How weird. I guess you are if your mother held galas in places like this and you were an international supermodel. Hmmm. When Marshall looked over and smiled at me, I pushed that thought from my mind. It had never got in the way before, and I wouldn’t let it now.
I waited as he checked in and then joined him at the bank of elevators. We could go to the room for a little while and then come back down for the gala. I followed him into the elevator to drop off our bags in the room.
Inside it was extravagant, just like downstairs. Rich carpets and opulent wall hangings greeted us. I don’t think I’d ever experienced anything like it. There were chocolate-dipped strawberries and wine on the counter.
“Wow,” I said. “This is a bit much,” I popped out before I could stop it. Then I covered my mouth with both hands.
“I know. Tell me about it. But it just makes it easier for later if we’ve been drinking. To find a cab or driver later would be insanity, and no way are we walking back.” He walked over and wrapped his arms around me, his chin on my shoulder. “It’s okay, right?”
I turned around and looked over at him. “Yes, because I’m here with you.”
It was lucky we’d already gotten dressed because shortly later, Marshall got a text. His face went pale and he clenched his fists together. “What is it?”
“Nothing, just my mother. So, hey, I’ve got to go downstairs just now. You come whenever.” My face must have dropped because he then said. “No, wait. Text and I’ll come for you, or I’ll just be back up soon.” He gave me a quick kiss.
I texted Jamieson, and he said he’d be a couple of hours. I had no idea what to do with myself. Looking out the window, I could see the bustling roads down below. People scurried to and fro, and there was a constant stream of traffic.
I went to my duffle bag and unpacked my clothes and other items. Then Marshall appeared, with his brows creased. There was no joy in his eyes and his jaw was set in a straight line.
Rushing over to him, I said, “What, are you okay?”
He looked at me, as if belatedly realizing I was even there. His eyes looked glazed over. “Oh, hey.” He shook his head and then patted me on the shoulder. “Right, okay, so …”
I pulled him closer to me and kissed him deeply. “Do you want to just stay up here? Hide from the world.” Even as I spoke, I knew it was a ridiculous idea.
“No. That would create even more issues. Come on.” He gave me a genuine look then. “And please, don’t hate me after this.”
Downstairs, he pulled me behind him into a grand ballroom. He walked stiffly, as if he was a robot. I couldn’t see this ending well, especially with his parting comment upstairs. But I pulled my shoulders back and walked into the room, standing tall.
“Mum, this is my friend, Stuart. He’s an artist.” If the way she turned up her nose at me was any indication, she was unimpressed.
I put my hand out. “Hello, wonderful to meet you, ah—”
“Celeste,” Marshall said, just as she said, “Mrs. Easton.”
I decided it was definitely best not to rock the boat on this occasion. In other situations, I would have been cheeky as hell, but Marshall seemed in a bad place as it was, and I wouldn’t make that worse for him.
“Mrs. Easton, good to meet you,” I said, putting my hand out again. “What a wonderful venue for your event.” I sensed Marshall look over at me, probably wondering who had taken over my body, with my over the top polite ways. I wondered as much myself.
She proceeded to ignore my hand, and me, and looked at Marshall. “Come on, son. The Emersons are here with their daughter, Giselle, who was asking after you. Your father couldn’t make it again. Some hush-hush international conference.” Glancing at me, she continued. “He’s a bigwig CEO for the Forsyth Energy Alliance, you know.”
I had to control myself from rolling my eyes. I bit my tongue even though I wanted to ask, “Is that where all your hot air comes from then?” I put my hand on Marshall’s arm for a moment, and she tried to put herself between us. Not going to happen. “Marshall, I raised my voice, isn’t Carter due soon?” I really had no idea when he’d arrive, but it sounded plausible.
Then I felt something sharp dig into my wrist. Looking down, I saw it was Marshall’s mum’s nails sticking into me. She was discreet, as Marshall seemed none the wiser.
Looking at his watch, he looked at me and winked. “That’s right. Yes, I better hang out here.”
