Page 28 of Stained
Well, it was six now. There were still people in suits and designer dresses milling about the lobby, sipping champagne and complaining about this and that. When they weren’t kissing ass, anyway.
Alicia stood on the edge, wishing she had kept the long skirt on her dress. She would have fit in a lot more, but at least people weren’t side-eying her. If she had shown up in one of her mere department store outfits, someone would have called her for what she was: a phony.
What’s the Fellowship?She politely stared at the sign while waiting for Danica to appear. Wherever she was. There were so many tuxedos in the ballroom lobby that they blended into one another. Obviously, Danica was not one of the few blond women milling about. She probably was not a short woman or one of the ridiculously tall supermodel types. Still, looking for a roguishly gorgeous woman with black hair was not easy. Such a description brought her a dozen for every dime she was willing to spend.
“Ms. Colbert.” Somehow, amid a dozen other blond women wearing black dresses, Ms. Sarah Clayborn had found Alicia.Wow. She cleans up nice. Today, Danica’s female assistant wore a navy-blue sheath dress cinched with a diamond-studded belt. No other accessories, aside from a pair of silver studs, but this was a woman who did not want to stand out in the crowd. Her job was to blend in with Danica’s background wherever they went. “Ms. Moreau extends her continued apologies. We trust that your ride here – and the stylists – was satisfactory?” She gave Alicia’s outfit a cursory look over. She neither smiled nor frowned. Then again, did she ever?
“Yes.” Alicia took a deep breath. Here she went. “They were… satisfactory. Is Ms. Moreau available yet?”
The assistant whipped out her phone and checked her lock screen. “She has asked that you wait here for her. She should be out at any…”
“Stop boring the poor woman, Ms. Clayborn.” Alicia’s heart exploded in sudden excitement as the people in front of her parted to admit the only one she cared about. Danica approached, her feminine suit so damn delectable on her figure that Alicia had to catch her breath once more.Is this the woman I’m really going on a date with?She was talking as if they hadn’t even done it before!Wait… is this the woman I’m fooling around with? No way!One thing to see her in a dark club and be mostly entranced with her echoing voice and the scent of her body. Quite another to see her among her own kind, wining, dining, sucking the money out of pocketbooks for whatever fundraiser this was for. “My apologies for my tardiness, Ms. Colbert.” She extended her hand. A few people looked on, whispering to one another.
Alicia turned her head. Were people waiting for her to do something? Oh, right. She should take Danica’s hand. Her soft, firm hand that spent a good amount of time grabbing Alicia’s breasts and tapping her ass while fucking her virginal (ha!) body.
She still had no idea, did she?
“No worries.” Alicia lifted her hand and waited for Danica to take it. She did so, touching her delicate fingers and lifting them for a kiss. Murmurs echoed around them.I feel like I’m on display.Was her hair okay? How about her dress? Too short? Dear God, please don’t let her trip! “I know you’re a busy woman.”
“Quite.” Danica lowered Alicia’s hand, but she did not release it. Instead, she drew her closer, that gravitational pull once more luring Alicia to her demise. Only now it was for all of high society to see. “You’re a busy woman. I hear you have a new job.” Was that a smirk at the corner of her mouth?Wow. Shewas actually capable of humor! Dry, sarcastic humor, but Alicia could appreciate it when she knew that’s what she had to work with.
She smiled back at her. “I had no idea that your family owned Blue Bird.”
“Technically, we do. We don’t run it, though. We run the company that does.”
“Of course you do.” Alicia couldn’t imagine either Danica or her father, Russell, getting directly involved with family dining. Did these people even eat hamburgers? Only Kobe beef burgers, to be sure.I always wanted to try Kobe beef.
“If you wouldn’t mind humoring me for a moment, Ms. Colbert,” Danica began, turning to the finely dressed crowd gathering behind them, “I’d like to introduce you to some of my colleagues.”
“Um. Sure.” She stepped forward with Danica, but something akin to embarrassment mounted in her veins. Was it because Danica was holding her hand? Because she wanted to introduce her to people? Here Alicia had foolishly assumed that this woman wasn’t interested in her. Not as a girlfriend. Yet would she be introducing Alicia to people if she wasn’t interested in more than a few hookups?
Wherever Moreau went, people parted to let her through. These people weren’t plebes like Alicia and her ilk. These were well-dressed, well-mannered darlings heralding from all over the world, if their accents and formal dress style could be trusted. Why couldn’t they? Not like this kind of fundraiser attracted people without the means to drop some serious cash, whether that was in American Dollars, Indian Rupees, or Korean Won.
Women tittered in her direction. Others frowned. One woman held so much scorn on her face that Alicia wondered if she was born that way. These were probably the kinds of people who kepta close eye on who Danica dated… and copied her. A damn trend setter.
The only people not to move or silently fawn over them were the ones Danica walked toward. They did, however, glance in the couple’s direction. Some with curiosity, and others with indifference. The only one showing a sizable amount of piqued interest was a blond woman wearing a tight red dress and fanning her flushed face.
“Allow me to introduce everyone to Ms. Alicia Colbert. She’s been keeping me amused for the past while.”
Alicia’s throat tightened. What. A way. To be. Introduced.
“Um… hi…” Her eyes darted back and forth. Some man yawned. A middle-aged woman sniffed and turned away. Another woman near her age tilted her head, dark curls unable to hide the amusement on her face. All of them, whether older or younger, male or female, wore such luxurious clothing and more jewels than Alicia had seen in one place in her life. No wonder they didn’t move for Danica. They were on her playing field.
These were other billionaires, not piddling millionaires hanging around for scraps.
No one greeted her for a few seconds. Was this their social code? Or had Alicia failed a test in the first second of meeting them?Oh, man, they’re probably used to this bullshit from her. Still, they had to be polite. Wait. At their level, they didn’t have to be polite at all!
“Charmed.” The blond woman in the red dress extended her hand and shook Alicia’s with a firm grasp. “Alicia, was it?”
“Yes.”
“Colbert?”
“Colbert.”
“Hm,” said one of the middle-aged women. “Don’t recall any Colberts around here. Where are you from?”
Alicia did her best to keep her chin up. “I’m from here. Well, my parents are from Long Island, but I’ve spent the better part of my life around here…” She was not helping herself. All she was doing was reaffirming that she was a nobody.Good job, Alicia.
