I lay in bed for a few extra minutes before forcing myself to get up. The floor warms my cold feet as I walk to the bathroom and take a quick shower. Looking in the mirror, I debate if I should shave or not.
Nah. Screw it.
I'll put on the suit, and play pretend, mingling with people that would never even look at me twice if we met out in the real world or I showed up on a stretcher. But that's it. I'm not going to change who I am for them. I just can't. It's not right.
Splashing some cologne against my neck, I put on the suit. Wrapping the tie around my neck, I fumble with the knot, then give up altogether.
Fuck the tie, I think to myself, folding the collar down.
Running flat hands down the front of the suit, I pop the top button free on the button-up underneath. Combing my beard down, I run a hand through my hair, and the dirt in the thick cracks of my working hands, catches my eyes.
Holding them out in front of my face, it's easy for me to see I'm a wolf in sheep's clothing. These hands are a mirror into the reality of who I am. A man in a suit like this doesn't have hands like these.
Thick callouses, deep crevices, stained to the point I can't even wash it away anymore. These hands don't match the finesse of this suit.
Straightening my shoulders, my jaw hardens as I stare at my reflection. I don't care what these people think. I don't care what any of these people think. This suit doesn't wear me, and these people aren't going to dictate who I need to be.
I am this fucking suit.
Confidence surges through me. Siobhan isn't like these people either, and she shouldn't have to mimic them just to fit in. I'm going to be me, and maybe I'll be able to help her find the strength to be herself too.
“Mark, you ready?” Sia asks me from behind the door.
Yanking the door open, I arch a brow and tip my chin high. “Hell yeah, I'm ready.”
Her parents already left. Her mother wanted to get there while they were still setting up to make sure everything is done exactly how she wants.
“Did you tell your parents I'm coming yet?”
“I told them this morning.”
“How did they take it?”
She rolls her head on her shoulder, peering up at me with eyes that say I already know the answer.
“Well, they're going to feel really stupid when I walk in.”
“Why's that?” she asks.
“Because I look so damn good in this suit. I'm like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. Only I'm not a prostitute, and you're not Richard Gere.”
Sia laughs, slapping me against my chest. “I just hope this goes smoothly. I hate these things. They're always so uncomfortable.”
Slipping a hand over her thigh as we sit in the back of the town car her mother had sent for us, I dig my fingertips in her soft flesh. I'm going to take full advantage of any time we get alone.
“This one will be better because now you have me. I can make anything fun. You had fun at Jenna and Ryder's wedding, right?” She purses her lips into a tight smirk and nods. “See, consider me party luck. It'll be a good time no matter what.”
She reaches over and grabs my bicep, giving me a small smile. We stay like that the rest of the car ride, with my hand on her leg and her hand on my arm.
Pulling up to a fancy hotel, the driver gets out and opens the door for us. I get out first, then hold my hand out for her. Sia places her hand in mine, sending electric snaps up my shoulder and through my chest.
Her hand lingers for a second, before she slips it free to adjust her dress. She looks stunning. Her dress is a bright yellow with thin straps over her shoulders. The top cuts across her chest just below the top of her breasts, giving me a beautiful view from above.
The material hugs her around her torso, flowing out just after her hips. Her heels are silver, strappy, and the tips of her well-manicured, pink toenails make an appearance with each step.
I watch her change instantly. Everything about her morphs right before my eyes as if she's slipped into a different body. Her shoulders pull back, her arms dangle with precision at her sides. Her chin juts forward and her neck seems to elongate as we get closer to the front doors.
Like a chameleon, she puts on her rich skin, and floats through the doors wearing the money that emboldens her. She strolls through the room with me at her heels, heads turning and eyes growing wide.
They know exactly who she is like she's royalty.
I come from a world that knows you because your parents grew up there, and so did theirs, and theirs, and so on. People stopped to ask you how you are, how the crops have been that year, and what the Farmer's Almanac is predicting for the winter.
They know your great aunt Betty who's ninety-two and how she's always loved her rose bushes and won three blue ribbons for them at the local fair. They know your cousin got in trouble for stealing a street sign when he was fourteen, and they still talk about it today.
Here, in Siobhan's world, they know you for entirely different reasons. They see money. They see a name. They see power and fame and recognition. Dollar signs draw the wrong kind of people, and I can smell all the sharks here.
Charity event or not, these people didn't come here to help, they came here to gain. One name follows another, one hand washes the other. It's makes me sad that a place like this even exists.
I've been here one day, and I can see it boldly, like an orange vest during hunting season. It gives me a new perspective on Jenna and what world she lives in. How the people around her can manipulate, and how easily a child can get swept up in this world.
Sia nods at a few people, giving them a smile and a wave. Walking into the main hall, I'm met with another grand, eye catching mirage. It's all a show. And it sickens me.
Giant crystal chandeliers hang from the ceiling, glittering all over the walls with their lights. Lavish tables are decorated with fancy china, and silverware that fans out in front of swan folded napkins. Navy blue linen covers the tables, and in the center of every table is a glass vase filled with white stones and floating candles. Between the candles are buds of flowers, the edges painted with gold flakes.
“We're right here,” she says, walking to a table up front. “Don't be nervous,” she says in a whisper. “You'll be fine.”
“I'm not nervous,” I say matter fact. And I mean it. I promised myself I wasn't going to pretend anymore. It's not disrespectful to her parents or anyone else for me to just be me. “I am hungry, though.”
She eyes me curiously, and I can see the truth on her face. Sia is nervous as hell. She looks petrified, like she's waiting for the explosion of a bomb she knows is about to go off.
“I think you're the one that's nervous.” Smirking, I pull out the chair for her to sit down. “Your seat, Miss.” Holding my arm behind my back, I bow like the gentleman I am.
Country doesn't mean chivalry is dead. I might not be rich like these people, and used to expensive things, but I know exactly how to treat a lady.
“Thank you.” She sits down, giving me a smile. A real smile. It's not nervous, it's not terrified, it's just a simple smile that isn't being forced.
Taking the seat next to her, she leans in so only I can hear her. “I can't wait for this to be over. See,” she says, tipping her head to a table a couple over from us, “my parents will sit there, they'll work their magic, making all these people open their wallets for a cause that none of them probably care about at all.”