by Linda West
With that, Devlin twirled me around, and my dress floated around me like a cloud. I had never felt so beautiful. He held me close and expertly maneuvered us around the dance floor and away from the staring crowd and out onto the veranda.
Outside, we were alone with the stars.
It was a winter wonderland of lights and snow. Fire torches dotted the perimeter to ward off the chill, and twinkly lights hung from them. It was stunning.
I looked around us. "This is breathtaking."
"You're breathtaking," Devlin said, as he slid his strong arm tighter around my waist. His legs were pressed to mine, and I was finding it hard to think or breathe. His hand on my back, the stars overhead, it seemed like a fairytale come true.
We looked into each other's eyes, and we danced. With the moon and the stars and my heart beating so wildly, it made me wish I had done more cardio at the gym.
His smile shone, and he spun me in circles and gazed in my eyes, and I closed my eyes and smiled as I listened to the romantic song of true love.
That's when the night was sliced by some of the worst off-tune singing I'd ever heard. Would it be cliché to say that, nonetheless, it was music to my ears?
"Ten minutes ago, I saw you. I looked up when you came into the room. It gave me the feeling the room had no ceiling or floor." Devlin half sang it in my ear along with the music.
I pulled back and laughed at him.
"Let me tell you something, Devlin. You don't have to whisk me off my feet. I'm a sure deal; you paid for me."
He bowed dramatically. "I did."
He spun me around in a circle, singing and laughing. I'd never seen this carefree and joyous side of him.
He threw open his arms.
"I have found her!" He sang loudly, and out of tune.
"I have found him!" I returned, equally as dramatically, throwing my arms in the air. "He's the light of the star of my eyes."
"We are dancing…" Devlin took my hands in his and spun me around again in a circle of stars and laughter.
"We are flying…" I sang breathily.
"And she's taking me back to the sky."
He pulled me in close, and his eyes sparkled with the light of the candles and my diamond tiara. I felt myself go cold with fear and hot with fever at the same time. Like when your temperature is so high, you can't decide if you're sweating or freezing. I had to get out of here.
This was too dreamy for me. This feeling was exactly what I wanted to stay away from. I knew how love went. Love started like this and went straight to two gallons of Rocky Road and a carton of tissues. What goes up must come down. There was no escaping physics except in my fantasies.
Devlin was staring at me now as if reading my mind. He hugged me to him closer, and I felt safe and scared all at once.
"You're not singing your part," he teased softly into my ear.
"I'm not," I said stupidly.
I didn't know what I felt except that I didn't want this moment to stop. If I could just freeze a moment and keep it safe forever. If only.
He sang into my ear again. "In the arms of my love, I'm flying over mountain and meadow and glen, and I like it so well that for all I can tell I may never come back to Earth again…" He pulled back and took both my hands and looked at me tenderly.
"We may never come back to Earth again." We sang the last part together.
He hit the last high note off tune on purpose, and we both burst out laughing. He was doing such an excellent job of faking as if he liked me, I almost believed it!
I looked around, suddenly self-conscious of our bubble of closeness, expecting to see Mr. Somerset in the corner witnessing this romantic display as proof of our devotion. Devlin was smart like that. But we were alone.
I realized that this show had been for me, and I caught my breath. I didn't understand until strong, forceful arms pulled me into a passionate embrace.
Soft, sure lips found mine. I kissed Devlin back with abandon and melted against him.
I had never felt so enchanted as I did in this magical moment. Time went by, but I would have never known. My world was filled with gray eyes and full lips and the feel of every bit of Devlin Somerset pressing up against me.
"How miraculous that I would find you. Where were you hiding my whole life, little one?" He put my face in his hands and kissed me again, long and hard–and on purpose. When he pulled back from me, I almost fell into the pool of him. That's when Sofia screamed.
"Devlin! What is the meaning of this?"
Her shrill voice cut through the air like a chainsaw breaking our precious bubble.
We broke away from each other and looked at the small crowd that had made its way out onto the veranda to witness the scene. My face flamed with guilt as soon as I recognized her.
Sofia Denario looked AMAZING! Of course.
She was dressed in all red and looked like the darn bombshell she was. She had diamonds draped all over her, except for one noticeably naked finger.
I instinctively stuck my hands behind my back and tried to shrink up to a smaller, less noticeable size of myself like Fred Flintstone when he wanted to disappear.
More people had made their way onto the balcony. Sissy headed the group. She looked at me with her scary fake contacts. She had a self-satisfied look on her face, and I saw Devlin's father was behind her with a sad expression.
I let out a deep breath. This was worse than any nightmare I had imagined when I went over my list of worst-case scenarios. This level of nuclear disaster at Mr. Somerset's special Mistletoe Ball had not even been on the list. This could not have been any worse.
And then I saw the paparazzi—and of course, that was worse.
I slapped my hand to my head and left it there to shield myself from the photographers and hoped to goodness my white hair and fancy getup made me unrecognizable to anyone that might see me on TV.
How would I explain this to my father? I had only told him that I had to stay four days, not any details. And my friends? Or worse yet, how to explain to The Tree Lovers Coalition about cavorting with the worst of our enemies?
