A Penny For The Girl

Chapter 22

Talia's, Kitty's and Brooke's hairstyles.

Today was the charity ball. Talia had come into my room still in her pyjamas with coffee and biscuits and we snuggled in my bed and watched a film together. She put on Pride and Prejudice as that was the book I had been reading yesterday. I loved it. When it was finished Talia went back to her room to get ready and I jumped in the shower. After shaving and washing myself I just stood in the warm massaging water for ages thinking about this evening and trying to calm myself down. I was nervous of messing up tonight, saying or doing something wrong, these people were apparently the elite of society and this charity was important, it was a charity for families that needed help. I was also nervous of having to be close to Tate again. I had resolved to stay away from him but I had to pretend in public, no one could know it was fake and in order to do that I had to act like I was in love with him, he was so perfect in his role as a doting husband that by the end of the night I'm pretty sure part of me was. Everytime he turned his scowl on me when the night was over my heart broke a little more. It was cruel, giving me a taste of what it would be like to be loved by him to then take it away again. Hopefully this would be the last time for a while because I wasn't sure if I could keep doing this.

After lunch Talia, Kitty and I all went down to the room I had originally been interviewed in. Make up artists and hair stylists were there to get us ready for tonight. I really enjoyed getting ready with Talia and Kitty, I remember when Chelsea used to get ready to go out with her friends and they would all have a laugh together and play music it was something I had envied. Getting ready today felt a lot like that only better as everyone was easygoing and complimentary whereas whenever I had heard Chelseas friends talking they would say mean things about Chelsea whenever she left the room. The talented ladies who were making us look beautiful for the night were lovely too, they joined in our conversatins and made us all laugh so much. By the time we were ready my nerves felt a lot calmer.

Kitty looked flawless, they had added dark blue eyeshadow to match her dress in the crease of her eyelid so you could see it but her eyes didn't look like they'd been coloured in with a dark blue crayola. Her lips had a nude shine on them to make her eyes stand out and her hair had been twisted into a sophisticated 'up do' as Marina the hairstylist had called it. Talia had very minimal looking make up with just some winged eyeliner on top of her skin make up and a very light dusting of pale slightly glittery eyeshadow. Her lips were thick with hot pink lip gloss which drew your attention to them. Her hair had been left down and curled at the ends and the sides had been braided loosely together on top to pull it off her face and held together at the back by a piece of hair so it blended into the rest of the hair. My make up was as flawless as the others were with my skin being covered, contoured and tinted in all the right places just as Kittys and Talias was. For my eyes I had thick black eyeliner with cream eyeshadow that had a slight tint of gold in it, dark brown had been put into the creases of my eyelids making my eyes look deeper but not too noticable. What drew your eyes was the bright red matt lipstick I had on my lips making my lips look fuller and inviting. I actually loved it and part of me hoped that it would take Tates gaze and make him think of kissing them. My hair had been pulled up at the sides but still hung down my back the top had been twisted and the front had been teased into a quiff which blended in and i had a few tendrils of hair hanging loosely being pulled out of the sides. After putting our dresses and matching shoes on we were ready to go and I felt amazing.

Byron noticed us first, his eyes lit up when he saw Kitty, the proud smile on his face at his beautiful wife was glorious to witness. "You look absolutely stunning my dear" he complimented her as we walked up, the coy smile on her face completing the moment. Tate turned around at his fathers words and smiled at his parents happiness. His eyes flicked to his sister and they grinned at eachother, whatever disagreement they had been having now forgotten. Slowly Tate turned his eyes to me and I heard his breath hitch as his eyes widened slightly when our eyes locked. He looked incredible, he had black suit pants with black shoes. His white shirt was tucked in and the sleeves had been rolled to his elbows, a few of the top buttons had been left undone and he finished off the look with a black waistcoat. His hair had been combed and tidied, the usual messy look gone for a more suave look. "Breathtaking!" I thought I heard him mumble. Talia's giggle snapped me out of whatever moment Tate and I were sharing. My attention was focused on Talia and her knowing smirk as she linked her arm with Byron and he escorted her and Kitty out leaving Tate and I alone. He silently held his arm out for me and I took it walking out to the car together.

We pulled up to the building where the ball was being held, paparazzi were everywhere. Byron got out first helping Kitty and Talia to join him and they walked on ahead of us. Tate then left the car and held his hand out to help me. I took his hand and got out of the car to blinding camera flashes, it took me a second for my eyes to adjust and I could feel my hands shake from nervousness. "You're OK, I won't leave you." Tate whispered in my ear as he placed his arm around me holding me tightly to his side. "You ready?" He asked me caressing my cheek with his hand, his eyes held such sincerity and concern in them that I couldn't help smiling. I nodded widening my smile for the cameras and we walked straight in ignoring any questions shouted our way.

The ballroom looked amazing, half of it had round tables with silver tablecloths, purple and white flowers were in the centre of the table and on each plate was a little booklet about the charity. We sat down on our assigned seats at one of the front tables, we were sat together with an older couple who had their grandson visiting. He looked about 18 and was incredibly handsome which Talia had noticed as soon as she sat next to him, at 16 she was still young but more mature than most girls her age. He seemed enchanted by her from the moment she opened her mouth and watching the obvious attraction growing between the two of them was adorable. The older couple were incredible people, they had travelled the world and all through dinner they had my undivided attention with stories of what they had experienced. Tate joined in too asking questions about their adventures, the whole time he was touching me one way or another, either his hand on mine or on my leg, or his arm around me, at one point he'd even moved his chair to be closer to me. It was a genuinely lovely really happy evening and everyone was in such a great mood including Tate. "It's lovely to see a young couple so in love," the older lady commented "The way your man looks at you reminds me of how this one looks at me." She added pointing at her husband beside her. I turned to Tate surprised as I hadn't even realised he'd looked at me once and noticed a slight blush on his cheeks, the small smile that tugged at my lips faltered when I noticed the warmth leave his eyes and he shut down once again. "Excuse me." He said and left the room. Swallowing the disappointment and maintaining my cover I smiled at everyone making a joke about the food going right through him. Laughing to ease the tension Kitty began asking questions of the older couple so I had a few minutes to compose myself.

Tate came back just as the presentation for the charity started. Honestly what I had been through was nothing compared to what some of these families had to face. Some of the life stories that they shared were horrific and my heart went out to them. I really hoped the donations would make a huge difference. After the presentation finished Tate was back to acting like a doting husband but I could sense how reserved he was and there was a slight stiffness in the hand that he put on my back as he led me through the dance floor towards the bar. I only ordered an orange juice mixed with lemonade as I wasn't old enough to drink yet but Tate ordered himself a whisky. I wasn't sure what had caused this change in demeanour, we were only acting overall so surely he should've been pleased by the couples comment. I stayed quiet sipping my drink, unsure what to say and still a bit confused. Tate took my hand and walked us towards a corner out of earshot from the other guests, taking a deep breath he looked me straight in the eye ready to tell me something. I was so focused on him I hadn't heard the obnoxious clicking of heels getting closer to us.

"Well fancy seeing you here" Tate tensed at the woman's voice. Turning around I was met with the sight of a beautiful woman smirking on the arm of the most arrogant looking man I had ever seen. I'm not usually one to judge but I instantly didn't like the couple standing in front of me.

Authors Note

Sorry it took a while to get this chapter out, I hope you like it. I just wanted to say thank you to all the people who have read some of my book, I'm blown away by the amount of views on some of the chapters so thank you all so much.

So who do you think Tate and Brooke have bumped into?? What do you think of Tates mood change?? It'd be awesome if you liked it to show me with a vote. 🥰 Stay safe everyone. 😊