Chapter Text
Angie arrived at her meeting place ten minutes early. A large, very popular hotel on Capitol Hill with a private club on the ground floor. VIP areas for the richest and most influential people.
Angeles walked cautiously in her heels, a determined look on her face. She was wearing a powder pink plus dress that moulded her upper body into a bustier covered in rhinestones and gold arabesques. The plunging neckline opened in two to the top of her stomach, the fabric carefully enveloping her breasts. The bottom of the dress consisted mainly of layers of shimmering tulle as light as a feather.
It was no surprise that when Angie entered the room, she immediately attracted attention. The blonde felt the stress knot her stomach at all the eyes on her.
Even years later, she couldn't get used to it.
She walked over to the drinks counter. She needed a drink to forget about the games and forget about what she was doing tonight instead of helping her niece.
"Good evening Angeles."
Angie smiled before turning back to the voice she recognised immediately.
"Pablo! Are you here too?"
"I have to meet some sponsors. And you're..."
Despite her attempt to be discreet, Angie noticed that Pablo ran his eyes down her body. When his gaze returned to hers, the man's cheeks were flushed with embarrassment.
Angie made no comment, this dress was having an effect on everyone, that was the whole point.
"I've got a date" she said softly.
In their world, the world of winners, Angie didn't need to give any more details. Pablo knew exactly what was going on.
"I'll be waiting for you" he assured her.
"No, you don't have to."
"Yes I will wait for you and I'll walk you back to the training centre."
Angie knew Pablo well. Their friendship had bonded in a way that was as natural as it was unexpected. When Angie had started her "duty" as a victor she had been barely nineteen and Pablo at that time was still quite young.
In their world, the world of winners, Angie didn't need to give any more details. Pablo knew exactly what was going on.
"I'll wait for you" he assured her.
"No, you don't have to."
"Yes I will wait for you and I'll walk you back to the training centre."
Angie knew Pablo well. Their friendship had bonded in a way that was as natural as it was unexpected. When Angie had started her 'duty' as a winner she was barely nineteen and Pablo at that time was still quite young.
Since he had passed his thirties, he had only been summoned on rare occasions for this kind of activity. Deep down, Angie hoped that when she was thirty she would be able to stop, but she had a feeling it would be different.
People loved her too much.
Surely President Snow wasn't planning to release her from her burden to celebrate her birthday.
"It's room 314, if I'm not back down by midnight..."
"I'll come up and get you."
She didn't need to hide. Pablo had seen her in the worst possible states due to the madness of the people at the Capitol. Angie's sweet, angelic appearance seemed to increase their taste for...unconventional practices.
They liked to hurt her.
Angie remembered the first time as if it were yesterday, the first touch of a stranger, and the fear that overcame her as if she were in the arena.
Once the case was over, President Snow had asked to see her and when Angie had ordered that she would never sell her body again, a week later her elder sister had tragically lost her life in an accident.
Since then, she had been subjected to the dreadful blackmail to which all winners labelled desirable by the Capitol were forced. And according to President Snow, she was lucky that the "angel of Panem" was the investors' favourite.
Her body had probably financed the entire arena for this year's High-Tech Games. An arena into which she was going to have to throw her niece, whom she loved above all else.
She felt like an object to be dressed and made up to please others. That was why Angie refused to put forward any beauty privilege of the tribes she accompanied. If one of them won, she would never be able to look herself in the face and put them through such a life.
It was prostitution disguised in luxury and opulence, but it was just as degrading for her to endure.
***
Three minutes before midnight, Angie made her way cautiously back to the ground floor. She still felt extremely vulnerable after doing what was expected of her. She regretted not taking something to cover her shoulders.
She still felt naked.
Not all men were repulsive, but it didn't matter what you looked like when you had to.
Angie looked for Pablo. He was a solid reference point for her. She spotted him in the distance, shaking hands with a man Angie recognised. It was Plutarch Evensbee, the high judge in charge of this year's Hunger Games.
Angie waited a few minutes and then Pablo withdrew from the conversation. It wasn't long before he set eyes on her. They seemed to be talking silently from a distance, as if for the first time.
Pablo walked towards the exit with a completely neutral look on his face. Angie turned her head around and followed in his footsteps, but remained several metres behind him. Just as the blonde opened the heavy golden exterior door, she spotted Pablo getting into a vehicle.
She waited at least five more minutes, then judging the surroundings to be safe and the cold night air to be overpowering, she headed for the car.
Angie checked one last time that no one was watching her before opening the door. She slid into the back seat and closed it behind her.
Pablo was waiting for her there, a worried expression on his face. They remained silent for a few seconds, staring into each other's eyes.
Pablo asked the driver to start and closed the partition between the front of the car and the back to finally have a moment of privacy.
"Is everything all right?" asked Pablo immediately.
"Yes, I'm fine," Angie replied breathlessly.
The tension in their eyes hung in the car's cabin until Pablo said:
"There are no microphones here."
Angie released the tension in her shoulders, let out a long sigh, and let herself fall back onto the bench seat, her head tilted back.
Then she gently felt the enveloping warmth of Pablo's hand on hers. She turned her head towards him and Angie entwined her fingers in his.
Exhausted, the blonde let her head fall back on Pablo's shoulder. He took the opportunity to place a kiss on the top of her head.
"I've got someone else's perfume on me..." murmured Angie.
"I don't mind."
Angie ran her free hand up Pablo's arm to hold on to him. As soon as she could she held on to stop her brain sinking into the horrors he liked to remind her of.
"I'm tired"
"You're going home to sleep"
"You know I wasn't talking about that"
"I know."
Angie raised her head and looked into Pablo's blue eyes. Slowly he brought a hand to her face and when Angie felt his caress against her cheek she breathed in and closed her eyes.
Each time she felt a mixture of fear and relief, it was so contradictory.
"We shouldn't..."
"There's no one here...and my driver's an Avox, he's not likely to repeat anything he can see. "he reassured her.
Angie allowed herself to move forward and stopped for a moment just millimetres from Pablo's lips. Just a few months ago she hadn't even known what it was like to kiss someone who really mattered.
Pablo waited for her to break the space between them herself. Angie crushed her lips to his with more pressure than Pablo anticipated. He breathed out against her lips and kissed her passionately, pulling her close to him in a protective gesture. When they kissed, the dark-haired man was always dripping with despair and felt the adrenalin send shivers down his skin. But all these sensations were secondary to the heart racing in his chest.
He was madly in love with this woman and he knew full well that sooner or later his feelings for her would kill him.
Angie stepped back after a few minutes, her cheeks on fire and her lips swollen. She couldn't believe she'd let herself get caught up in this dangerous story.
Falling in love with a winner was far too dangerous and yet she hadn't been able to hold back her budding feelings for this man. Angie had hidden her feelings from herself for several weeks, telling herself that Pablo was a friend... just a friend.
Then it happened.
And because of her negligence, Violetta had been drawn for the Hunger Games.