At any rate, the lesson here is, you don’t need to be a size zero to look good. But money certainly doesn’t hurt. Especially with photographers roaming the place. For the society pages, I guess. We’re stopped several times on the way in. My cheeks hurt from smiling.
A waiter escorts us to our table where Beck’s grandmother is already seated and holding court with Ethan sitting beside her. Sad to say he looks almost as good in his tux as his brother does. I’m not shallow, however, so I plan to keep right on disliking him. Our entrance earns more than its fair share of attention from the other guests. And I’m drawing quite a few admiring glances along with the curious ones, which is nice. It must be odd being an Elliot and having people watching you all of the time, being so invested in knowing what or who you’re doing. Some people need to get a life.
Selah is seated at the next table beside a handsome young man. The look she gives me is resigned. Not a smile, but not a frown. The look she gives Beck, however, is wistful. Sad eyes and rounded shoulders. If I’d fucked up so badly with him I’d probably feel the same.
“Your ex is here,” I say in a low voice to avoid being overheard.
“To be expected. Her family are big donors for the hospital.”
“Did she manage to corner you earlier at the apartment?”
“Told her I wasn’t interested in anything she had to say.” His raises a brow. “You’re not jealous, are you?”
“I don’t know.”
He pulls out my seat for me ahead of the waiter, his gaze thoughtful. “You shouldn’t be.”
“Reason doesn’t often count when it comes to emotions.” I sit, making sure my posture is perfect. The less cause I give Grandma & Co. to complain the better.
Catherine breaks off her conversation with the silver fox sitting next to her. She looks glamorous in a black velvet gown. “Beck. Alice. You missed the appetizers. I was beginning to think you weren’t coming. Emma’s absence tonight is disappointing enough.”
“She’s in Chicago on business,” says Ethan. “It couldn’t be avoided. You know that.”
Catherine sniffs, unappeased.
Beck delivers a swift kiss to his grandmother’s cheek, murmuring something to her (apologies, most likely), before taking his seat beside me. He takes my hand under the table as the woman on his other side immediately engages him in conversation. So this is how rich people do charity and party at the same time. Everything is sparkly and shiny and top of the line. There must be at least a few hundred people here.
Five minutes later, Beck is still busy talking to the other woman so I guess I’ll just occupy myself. No problem.
“You’ll have to excuse him,” says the woman sitting next to me. Ethan’s date. Her skin has a bronze hue, a perfect contrast to her red silk dress. “Beck’s used to everyone already knowing each other at these things. Whether it’s from the country club or the arts gala or Aspen.”
I give her a polite smile.
“Penny Hollis. I’m a lawyer at Elliot Corp.”
“Alice Lawrence.”
“You’re the new girl in town causing all of the fuss.”
What am I even supposed to say to that?
“Excuse me, miss.” The waiter reappears with a vodka, soda, and lime, saving me from coming up with a reply to Penny’s comment. Guess Beck ordered for me. I knew there were reasons I kept him around.
This time my smile is far more believable. “Thank you.”
“So the woman monopolizing your boyfriend’s attention is in investment at Elliot Corp. Next to her is a heart surgeon and her partner. Then there’s the property specialist who’s hoping to offload a penthouse onto Ethan,” she reports. “The bored-looking blonde is the trophy wife of the older gentleman trying to sell Catherine on something. He’s a big deal in media, out visiting from New York. And the rest you know.”
“You attend these things often?” I ask.
“Often enough.”
The beautiful blonde with the sandy complexion sure does look bored, throwing back champagne at a steady rate.
“If you marry for money you wind up earning it,” murmurs Penny. “She used to be a pro-golfer, but he made her give it up so she could fit in with his schedule and lifestyle. I wonder how she feels about that decision these days.”
Meals are brought out. A cut of beef sits atop roast potatoes with some sort of Italian tomato sauce and asparagus. Beck and I have to stop holding hands in order to eat, but I don’t think the woman beside him stops talking long enough to actually get any food in her mouth. Her loss—the meal is spectacular. Beck shoots me a few quick smiles throughout all of this and that’s all I get. I try not to let it bother me. It’s another sink or swim situation and I have every intention of surviving and standing on my own.
“How long have you been working for them?” I ask.
Penny swallows her food, washing it down with a sip of red wine. “Going on a decade now.”
“And you’re from Denver?”
She nods. “Born and bred. It might be a big city, but it’s still a small town at heart. I can’t imagine living anywhere else. Have you had a chance to see much?”
“Only Larimer Square so far.”
“Get Beck to take you up into the mountains. That’s where the real beauty is.”
“I’ll do that.”
Catherine gives me the occasional cool look, but I can deal with that. Given I am neither spilling my food nor dancing on the table, she really has nothing to complain about. Ethan ignores my existence entirely. Making it even odder that his date does not. Due to politics or politeness, I don’t know.
“I’m just going to ask because that’s how we find things out,” says Penny. “Did Beck actually pick you up in a dive bar where he was working as a busboy?”
“Ah…”
“Because that’s what Ethan told me and honestly I’m still having a problem picturing it.”
“You and Ethan are close?” I ask because having no idea what Beck does and doesn’t want known means a diversion is required. I’m not ashamed and neither do I want to lie. But he does business with these people. I’m not particularly gifted at manipulation or subterfuge. Games of strategy are lost on me. Avoidance, however, I can do. After all, I’ve been avoiding both the questions and hands of idiots with varying blood alcohol levels in bars for years.
“We work together and we’re friends. We’re not an item though. I’m not foolish enough to attempt dating an Elliot.” Then she realizes what she’s said, and raises a manicured hand, the fingernails a perfect match for her dress. “Not that that’s any reflection on you, of course. If the busboy story is true, then you didn’t know the hornet’s nest you were stumbling into. One might even say he won you over under false pretenses.”
I take my time, thinking things through. That the story of Beck and my courtship is being discussed around town leaves a sour taste in my mouth. However, there’s not a damn thing I can do about it. And what could I say here, really? I almost failed math, but my new boyfriend’s a billionaire? I’m a waitress and underachiever by choice and trade? Beck is dating down in the eyes of many. I understand. That I’d kick his ass and be out of here on the next plane if he didn’t treat me right regardless of any perceived inadequacies is between me and him. All of this is just further proof that making conversation sucks and people are the worst. Time to drink.