The delicate fabric of the dress shimmered under the bright room's lights. My fingers traced the small sequin that sparkled in different emerald tones as they caught light. A strong hand pulled the elastic from my hair. Loose bangles fell softly on my shoulders. My shiny hair was sleek and with the vibrant emerald of the dress it looked even darker than it normally did.
"Isn't it too...provocative?" My eyebrows pulled together in concentration.
Hugh's signature snort sounded behind me. "Are you kidding me? You look hot!!" His grey eyes were wide and he placed his hands on my waist, "if I wasn't completely gay, I'd totally try to hit on you" He wriggled his eyebrows as he said it.
I laughed at his "seductive" face. "Seriously, Hugh...you can see through a large part of the dress..." I turned my eyes at the large mirror in front of me, "I'm sure I'm going to be the talk of the night anyway. There's no need to add more heat to the slutty rumors..." I trailed as I twirled around to get a better view of the back.
Ugh.
It fitted perfectly.
"If I lean you could totally see my boobs..." I'm not sure who I was trying to convince. Hugh or me.
He gave me a flat look as he deadpanned "Then don't lean."
I snorted in a very unlady like way, "easy for you to say!"
We were in one at the Valentino's store in Westfield London mall. Hugh had literally dragged me to the stylish mall to get an appropriate dress for tomorrow's ball. According to him, nothing was appropriate for the occasion...I had developed my eyes muscles at all the rolling I had been doing as he quite roughly dismantled my closet.
I had a lot of cleaning up to do...
Remembering that little fact I turned to him and glared at him as I pointed him with a finger, "You have to help me clean all the mess you made in my room."
"Only if you get the dress..." he blinked at me innocently.
I rolled my eyes for the fiftieth time on the day and turned to look at myself once again. I smoothed a hand down my dress and even I had to admit that the freaking fabric was extremely soft. It was a low cleavage dress with fake see through fabric (you weren't really naked underneath) with embroidered emerald sequins that ran from the bare shoulder to cover the chest. A small velvety ribbon hugged the waist and the rest of the dress grew darker as it fell naturally.
I had to give it to Hugh. It was a beautiful dress. Even though it was almost nude at the shoulders, the ombre effect was extremely pretty. It looked classy and elegant.
But- there had to be a freaking but...after all the rumors that I was going out with Mark and then Scott and the scandal that Sam's visit produced...I wasn't sure that this dress would be the one for the next day.
"It brings out your eyes" Hugh smiled at me as he slowly walked to stop right behind me. "And I would definitely wear the hair down" he produced an emerald brooch that matched the dress, "with this." His hands combed my hair and he placed it on my hair, lifting it up on only one side.
His grey eyes twinkled mischievously as I sighed defeated.
The whole ensemble was absolutely gorgeous. I just couldn't say no.
"We're going to have to get new shoes..." I grumbled as I noticed Hugh's smugly smirk on his face.
He winked at me, "I'll get on with it, girl."
I rolled my eyes as he turned away whistling happily. Laughing a little bit, I turned to look at the mirror for the last time.
Screw them. You look good, Emily.
"We'll get it" I smiled to the overly patient blonde girl that had been assisting us since the last hour.
She also had a grin on her face as she nodded, "it really looks good on you, Ms."
As we strolled down the second floor of the mall with quite a few large shopping bags on our hands, my cell phone rang. It took me a second to actually find it in the whole mess I was carrying, as my unsupportive best-friend continued to stroll down the hall happily ignoring my dilemma.
I glared at his retreating back as I finally answered the phone. "Hello?"
"Hey gorgeous, how are you?" My heart flipped just from the sound of his voice.
God. I'm pathetic.
"Good." I answered breathlessly. I cleared my throat trying not to sound too pathetic. "What's up?"
Damn. We had been going out for quite some time already. Shouldn't the butterflies and heart flipping should be gone already? Although the fact that every time we kissed sent me to cloud nine made me see that this wouldn't change for a long time. Actually. I wouldn't want that to change. Ever.
"Where are you?" I shook my head. Scott knew very well where I was. Sean was not with me this time, but the red haired dude that had driven us when we went laser tagging. His name was Bob and he was currently inconspicuously surveying the hall while eating an ice cream leaned on the glass railing. He was really nice and had dropped the bodyguard suit as I had asked him to.
"Shopping" I mumbled embarrassed.
"Are you almost done yet?"
My eyes roamed all over the bags that were on the floor as I nodded with my head at the same time I said "pretty much. Why? Do you want to do something?"
