Chapter 16: Eventful Evening

Levi's POV

As we get inside, I felt Hanji’s body become more stiff. Her grasp on my arm become tighter also, thus I looked up to her face. Her cheeks are in deep shade of red and her lips are curled into a reluctant smile.

“You look like you want to take a shit” I told her, rolling my eyes. Hanji looked at me for a second before flashing her real smile.

“sorry” she muttered “I am never a fan of events like this” Hanji confessed, tripping a bit when she stepped I her heels up the small staircase in the hall. I immediately helped her regain her stance. Luckily, no one seemed to notice it.

We walked a bit more till we reach the table intended for the employees of the company (which I was included for tonight, according to Erwin). Moblit along with a couple more people sat in there.

“Hanji” Moblit said dreamily while looking at the four eyes beside me. Hanji let go of my arm, walking towards them.

“Hey!” she greeted them. A short girl with short straight hair and bangs walked towards her examining Hanji from head to toe.

“You look different Zoe” she said admiring her. “I barely recognized you if it wasn’t for your glasses”

Hanji smiled, gaining a little more confidence. “Thanks Nifa. You look lovely in your blue dress also”

Nifa, as the shitty glasses called her earlier, grinned widely before she did a quick twirl, boasting the detailed hem of her blue dress. “It looks cute, doesn’t it?” she asked. Hanji nodded in agreement.

As I stood a meter away from them, a smack at my shoulder made me hiss a little. I heard a short ‘oops’ accompanied by an apology after. “Sorry” a tall guy in glasses said. He has a short blonde hair and a light stubble in his chin and cheekbones. He kinda looks familiar but I just can’t recall where I last saw him. I shot him a look which yells ‘back-off’ that made him surprise. “It is me Levi” he said pointing his finger towards himself. “Abel, one of Hanji’s workmates. We had a dinner one time with the other members of Hanji’s team when we were finalizing the plan for the event” he said and that is when I remembered that two awful hours I endured a few weeks prior to the event. Hanji’s team is as loud as her but definitely, they are talented and they know their jobs.

I nodded at him while he smiled, a bit embarrassed, sitting once again on his chair. That is when I once again overheard Hanji’s conversation with her other workmates.

“So who turned our four-eyed duckling into a swan?” a tall and large built guy, asked Hanji while placing his arms at her shoulder. The sight made me grit my teeth.

“All thanks to the wonderful hands of Lynne” Hanji said, laughing a little. “And don’t put your enormous arm on my shoulders Keiji” she said in a joking manner, removing Keiji’s arm. I smirked.

“If you look that way everyday, I wouldn’t have thought twice to invite you as my partner” a deep voice said from behind. I looked at it’s origin and saw Erwin walking with a tall and elegant looking brunette beside her. “No offense to Levi tho” He added. I frowned and muttered the word ‘what’ which was also coincidentally said by Hanji. Erwin laughed.

The brunette which walked alongside Erwin looked at Hanji and smiled. “You definitely look lovely Hanji” she said and the she winked after.

“Most of the credits goes to you Lynne” shitty glasses said, complimenting the woman in front of her.

“Well, my secretary and I will be leaving now. We still have a whole lot of people to greet” Erwin said, turning his back at us. Lynne waved her hand before joining Erwin, clasping her arm at his’.

Hanji and I settled on our seat. She started talking once again with her team members while I just leaned my back and observed the sight in front of me. One lady caught my attention though because she looks elegant and beautiful yet her expression shouts ‘get me out of here’. She is currently wearing a white long gown which resembles a greek’s toga. It has a slit at the side that goes all the way up to the half of her thigh revealing the gladiator boots that she wears underneath. Her blonde hair was tied in an elegant bun designed with beads but her blue eyes  which is darted on the floor is at its darkest shade.

“Pretty, isn’t she?” a voice whispered at my ear making my whole body flinch. I look at my side, seeing Hanji with her hands at her mouth, muffling a giggle.

“Fuck off” I told Hanji but it doesn’t seem to affect her. She leaned even more and pointed a finger at the woman that I was staring before.

“That is Historia Reiss. Daughter of Rod Reiss. She is the inheritor of the Reiss’ Group of Company despite being an illegitimate daughter” Hanji whispered. A chubby and short man went near Historia, giving her a glass of drink. The woman smiled a little at him. “It was actually rumoured that Rod Reiss once plotted against her life. He doesn’t want the news about her to spread after all but little Historia fought, thus only her name was changed and she was sent to a town, miles away from here. For 8 years, she went by the name of Krista Lenz and even applied for army. A year ago tho, Rod started looking for Historia since he doesn’t have any family left after a tragic house fire and now, he treats her as if he did no shit” shitty glasses cursed. “Historia is obviously not happy” she said, pointing out to the dull blonde lady that we were talking about before.