She grabbed him then and tried to pull him away, just as I put my arm at his back. “Oh, so sorry, Celeste, I didn’t mean to bump you like that.”
She only kept trying to pull Marshall along.
I’ll just go to the bar and get our drinks,” I said, looking directly at Marshall. “Come back soon.” The ludicrous stare she gave me was worth every second.
At the bar, I had to take a few deep breaths. I kept thinking, I will not make this worse for Marshall, but it took everything in me not to put her in her place. What a piece of work.
I got the bartender’s attention and ordered a gin and tonic. At this point, I could only hope Marshall got away from the Emersons quickly or that Jamieson would show up. Otherwise I’d end up drowning my sorrows and going to find Damien to hang out with.
I turned around and scanned the ballroom. Women in gowns and men in suits. Waiters walked around with appetisers and people mingled together. I tried to spot Marshall, to no avail. I couldn’t decide if I would go and rescue him, if I did see him. Would that make things worse?
I checked my phone and took another sip of my drink. No one paid much attention to me either way. I could probably disappear upstairs and no one would be none the wiser. I sighed.
Jamieson had texted he’d be over soon. Thank god for that. Just then someone came up beside me. I looked over to see Marshall. “Oh, my god. Did you survive?” I decided going for humour would be the best option rather than saying something like “Who the hell does she think she is.”
“I need whisky. Now.” I’d made fast friends with the bartender, Nate, so I ordered a whisky and passed it over to Marshall, who threw it back in one gulp.
“Better?” I queried. I wanted to hug him, kiss him, hold him. Dammit.
He sat on a stool facing me. Close, but not too close. “Having you here makes it better. Don’t worry, my mum always pulls this stuff. With you here or not. But I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. She’s the idiot. Will that be it for the night?” I asked, not sure whether I wanted to know or not.
“If I have anything to do with it. Come with me,” He put out his hand, which I grabbed a bit too over optimistically.
I didn’t really want to ask, but I blurted, “Are you sure?”
“Yes, come on.”
As we reached the throng of people, he dropped my hand, but always stayed close. He introduced me to all kinds of people, who I’d never remember, but it was good to be there with him.
I nodded when required and found it rather boring. There were no in-depth conversations, and everyone was obviously just an acquaintance. After a while, he pulled me away to a plush sofa in a corner. There was a menu on the table in front of us.
“Much better,” I said as I leaned over to pick up the menu. “Somehow, I’m hungry. Want to share something?” Someone came over to take our drink order and I felt a bit more relaxed for the first time tonight.
Marshall smiled and sat close to me on the love seat. “Well, I’m good with whatever you’d like, but I hate nachos.”
“What did the poor nachos ever do to you?” I said and laughed. He fell back laughing too. I could sense someone staring at us and looked up to see the icy stare of Celeste Easton. I wouldn’t let her get the best of me. “Hi,” I said, offering a pinky wave.
She continued to glare at us and then said to Marshall, “Can I have a word?” and thrust her head to the side.
“Sure,” he said and pointed to the seat next to us.
“Alone.” She grit her teeth and it wasn’t a pretty
sight. “You are acting like a petulant child.”
“No, you are mistaken. Anything you want to say, you can say it with Stuart here.” An awkward silence descended up on us.
When our drinks were brought over, Celeste’s whole demeanour changed as she thanked the waiter for our drinks. As soon as he left, she was back to the ice queen.
My phone made a sound and I checked to see Jamieson had arrived and was in the lobby. My escape for a moment at least. “Hey, Jamieson is here, I’ll just go get him, okay?” I looked over and asked Marshall. I squeezed his thigh, which did not go unnoticed by his mum. “Be right back.”
I jumped up and weaved my way to the lobby. Hoping Marshall could fend for himself for a few minutes, I felt I better warn Jamieson slightly. He wasn’t sleeping with Marshall or anything, but I couldn’t see him receiving a warm welcome.
“Jamieson, hey, glad you made it. Wow, you look amazing,” I said, admiring his dark-fitted suit.
“Thanks, how’s it going? You look a bit stressed.”