"I always want to do something with you" he answered slyly and I could very well see his devious smirk on the other line. Wherever that was.
"So" I drawled as I smiled at him. "What are we doing?"
"I have to read a book on an orphanage. Want to go with me?"
"That's awesome! Definitely yes!" I couldn't hide my excitement. I was pretty good with kids and I loved babysitting for my parent's friends back in LA. "Do you already know what you want to read?"
"Nope. I'm not actually too good with kids...it gets kind of awkward on both sides..." he admitted sheepishly.
Smiling, I added "I'll look for something here!"
"I'll text you in half an hour to see where you at, ok?" Scott asked.
As we hung up, I turned to see where Hugh was and was actually surprised to see him standing next to me, leaned on the riling, next to Bob.
With a knowing look on his face he asked disapprovingly, "Are you ditching me for your lover boy?"
Smiling apologetically at him I nodded sheepishly. "Sorry?"
Hugh sighed as he placed a hand on his chest, "It hurts, you know?"
I slapped him playfully, "I'll make it up to you." As an afterthought I added, "but I'm not being your slave again!"
His face dropped and he pouted. "Ok..."
Bob and I helped Hugh get all the bags on his red Ford Fiesta. How everything managed to fit in there was beyond me, but we managed after a few attempts. I then decided to go to one of the large libraries that I had looked over one of the maps (this place was huge). As soon as I got there, I looked for two of my favorite's books when I was a child: the hungry caterpillar and the cat in the hat. Then, I proceeded to a large arts and crafts store and I went wild buying at least two sets of multicolored paper sheets, crayons, glue and lots of different sparkles. What? Kids love sparkles!
Some people stared at me as I waited for Scott to arrive near one of the exit doors. That or my large colored bags were kind of flashy.
My lips tugged up on a bright smile as I saw Scott walking towards me amused. He had black pants and a grey formal shirt, as usual, his now short hair was a bit disheveled giving him the sexy and subtle look of bed-hair. From the corner of my eye I could see a lot of people gaping at him, but he never paid attention to them. Sean was walking next to him dressed in his signature grey suit and white shirt. They were both smiling at me amused.
"Hi" He pecked me on the lips ignoring the glances we were getting our way, "I guess I didn't tell you that we could only read two books..." he trailed as his eyes roamed all over the three large bags I had on my feet.
Beaming at him I simply shrugged. "I did get just two books. All of those" I gestured to the bags, "are something for the kids to draw and you know...be kids." What? I might have gone a little overboard, but I didn't know how many kids they were, so I just got a lot of each thing hoping that it would be enough.
Sean chuckled as he shook hands with Bob who was also smiling at me. I glared at all of them. Except Scott. I couldn't glare at him much longer than two seconds because a stupid grin formed on my lips. Even when I tried to suppress it.
"Come on" Scott grabbed my hand and one of the bags. We started walking to the doors and there were already a few photographers outside. I groaned inside as my hold on Scott tightened. This was getting on my nerves more and more.
As we hoped on the black land rover, Scott scooted to the side. Smiling, he asked curiously "How did you manage to escape the paparazzi?"
Frowning, I murmured "I'm not sure if there were some inside..." I shrugged as I explained Scott Hugh's brilliant plan. "Sean helped us by leaving on the front door and standing on Mom's door, as if I were inside. I ducked on the back of Hugh's fiesta, which was kind of hard, because the damn thing is too small, and Hugh drove in front of the paparazzi, even waving at them. When they saw he was alone, they lost interest."
Scott smiled at me. "I'm sure Sean didn't mind at all to wait on your mom's door" he said slyly glancing at Sean for a second. I laughed as Sean mumbled something between his teeth. I didn't know what he said, but I caught something between 'brat' and 'smartass'.
His hand traced circles on my hand as he pulled out his cell and texted. My eyes turned to the side to give him some privacy and I admired the elegant buildings of the city as we passed by.
Who would have thought that my life would spin 180 degrees in just a few months? I had Mom back in my life, I was living in one of the trendiest cities in the world and I happened to be dating one of the most eligible bachelors in the whole wide world.
Me.
Common and simple as I was.
I sighed. I hated to be the center of attention and I turned out to the date the guy whose face was portrayed in almost every magazine and newspaper of the world...and guess what?
I wouldn't change it.
I wouldn't change the fact that Sam cheated on me or that those guys at Morrison's were dicks to me...because all of that lead to now...to Scott holding my hand and driving through town to go to one of the many activities that he wanted to share with me...