"Devlin! How could you leave me?" Sofia raged, encouraged by the publicity. She began cursing in Spanish, and her hands were flying around at hyper speed, so she looked like she was in a Karate competition. Lights popped, and the cameras clicked, documenting every bit of the show.
Devlin's mouth flew open in surprise. He looked back and forth between Sissy and Sofia.
"Sofia? How did you know where I lived–how did you get here?" Devlin sputtered.
His eyes met Sissy's, and he shook his head.
Suddenly, Sofia screamed at the top of her lungs like she was being bludgeoned, which I must admit I might have considered if the darn cheese knife wasn't so dull.
"You!? You?!" she shrieked, pointing at me.
Sofia's large lips opened. "I know you! You're the unattractive lady chauffeur who drove us."
I wished I could have sunk through the floor.
Sissy snorted out a triumphant laugh. "I knew it."
Now Sofia was jumping up and down, flapping every extremity she had in a full-blown Latina breakdown. I was hoping she might blow her top right out of there and fly away, but no.
She turned to Devlin and shouted amidst more rapid hand waving.
"Why is the chauffeur wearing my ring!?"
She lunged over and grabbed my hand from behind my back. I yelped as she started tugging at the huge diamond on my finger. I looked around in shock as she jerked my arm around in an unsuccessful attempt to yank it off my hand. She obviously didn't know how much I bloated when I ate cheese. My lactose induced fat knuckle would not yield.
All the guests stood mute in witness to this embarrassing debacle. Some of them helped themselves to the lavish buffet while they watched the drama unfold.
Devlin had his arms around Sofia's waist, trying to pull her off me, and Sofia had my wrist in a death grip and was violently twisting the ring back and forth in an attempt to free it fr
om the fat knuckle.
"Mine! Fake! Fraud!" Sofia railed as she tugged on the unyielding engagement ring.
"Oww! Oww!" I said, pulling my hand back.
She stamped her feet in double time, throwing a fit. She threw her arms in the air and stared at the heavens.
"Why, Devlin, why?"
Neither God nor Devlin bothered to answer, but a stunning redhead stepped forward and said,
"I assume the same reason Devlin asked me to be his last-minute date. What is going on here, Devlin?"
The crowd turned to look at the newcomer.
Devlin looked like he'd seen a ghost.
"Vanessa? What are you doing here?" His voice cracked.
She stepped onto the stage and cast a disparaging look at Sofia and me. Sofia had stopped pulling at my finger long enough to take in the new beautiful woman admonishing Devlin.
"You did call me and ask me to be your date. Or fake fiancé. Didn't you?"
Devlin wiped his brow, and his father frowned. "Yes but, that was before..." He glanced at Sofia, who now had her big red lips around my finger, sucking on the ring in an attempt to lubricate it over the fat knuckle.
Gross.
I didn't want Sofia's huge fake collagen-pumped lips on my digits. I tried to shake her off, but she had suction like a Hoover.
My eyes met Devlin's. Devlin's eyes suddenly glazed over as another beautiful girl with black hair to her waist pushed through the crowd. She stopped in front of the others and looked at Devlin with her hands on her hips.
"And you called me as well, Devlin Somerset. Why don't you let us know what kind of game you're playing?"
Devlin ran his hands through his hair and let out his breath, but the trick didn’t seem to work this time.
"Estella."
He turned back and forth like a deer caught in the headlights, unsure what to say. His eyes met mine again. The camera clicking was deafening, and the bright lights nearly blinded me as the paparazzi had a field day.
There was no midnight bell ringing, but I knew when it was time for a quick exit. I pulled my finger out of Sofia's mouth and pushed her off me. I grabbed that ring, and I heaved the massive diamond off with one last painful tug over the fat knuckle. I handed it to Sofia triumphantly.
She looked down at it. "I loosened it up," she said matter-of-factly as she slipped it on her finger.
Devlin called out to the photographers. "Please, gentlemen, this is a special ball in honor of my deceased mother. I will ask you all to please take your footage and story and leave."
He waved his hand, and a group of servants appeared like a small army around the paparazzi and herded them out.
Sissy's eyes were gleaming like Snidely Whiplash throwing a poor family from their home. She had planned this whole torrid reveal, and she was enjoying every minute. Her mouth was pulled tight in a freaky smug smile.
The paparazzi and most of the crowd were finally ushered off the balcony when I caught Mr. Somerset's eyes.
I swallowed and mouthed, "I'm so sorry."
Chapter 42
I don't know what Mr. Somerset thought, but I could imagine how much I had fallen in his esteem. A true frog. I couldn't bear to think about it. I had lied to a good person because I needed money–even if it was for a worthy cause. Our folly had blown up in our face, and it was time to exit stage right. I had to get out of there, and fast. But before I went, I was taking Sissy down with me.
I've watched my share of horror films, and the heartless killers often begin as an average person that has been pushed too far.
Past the point of no return.
Past all forgiveness.
Past the point of faking or caring.
These are the crazies you really have to fear, because you know they have nothing to lose and thus anything goes. Head spinning. Projectile puking or possibly being able to set someone's entire body on fire just by the blaze of their eyes.