I had no idea how he’d come to that conclusion, but there was no time to analyze. “Well, let’s just say, his mum isn’t a fan and leave it at that. Come along, we’ll get you a drink and all will be well.”
Back at the seating area, I was more relieved than I realized that his mum had disappeared.
“Hey, we’re back. Did you survive?”
“Hi, Jamieson.” He pulled me down next to him, seeming relaxed. “Barely.”
“Marshall, hey, thanks for inviting me. I’ve never experienced something like this.”
“Oh, it’s all just for show. Get yourself a drink,” he said waving over a waiter.
“What did your mum have to say?”
“Well, she didn’t get around to it. Someone much more important than me came by, so she left with them.” He sighed. “Forget her and let’s order some food. We chatted and laughed and it was almost like we were in a local pub, not at some fancy schmancy gala.
“Hey, Marshall, is that the actor from Triton Nine over there?” he said, tapping his fingers on his knees.
I wrapped my arm over Marshall’s shoulders dramatically. “Oh, Jamieson, I thought it was Marshall you always wanted to know more about.”
He laughed. “Don’t want to step on your toes, you know.” Then he looked over at Marshall. “No offence, Marshall.”
“None taken. And as I’ve never seen the movie, I’m not sure. You could go ask him.” His phone buzzed and he looked at it. Marshall looked like he was going to lean in to kiss me, but resisted just at the last moment. “I’ll just be right back. Jamieson, control yourself.”
We all laughed as he left. “He’s in a great mood,” Jamieson noted.
“I know, right? At first, it was a bit stressful, but it’s much improved. I’m hoping for no drama.”
Just then Marshall and Carter arrived. I stood up. “Hey, Carter, good to finally meet you in person.” He hugged me. Then I introduced Jamieson.
An electric current seemed to fly between them. No, I must be imagining things.
Carter hugged Marshall and then he looked at Jamieson and paused. Weird. “Ah, Jamie, is it you?”
“Jamieson.” He stood completely still, just staring. I couldn’t decipher the look in his eyes at all.
“Come with me, Jamie,” Carter said. Who was Jamie, I wondered. Baffled. “We’ll leave these two lovebirds alone.”
What the fuck? I thought. I was about to protest, but he was gone.
I looked at Marshall. “Do you have any idea what just went on there?”
His eyes darted side to side, looking as confused as I felt. “Nope, no idea. But they’re grown men. Let’s leave them to it.” He draped his arm behind me and then sat up straight again when our food was brought over.
After a few bites, he asked me if I’d be okay if he went to do the rounds. I told him of course, but don’t expect any food to still be here when he returned. He gave me a beautiful smile and left. I munched at the potato skins—well, in any normal restaurant, that would be their name—but they had been labelled something much more fancy. I took a sip of my drink and wondered if I should go and make the rounds too, but thought better of it. Earlier had been painful enough.
Someone came to sit across from me. Assuming it would be Jamieson or Carter, I greeted them as I would a friend. “Hello.”
To my surprise, it was Mrs. Easton. In a deep, almost manly voice, she started talking. “You will keep your mucky paws off of my Marshall and leave now. Do you hear me?”
She was threatening me. The gloves were off then.
I didn’t move but grit my teeth. “You are a right piece of work. I am going nowhere. You have a lot of nerve to talk to me this way.”
Just then Carter and Jamieson appeared—not looking at each other but obviously trying to act friendly—and her demeanour changed completely. The Jekyll and Hyde routine she had going was quite remarkable.
She stood up and brushed away some imaginary lint off her immaculate outfit, nodded to the guys, and walked off.
They sat down and proceeded to help themselves to the food.
“What were you guys up to?” I said.
“Went to the bathroom,” they replied in unison, sounding very rehearsed. “Where’s Marshall?”
Oh yeah, sure, I thought. I couldn’t pinpoint what was going on at all. “Had to mingle or something. Actually, he’s been awhile.” I made a mental note to grill them both later. But like Marshall said, they could do as they pleased and didn’t need to tell me a thing.
I leaned back. “Carter, you’ve been to things like this, right? This is foreign to me, really. Have you met Marshall’s mum before?” I asked, trying to sound neutral.