"Thank you" I blurted out all of a sudden.
Scott's eyes left his cell as he glanced at me, "for what?"
"For including me" I smiled shyly at him.
Scott chuckled, "including you?" he shook his head, "this is for you!"
"Huh?"
"I'm not good with kids, so I avoid any activities with them...I think I'm boring to them, I mean, I'm always too respectful or too cold or whatever..." He shrugged, "I asked my cousin Charlotte who always does this kind of thing to let me do it today." He smiled at me, "I knew that you'd be excited about it and I'm sure you're going to be great with the kids..." he trailed as he ran a hand through his hair somewhat nervously, "and I'm counting on it, because I'm texting" he raised his phone "every contact I know in publicity because I want this to be documented."
"W-what?!" I stammered wide eyed. Oh God Oh God Oh God...
Scott scooted closer to me. "Do not panic." He said confidently. "I know you hate to be on the spotlight. But I want people to see what I see every day..."
My heartbeat was racing and my palms were already sweating when his words registered in my brain. "What is that, Scott? What do you actually see in me?"
Am I truly worth all this for you? That was what I really wanted to ask him.
Even through everything, we still hadn't mentioned the L word. I mean, it was pretty obvious from my side and I could see that he cared about me too, but...for some strange mention, we still hadn't said it. And I didn't realize that it kind of bothered me, until now.
"You are kind, loving, funny and smart." His lips tugged up on a small smirk, "but most of all, you are honest and true to yourself." His gaze turned down to our intertwined hands, "I admire you for that. I-"He swallowed out loud, "I want to be like that, too." His dark chocolate eyes bored into mine as he rendered me speechless.
Sean cleared his throat from the driver's seat. "We're here guys." The car stopped moving. I could see that the whole street was packed with paparazzi and even TV cameras. A small lump formed on my throat and my heart started plummeting inside my ribcage.
"You'll be fine" Scott smiled at me confidently before stepping outside the car.
The small steps that we had to take to the entrance of the old building were suffocating. There was no other way to put it. People were everywhere shouting at us and Sean and Bob had stepped in front and behind us, leading us through the way.
The moment the doors closed behind Bob I heard myself gasping for air. I hadn't noticed that I had stopped breathing since I left the car. Scott eyed me concerned as he engulfed me in those strong arms for a second.
Too soon, he pulled apart and I could now notice that we weren't alone. There was a lean old lady watching us expressionless. She looked like a mean old principal that I had back in LA at junior high. Her stance seemed rigid and her hair was pulled up on one perfectly circular bun on the top of her head. Even her clothes were similar. She had a straight grey wool skirt that ended almost at her heels and a burgundy turtleneck sweater.
God. Poor kids. Was she the one in charge here? A warm feeling of sympathy swept over me.
"Good day your Majesty." Her lips were flat but I could see the effort she did as they twitched. Still, there was no smile on her face. A contorted expression formed on her face that sent the message that she was trying to be nice. Key word trying. "The kids are excited to see you. Come this way." The fact that she only addressed to Scott made my stomach flip with uneasiness.
Scott tensed next to me and he grabbed my hand as we started walking. "Good day Mrs. Smith, we are delighted to be here." He stressed the we as he smiled at her.
I have to admit that I didn't notice the building from the outside. I was panicking a little too much over the herd of people outside to see anything. The interior, on the other side, was different. My eyes travelled all around us as the woman led us through. The small hall were we had entered was kind of dark but it seemed comfy enough. There was a red carpet and a few chairs scattered all around the room. Some landscapes on the walls and a small chandelier on the floor. The hall we were going through was much better lightened. It was a bit narrow but we could still walk comfortably. There were at least five doors on each side. Small drawings decorated the walls in between doors. I supposed they were bedrooms. We passed a large dining room that reminded me a little of Howarts. There were at least five wooden tables on the room with benches on the sides. And a large crystal chandelier on the middle of the room. The walls had a floral tapestry so that ruled out the whole Harry Potter scheme.
Finally, we arrived at a large door and the woman stepped inside. My lips tugged up as soon as I entered the room. Scott's palm, on the other side, started sweating.
There were at least fifty kids seated cross-legged on the floor. Their little eyes shined excitedly as we entered the room. The age was variable. The little ones were in front and the older ones at the back. I calculated that they were between two and 10 years old. My heart broke to see so many orphans. I swallowed the lump that had formed on my throat as I smiled to them.
