The days leading up to the ball moved faster than time ever had before, as though the calendar itself was conspiring against rest. Every morning arrived before the last task from the night before was truly finished. Every evening ended with lists that grew instead of shrinking.

Somewhere between the sponsor calls, the fittings, the venue walkthroughs, and the emergency meetings that were never labeled as such, I stopped thinking of the ball as an event.

It had become a living thing. Breathing. ...