Simone stares down at him, but he doesn’t back off. After a few seconds, she leaves.
“Don’t listen to her,” he tells me. “You look beautiful.”
I look at myself in the mirror again, pleased with my choice of dress. Still, I feel uneasy.
***
When I enter the venue for the show a few hours later, I’m dazzled, even though I’ve been at the rehearsal and I know play-by-play how this will go. The opening act is a show of diffused lights. Simone is lowered slowly from the ceiling to the stage, looking every inch the beauty she is. The rest of the models come out next. The collection is exquisite, though one can barely see the jewelry on the models. That’s what the large screens on either side of the stage are for.
I sit at the table with the marketing department, right next to the runway. Sebastian sits with Logan, Alice, Blake, and Daniel at a table on the other side of the runway. I’m proud that he’s finally attended his own show and sits in the front row as opposed to hiding in the back room. He catches my eye on several occasions during the show. I blush every time. We’ve planned to stay for about an hour after the show, so he can answer questions from attendees. Then we’re going to celebrate—just the two of us, while everyone else attends the after-party. Tomorrow, I’ll clear my office while he attends a daylong meeting, and then our vacation will start.
The show ends with Pippa walking down the runway with all the models, bowing as the crowd applauds. As the girls return backstage, she jumps off the runway, coming straight to me. I stand up and give her a hug.
“You were wonderful.”
“Let’s get out of here,” she says in my ear.
“You don’t want to stay at the after-party?” I ask in surprise.
“Not really. I had a fight with my ex-husband over the phone before the show. I’m in the mood for a girls’ night out. I say we grab Alice too and go out. You can’t say no.”
“I’m all in, but Sebastian—”
Pippa holds her hand up, rolling her eyes. “My brother will have you for himself for two whole weeks. He can do without you tonight.”
“Okay. Where are we going?”
She grins. “I don’t know, but a good friend of mine, Caroline, is somewhere around here. She always has great ideas.”
“Okay, let me tell Sebastian I’m leaving.”
“Meet you in front of the entrance in fifteen minutes?”
Wow. She must want to leave this place badly. “Okay.”
Getting to Sebastian is not as easy as I thought. Though the press was invited to leave right after the show ended, there are plenty of people fighting for his time and attention. When I finally do reach him, a tall guy in an expensive suit extends his hand to shake Sebastian’s.
“Bennett, this is extraordinary. You always had great marketing, but this surpasses everything.”
“The merit belongs to our consultant and our team.” Sebastian points at me, and the man takes a step back, nodding appreciatively. “She was the fresh mind we needed in our company and worked well with our team.”
“Are you free to take up new projects? You could do wonders in my company.” The man gives me a sleazy look that tells me he’d also want me to do him. Not happening, buddy.
“I’m afraid you’ll have to discuss that with my boss,” I answer politely. “I already have projects lined up, but we have a large team of consultants.”
The man opens his mouth, but Sebastian cuts him off. “Sorry, we must leave you. I have to make the rounds, and everyone will want to meet the brain”— he points at me— “behind this show.”
Sebastian looks uneasy as we leave. “Our private celebration will be impossible tonight. There are too many people I have to talk to, and that’ll last well into the after-party.”
“You don’t need me here though, do you?”
“Why?”
“Pippa wants to get out of here for a girls’ night out.”
Sebastian frowns, looking through the crowd. “Is she okay?”
“Yeah. She wants to let some steam off. She’s worked hard these past weeks.”