"Good evening your Majesty" they all chorused together. The sound of their little voices was too cute and I kind of felt the urge to kneel down and hug them all.
There were seven other teachers on the back of the room who were surveying every kid. Thankfully, they didn't look as menacing as Mrs. Smith. They actually looked nice. All of them and I liked them immediately. They were all smiling at Scott but when one or two looked at me, their smile faltered. I noticed there were two photographers and one camera man on each corner of the room.
Ignore them. You are here for the kids. Not them.
"Good evening" Scott said nonchalantly. Then, he gestured for me to sit on the chair that was in front of the kids. I could already see what he meant on the car. His face had put on that expressionless mask that he seemed to wear in any public event. He did seem cold and too well-mannered.
I smiled at him and nodded slowly. I wanted to sit on the floor. With the kids.
He must have caught on because his lips formed a small smile and he moved the chair to the side, ignoring Mrs. Smith's reproving glare.
We sat cross-legged as the kids and Sean brought me the bags they had been carrying. I took a deep breath as Scott introduced me to the kids. "This is Emily. We are going to tell you a story and we hope you enjoy it as much as we do. Thank you for having us today." His eyes swept all around the room yet his tone was still kind of cold.
"Hi" I waved and smiled shyly at the kids who were looking at us expectantly. They were all too quiet, meaning that they rehearsed the whole thing or they didn't want to suffer any consequences that Mrs. Smith had surely listed beforehand. "I'm Emily." I took the hungry caterpillar book and passed it to Scott but he nodded his head, gesturing me to go on.
I almost rolled my eyes at him. He was afraid of these children who seemed to be more afraid of him.
"Ok. This is one of my favorite's stories as a child. Have you ever heard from it?" I could see most of them nod their head and almost all the little ones smile excitedly at the book.
"Well, come on. Get a little closer guys. I'm going to need your help on this one. It's been a long time since I read it..."
The whole reading experience was great. The kids gathered even closer to us and by the end of the two books, all of them were smiling and laughing with me. I actually did the whole reading thing, Scott only laughed with the kids whenever I said something funny. When I finished the readings, I took all the crayons, colors and papers and told them to make me a drawing of which part they loved more. We even used the sprinkles and I was sorry for whoever had to clean up the large room, because all the carpet ended up sparkling in different colors. But the kids had a blast. They were all laughing and smiling by the end of the afternoon. Even Mrs. Smith seemed to have lightened up since her stance seemed more relaxed and her lips actually tugged up once or twice. She had to tell us to wrap it up at some point because they kids had to go to dinner. Well, she obviously didn't use those words, she was too proper to do so. I encouraged the kids to hang the drawings on their room, but a few of them shyly gave me their precious drawings making my heart flip. I promised to come back soon and each of them hugged me and Scott at the end thanking us shyly. I have to admit that I would love to take home quite a few, who were too adorable for words, but obviously that was out of the question.
I forgot about the cameras or the circus that would surely await on the street.
As the last kid left the room before one of the chubbiest teachers smiling widely behind him, Mrs. Smith walked to us and looking me straight in the eye stretched her hand to shake mine "Thank you."
Smiling at her, I shook her hand. "It was my pleasure."
She then shook Scott's hand while saying, "good night your Majesty. Thank you."
"You're welcome" Scott said evidently more relaxed himself. He even smiled at her. She escorted us outside and gave me a small smile as I passed next to her.
I had been right. There were even more photographers on the street. It was already dark and the flashes dazzled me. Thankfully, Scott held me tight and Sean and Bob were now accompanied by three more bodyguards.
As soon as the car door closed on us, Scott turned to me and kissed me for a moment. Resting his forehead on mine he whispered, "that was astounding, Emily."
"It was great" I smiled at him.
"Thank you" He passed an arm on my waist and pulled me to him. Resting my head on his chest I relaxed and closed my eyes contentedly.
"You're going to be great tomorrow at the ball, too." He added a few moments later as he rested his head on mine.
My eyes opened wide.
Tomorrow.
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Hey everyone!
I know it's been a while and blah blah :) I've reading all your messages, I'll try to answer one by one if I have the time.
My life right now it's hard. Between my family, work and all of that, I've been dealing with my mom's sickness. It's heartbreaking and I haven'T actually been in the mood to write. Sorry about that. I know most of you understand and I appreciate it :)
Thank you for all your kind messages over FB, twitter and instagram. I love you guys. I would have never made it these far without you :)