I just stared at her, unable to say anything.
"This is so typical of him. He just broke up with his boyfriend you know."
"Um..."
"He always does this. He breaks up and then two seconds later already has a rebound."
"Wait, I'm not..."
"I just came to tell you to not get your hopes up. He ditches rebounds faster than you can say the word ˝rebound˝. So if you are a climber, don't bother."
Climber? Oh, a social climber. Got it. That was when I realized what was happening.
"You are his ex aren't you?"
She grimaced: "Can't say I was. He left before I even woke up."
Ok, so a rebound.
"He is so predictable. I mean, you are just his type."
I blinked a few times.
"Um, yeah, ok. Thanks for the heads up, but I am actually here as Margo's date. Not Spence-Aron's."
She seemed very surprised: "Oh. Well, that's embarrassing. Sorry."
"No problem," I said slowly.
"I am Demetra by the way," she offered me a hand and I shook it: "Lukas."
"So, Lukas, want to dance?"
That was some 180° change in attitude.
"Um, yes, sure."
She grabbed my hand and dragged me to the dancefloor.
X
I leaned on the bar counter and closed my eyes for a second. In an hour and a half, I've already been approached by four people. After the dance with Demi (she asked me to call her that), she introduced me to this old heiress, that was her great aunt or something. She was very confused.
"O'Neal? Is that Irish?"
"Might be. But I am from New York actually."
"Oh, a New Yorker. Do you maybe know Sofia Vivardi?"
"Um, no."
"Richard Brandon?"
"No."
"Parker Andrews?"
"I-I don't think I do."
"But you do live in New York?"
"Yes."
"How can you not know them then?"
"Yeah, well we are not exactly from the same circles."
"Oh. Then...How are you here?"
"With Margo. Spencer."
Her face lit up with excitement.
"Oh, that's wonderful! So she's finally ready to settle down."
What followed was me trying to explain what the actual situation was. She was not pleased and went on a tangent about how Margo is old enough to get married and start a family. Which I thought was ridiculous since she was only 23. She also slipped in the information that her daughter is still single. Which is kind of hypocritical, how she judges Margo while having a single daughter herself.
About five minutes later I was stopped by some guy who couldn't quite comprehend I wasn't rich.
"So your family doesn't come from money."
"No, I mean my dad has a co-ownership of a law firm."
"Oh, I get it. So you are new money. What? Apps? Social media?"
"No, none of that. I work at the law firm."
He blinked: "Work? Like...you own it?"
"Jesus Christ."
I had to close my eyes and took a deep breath. He obviously wasn't the brightest.
I thought that was the most annoying conversation I'll have the pleasure of trudging through, but I was proven incorrect ten minutes later.
Two girls came up to me and I used my, um, secretary smile, to greet them. One smiled back while the other glared at me.
"So, this is Arons' new hook up?" asked the first one.
They both had brownish-redish coloured hair, a lot like Vicky. Their grey eyes and oval features told me they had to be sisters.
"Oh my god, Marty! Can you not?!" snapped at her the other one.
"I am sorry," she apologized to me in embarrassment, while giving her sister a dirty look.
I didn't have a chance to react, because the first one was speaking again: "The other one was a doctor and now a lawyer. He really does have a type."
"So people with actual jobs?" quipped the second one.
Wow, information travels fast.
"No, people who have no business being here," she gave me a look, full of...almost disgust.
"Martina!"
Her sister stared at her with wide eyes and crossed her arms. She was way angrier at her than I was. I mean, she wasn't totally wrong. I really didn't belong here.
"Jesus, you can be such a bitch. Leave him alone," she grabbed my hand and led me away to the side of the ballroom.
"Sorry for dragging you away, but she wouldn't have stopped and you would've just ended up uncomfortable," she rattled on.
"Ok...Thank you?"
She smiled: "Don't take anything she says personally. She's just jealous. She has been trying to get his attention for years. It would be funny if it wasn't annoying as hell."
I smirked: "She still has a chance then."
Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
I chuckled: "We are not together. I am here as Margos' date."
"Ha. Never would have guessed. You are..."
"His type. Yeah, I heard."
