The next morning after I had my shower my tan looked better than what it did last night and thankfully I wasn’t looking like an oompa loompa like Miles said.
I walked into the kitchen only to be greeted by Macaulay.
“Where is everyone?” I asked.
“well dad forgot to pack a tie and his shirt is to tight so he and mum went into town to fix that problem, Grandmother and Grandfather are with Charla going through some last minute details regarding security in the office, Sandrine is in the main kitchen sorting out staff and food for tonight, and I have no idea where Miles and Ashton are” he said.
With that both Ashton and Miles walked into the kitchen, Miles stood near the door while Ashton casually walked over to the other side of the room and stood there.
“Well as much as I like to sit and chat with you baby sis, I have places to go and people to see” Macaulay said getting up from his seat and walking towards the door.
“So where exactly are you going big bro?”I questioned him smiling at him.
He stopped mid way and turned around giving me a simple look before speaking
“Well I have to go to the ballroom and check out the band playing” he said proudly.
“Hate to inform you but it’s an orchestra playing not some band” I said to him smartly.
“Uh.........yeah” he said rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.
“Anyway I got to go” he said before finally heading out the door.
Not long after Macaulay left the room Miles followed him, which I thought was odd since he was security for me.
“Ashton, why is Miles following Macaulay around today?” I asked him.
“well, I heard him going on about you looking like an oompa loompa, then a door slamming and thought you were niggling at each other, so I decided to swap with him today and to make sure you are safe for tonight’s gala dinner and having fun” he simply stated.
“thanks for that Ashton, yeah we weren’t fighting last night, I just got tired and wanted to go to bed, and the only way to shut him up was to slam my door to get my point across” I said back to him.
“Well I understand he sure can be a dick sometimes” Ashton replied.
“You have got that right” I said smiling.
“So Reagan what are you plans for the morning?” Ashton asked me.
“Hmm.............. I don’t know I have my hair and makeup appointment at 2.00pm so until then I have nothing planned unless someone wants me for anything” I said back to Ashton.
*********************
The rest of the day consisted of: eating, brief meetings regarding tonight, watching Grandmother and Grandfather do a walk through for the opening of the gala, watched Macaulay get Miles by running then suddenly stopping making Miles collide with Macaulay’s back while Ashton and myself laughed at the whole thing unfold.
And now I was sitting in the chair in the beauty room getting my hair and makeup done for tonight. I decided that I wanted my hair down but lightly curled and messy at the same time, while my makeup was natural mostly with blue eye shadow that matched my dress.
After I was done in the beauty room I was free to go and change into my dress for tonight as we were leaving in half an hour. I went to my room and walked into my wardrobe to get my dress, shoes and accessories out and placed them on the bed ready to change into.
After about 15minutes of changing and looking presentable I walked out of my room and into the hallway, Ashton was standing outside the door waiting to take me to where the rest of the family were.
We walked down the long hallway and headed towards the office where mum, dad and Macaulay were. Grandmother and Grandfather were in press interviews until their opening was to be made.
We were just about near the office when Ashton spoke up for the first time since we left my room;
“You look really pretty tonight Reagan, that dress suits you well” he said in a brotherly tone.
I smiled at him and gave him a quick hug before walking into the office to see my family.
Once in the office Macaulay’s jaw dropped when he saw me, while mum and dad smiled happily at me.
“Whoa Rea is that really you? You look good” Macaulay said still stunned.
“Yes Macaulay it’s me, you don’t look too bad yourself” I said smiling back at him.
“Sweetie you look lovely” dad commented, while mum nodded and walked over to me pulling me into a hug.
*****************
We arrived at the ballroom the same way that the guests were entering so we looked normal and not related to the Queen and King at all.
I walked in with Macaulay and started looking around the room to see if we knew anyone there, sure enough my eyes landed on a table on the other side of the room, sitting there was dad’s Aunt Ethel who is Grandmothers older sister and her son which is dads cousin John. I tapped Macaulay on the shoulder and pointed to where the two were sitting. He smiled before walking to them, I followed along.
We got to the table and Aunt Ethel got up and gave us a hug before sitting back down again.
“Hello Aunt Ethel, it’s a pleasure to see you again” I said warmly.
“My darlings it has been a while how long was it since I saw you both last?” she asked back
“Um well I haven’t seen you for a year and you saw Macaulay not that long ago” I said back
“That’s right, wow time flies” she said shaking her head.
“Hey John where is Ruby and Chelsea?” Macaulay asked John.
John was an only child of Ethel and her late husband Michael who passed away a few years ago from natural causes.
