Chrissie
Actually it wasn't as bad as I had envisioned it to be, I thought I would be eaten alive by snobby, back stabbing, sharp tongued bitches and looked down upon by the suave elegant rich males.
Okay a few were as I thought, but not all, some seemed genuinely nice people, who didn't judge me, I even received complements on my dress and my look and often Brent would give me the 'I told you so' look as some alpha males would call me beautiful and undress me with their eyes, this made me feel rather embarrassed and uncomfortable.
"And this is..." Started Brent introducing yet another couple.
"Chrissie, how are you and what are you doing here with this lump"
What! Who the hell knows me, my eyes zeroed in on the speaker and narrowed as I recognised the face but couldn't put a name to it.
" It's me Mandy, Amanda Clayton, well Jackson now, Blenheim View B and B, you use to do my hair"
Suddenly it all clicked into place.
"Of course, I remember now, long time no see"
I had heard that Mandy who used to be a frequent customer, had married a rich American guy and of course now got her hair done by the elite, I missed her as a regular, I mean she was a paying customer and now she wasn't.
"Well this is my husband Jasper, Jasper this is Chrissie, she used to be my hairdresser"
This tall handsome guy leaned in and shook my hand.
"Pleased to meet you"
Then he turned and started to talk to Brent, Mandy rolled her eyes and grabbed my arm.
"Come on let's go find a drink, those two will discuss business for hours"
Mandy pulled me across the room towards what I assume was the bar, plonking herself down on a barstool, I followed suit.
It was them I noticed the large bulging stomach on her, she noticed my glance and smiling rubbed her hand across her pregnant belly.
"Yes, my second and a little girl Ella Louise"
I noticed her eyes glistening as tears welled up in her eye's.
"Are you okay" I asked concerned.
She leant forward and placed a hand on my arm.
"Yes it's these damn hormones, play havoc with a girl, you know"
We both chuckled and as the bartender now stood in front of us we ordered two fruit juices, clasping our drinks we fought our way though the bar crowd and once we emerged the other side found ourselves a quiet little corner and sat on a rather comfy sofa.
"So tell all" gushed Mandy "What are you doing here with Mr Alpha Superstar"
"Well, er, it's like this.." and before I could elaborate, a husky male voice cut in.
"Well what do we have here, the two most gorgeous women to grace the gala hiding in the back"
We both looked up to see this tall handsome fit guy with longish blonde hair and a chiselled jaw line, smirking and his eye's were firmly fixed on me, Mandy gave a small laugh.
" Hi Buster, still the sophisticated gentleman I see"
"Hello, Mrs Jackson, nice to see you again, but pray"
His eyes flew back to mine and narrowed, as he licked his bottom lip.
"Who is this most exquisite young lady, you are hiding from me"
Mandy laughed even louder.
"Buster you are such a flirt, this is the infamous Chrissie Wallace"
"Wait, I know that name, hang on a minute" and he fumbled in his pocket pulling out his phone, typing frantically away, Suddenly he stood upright and beamed.
"So you are the beautiful creature that has the women of the world in uproar"
He looked me over and growled.
"And I can see why, such a beauty was bound to capture Brent's heart, dear Chrissie when you finish with that loser, pray let me know and I will whisk you away to paradise, until that moment, I bid you a fond farewell"
And just like that he was gone.
"Wow" I exclaimed "Who was that and is he always that charming and what did he mean I've got everybody in uproar?"
"That my dear Chrissie was Buster Clayborne Hollywood's A lister and along with your boyfriend the most sort after male by most women on the planet, so the fact that Brent has a girlfriend, because he's never had one before, you are the talk of the town"
"Never" I gasped.
"Never" Mandy confirmed.
"Well Mandy about that" I lowered my voice.
"Can you keep a secret"
To which she nodded.
"Well we aren't actually boyfriend and girlfriend, I'm just helping him change his image as a player"
Mandy leant back and gave me a quizzical stare, before raising an eyebrow indicating I need to clarify that statement, sighing I kept my voice low and explained, how it all happened.
"So you see it's just platonic, we are just acting"
"Are you sure " she gave me a funny look.
"Yes, there aren't any feelings involved"
" Then why hasn't he taken his eyes off you since we sat here"
I quickly turned to find him staring at me with and an unreadable expression on his face, when he registered I was looking he smiled and blew a kiss, I smiled and lowered my head.