Hanji then switched her gaze, towards the short and fat man with waxed mustache. He still can’t stop drinking his wine despite his cheeks getting red from too much alcohol. “That bald is Lord Walto. He is an owner of an agricultural land and a mayor in a small municipality. Despite being a leader, he usually deprives his people from their benefits and even puts his own good over the civilians. How that never got to the authorities is the real question” she said, glaring at the man who now fell on the floor causing a ruckus at their side. I stared at the man as he laughed, getting his chubby arms pulled by his assistants to get him to stand up once again. After he stood up, he once again drank the last contents of wine from his goblet.

“Oh yeah” Hanji said which made me look towards where her attention is. “Who would forget about that bastard?” she hissed, looking at a man who is the same height as Lord Walto. This one is thinner tho but he evidently has a well-built body. “No one from the commoner knows his real name but he goes by the alias ‘boss’ since he is the leader of the trade federation in the town next to ours. A couple of years ago a fire broke out in one of his warehouse and instead of getting his workers out of the building, he prioritized his goods and wealth. In the end, his products got out safely but most of his workers died inside the building. The incident was reported as an accident”

I looked at Hanji as she sipped a little from her drink. “Why are you telling me all of this?” I asked her. Hanji just shrugged her shoulders.

“I just want to reveal how filthy the life is in the upper class. The people in there are just full of bullshits. They just think of themselves, their wealth and their power” her gripped on her glass tightened and I fought the urge to hold it so I could calm her down a little.

“I didn’t know that you were this just” I said, shifting the conversation towards herself. “I mean, I though that you were just a mess, disorganized and loud organism that happened to help me one night”

Hanji smirked. “I have a few more surprising qualities so brace yourself clean freak”

I rolled my eyes and looked at the other side so Hanji won’t see the smile that is threatening to form on my face. “Oh god the horror” I said. Silence dominated the two of us until a slow music started playing in the place. I saw a number of man and woman go to the middle of the venue before they started dancing slowly. As I stare at them, I unconsciously imagined myself and Hanji in there, dancing like one of those couples while deeply staring at each other’s eyes.

Am I going to let this pass?

I gritted my teeth, taking small glances at Hanji.

Fuck it. Just for tonight.

I let out a breath and looked at her. “oy shitty glasses”. Hanji hummed, looking at me with a smile. Then her gaze fell from my face towards the hands that I leaned towards her. Slowly, her smile was erased and her expression shifted to a surprised one. “You seem like a kid looking at those people so I’ll do you a favour” I said, looking at the other side. She smiled but before she could take my hand, Moblit snatched it.

“Come on, squad leader” he said pulling her up. “I won’t miss this chance to take you in a dance especially when you look like this” Hanji looked at me for a second then she stared back at Moblit, her mouth opening and closing like a goldfish as she tried to find for the right words to either reject or accept her friend’s offer. I pulled my hands back and nodded towards her. Hanji’s face softened and then she let Moblit pull her towards the center.I felt an unknown tug in my chest upon realizing that I missed another chance with her. But why should I even feel this way when right from the start, I already decided not to once again deal with a woman the same way I did with Petra. And why do I have these emotions towards Hanji, of all people?

I stood up from my chair and walked away from the table. I even heard Abel call my name but I ignored him and went straight outside the building.  I removed my coat and loosened my tie as soon as fresh air welcomed me. Maybe I just got pulled by the mood inside especially when I saw the couples dancing. And it was Hanji who my eyes first laid on because she is the closest woman to me, during that time. Yeah. That must be it.

“Ackerman?” my whole body stiffened when I heard a familiar voice call my name. Slowly, I looked towards it and my guess was right.

“Mr. Zackley” I muttered his name, staring at the man in front of me. He showed his slight smile.

“Didn’t expect to see you in a place like this” he said, patting my shoulder. “and as usual, your work still seem flawless” Mr. Zackley said, looking around the place.

“It was Ms. Zoe who did the work. I just assisted her a little”

He didn’t bought what I said and instead just looked at me straight. “The whole place screams your name Levi” he said stepping closer to me. “and I need this kind of work in my university. Come back. I’ll give you back all the benefits that you once had” he pulled a flask from his coat, opening it with a silent ‘pop’. The smell of the familiaar alcohol immediately travelled towards my nose.

“I can’t” I folded my coat on my arm, preventing as much eye contact as I can.

“Petra already told me everything. You never said that you two had a thing before” he said with an amused voice. “You did it to protect her job didn’t you?”

I balled my fist. Instead of saying otherwise, I nodded. “But I still can’t come back because of…” I grit my teeth.

“Petra said that you two already broke up. So that means that you are not breaking any rules” Mr. Zackley pointed out. “If you’ll work for me again, I’ll pay you the same amount I did and give you back the apartment. I seriously need a good professor to my university and I don’t think I can find someone who’ll match your skills” he drank the alcohol in his flask before putting the cork back to close it. “you know how to find me if ever you change your mind” he patted my shoulder one last time and then he left to go inside the venue. I on the other hand stayed outside with one thought in my mind.

This is one heck of an evening.