“I’ve promised to my father to be a good girl and to behave. This is my present for him tonight.”

“Why are you standing here alone in the cold?”

“There are some people in the party who I wish to punch, and I need to keep my promise. So I came here hoping that I would freeze to death, and then they would feel remorse till the end of their lives for torturing me so. Though I don’t know if they are capable of feeling anything at all.”

“Who is causing you so much pain? Let me deal with them.”

“My father invited Elene, so she came with the stupid boyfriend of hers whom I don’t want to see. How could he do that to me? I said I would not allow any one of them into my house. Apparently this is not my house anymore.”

The girl was almost crying.

“Do you want to get away from here?”

“Of course, I do. I just have nowhere to go.”

“I will take you away from this horrible place. However, you’ve promised me a dance. Can you keep this promise too?”

She spoke slowly weighing carefully every word.

“A dance? With all those people in the room... Watching, staring, wanting me to trip and fall. I don’t think that I can handle it tonight.”

“Don’t worry, dear. It is my job to make sure that nothing bad happens. I will catch you if you would start falling.”

He took her hand and leaded her away from the snowy garden to the warmth of brightly lit ballroom.