“Oh. Wow. I’m already at the office.”
“Where else would you be?”
“I was functioning on auto-pilot. Have you ever been so deep in thought that you’re not aware of your surroundings?”
“Not while I’m driving a car. That’s not exactly safe.”
Ellie giggled.
“What were you thinking about anyways?”
The young woman bit her lip. “Can I bring someone tomorrow night, to the gala?”
Edric nodded his head slowly and stared blankly at his desk. “Yeah, sure, of course. Go for it.” He said in a hollow tone.
He probably hates Cassie and doesn’t want me to actually bring her… Ellie thought.
“I mean, if you don’t want me to bring someone, I can just go alone.”
“No.” Edric said in the most cheerful voice that he could muster. Ellie could see right through it though. “Bring whomever you’d like.” Edric wearily smiled at his assistant.
“Thank you.” She breathed a sigh of relief.
One thing done. I’ll feel so much better with Cassie here with me. Her boss sounded a little off about—Cassie could get under his skin sometimes. I’ll just keep Cassie away from Edric at the party.
“Is there anything you—?”
“No. Just do what you have to do.” Edric said.
Ellie bit her lip. “Are you sure that I can bring someone? If you think it’s a waste of money…”
“Yes, I’m sure, Eleonore. If it’s all the same to you, I would like to get back to work.”
“Okay.”
***
Edric turned his attention to the computer to signal the end of this little exchange. He wished that Ellie would leave the room for a while so he could have a moment to compose himself. A part of him wanted to fire her on the spot but he knew that was wrong. It’s not her fault that I like her…
Edric thought of the dress that he got Ellie for the event. He’d hired a stylist to pick out a designer gown for her and he was going to surprise her with it the day of the event because he figured that she would pick out a poor, ill-fitting outfit since she was always so reluctant to treat herself. Well, I probably can’t give her that dress now—I don’t want to step on her date’s toes.
The rest of the day was difficult for Edric. Since he had everything prepared on his end for the gala tomorrow, he had nothing to do but think. As much as his mind wandered, it returned to one central point: Ellie and her date. He then wondered what he should do. He never even thought of bringing a date. He just assumed that Ellie would go by herself and he would go by himself. But then he started to think that he ought to bring a date—there was a model that he met a few weeks ago that was blatantly flirting with him. She was pretty—tall with a flat stomach and abnormally large breasts. She had long blonde hair that fell to her lower back, which reminded Edric of Ellie. Aria, he believed her name was. He couldn’t quite remember. There were so many girls like her—up and coming models that wanted their fifteen minutes of fame and a taste of a luxurious lifestyle for a bit. Or perhaps they wanted to be the next Mrs. Kensington and all that entailed. He didn’t know or care about their motivations too much: the arrangement seemed to work, for the most part. He would get sex and someone to accompany him to an event, they would get fame and the princess treatment for a few days.
I’ll call Aria tonight and I’ll bring her. Edric decided. He glanced over at Ellie, who was diligently typing away at her laptop. And I think I’ll go pick up Owen from school now. I can’t stand being here right now.
“Hey, Ellie.”
“Is everything all right? You’ve sounded upset the whole day.”
He nodded his head. “Everything’s fine.”
“Are you sure? If you want to talk to—”
Edric held up his hand in a ‘stop’ motion. “I’m okay. I’m going to pick up my brother from school and take the rest of the day off. You’re welcome to do the same.” He did a halfway-decent job of hiding the sadness and irritation in his voice.
“When should I meet you tomorrow to go over things at the last minute?”
“Um.” Edric pursed his lips together and looked up at the sky. “Let’s meet at around five at my place. That gives us enough time to get ready before hand, meet for an hour, split to meet our dates, and then arrive at the event for seven-thirty.”
“Sounds good to me.” Her voice cracked. Now she looked sad.
Edric nodded his head curtly. “See you tomorrow.”