John had met his wife Ruby at university and have been together ever since. They have a daughter Chelsea who is 4 years old and is so adorable and they are expecting another one on the way in the next few months.
“Well they were going to come but Chelsea got sick and Ruby is staying home to look after her and with the baby due soon she needs to rest up” he said.
“Do you know what you’re having?” I asked.
“We are going to have a surprise, but I have a feeling it’s going to be a boy” he said happy.
“Well tell that cheeky monkey that I will visit in the next week” Macaulay said to John, talking about Chelsea.
Macaulay had university holidays for a month and decided to go back to England and visit John, Ruby and Chelsea for a week, Chelsea was like a magnet to Macaulay, she would follow him around everywhere and climb on him whenever he was sitting down, so Macaulay gave her the nickname cheeky monkey.
“Oh I will be telling her that, she won’t stop talking about you” John said laughing, which made all of us start to laugh as well.
With that dad and mum came over and joined the table since we were sitting with Aunt Ethel and John.
I found my seat and sat down taking in the view of the ballroom. It was beautifully decorated in emerald greens and silver; the tables were big and round and could easily fit six or more people around them easily.
The table decorations were simply vases with white roses and a emerald green table cloths, while the rest of the decorations were elegant roses and other floral arrangements, the room over all wasn’t too fancy or over the top. Charla did a great job of it.
It wasn’t long before an announcement was made that the King and Queen will be entering the room; everyone stood and watched both the King and Queen descend the stairs doing the royal wave, while their names were called out.
“Introducing King Alexander and Queen Margaret” the announcer said warmly. We watched them both walk down the rest of the stairs and walk towards the table they were sitting at, that included some Royals from different countries.
The first course was served which was soup, I didn’t know what flavour but it tasted good, anything that Sandrine makes always tasted good. Between courses dad and mum would excuse themselves and go and talk to other guests that they knew.
We didn’t know anyone apart from the ones sitting at our table which was Aunt Ethel and John and the family, so Macaulay and I sat there talking and catching up with them.
I would often look around the room watching everyone seeing if I actually knew someone but that was always a no.
Main course was served which was an alternate of some fancy beef with seasoned vegetables or a chicken breast with sundried tomatoes, spring onion and capsicum.
I ended up with the beef while Macaulay got the chicken, without saying a word Macaulay simply picked up my plate and swapped it with his. I smiled and said thanks before picking up my knife and fork and eating.
The reason Macaulay swapped with me is because I don’t like eating red meat, the taste and look of blood make me feel sick, so instead I have chicken or fish.
The main course finished and this time I excused myself from the table and went to find the bathroom, it didn’t take me long as I knew my way around the ballroom. I was walking towards the direction of the bathroom when I bumped into something, or rather someone in the hallway.
“Sorry I didn’t see you there” I said sincere.
The person turned around I looked up from my feet only to be met by none other than Miles.
“Well Reagan you should watch where you are going next time” he said sarcastically.
“Whatever” I simply said before walking past him and walking to the ladies bathroom.
I walked out of the bathroom and saw Miles standing near the door back to the ballroom.
“I see they have put you on bathroom duty tonight Miles” I said smiling at him.
“As a matter of fact, I was waiting for you” he simply replied.
“Why? You aren’t guarding me tonight Ashton is” I clearly stated.
“I know that, he asked me to watch you while he dealt with another quick job” he replied.
“Well if you are watching me, while Ashton is doing another job, who is watching Macaulay?” I asked.
“Brad is watching Macaulay” he simply said back.
Brad is another security guard that works at the palace mostly doing yard watch; he is in his early thirties, tall and has brown hair and a beard. He is nice but I don’t really speak to him much.
“Ok, well I best be getting back to the gala” I said while walking back into the room filled with people.
I got back to my seat and saw dessert arriving. Dessert consisted of a baked cheesecake with a variety of berries and cream on top, this dessert was my favourite whenever we came to the palace.
Desert finished and this time everyone excused themselves from the table and went to talk to the other guests, Macaulay grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the dance floor where other couples were dancing.
We were dancing for a while to the different songs that were playing when a slow song started to play; we both looked at each other and started to slow dance.
“Well this is awkward, dancing with my little sister” Macaulay said between us, that got a laugh out of the both of us.
We were dancing for a few minutes when I felt a tap on my shoulder, turning around I saw a guy around my age standing there.
“Uh can I help you?” I asked the stranger.
“May I have this dance?” he said looking at me smiling.
I looked at Macaulay who simply nodded back.
“Of course you can” I replied smiling back.
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