I eventually realised I had no choice but to forget about Clarke and try and get some work done. So after stuffing my face with food I felt my hang over get better and it meant I could finally start to study. I found myself getting in the zone and was honestly completely focused until I heard a sound.
My head snapped up to see to Clarke stumble into the room, almost knocking a small book case over in the process. He was dressed in a thin tight top that clung to his pecks and some sweat pants. I honestly wasn't sure he had made it back to the hotel last night, and I actually didn't care if he had or not.
"Oh, thank God, food."
Clarke immediately made a b-line for the table, sitting himself down and eating whatever he laid his eyes on. Eventually he looked up at me and he must've noticed the look of disgust I must've been giving him.
"What?" Clarke frowned.
I rolled my eyes a little. "Nothing. I just thought this trip was about business and helping your reputation and all."
Clarke didn't respond to me and just looked at me, completely confused about what I was going on about. With a sigh I unlocked my phone to show him the article I read his morning. Clarke rolled his eyes when he saw it.
"Oh, give me a break. I was drunk, I was just having some fun. I was just dancing with these girls, nothing else," Clarke shrugged.
"You're kissing someone in this last one!" I pointed out, scrolling to show him.
He immediately frowned and moved the phone closer to look at the photo. "I...I don't remember kissing...anyone. I swear, I didn't..."
Clarke's face turned to a complete frown and he looked completely confused. I scoffed and lent back in my chair.
"Well, obviously after I left you got too drunk to remember what you even did," I pointed out.
He put my phone back down in front of me and shook his head. "The photos are blurry and they don't have any statements saying what I go up to, or even an identity of that girl. It's nothing, trust me."
"The article already talked you cheating on Alicia," I reminded him of his fake girlfriend. "You want to put this persona up that you're a changed guy and that definitely isn't true. You made me get drunk last night too. God... you just...better make sure you're on your best behaviour tonight if you want to make any sort of deal."
I was like his mother lecturing him and I heard it those words came out of my mouth but I was too annoyed to care. It obviously hit a nerve with Clarke though because he immediately stood up and started to walk to back down the hall but suddenly turned around to face me.
"Do you have a dress for tonight?" he asked me.
I frowned at the sudden change of topic. "Sure...I mean, kind of."
"Kind of?" he confirmed.
"Well, yeah. It's nothing fancy," I shrugged.
"Is it fancy like, you're going to an expensive business gala night?" Clarke asked with a defeated sigh.
I opened my mouth to answer and then realised my answer wasn't great. The dress I had was simple, and cheap and I would definitely stand out for the wrong reasons.
"Rory-?"
"No," I said eventually. "It's not really, but it's all I have."
"Right then, we need to get you another dress," Clarke said with a nod.
"And how exactly are we going to do that?" I asked him. "I don't know where to go in Paris, or even what type of dress I need."
"Well, lucky for you there are people we can pay for that," Clarke told me. "Get dressed and I'll make some calls and then get the driver to take you to the store, okay?"
"Do I have much choice?" I said slightly sarcastically.
"No," Clarke answered before leaving the room.
I sighed but eventually did as he said. I hated to admit it but I did need something better for tonight, and after Clarke's disaster of last night we needed everything to be right to make a good impression. Clarke had an arranged for the car to pick me once I was ready and then didn't say much else to me as I left the hotel. I didn't blame him honestly, I had ripped into him earlier, and I wouldn't talk to me either.
The driver took me to a nice part of Paris were things looked expensive and definitely fancy. The driver informed me which store to go into and once inside I was immediately greeted by an enthusiastic young woman.
"Oh, you must be Aurora?" the woman spoke in thick French accent. She was young but older than me and had long blonde hair and was skinner than me.
"Yes, I am," I nodded at her, deciding I wasn't going to insist on her calling me Rory, as I figured it might confuse her.
"Nice to meet you. My name is Maree. Mr Watson said you need help finding a dress?" she asked me, having to focus to I could understand her though her accent. I was also weirded out by Clarke being referred to as Mr Watson.
"Yes, I'm not too sure what I'm looking for though," I told her.
"Oh don't worry. I can help with that," she said with a warm smile.
She wasn't kidding as it turned out. She brought me to the back of the shop where the changing room was and brought me about five different dresses and I tried them all on. First there was gold one that was quite tight which she said complimented my figure, but I hated the way it made me feel. There was a flowy blue one but I didn't like the blue. Then a black one which was tight up top but flowy down the bottom which I didn't mind. Then another black one which showed of way too much cleavage for me. The last was a green one and wasn't one I thought I was going to like. It was made of what was like silk and it just slid on. I flowed down to the floor and the neck line plunged towards my waist showing off my cleavage, and only had thin spaghetti straps on the shoulder.
"Oh this one is perfect!" Maree exclaimed I stepped out. "Yes, yes. It matches your hair, compliments you skin tone and your eyes. Yes, Miss Aurora, I believe this is the one."
I looked in the mirror at myself and was surprised that I didn't hate what I saw. I looked...pretty. I don't think I had ever thought that before. I realised the price tag was under my arm and I took a glance at it. It was in euros but even I knew that number was expensive.
"Oh, gosh I can't afford this," I said immediately.
Maree smiled slightly. "Mr Watson informed he would pay for whatever dress was the one."