***
“I think you’re making a mistake.” Owen said to his brother. This time, he was laying down in Violet’s chaise instead of being seated in his usual chair. Edric was resting on the couch, per usual. Instead of fidgeting with a stress ball, he twiddled with the large pearl necklace that he planned to give to Ellie along with the dress. He twisted each pearl around and sighed.
“What’s done is done.”
“You could always call Aria back and say that you’re not going to bring her after all?”
“I’ve never gone to one of these events alone before. The paparazzi would have a field day.”
“And that didn’t cross your mind until today? And since when did you care about the paparazzi?” Owen asked pointedly.
Edric laughed. He predicted that his brother would be a wonderful trial lawyer with his pointed questions. Somedays he felt like Owen was cross-examining him and he was a witness. The CEO wondered how his baby brother grew up to be so sharp and savvy. He was proud of his brother, but still hated to be on the receiving end of one of his interrogations.
“Lack of oversight on my part.”
Edric moved from twisting each individual pearl on the strand to twirling the entire necklace around on his finger.
“So, you were going to go alone until today?”
“Yeah.”
“And let me guess, until today Ellie was going to go alone too?”
“Yes.”
“And did Ellie ask you if she could bring someone?”
Edric twirled the pearl necklace around his finger too fast. It flew off his finger and spun off onto the ground ten feet away from him. He dejectedly looked at it on the hard-wood floor, wishing he had the will to get up and get the jewelry off the ground but he was too weary to be bothered at the moment.
“Is that a yes?”
“Yes.” Edric replied, sighing.
“So that’s why you’re bringing this random model.”
“Look, I happen to be very interested in Aria. I’m even bringing her jewelry.” He pointed to the necklace on the ground.
“We both know that you didn’t get that for Aria, I digress.”
“But I’m giving it to Aria.”
“Which is a mistake. Give it to Ellie.”
“Look, Ellie’s off the market. All right? And so am I.”
Owen rolled his eyes.
“It’s not something I want to discuss.”
“I’ll drop it.”
“Okay, thank you.”
“But before I do…” Owen continued to speak. The older brother sighed and rolled his eyes. “I’m going to say this: you’re going to regret bringing Aria. If you like Ellie, just say something to her. You know that she’s not going to say anything to you so say something to her.”
“But she’s taken and that’s that.”
“But you don’t know that for sure. I think you’re fucking yourself over by jumping to conclusions.”
Ordinarily, Edric would scold Owen for swearing like that but he just didn’t have the heart to at that time. Instead, he sighed. “I wish I was, but I’m not. Ellie’s taken and it’s for the best anyways. We both know I’d rip a girl like her to shreds. She’s too good for me anyway.”
With that, the tall businessman stood up from the couch and then left the room.
***
Ellie arrived at Edric’s at five o’clock sharp. She was dressed in her black gown and her long white hair was gently curled, courtesy of Cassie. Even though her dre
ss looked terrible on her, her hair and makeup was fabulous. She even looked like she had eyebrows for once and Ellie side-swept her bangs to show them off. Her alabaster skin was lightly contorted and her violet eyes stood out with the eyeshadow and mascara that Cassie put on her. For once, Ellie actually felt beautiful.
When Rosemary greeted Ellie at the door, she smiled broadly and ushered her down the hallway and over to Edric’s study.
“Edric’s inside waiting for your report.” Rosemary said. She smiled coyly at the young woman and then wandered off down the hallway, humming softly to herself.
Ellie paused in front of the door and smoothed out the wrinkles in her dress. Suddenly, she felt insecure. Even though her face and hair looked great, she felt like she looked incredibly bony in her dress and wished that she was curvier, like Edric’s date probably would be. Ellie looked down at herself and noticed that her dress was starting to fray on top of everything. In just a split second, Ellie went from feeling very beautiful to very ugly.
I wish I didn’t have to go to this gala tonight.