She pulled a flask from under her dress and handed it to me.
"It's scotch."
She laughed at my surprised face: "Go on. You'll need it. By now everyone already thinks you guys are together."
I took a sip. It was good.
"I am Lukas."
"Is that with a k or a c?"
"K."
"Fun. I am Alexis."
"Lovely to meet you."
"Dido."
She looked me up and down.
"You seem like a smart man who knows how to keep his hands where they should be. So if you don't mind sparing me a few minutes to dance, I would be grateful."
I smiled: "Why not?"
"That's the enthusiasm I've been looking for."
I took a small sandwich thing from a latter one of the waiters carried past me. Vanessa leaned on the counter beside me.
"Having fun."
"Yeah. I mean...It's a lot."
That was when I recapped all of the conversations to her. She was listening with a smirk on her face and must have been extremely entertained.
"...And-and everyone seems to think I am Spencer's date, not Margo's because I am apparently his type."
She chuckled and turned to the bartender: "Two apple-teenies please."
"No. Not for me. I am allergic. To apples."
"Oh. Alright. Too bad. They are to die for. What do you want?"
"Nothing. Thanks."
"Ok. Just one apple-teenie then."
Her eyes took in my appearance.
"Huh. I do see it now. You are totally his type. How haven't I noticed that before?"
I rolled my eyes and she started sipping her drink.
"I just didn't expect the information about me to travel this fast."
"Of course it did. You are new and exotic. Especially because your family name isn't encrusted with diamonds. People here live for gossip. Who slept with whom, who is getting married, who filed for divorce, who cheated on whom with their tennis instructor, who has an illegitimate child with the nanny..."
I raised my eyebrows. She smirked: "I know it sounds very cliche, but cliches have to come from somewhere. And you, my friend, are at their birthplace."
"You seem to know a lot about this."
"That's because I do."
"I've been meaning to ask you. What did Kathleen mean when she said that you are one of them?"
"Well," she set her glass down "I've been coming to this kind of events since I was...like ten, I think."
"Ten?"
"Yes. Ar and I have been friends since we were four and he was always so bored, that he asked if I could come. And since I was the only person that his mother actually approved of, probably because I was the only girl she was sure he wouldn't fall in love with, I went."
"Would him falling in love with a girl be so bad?"
"That wasn't from a very wealthy and noble family? It wouldn't have been just bad. For his mother, if either of her children married below their rank, that would have been an absolute disaster."
I remembered my whole Sara Kent situation and her father wanting us to marry each other. I shuddered.
That was when a man I didn't know appeared behind Vanessa's back.
"Hi."
She turned and her face immediately fell into a scowl.
"What do you want?"
"Nothing. I just came to see if you're busy."
There was something unsettling about his smile.
"Yes, I am. Extremely busy."
"With what? With him?" he motioned towards me.
His tone was positively mocking.
"Yeah, so?" I asked.
"Who asked you anything?"
"You are talking about me IN FRONT of me. Did you expect me to be quiet?"
"Why don't you go to your owner, so Van and I can have a moment."
Did the fucker actually insinuate that I am Spencer's pet?!
I had to stop myself from punching him and making a scene.
He tried putting his arm around Vanessa's waist, but she smacked it away and gave him a very, VERY angry look.
"Micha you better walk away or I'm going to break this glass on your forehead and then squirt lemon into the wound."
My eyes darted between them. I knew she was 100% serious. He didn't seem to.
"Oh come on, don't be like that," he tried touching her again, but this time she grabbed his arm and twisted it.
"I told you to walk away," her voice got dangerously low.
He came closer to her: "Or what?"
She threw a drink in his face and slapped him with such force people around us turned at the sound. He gasped in pain, but when he realized more eyes were on him than before, he gave me a pissed look and strutted away. Why was he angry at me? I didn't do anything. Only then did I realize I had a huge smile on my face.
"Ugh!" she growled and ordered another drink. This time a shot of vodka.
"Who was that?"
"The biggest mistake of my life."
I didn't need to hear any more to get the picture.
"Come on. We are going to dance," I said and offered her my hand.
"I really don't feel like it."
