December 31, 2016
For New year's we are going for a New Year's Party. The one were you were gowns, drink expensive champagne, meet new people and the whole package. Tiffany already had gowns and suits for everyone so we couldn't give an excuse.
To be honest, I want to go. I went to one with Andrew's family and it was great. Well they hosted it and I had no choice but to go but I had more fun than I thought I'll have.
Tiff picked out a gold halter sequence gown with a low back and matching heels for me. I was going to leave my hair down to cover my back but I decide against it. Instead, I curl my hair and pin it up into an elegant chignon. I put on my diamond earrings and makeup.
For Paige, a royal blue off shoulder gown and silver heels. Her hair which we managed to convince her to wash the dye out a few weeks ago was pinned back with a few strands framing her face. A simple necklace was around her neck, I got it for her for her birthday and on her ears where loop earrings.
Tiffany had on a red v- neck dress and red heels. The ends of her hair curled to perfection. Her lipstick matched her dress and so did the pendant she wore around her neck and her earrings.
"I knew these were the perfect dresses," Tiff says. We decide to dress up in one room together. The boys are waiting downstairs for us by now.
"Shouldn't we be leaving soon?" I ask
"Henri will text us when the limo arrives"
"Limousine? Really?" Paige's eyes lit up.
"Why are we waiting up here, Tiff?" I ask
"We didn't get all dressed up for nothing. We are going to have a grand entrance"
"Agreed" Paige says
"Of course you do" I roll my eyes at my sister.
"And besides I don't want to give the boys the chance to complain about how they are going to ward off boys the entire night"
I chuckle, " Now that I can agree to"
"Perfect"
A few minutes later Henri sends a text and we leave the room. The top of the staircase is big enough for all three of us to stand at the top. The boys' faces changed first from shock to amazement then to happiness. The smile on Andrew face just made mine grow three times bigger. We came down together, Tiff directly into Henri's arms, me to Andrew who couldn't stop staring and Paige and Sam just looked at each other. For the first time ever, Sam was tongue tied.
"Wow," Andrew says and I look away from them.
"You like?"
" More like love" He kisses me.
"Save some for New Years" Tiff says. I send a sideways glare and deepen my kiss with Andrew, making them whoop.
"Let's get going," Henri says and leads Tiff towards the door.
Sam holds his hand out for Paige and she takes it while saying "Only for tonight" making Sam chuckle.
"Where's Nathan?" I ask
"Probably already outside" He places a hand behind my back and his eyes darken. "You are killing me"
And he just found out the other part of the dress. I give him an innocent smile.
The mansion were the party is being held was owned by some friends of Henri's parents. They have a daughter, Melody, who is around Paige's age. I spoke to her for like 5 minutes and I don't like her. She's a spoiled brat who right now has her eye on Sam. She tried with Henri and Andrew but Tiff called her out on it. So far, Sam has been able to avoid dancing with her and has kept Paige by his side throughout. Whether he's using Melody as an excuse to be with Paige tonight or not, I'm not so sure.
"We should be coming for things like these often" Andrew whispers in my ear as we dance.
"Sorry but we have a budget and can't afford fancy dresses all the time.And—" He spins me and dips me. "I would rather be at home with you"
He lifts me back up, " You always know exactly what to say"
We made up our minds never to ask our parents for money, to be independent. So all the inheritance, per say, we keep in the bank for when we truly need it. We switch and now I'm dancing with Henri. So that's the rule here. After every dance you change your partner. A rule Sam is hell bent on breaking because of Melody. I think it's a good idea, it gives you the chance to meet everyone at the party.
"I wanted to ask you something," Henri says.
"Sure,"
"I want to ask Tiffany to marry me," I miss my step and almost fall but Henri catches me. Luckily, no one notices it. I spot Tiff happily twirling in Andrew's arms. I smile.
"Really?"
He nods, " I want your blessing"
"Of course you have it," I smile at him. " But shouldn't you be asking Sam."
"I have"
"And you still asked me?"
"You are her best friend, if you give me your blessing I'm sure she'll say yes"
The song ends.
I give him a quick hug, "I'm so happy for you".
From the corner of my eyes I see Jonathan disappear through one of the French doors. I follow him. He is facing the other way and doesn't see me come in but he probably senses it because he stands up from his slouch
"What are you doing out here?" I ask him
"Getting some air," He turns halfway to me.
"Have you been ignoring me?" I ask. " You left the house without any of us noticing and you haven't said a word since. Are you okay?"
"I'm not ignoring you, London. I can never ignore you" He says. "It just hurts, okay, every time he touches you, kisses you, it hurts. I couldn't stand there and watch you run into his arms and the way you kissed him—. Did you actually expect me to stand there and what applaud for you afterwards? If only I didn't leave you never would have met him. You are mine, London, not his"
"Maybe if you stayed I wouldn't have met him, maybe I would have. Either ways I did and I'm going to spend my life with him. You have to understand that, Nathan. I'm not trying to hurt you " I say.
"He's just a substitute for me"
"Don't ever say that. He's not" I say. " I love him and if you are going to continue being a dick, you can be be yourself and sulk but I won't stand here and let you insult him"
I make a move to leave but he grabs my hand, " I'm sorry. I have had a lot to drink"
"Everything okay?" Andrew chooses that moment to appear. Jonathan lets go of my hand.
"Yh, lets get back to the party" I say and place my hand into Andrew's. "When you are sober, we'll talk"
I go back to the party with Andrew. I take a champagne flute off the tray of a passing waiter.
"Did he say something? You seem upset"
"No," I say. "I'm fine. Let's just have fun, okay?"
He pulls me close and I lay my head on his shoulder.
"When we get back we should buy the house" He says.
I pull back,a smile on my face , "I thought you said we should wait"
We found a beautiful house but Andrew said it's too early that we can stay in our apartment until we decide to have a family. It's my dream house, I've have always imagined having a family in a house like that. It had a huge backyard, and about four bedrooms, a library and something like a den.
"I'm feeling spontaneous tonight"
"I can see that," I laugh.
"My parents would like me to inform you to move to the garden. The new year is almost here" Melody announces.
Our little group finds a corner at the back of the crowd. The garden is big enough for everyone to have their own space.
"Before midnight I have to ask you something," Henri says to Tiff.
He gets down on one knee in front of her and pulls out a ring still in its velvet box. Tiff immediately starts crying. Henri looks like his about to die, if she rejects him I think he would.
"This isn't exactly when I was going to propose, I had a whole dinner planned but—"
"Yes!" Tiff gets down on the floor and into his arms. "A thousand times, yes"
"You didn't even let me finish, I had a whole speech planned" He laughs
She laughs but the tears haven't stopped falling.
Sam is the first to break the silence, "Congratulations". I can't stop smiling, it takes a while for the rest of them to figure out what's happening and when they do there's a lot of congratulations going around. A group nearby heard the commotion and they joined in.
They get off the floor and Sam pats his back, "Welcome to the family"
I hug Tiff.
"You knew," She says over my shoulder. She knows me too well. "And you made me think–"
"He told me today" I say.
"I'm engaged" She says like she can't believe it.
"You are" I tighten my hold on her.
"10......9......8—" People start counting down around us. We pull apart and clean the tears off our faces. Thank God for waterproof mascara. I don't think I want to look like a raccoon.
"1.....Happy new year" Some people scream. I just grab Andrew and kiss him. When we pull away we both whisper happy new year to each other. I open my eyes to meet his.
His green eyes stare back with so much happiness and love I didn't think it was possible.