Yeah. That's exactly how I looked at Sissy right now.
I took in my surroundings and planned my attack accordingly. I kicked off my heels and headed in her direction. First, I was going to pull out every single one of her fake hair extensions. Next, the yanking of the spanks. I was going to pull those suckers down to her ankles and push her over before she got her footing. For the finale, I was going to dump the punchbowl all over her, including the fruit at the bottom. On second thought, maybe I'd start with the punchbowl.
I glanced at said punchbowl now and back at the Devil's spawn. I narrowed my eyes into two slits, nodded my head at her that it was officially on, and headed for that punchbowl.
To her credit, she was able to translate that.
In fact, she hiked up her dress and scooted her butt out of the ballroom at record speed, screaming all the way. The last of the lingering crowd broke into a murmur as they craned their necks to watch her go.
Sissy disappeared into the night, and if it had been at all a truly karmic world, she would've had some flying house land on top of her, and I could've taken her ruby slippers and clicked my butt home.
I gathered as much dignity as possible and raised my head high. Devlin was surrounded by three ex-girlfriends, all yelling at him at once.
Carol nodded to me in support, and I felt a little better to see that she appeared to harbor no bad feelings toward me.
I glanced at Mr. Somerset, and his face was neutral. I'm not a psychic, so I had no idea what that meant. But, I did know this was definitely the time to make a hasty retreat.
I did an awkward bow for some unknown reason and ran out of there as quickly as possible.
Like a big old baby. I ran right out of the ball and down the snowy path and away from all those questioning eyes.
I kept running and running, and I didn't care that it was cold and dark. I didn't care about anything but getting as far away from the ball and our horrid lie forever. To my credit, my gown did this floaty lofty thing behind me that I'm sure looked impressive as I ran, at least.
Chapter 43
I was almost finished packing when Devlin let himself into our room. "I'm sorry I messed this whole thing up," I said, afraid to meet his eyes.
"I'm so ashamed I lied to all those good people and your father. I need to talk to him. I hope he won't hold my father responsible, whatever we…"
Devlin put a tender finger to my mouth.
I stopped talking, and he looked at me seriously.
He put his hands on my shoulders. "My father already knows the truth. I told him everything before the ball when we were getting our tuxes fit."
"I don't understand. I'm so confused."
He gathered me into his arms. "I took your advice. I told him the truth. No regrets."
My mouth dropped open, but I recovered quickly. I cleared my throat. "You listened to me?"
He nodded.
"I told my father the truth of what I was facing at the company and how hard I'd been working—and that I needed him to trust me whether I was marrying the chauffeur's daughter or not."
I pulled away and looked up at him. “So, your father knows who I am?"
Devlin nodded. "You're not going to believe it, but I think that old coot was playing us."
I smiled.
"But when Sissy brought out Sofia and Vanessa and all the others…"
My eyes widened. "There were more."
Devlin shook his head. "It looked like a Ms. Universe pageant in there."
I put my hands to my head. He gently took them down and into his hands. He smiled lightly at me and said in a reassuring tone, "The point is, my father already knew the truth of why we had faked our engagement, and when Sissy pulled that act at his Mistletoe Ball, my father had had enough."
I closed my eyes and said a quick thank you to God. Somehow, my father wouldn't take any heat for my stupid mistakes.
"Allie, you were right about so many things. I had our accountant run the numbers on that hemp alternative you suggested."
Devlin grabbed me and lifted me up off t
he ground like a feather. He spun me around gleefully, smiling from ear to ear.
"You're brilliant. Hemp! All the creative geniuses I have working for me, and it took you to figure it out."
He dropped me down slowly and looked at me with light bouncing off his eyes. New crinkles appeared around his cheeks I'd never seen before as he brimmed over with the news.
"I'm glad I could be part of it."
A strange silence hung. It seemed our deal had been successful.
I bit my lip.
"Well, if everything is settled, I'm going to get my stuff packed…"
"But…" Devlin began.
I wiped away the tears that sprang to my eyes and pulled myself up tall. "I'd like to go home and spend…what’s left of Christmas…with my dad. If that's okay."
Devlin nodded.
I looked down at my hand. "Well, I guess our deal is over. I'm officially single again." I forced a smile.
Devlin's face scrunched up in a thought I couldn't read.
"Right. Well…that ring never suited you anyway. I always took you for the sapphire type. No man could want to marry you without celebrating those eyes in jewels."
He gazed into my eyes, and I trembled at the feeling I saw reflected there. But what did it matter? Life had dealt our hands. I was a chauffeur's daughter; he was a billionaire. Our charade was over, and it was time to go home to reality.
He went over to his desk and pulled out a pen and came back with a solemn look. He held out a check.
"Here's the check I owed you. You earned it."
I swallow hard as I looked down at the check—two hundred thousand dollars. I had done it. I had saved our house. My father was going to be so happy.
"Thanks," I mumbled. I put the check in my purse and felt my tongue grow big like a stranger in my mouth. I had nothing left to say. The dream was over. The fake love complete. Except for one thing.
