Rory’s feet carry her as she glides down easily. Confidence shone off her as effortlessly as the brilliant sparkle of her dress.
Silver-white crystals span the entire tulle gown. Starting at her neck, they fade into an intricate pattern of mesh fabric to her arms. The metallic beading harsh around her waist. Slowly it too dissolves into a champagne-colored fabric around the full skirt of her feet.
Princess was the true diamond of the evening,literally.
My pulse picks up, drumming past my chest and down through my ribs. Something working, building its way up my chest as it pounds taking in her new hair.
She’d changed it back. My jaw goes slack. Rory had always been beautiful, but now she shined with new confidence in herself that was dimmed before.
Stunning. She was stunning.
Her face stayed forward; shoulders squared. Posture as straight as a line. The entitlement around her was obvious and yet she still dominated the room. They all felt it too, the shift. Their faces arched as they stood taller.
My chest swelled.
Rory was telling them exactly who she was without having to say the words. She wouldn’t be walked over, pushed around. This was her moment and she had control of it.
Only one problem. She wouldn’t look over in my direction. Those pretty silver eyes scanned every square inch of this place except where I stood.
My hand tightens around my glass. Swallowing my emotions like I did the champagne with an inflated sigh. I needed something stronger.
Look over here.
Look at me, baby.
She doesn’t. Spotting Hailey, she heads over in her direction instead. A sad chuckle leaving my lips. Yeah, that was going to change.
forty-nine
Rory
Haileywaslovedbyher parents. That was indisputable in the way their faces lit up seeing her before she introduced me.
Like me, she was also announced when she arrived alongside her parents so it’s not like she hadn’t seen them before now. It was almost cute how they brightened seeing her again. She was adored, fully.
Her mother gave me a quick hug, making easy conversation before shooing us away. Swatting her arms and telling us to go have fun. Her father nodded in agreement.
They didn’t have to tell Hailey twice. Her dimple was on full display as we drifted through the throngs of people. The emerald color of her dress swished through the crowd. The bold color a good choice for her. Naturally highlighting the dark auburn reds in her hair.
Spotting a waitress, she stops her. Grabbing a glass and handing it to me before taking two more for herself.
I grin in enjoyment when she downs the one in her left hand in a single go like it was a shot and not champagne. “What?” she asks curiously. “Do you know how much this stuff costs a bottle?”
“Not a clue,” I concede. “But with how easily you’re downing them now and with how fancy this place looks, I would say the answer to both isa lot.”
“That would be correct… on both parts,” she says brazenly.
Hailey tosses back the other while I sip at mine. I didn’t know most of these people, so I had to stay on my toes. Especially with how I could feel their fleeting glances like I was an insect caught in a web.
It was a better idea to pace myself.
“Besides, the staff at these things are the best,” she notes. Shooting me a sly look when another server comes over in the next instant as if hearing her. Declining, he scurries away onto the next set of guests.
Angling my head down, I shake it in amusement. People with money were nuts and I can’t believe I was friends with the craziest one.
It’s insane how fast your life can change. A few months ago, I was waitressing at Alma’s now I was here. I could almost laugh knowing how she would react if she saw me.
We used to make fun of people like this and now look at me. I was in a ballroom in a gown surrounded by a limitless supply of money, flowers, and champagne. What a twist to fate.