Ellie sighed and gently knocked on her boss’s study’s door.
“Edric?”
“Come in.”
Ellie gently pushed the door open and stepped inside his study. It looked incredibly modern, like the rest of his home and his office. She didn’t spend much time taking in the new room—her attention was drawn to the pacing man dressed in a tuxedo. He looked even more handsome than usual; the tux was specifically tailored to him and showed off his broad shoulders and long legs. He looked like a movie star.
Edric looked at Ellie and smiled quickly and then frowned.
“What’s the status for today’s event?”
“Everything is all set. The press will arrive at seven. Guests will begin to arrive at seven-thirty in a red-carpet styled entrance. You’ll arrive at eight. I arranged a limo to pick you up from here. There will be socializing until eleven and then you’ll announce the new product and several celebrities will test it then. Then the gala will continue until around two in the morning. The clean-up crew will arrive at five and re-arrange the foyer to normal.” Ellie paused for a moment and then fumbled with her silver clutch to pull out a piece of paper. “I wrote a few remarks for you to say when you launch the product.” She handed him the paper.
His brown eyes quickly scanned the document. “This will do. Thanks.” He mumbled.
He still seems upset. I wonder what happened yesterday…
“I have a very small surprise for you.”
She raised both of her eyebrows and covered her mouth in surprise. “Oh, um, what is it?”
Edric walked back over to his desk, opened the bottom desk drawer, and pulled out a rectangular white box.
“It’s not a surprise if I tell you.” He gestured at the box. “Just open it. It’s nothing fancy.”
Ellie slowly opened the box and peered inside. It was a beautiful, silk, light-violet dress that was the exact same color as her eyes. she slowly pulled the gown out and inspected it closer—it was high cut, backless and looked like it was made especially for her.
“Don’t think much of it. I hired a stylist go get a dress for you. As a thank you for planning all of this. I figured that it’s the least I could do, seeing as you’ve stayed late almost every day making sure it goes smoothly. But, if you or your date is uncomfortable with this, then I understand and you don’t have to accept it.”
“Oh, it’s beautiful, Edric. Cassie won’t mind at all. Thank you very much for the gift and thinking of me.”
Ellie smiled and then frowned. She was happy that Edric thought of her but then she felt incredibly sad—it would almost be easier for Ellie if he was mean to her. That way she would stop liking him. The purple dress hurt Ellie more than any insult she could imagine. It served as a physical reminder that he cared about her in some sort of way but not romantically.
“Cassie?” Edric asked in disbelief.
“What about her?”
“You just mentioned her.”
“Um…w-we’re going together.”
“You’re going with your sister?”
“I’m sorry; I thought I already told you yesterday. If you changed your mind—”
“No, no.” Edric quickly shook his head. “It’s fine. I mean it.”
Ellie smiled. “Thank you for the dress. I’m going back to my apartment to put it on and to meet her. She’s expecting me at any moment.”
Edric nodded his head slightly and pulled out the note that Ellie slipped him earlier. “I’m going to memorize this speech for tonight. Thank you, again.”
“Thank you.” Ellie rushed out of the door, clutching the dress and the white box against her chest.
Chapter Fourteen
So far so good. Ellie thought to herself. The foyer of the Kensington Corporation was transformed from a place of business to a luxurious room filled with celebrities that Ellie had seen many of on TV. She was glad that she was dressed in her light purple dress, it made her feel slightly more confident.
She glanced at the clock. It was seven forty-five. Edric and his date, the model Aria, would be arriving shortly.
Cassie nudged her sister in the ribs. “Cool party. Thanks for inviting me to rub elbows with the swells.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Oh, look. Is that the Goodards?” Cassie pointed at a man who looked a little bit like Edric, being tall and muscular with brown hair. He was with a petite blonde. Ellie frowned; they reminded her of Edric and Aria—the one thing that she was trying not to think about.
Cassie waived her open palm in front of Ellie. “Hello, Earth to Ellie.”
