally just playing with you, Rachel. Don't believe her." Emma stopped Rachel's tracks.

"But what if it's true?"

"Oh Rachel, it is very much true." interjected Valerie.

"Emma, let's go. I want to have a peace of mind, I don't care if she's just playing with me. I just don't want Viktor to be around Wanda."

"Fine. But don't blame me if you see Valerie laughing her ass off because you're so gullible." With that, they headed to the said janitor's closet. Rachel did not bother to knock. She yanked the door open with anticipation.

Because of what she saw, she hoped and prayed to heaven that the ground she was standing on would open up and swallow her.

There, inside the closet, along with booms and mops, was a man and a woman. Their arms were linked together and their mouths were locked in a passionate kiss. The woman was a redhead, who was clearly Wanda. The man was pushed to the wall. His dark blond hair was ruffled. The top buttons of his dress shirt was open, revealing his chest. Also, the man was Viktor, her husband.

Wanda finally noticed the intruders. She smiled at Rachel. "Hey, Rachel, what took you so long? You see this? Viktor is mine. Not yours. He was never yours in the first place so go back to the little town you were from and stay out of our lives."

Emma was just there standing beside Rachel. He mouth was hanging open. She could not believe Valerie was right. She was speechless. So was Rachel. She, too was speechless and shocked.

Rachel definitely felt a lot of emotions. There was anger. Anger at Viktor, because in her mind, he may not love her but he was still married and tied with her. You could not just be with someone else when you're married. she was also mad at Wanda for everything. There was sadness. She really thought Viktor and her would eventually be happy. There was regret. There was emptiness. There was fear. She felt betrayed. She felt like her life is literally crumbling.

She started to cry. she realized she's done with everything with Viktor. She started to run as fast as her high heels could allow her. She's done being married to him.