"Come on. I promise I won't make you talk about it. You need to relax a bit and I hear dance can be therapeutic."
"Who sold you that crap?" she asked with a small smile and let me lead her to the dance-floor.
X
We started dancing and like I promised, she got to lead. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Spencer talking with an older couple. He was holding a champagne glass and just laughed at something the man said. I had absolutely no idea Spencer could be this charismatic. He seemed very relaxed, but at the same time completely in control of the whole situation. The way he held himself was positively aristocratic and the fact that he could pull that off so effortlessly was an indication of how much he belongs here. I can make fun of him all I want, but at the end of the day, this is the world he comes from.
He'll always have an upper hand. As I was wearing his thousands of dollars worth of an outfit, while dancing in a golden ballroom, filled with people, some too rich to comprehend what a job was, I realized, for the first time ever, that we weren't actually equals. That thought made me sad in a way. When another guy tapped Vanessa's shoulder, I stiffened, but to him, she reacted way more calmly.
"Hi," she said softly.
"Hello. Can I steal him for a moment?"
She nodded and let go of me. She shared another look with the stranger and then left us alone.
"Listen, I saw you with Aron..."
"We are not together!" I said sharply and way louder than I meant to.
He laughed: "Ok, ok. Relax. I know you aren't. Though, you are his type."
I sighed.
"So you aren't one of his exes or wannabe boyfriends?"
"Ha! He wishes. I'm Levi, his friend from England."
"Lukas."
"Yeah, I know. I'm pretty sure there isn't a person here that doesn't know by now."
"That's...great."
That was when Spencer joined us.
"Levi!"
"Hey, mate."
They hugged.
"I see you've met my partner."
"The greatest attraction? Of course, had to see who actually manages to deal with your snobby arse on a daily bases."
"Oh really, your grace? Can't believe you are calling me a snob."
"Grace? Are you an actual aristocrat?"
Spencer grinned at me and then at him.
"Not exactly..."
"YES exactly! He is a Duke of Norfolk."
My eyes widened. A duke? Holy fuck.
"No, I am not!"
"Yet."
"Fine. Yes, yet. Can we talk about anything else? Are you holding on ok?" that was directed at me. Spencer was also looking at me expectingly.
"Perfectly."
"You are more resilient than I thought, then."
"Yeah, he is."
Spencer said that so softly and quietly, I was positive he didn't mean for me to hear it. And judging by how pale he went when Levi, who apparently also heard it, chuckled, I was right.
"Hey, listen how's your sister."
I rolled my eyes. What an unsubtle change of subject.
Levi sighed: "Mum's still looking for someone to marry her off to. You were very high on the list."
Spencer cringed and started opening his mouth, but Levi interrupted: "Don't worry. I managed to talk her out of it."
"Where is Clark anyway?"
"She said she's sick, but I know she just wanted to spend time with Julia."
"Oh, are they still together? That's the biology teacher right?"
"Mhm. And yes, they are having a lovely time."
"And they still want her to marry a man?" I blurted out, before thinking. I just couldn't imagine if Isabella was in that position.
They turned their attention to me. I thought he was going to scoff at me, but he just gave me a sad smile.
"Yes. You see my parents are more old fashioned and conservative than a Vatican-born Irish family that lives in Texas. So they don't know. And even if they did, it wouldn't have mattered. For either of us. The Fitzalan-Howard line has to be preserved."
"Are you engaged?" I asked carefully, not knowing if that was crossing the line.
Spencer squeezed his shoulder.
"Yeas, I am," he answered, still morose.
"Are you two getting along?" Spencer asked.
Levi shrugged: "Well enough I guess."
He saw someone over my shoulder.
"Sorry, my mum. I need to go. It was nice meeting you," he tapped Spencer on the back "Catch you later?"
"Mhm."
And he was gone.
"That's a shitty situation."
"It sure is."
"Did your parents know? About your bisexuality?"
"My father did, but not my mother. He found out by accident and promised he won't tell her. And he didn't."
He smiled.
"And before you ask, no he didn't mind at all. He was pretty supportive actually."