She blinked and shook her head.
“Oh, sorry.”
“Hey, you seem distracted. The party’s set. The food’s delicious, the room beautiful and you even got all the little details right. You don’t have to worry anymore.”
“You’re right, Cassie. Although, you seem distracted yourself. You keep on looking at Charlie Logan and his wife. Why’s that?”
“No reason.”
“I think we should go over there and introduce ourselves.”
“I thought that you’ve already met Charlie Logan in person.”
“You should meet him.”
“Cassie, I don’t want anything to do with Charlie Logan. I told you—I’m out of this plan; I could never do that to Edric.”
“So, he’s Edric now?” Cassie raised an eyebrow.
Ellie blushed and looked towards her silver shoes. “I just can’t do it.”
“Well, I still would like to go over and see Logan.”
Ellie sighed. “Okay.”
The two women made their way across the foyer, moving past celebrities and paparazzi. Cassie smiled as Logan grew closer-and-closer to her.
“Logan!” Cassie called out.
Ellie took a few steps back so she was about ten feet away from them. This entire situation made her just feel sick. Just standing in Logan’s presence made Ellie feel treasonous.
“I’m sorry, do I know you?”
“Cassie Kent.” The private detective said through gritted teeth.
“Oh!” Logan threw his hands up in the air. “The private detective I hired last year. I’m sorry. Terrible memory. This is my wife, Madeline. Madeline, this is Cassie Kent.”
A well-dressed woman that looked like she was in her early forties outstretched her hand. Cassie shook it.
Cassie eyed the woman up and down. Madeline was about Cassie’s height and wore a blue dress that looked a little similar to the red-head’s dress. Madeline looked about twenty years older than the private detective and a lot wealthier too, being adorned with jewels and all.
“Cassie, you say? Pleasure to meet you. Thank you for helping me find my cat last year.”
“Oh. Um. You’re welcome.”
Cassie bit her lip. “Yeah.”
“Well, my wife and I are going to get some drinks. It was a pleasure to see you again, Cassie.”
>
With that, Logan and his wife wandered away. His hand was draped on the small of her back.
The private detective returned to Ellie and smiled. Ellie could tell that her sister was upset but couldn’t figure out what about.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
The room suddenly quieted and the crowd swarmed to the door. There was a barrage of camera flashes. Reporters and TV crews crammed together and shouted questions at the CEO and his date.
The sisters watched the fuss. Edric Kensington had arrived. A tall, busty woman with a pancake-flat stomach clung to his arm. She was dressed in a shimmering gold dress that matched her blonde hair and Ellie recognized the fashion model from seeing her on television and on magazine covers in the supermarket. She believed her name was Aria.
Aria looked happy, as she waved and smiled at the cameras. Edric, on the other hand, looked very disinterested and dejected. He scanned the room periodically and waved to the press and occasionally stopped to make comments.
Ellie’s heart dropped; her stomach flip-flopped and heart fluttered.
At least Edric’s happy. Ellie pursed her lips. He was never going to be with me anyway.
After about ten minutes, the press calmed down. Edric and Aria wandered about the room, mingling, which Ellie knew he hated. She did her best to ignore him, he was on a date, after all, and it wasn’t her place to impose. Besides, she had Cassie there. Although, her sister seemed to be more interested in her phone than her company at the moment.
***
Cassie slyly texted Charlie Logan, informing them that the two had to talk. She hoped that his seeing those dreaded words on his phone screen would give him some common sense; she checked her phone every thirty seconds to see if he responded.
About ten minutes after the infamous ‘we need to talk’ text, Cassie finally got the response that she was looking for: Logan agreed to meet her behind the building.
“I gotta go, El, I’ll be back in twenty minutes or so.”
Cassie made her way outside and to the back of the building. With every step she took, she got angrier. When she finally saw Charlie standing outside, she was about ready to deck him.
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