Want to bet?
Victoria doesn’t bother speaking to them, stretching onto her tippy toes and craning her neck. Looking for me.
I’m almost there, babe. I’ve got you.
“Would you like me to bring you my doggie bag at the end of the night?” Jade asks as Carl withdraws his employee keycard and scans it into the machine up front. “It’s probably as close as you’ll ever get to food this fancy.”
Victoria’s hands ball into fists at her sides. Her voice, sharp as a blade, cuts through their insult with ease. “That’s okay, Jade. Sloppy seconds are really more your thing.”
“You bitch, you don’t even deserve my leftovers.” Jade shoves aside the few people between them, jabbing a finger in her face. “Guess you’ll have to wait to see if that beggar you’re with scrounges something up. Maybe they’ll let you wait tables or wash dishes with hi?-“
“My bad, sweetheart. I meant to be waiting for you at the door,” I interrupt, stepping into place beside Victoria. The dozens of insults I have for her ex and her cousin die on my tongue as I get a good look at her.
An absolute goddess in red, I can’t believe I missed her, even momentarily. With a ruffled bodice and extra frills at her waist that follow the split in her flowing skirt. Each step she takes shows a peek of thigh, and have I mentioned I’m one lucky guy?
“What the hell?” Jade’s jaw drops as she spots me, probably realizing my suit is worth more than anything she owns. She strikes me as a person who’d notice, and it’s a rare occurrence I actually want someone to.
The security guards stand straighter as they get their first full glimpse of me. “Sir, we didn’t recognize you at first. Forgive us.”
“Is this your date, Mr. Jones?” the stockier of the two asks. Any second, he’s going to salute me.
“Yes, and I believe I called ahead to ensure she was attended to,” I say, my tone dipping into threatening range. Only I’d been distracted, trying to remember how to put on a cummerbund and properly fasten a bow tie.
It’s not that I forgot, I was rusty.
One of the security guards rushes to unhook the velvet rope marking the entrance. The other motions inside, his movements brisk. “Right this way, Mr. Jones.”
Shortly before the threshold, I aim a giant shit-eating grin over my shoulder.
Right at Carl and Jade.
Carl scowls, his forehead wrinkled up like his brain just short-circuited. “Mr. Jones?”
I ignore him, pausing to inhale Victoria’s vanilla and jasmine scent instead. She immediately grounds me, my reminder of the good in this world. I cannot wait to take her home with me.
“Our apologies, sir,” a staff member says, rushing up to greet Victoria and me. He takes over from the pair of security guards. “Please, this way. Let us show you to your seats.”
“Excuse me?” In my peripheral, I catch Jade stomping a foot. “They’re nobodies! How come you’re letting them in?”
Neither guard bothers responding, simply demanding they step back and wait their turn.
As the staff member guides us down the ornately decorated halls, the plush carpet far nicer on my feet, he insists we let him know whatever we need. Anything they can do to make our evening more pleasant.
Victoria cocks her head at the guy as if he’s speaking another language she doesn’t comprehend.
A tingly buzz fires through my limbs.
I’m about to blow her mind.
“Ah, here we are. You have the card I handed you. Please don’t hesitate to call.” He wraps a hand around the tall twisted gold handle on one of the grand ballroom double doors. Then he hauls it open and dips his head. “Enjoy your evening. Sir, ma’am.”
Releasing a contented sigh, I cast him a grateful smile and place my hand on the small of Victoria’s back. “Oh, I assure you, we will.”
Victoria
For a moment, I just do some more gaping, this time at the dazzling opulence of the grand ballroom.
They’re not joking about the grand.
The spacious room takes everything to the next level. Round tables with silky champagne-colored tablecloths dot the room, their gold chairs matching the accents on the walls. Chandeliers shimmer above us, crystals refracting the light all around the room.
When I was younger, I was obsessed with the idea of putting a chandelier in my bedroom-anything to experience more glitter.
Large table centerpieces hold bouquets with more flowers than I plan to have at my entire wedding. Bulbed glasses ring the tables, and several people have left their numbered paddles for the auction to save their spots.
Guests in designer suits and glitzy gowns swirl around the room, champagne flutes in hand. They dance and laugh and have hushed conversations while classical music plays in the background.
Not from a surround sound, either. Nope, there’s a six-string quartet in the corner.
“Wow,” I say as we approach the table with delicate little desserts that double as works of culinary art. So many beautiful images assault me at once, my eyes can hardly pick what to land on. “This is really something.”
“They certainly know how to throw an event, I’ll give them that.” Simon hands me a miniature cake in the shape of a heart. “For you, my love.”
I’m poised to take a bite, but I freeze in place as a grating, irritatingly familiar voice punctures the elegance of the evening. “Big surprise, they’re hitting up the food table. Is anyone here willing to share a room with the peasants?”
Everyone in the nearby vicinity goes silent at Jade’s clamoring remarks, a few couples dancing farther away. I envy them.
More heads turn in idle interest as Carl and Jade approach us, and I flinch, steeling myself for the worst.
They peer down their noses at us, as if we’re dirt beneath their heels. It’s also odd, given Simon towers over the both of them.
Naturally, they’ll have to make a scene-I know better than to hope they won’t.
“Is there a manager around whom I can speak to?” Jade poses the question to the caterer who’s brought out extra plates of delectable treats. “These two are going to contaminate the food with their filth.”
Carl chuckles, piously slinging an arm around her shoulders. “Trash sticks to trash, babe.”
Humiliation burns my skin. Simon’s entire body tenses, muscles coiling, every line snapping tight.
How dare they treat Simon and I this way? We have as much a right to be there as them.
Not that I feel I totally belong in this setting, despite the gorgeous gown I’m wearing.
“See the items up there,” Carl motions to the table of auction items up front, his voice dripping with condescension. “Nothing in this room is worth less than ten thousand dollars. I bet you two can’t even scrape together a thousand. What are you going to bet on? You know the food isn’t part of it, right?”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.