CREME DE LA CREME

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧: unbothered (or not)

Before Derrick can notice them, Cameron swiftly whisks Anastasia onto the dance floor. She giggles as he sways them from side to side to the R&B song currently playing. Without having to look she can see that rat couple dancing near them but she doesn't care. Her focus is on Cameron and Cameron only.

Anastasia is still giggling when Cameron kisses her. "Mmm. I love when you kiss me like that. Makes me feel like a queen."

"That's because you are a queen. More importantly, you're my queen. It might sound corny but I'm so serious."

At Derrick's gesture, Whitney leans over to purposely bump into Anastasia who immediately catches on to this bitch's motive and swiftly moves out of the way.

"This bitch." She mutters lowly, causing Cameron to chuckle and guide her back over to their friends.

Vince is getting a long-winded lecture from his mother Golden about how his drinking is going to cause him trouble and how she won't have a son whose sole intent is to cause embarrassment to his family.

He shows his mother that he's not listening to her words by grabbing a glass of rosé and downing it right in front of her. Olivia and Jesse are behind him, failing to hide their laughter. Mercedes is covering her mouth. Honestly, Vince is the type to completely disregard authority... especially if his mom is the one giving it.

Vanessa grins and locks across the room to see a handsome guy smiling at her. "Ooh he's sexy. I'm going over there." She announces to no one in particular and before you know it, she's heading over to the charming stranger.

"The launch party for my new Serene Beauty collection coincides with my birthday this year. And we're going all out!" Anastasia says, grinning ear to ear.

Cameron smiles at his girlfriend. She's revealing herself as CEO of Serene Beauty to the world and in his mind, she'll be doing it with a diamond ring on her finger because he plans on proposing to her during the party. He can't wait.

"I already have your birthday present. And no, I'm not telling you what it is." He says causing her to pout cutely. He kisses it away and leads her outside to the balcony. "I say it like every damn day but Stassi, I'm so fucking proud of everything that you've accomplished. You're so talented and way way way more intelligent than people give you credit for."

Anastasia pulls him down to her level. She cannot put into words how much she loves him. Y'all know that phrase, 'being someone's safe haven'? Well. Cameron is her safe haven. This is the only man she allows herself to truly be vulnerable with and vice versa.

Inside-

Olivia sets the plate of delicious-looking food down on the table and then perches herself on the lap of a grinning ear-to-ear Jesse. She smiles and kisses the hell out of him. Yeah, they're extra as fuck.

Tristan and Sloane take their place at the podium and tap on the microphone, successfully garnering the guests' attention. "Hello everyone. We just want to thank everyone for coming tonight."

As they go on with the speech, Anastasia pulls Cameron back inside. They can feel glares coming from their elder sisters but neither of them cares. They walk over to the buffet to get some food.

Celine walks up behind her daughter, which Anastasia hates to no fucking end, and taps her on the shoulder. She probably thinks that she and Cameron snuck off to go have sex or something. No. No matter how much they were thinking of it, they didn't. All they did was talk.

"Anastasia." Celine is using her no-nonsense voice. Oh, come on. Stassi just wants to eat at this moment.

Anastasia turns around, eyes closed trying her damn hardest to not roll her eyes. She's going to have to do some damage control, although they didn't do any damage. "Mother, whatever you think we did outside, clearly did not happen. All we did on that balcony was talk."

Cameron steps in because he can tell she's getting annoyed. "It's true Celine. I know that Alicia and Catalina are always letting you guys know what it is that we're doing, and I wish they'd stay out of our damn business, but we told all of you during the ride here that we would behave. We are."

Stassi just shakes her head and picks up her fork to start eating. She plans to leave early tomorrow to avoid confrontation. (Have you noticed how nosey your family is, Stassi? You're not getting out of it that easily and you know it.)

"We'll discuss this later. With your father."

To hell with keeping her cool. Stassi groans loudly and storms to the table. Cameron shakes his head and follows her.

Mercedes raises an eyebrow upon noticing tense they both are. "What happened?"

"Reprimanding us for our behavior. They most likely think we snuck out to fuck or something. Can one of you vouch for us? My mother plans on discussing this later and I really don't feel like dragging this shit any further. All I want to do is go with Cam, back to the penthouse, away from them."

A little while later, attendees head towards the door in an effort to leave. Mercedes pulls Anastasia, Olivia, and Vanessa towards the restroom. The boyfriends of the former three, along with Vincent, wait outside for them.

Thomas, Celine, Allen, and Giselle exit the ballroom. They see Catalina, Cameron, Alicia but no Anastasia in sight.

"Alicia, where's your sister? We told her not to sneak off and she did anyway."

"She's in the restroom. Is that a crime now? Goddamn." Cameron says, rolling his eyes. Just like Anastasia, he himself is officially over this day. When the girls come out, they all walk down the hallway.

Mercedes shakes her head at the fact that Celine has not stopped speaking. Anastasia is fed the fuck up at this point. "Miss Celine, I saw Stassi and Cam when they were out on the balcony. They were in my line of sight the whole time. All they did was talk."

Thank you, Mercedes. She always looks out for her friends.

Stassi and Cameron give her grateful looks and say goodbye to everyone before climbing in the limo. She rests her head on Cameron's shoulder and lets the call on her incessantly ringing phone go straight to voicemail, not in the mood to talk.

The parents and the annoying duo get in and they are off, back to the manor.

Thomas looks back and forth from his wife to Anastasia. "Stassi. This might sound like a stupid question to ask, but are you alright?"

That was definitely a stupid ass question to ask. The only response he gets to that is a sharp shake of the head.

What a shitshow of a damn day. Try again tomorrow.