Live soft jazz music spilled into the air as we walked closer to the building. Daimon marched over to the door, which was opened by the doormen. They nodded their heads as they let us in. Without skipping a beat, Daimon continued inside. I let out a breath once I saw the gala itself. Soft purple and red lights had the entire grand hall glowing. A large crystal chandelier hung in the middle of the room, accenting the space. A domed window was above it, letting in the night sky. It was simply stunning. Daimon held onto my hand, not letting me go as I marveled at the space around me.
“Daimon,” I heard someone call out. It was Rafe. “Hey, Addie, you look good,” he smiled at me.
“Thanks,” I murmured.
“Not to shabby yourself, Daimon,” Rafe joked.
“Bite me,” Daimon retorted.
“That’s Addie’s job, not mine,” Rafe laughed. “Come, our table awaits and I'm famished.” Rafe signaled us to follow. We walked through the crowd of business associates and colleagues, all whom had their eyes on me, or so I felt.
“Could you calm down?” Daimon said under his breath.
“Sorry, Mr. Evans,” I said quietly. He stopped in midstride, turned and glared at me. “Stop with the Mr. Evans crap,” he said irritated.
“No,” I smiled. He pulled me close, our faces almost touching.
“Addie, remember you’re the one who agreed to this, so stop making me the asshole,” he said callously, as he played with my hair, trying to make it look like an intimate moment.
“If I recall correctly, you’re the one who needed my help,” I said in a hushed voice as I played with his lapel.
“Are you guys coming?” Rafe called out.
Daimon pulled on my hand harder this time, jerking me to follow. We made our way to the table that toward the front of the large banquet hall. Daimon released my hand and pulled out my chair. Instinctively, I thought of high school, but I immediately realized he wouldn’t do that here. I hoped. I sat down carefully and smiled to the rest of the guests who sat with us. Daimon sat down next to me and reached for the linen napkin on top of his silver charger plate.
I looked over the table we sat at, a large gorgeous arrangement of various white flowers overflowed in a silver vase in the middle of the table. Silverware and crystal glasses were placed perfectly on the table. I smiled, taken aback at the sheer opulence of it all. Give me a simple dinner and I’d be happy, but I guess in Daimon’s world that was out of the question.
“You look good when you smile,” Daimon said softly to me. I turned and saw him looking right at me with a gentle grin.
“They just let anyone in, don’t they?” Our moment was ruined by Clara’s snide remark. Daimon hissed under his breath and I stiffened, her presence alone grated on my nerves.
“It appears so, since you’re here,” Daimon said to her as he took my hand and held it on his knee.
“Daimon, when will you stop trying to make poor Addie fit into our world? The girl is obviously uncomfortable here. It’s really not her fault since she never had a proper upbringing. If anything, you’re only making it worse for her and everyone around who don’t know how to deal with her,” she said as she smiled brightly and sat down at our table. Daimon stiffened and was about to say something, but I placed my hand on top of his. Our eyes met and I shook my head and smiled. I didn’t want him to cause a scene, especially not for her.
“Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience,” I quoted Mark Twain. Daimon smiled and shook his head at me.
“What’s that? An Addie tweet,” she laughed.
“No honey, that’s Mark Twain, but you should know that since you had a proper upbringing.” I smiled satisfied that I shut her up for a while.
Dinner was served while Daimon and Rafe engulfed themselves in a conversation about business.
“So, Addie,” Clara finally spoke up and the rest of the table took notice. “What do you do? I mean besides being a waitress at the bar.” She waited, knowing she was trying to humiliate me in front of everyone.
“I work,” I said looking right at her. She wasn’t about to rake me over the coals because she wanted to.
“Didn’t you have a full scholarship to Yale?” she smirked.
“I did.” I smiled back, swallowing the bitterness. Daimon stiffened next to me as he stopped talking to Rafe and watched our little exchange.
“So what happened? I mean you were so smart, how did you end up, well you know, you?” she grinned.
“Either you stop now or I will become angry, Clara, and we all know how I get when I’m fucking angry,” Daimon snarled at her. She huffed as she looked at him. She picked up her fork and began to eat her meal. I excused myself to go to the bathroom. As I stood up a fairly large gentleman knocked into me, making my shawl fall.