I hated the idea of Clarke paying for it, but I also knew I needed something like this. So I agreed and picked the green dress. Maree then helped me get some nice strapped black heels to go with the dress and a necklace to go with the dress and a strapless bra as anything else would show through the dress.
I thanked Maree as I left and the driver took me back to the hotel. It was late now and I knew once I got back I would need to get ready for tonight. I realised I would now have to do my make-up and hair and try make myself look as nice as the dress, which would be difficult because I wasn't great at that.
When I stepped out of the elevator and into the penthouse I expected to see Clarke maybe waiting but instead there was a man and a woman I had never seen before, sitting in the sitting area.
"Oh, hello," I said, slightly taken back.
"Ah, Rory, you're back," Clarke suddenly appeared from the hallway. "Got a dress, I see?"
He couldn't see what the dress was because it was an in white coat hanger bag to keep it safe.
"Yes, thank you," I said, looking back from him to the others.
"Ah, this is Claudia and Peter. I called them because they can help with your hair and make-up," Clarke told me.
I looked at Clarke with a bit of frown. I thought about yelling at him for thinking I need help but I was actually relieved.
"I...thank you," I said softly.
"You're welcome. Now we should get ready."
Claudia and Peter came into my room and Claudia started on my make up with Peter starting curling my hair. I wasn't sure what I was going to look like until I was done as I couldn't always see the mirror due to Claudia usually being in front of it. Peter curled my hair so it was nice and wavy and pinned some of the hair on the side of the back, creating a type of crown. Claudia contoured my face and used some silver on my eye shadow. Once I looked in the mirror I couldn't believe how I looked. The last time I had dressed up like this was prom. I thanked both of them and they left and I got into my dress and heels. I had my own silver clutch which I planned to use with the red dress, but ironically the clutch when with my green dress more than my red.
"Rory, are you ready? The car is here?"
With a sigh I left the bedroom and went into the sitting area to see Clarke standing there. I was kind of taken back by how nice he looked. I had seen him in a suit before, but this time he had nice tux on it and bow-tie, and had his hair nicely down and he was shaven and smelt nice too. I realised he was looking at me. No, actually he was staring at me.
"Clarke?" I frowned at him.
He didn't respond straight away but eventually he shook his head slightly and snapped himself out of it.
"You look...amazing," he told me.
"I...thank you," I said calmly. "It's all thanks to your money."
He smiled slightly at my joke and then sighed.
"Rory, I'm sorry for last night," he said eventually. "I... wanted to have fun but I should've thought more about why I was here, and I dragged you into it, and I'm sorry."
I was taken back by his apology, actually very surprised. It didn't make up the damage he caused but it was nice. I realised all day I had been sulking and not really enjoying the day I had been having. I mean, I got to get an expensive dress which was very likely some designer dress and spend time in Paris. Sulking wasn't going to make the rest of the night better or easier.
"Let's just forget it, okay?" I said to him. "Just...start a fresh, think first. Don't do anything stupid again and we'll be fine."
"Sounds like a plan," Clarke nodded at me, "I will do my absolute best, I promise."
"Good," I smiled slightly. "We...better go. We don't want to be late."
Clarke and I got into the car and didn't speak for a little while. I stared out the window as I tried to gather my thoughts. The first day I met Clarke I knew I hated him but I did let a lot of pre-determined factors make that decision which was not really fair. In just over a month he started to clean up his act though, showing up for work, and whilst the fake relationship with Alicia wasn't great, it did mean he trying to fix up his reputation. Then there was last night though. Yesterday he was nice to me in a way that I actually would've considering him a friend. He had been opening up to me. Then we went out though, and whilst it turned into a disaster our time in the club was actually fun until the end. I wanted to give him a chance, I usually gave most people a chance, and I guess all I had done so far was put him and down and not believe him, which wasn't fair. He didn't really have someone close in his life right now, and he probably just needed someone to support him. It was why I could really give him a chance now, help if he screwed up. Hating Clark was going to get me nowhere, and to be honest now.... I didn't hate Clarke, not even slightly.
"I'm scared," Clarke suddenly immediately. "What if I can't land a deal? I'll lose it all."
"You'll be fine," I assured him. "I've done my research on who's going to be there so we should be able to make some small talk. Did you get my email with everyone attending?"
"Oh, I got it," Clarke nodded. "Read it like twice a day since you sent it."
"Well then you'll definitely remember everyone, so why are you worrying?" I asked him.
He didn't answer me immediately as he instead glanced out the window for a moment. He eventually turned back to look at me, keeping his head hung a little.
"I can't...disappoint my father, Rory," Clarke told me softly. "I disappointed him so much when he was alive...and now he's...and he'll never know I cared about this company and that I appreciated everything he did for me. I know he worked his ass off so I could have the life I have. If I screw it up, Rory, I will never forgive myself. Never."
I sighed slightly. "He knew you cared. Trust me. He knew you didn't show it the way people normally do, but he knew that you cared about him and the company. Now, I know it...hurts you that you can't say to him, but you can honour him. You have to work your butt off tonight as he always did to honour his remember and the company, okay?"
Clarke curled his lips together as he eventually nodded. "Okay, I can do this. Rory....thank you. I don't think I could've done this without you. I definitely need you around."
"Well, good thing I'm not going anywhere then?"