"Umm" Mandy muttered. "I think Mr Simons takes this girlfriend, boyfriend thing a bit more serious than that"
By now the subject had me squirming in my seat and I was feeling decidedly uncomfortable, I need to change the subject quick.
"Would you like another drink Mandy" I croaked out.
Mandy gave me a sympathetic smile, the one where she's saying I know you want to change the subject, but we're not finished yet.
"Yes I think I would" as she started to stand.
"No it's alright just sit still I'll get them, pregnant lady and all that"
"Thank you" she replied sitting back down.
"Same again" I called out making my way to the bar.
"Yes please" came the faint reply.
Pushing my way through the crowd I came to a stop as the bar was packed and the wait was three deep, I sighed and waited for my turn at least the questioning had stopped and I could relax a bit as the crowd thinned and I got closer to the bar clutching the empty glasses, I felt a hand caressing my behind.
I squirmed away and turning glared at the perpetrator.
"Do you mind keeping your hands to yourself" I hissed.
The sleazy looking guy who was clearly drunk, leered at me and in a drunken voice stated.
" It's a nice ass and I wanted squeeze it"
"Well it's my arse and I don't want you touching it, clear"
And I turned back and shuffled to the bar placing my empty glasses down and then I felt a hand caressing and squeezing my arse again, I turned sharply and removing his hand and pushing it away.
"I won't tell you again, touch me again and I will dump you on your arse, got it"
Again I got that disgusting drunken leer.
Turning back to the bartender, I asked for our drinks, then I felt a hand again touching my arse and another creeping up the inside of my thigh, right you asked for it.
In one quick movement I grabbed the guys hand turned and threw him down to the floor making him cry out in pain, I then placed my left foot on his chest and glared down at him.
"How dare you" the guy screamed "Don't you know who I am"
"Nope" I replied emphasising the p.
"I'm Ralph Tomlinson and I am Hollywood royalty" he continued screaming.
"Well I'm Christine Wallace and I'm a nobody from England and I warned you if you touched my arse again I would dump you on yours and as you can see I'm a woman of my word and not like you a drunken sleazeball" I yelled back.
Then I heard a slow hand clap followed by another and another and the more that joined in the faster and louder it became and when I looked up I could see people clapping and smiling at me, mostly woman and a few were recording me standing on Ralph with their phones.
Quickly I removed my foot and hid my face as the clapping turned to cheering, Ralph got to his feet and staggered towards me, until an arm reached out over my shoulder and the hand pressed against his chest.
"What the fuck are you doing with my girlfriend" hissed a familiar voice from behind me, I saw Ralph physically gulp and his face turned to one of guilt.
"Sorry man, didn't know she was yours" and he turned and slinked off.
"Well for someone who wanted to stay under the radar, you sure have a strange way of going about it" murmered Brent in my ear as he lead me through the smiling, clapping crowd, carrying Mandy's and my drinks, placing them down on the table in front of Mandy, he turned and grinned at me.
"Remind me never to get on your bad side" then he pulled me in by my arms and kissed me on the mouth, playing his tongue across my bottom lip, trying to get me to allow him in, I pushed him back and broke the kiss.
"I told you to stop kissing me" I hissed.
" Just making sure everyone knows your with me, so you won't get bothered again" he smirked.
"I think the men got the picture not to bother me after I dumped Ralph on his butt, wouldn't you say"
"I just want to make sure sweetheart" then he quickly gave me a chaste kiss on the lips before disappearing into the crowd chuckling.
After accepting all the praise for dealing with Ralph, who apparently does this sort of thing all the time, I managed to sit back down next to Mandy.
"Bloody bloke always kissing me, what up with him, can't he keep his hands and mouth to himself, I'll have to dump him on his arse" I was still grumbling as I lifted my drink to take a sip.
Putting my glass back on the table, I noticed Mandy looking at me and hiding a giggle behind her hand.
"What's so funny" I exclaimed.
"You two, you're just like a married couple" she laughed.
"Oh please don't wish that on me" raising my eyes upwards.
Mandy leant across the table and whispered.
"I think there's more to your relationship than meets the eye Chrissie, I know I've been there, trust me when I say, love is in the air"