The silence that followed was a comfortable one. I listened to the soft music playing and watched couples how they swayed to it. I always loved the elegance ballroom dancing held. It reminded me of ice-skating and I couldn't help, but smile. I miss it so much sometimes. I felt Spencers' eyes on me. I glanced at him and his expression was probably the softest I've ever seen on him.
"What?"
"Uh? N-nothing," he got all flustered.
He is such a dork.
"You like to dance?" he asked.
"I do."
"Want to?"
I lifted my eyebrows: "Now? With you?"
He shrugged: "Why not?"
I blinked: "Wouldn't that be, you know, a little bit controversial?"
He laughed: "I've done things that are so much more controversial when I was 14. This isn't even worth to be gossiped about."
I bit my lip, thinking.
"Ok, fuck it. Let's do this. But I'm leading. I've seen you dance. It's a travesty."
"You've been watching me?" he said with an overly flirty tone.
"Shut up."
Just as I put my hand on his hip, Margo burst onto the scene and it seemed she needed something urgently. Spencer and she started talking in Slovenian again. The argument was quite heated, but people didn't even glance at them. I didn't know what they were saying, but I knew Spencer by now and he was either saying no or fuck no. I also recognized the expression he was wearing. In about 10 seconds, he will absolutely lose his shit. Margo obviously knew it too, because she shut up and turned to me. She motioned away from the dance floor, clearly wanting to talk. My eyes tried finding Spencers', but he was gone already. So I followed Margo.
"What was that about, if I may ask?"
"Aron is being a self-righteous goodie-goodie right now, so he won't help me."
"And you hope I will?"
"It's a tiny, tiny favour."
"What's with you guys and favours?"
She shrugged: "It's a family thing. You collect ten favours, we buy you an island."
I smiled, even though I wasn't sure that she was kidding.
"I should have two by now. So, what do you need me to do?"
"You just have to play poker. No biggie."
"What? Why?"
"Yes, you see, in about ten minutes Kathleen will announce a poker tournament, it's a tradition and she will call up all of the guards, we had incidents, including the one in front of the staircase that leads to her room. I couldn't find any other way to go up there unseen. Your job is just to keep her playing."
"Yeah, great plan, except there is this minor problem."
"Which is?"
"I don't know how to play poker."
"Oh."
She seemed genuinely surprised by that. She waved her hand dismissively: "Don't worry about it. I don't need you to win, just play."
"I still don't know how to do that."
"Just do what you see in movies."
"All I know is full house. And all in."
"Ok, don't do that. Just..." something or someone caught her eye.
"Sorry. I need to talk to Vanessa about the security cameras. You'll do fine."
She was gone before I could object. Ok, I guess I am going to play poker now.
X
When it was time I moved to one of the tables and sat across from Kathleen. Her eyes were judging me with intensity.
"Hello," I said with confidence.
I was nervous as all hell, but I learned how to hide that like a pro.
"You want to play?" she asked.
"Would I be sitting here, if I didn't?"
She gave me a fake smile.
"Strange how Margo isn't here to play."
I gulped: "I'm playing in her place. She had a very important business call, she couldn't get out of."
Kathleen gave me a suspicious once over, but let it go. I mentally high fived myself.
She started spouting some poker jargon, for which I had zero clue what it meant. I glanced at the people beside me and just mimicked what they were doing. That was when someone grabbed my shoulder. Spencer moved so close to my ear, he almost touched it with his lips as he spoke: "What are you doing?"
I shuddered at the contact. I turned to him slightly because, again, we were very close.
"Margo asked me to play," I whispered.
His light eyes darkened.
"Do you know how to?"
"Not exactly."
He made a pretty frustrated sigh and shook his head.
"Get up," he commanded quietly.
"What?"
"Get up. I'm going to play in your place."
We switched positions and this time I was leaning down to him: "I thought you said, you won't help Margo."
"I am not helping her, I'm helping you. They would eat you alive."
I smiled at him.
"What are you doing Aron? You can't just run up and switch," complained the host.
"Oh, come on, Kathleen. He was just saving a seat for me."
She smirked: "And here I thought he was your sister's lapdog."
"And here I thought we were here to play, not to chat."