“No, not yet.” He let out nervous laughter. “I mainly came because Marshall asked. But yes, been to many. It’s mostly a lot of schmoozing and that kind of thing. Comes with the territory.”
“What was your favourite photoshoot?” I asked. They weren’t talking to each other, and the atmosphere had become strained.
“Hmmm, hard to choose. There was one in Toronto …” He glanced at Jamieson and then looked away very quickly.
A loud argument seemed to be erupting across the ballroom. I couldn’t tell what was going on from where we were sitting, but we all got up.
I could see Marshall surrounded by a large group. His face was red. What the hell. I wanted to punch whoever was making him upset.
I pushed through the crowd with Jamieson and Carter at my heels, to see his mother across from him.
“You are an absolute disgrace. To me. To the family. To your career.” People were surrounding them like flies, obviously wanting to get any glimpse of the commotion. It was rather embarrassing.
I pushed between them, trying to extinguish this before it blew up any more. “Don’t you want to take this somewhere else,” I said, glancing around at the crowd.
“No, actually, and keep your nose out of this. It’s between me and my son.” She had the audacity to shove me to the side. “No son of mine will act like this. I always knew you were weird, but I thought it was just a phase. What will the magazines say? You’ll never get another modelling contract, and good riddance.”
She continued spluttering out insults and raising her voice. Marshall looked traumatized and started shaking. I tried to put myself between them, but Carter pulled me back.
“What a waste of space. You come here and embarrass me and everyone else with your little friend.” She looked pointedly at me, obviously classing me no higher than a piece of shit on her shoe. “An absolute disgrace. Disgusting. Just get out of my sight.” And then she slapped him. Actually slapped him across his face.
He looked so horrified and then took off running and didn’t even give me or anyone else a second look. I ran to chase after him but was torn and wanted to give her a piece of my mind as well. No, Marshall was more important.
By the time I got through to the lobby, there was no sign of him. Fuck. What an utter bi
tch she was. I was trying to focus on being angry instead of being upset. I called his cell frantically, but there was no answer, then I shot him a quick text.
Carter and Jamieson appeared. “Oh, my god. What the fuck, man. Is he okay?”
“I can’t find him,” I screamed, hysterically. Running to the bathrooms, I checked under every stall, but there was no one. Fuck. I didn’t even have our room key, and the room was in his name. I slid down the wall of the corridor and rubbed my face.
“I called him too. Nothing,” Carter said.
Jamieson pulled me up. “Calm down. Okay, guys. You have a room here, right? Let’s check there before we freak out.”
So we all ran up the stairs and had bypassed the elevator. Maybe a stupid move given the alcohol in us. Knocking on the door, there was no reply. Carter had gotten a room, too, so we all went back there to try and figure out what to do next.
“Please, let him be okay,” I murmured.
Jamieson rubbed my back. And then we followed Carter to his room. Carter texted him too. I still hadn’t heard anything. Fuck, I hated sitting around doing nothing. Hours seemed to pass.
Pushing my hands through my hair, I wanted to cry, but didn’t. I took a deep breath. Then my phone rang in my hand, scaring the shit out of me. I saw it said Brenna’s name. “Brenna, have you heard from him? Is he with you?”
“Stuart. Yes, he’s curled up on the couch with Jess. I, ah, think he’s drunk a whole bottle of vodka or something. He practically crawled up the steps outside.”
“Fuck.” I sighed. “Did he say what happened?”
“Not really.”
“Okay, I’ll tell you some time. Keep him safe for me.”
“Of course. He’s kind of mumbling all kinds of things.”
I hit End and told the guys he was okay. “I feel so helpless.”
“Look, my driver is downstairs. You know he’s safe. Let’s get you back to him.”
I wanted to hug him and did just that. “You are a good man, Carter.”
He made a call and when we got downstairs, there was a car waiting. We all clambered in. I looked at my phone and saw it was 2:00 a.m. Not the end to the night I’d expected.
Marshall: Mayfair Model Series Page 18
