"Oh, Mrs. Grant. Hello there!" Sebastian replied cheerily, reaching out to softly take her hand as her husband lingered behind her.
Despite both Mrs. Grant and Alissa being gorgeous beyond all measure, Mr. Grant on the other hand, was a terror.
A huge man who could probably take two seats all on his own, his bald head reflected under the chandelier lights as he settled down into his seat.
"Alissa never stops talking about you." Mrs. Grant gushed, "She loves working with you so much, Bast."
"Ah, she's the best at what she does." Sebastian replied with a nod, "I'm lucky to have her."
My heart panged as I smiled along forcedly, trying not to look as though I were hating every moment of this conversation. The ease to which he could compliment another woman was almost tangibly heart rendering. Maybe the hormones were making me possessive and jealous.
"And you are...?" Mrs. Grant said, flipping her hair back over her shoulder as she looked at me with much less enthusiasm than she had looked at my husband.
Like mother, like freaking daughter.
"Macy Davis." I replied, prissiness in my voice almost reminding me of my mother in law. I was going to have to work on being more friendly unless I wanted to turn out like her, "We were married last year." I added, flashing a bashful smile at my new husband, one hand rubbing my stomach.
I'd picked up a thing or two about acting like a couple, "What a pleasure it is to meet you, Mrs. Grant." I added, narrowing my eyes on her.
Sebastian was off the market, lady.
"How nice." Mrs. Grant replied through gritted teeth, "Please, call me Shirley."
I couldn't help but to wonder what kinds of things Alissa had told her mother about me. It was quite clear she already knew full well who I was.
"We are so excited to have you all here tonight." Alissa spoke as she stood from the table.
In her perfectly manicured hand the redheaded bride to be clutched what appeared to be a diamond encrusted microphone, no doubt a gift from her parents.
Mr. Grant, silent up until this point, didn't even turn to look at his daughter as he chowed down on the entire basket of dinner rolls. I'd been lucky to have snagged one already, though I could see him eyeing it from across the table.
"Georgey and I are just so excited to embark on this path together through life and we thank all who stand at the starting line with us." She continued, pausing to give a theatrically loving glance down at her husband who looked just as bored to be there as her father.
Both men had apparently been through far too many weddings.
"Tomorrow is the big day, so tonight will just be about having fun and letting loose and having some fun." She continued, lifting up a glass of champagne.
The rest of us followed suit, lifting up the glasses.
Surely a little sip of champagne wouldn't hurt right? Maybe I would just pass off the glass to Sebastian, he looked so uncomfortable right now, and he definitely needed the glass more than I did. He sipped a bit from his champagne flute, glancing around for a waiter to bring over some more.
I couldn't even imagine how weird this must be for him. The billionaire was so distraught when he found out that Alissa and George were engaged, and with the wedding happening so quickly Sebastian had so little time to process it all. He'd blamed himself for the divorce of his parents for a while, and though he no longer spoke of it, it was a definite possibility that he continued to blame himself still.
We’d all known that Alissa and George were having an affair, even Karina wasn't in denial deep enough to ignore it. Yet, no one said anything, no one brought it to light. There was no confrontation and no discussion.
And here they were, George and Karina divorced and Alissa well on her way to a piece of the Davis fortune.
Mrs. Grant probably couldn't be more proud, aside from if Alissa had managed to snag Sebastian. Judging from her own marriage, she’d probably groomed Alissa for this life from the start.
"Of course, I won't be having too much fun." Alissa laughed into the microphone, sending her gaze across the room until she locked eyes with Sebastian, "I am expecting a new baby Davis after all!"
As cries of excitement and surprise erupted across the room, except from the woman's parents, who politely clapped with knowing smiles, Sebastian spat out a shocked rush of champagne. He slid back in his chair, all but dropping his glass back down on the table as Shirley turned to face him.
"Well goodness," She chirped, eyes locking on my own in the same piercing way that Karina's did, "It looks like yours isn't the only Davis baby."
Sebastian stood up stiffly, chair falling backwards, as Alissa lifted her glass to everyone, finally drinking from their champagne as he quickly strode out of the ballroom.