Gabriel was not comfortable. He hated the costume he was in, scant as it was. He hated having to host a lot of people he scarcely knew. And he hated how fucking fuckable Esin looked in her apparel for the evening. So as people started to drift in he took the opportunity to wander over to a tray of champagne being passed by an attendant hired for the evening ... took two fluted glasses and promptly knocked them both back. Hearing footfalls approach beside him, he was far too busy placing the two empty flutes back on the tray and grabbing a third before the waiter could wander off. “Don’t judge,” he grumbled unhappily. “It’s going to be a long evening.”












