“It could go either way. You don’t show up and it means you really are my secret girlfriend and we decided not to risk the secret for this. Or you do show up and it proves you really are my girlfriend.”
“Seems like a bad test,” she says.
I laugh at that. “Cerise and Maxime come off as vapid rich assholes on the surface, but they are definitely cunning. You don’t thrive in a royal family, no matter how far removed, unless you have some guile.”
“So they’re smart and they’re testing us,” she says with conviction.
“They probably are.”
“What do we do?”
I shake my head and stare out at traffic, my mind working in circles. “Let me think.”
We go quiet for a while. I can’t believe I didn’t see this but beating myself up over it won’t fix the problem. I’m just happy I have Paige here seeing past my own blind spots. Who knows how this would’ve gone if I were with some other woman.
Paige is clever herself… clever and beautiful. I picked a good one to pretend to be with.
The car pulls up outside of the venue. There are people lingering on the sidewalk in suits and dresses. We fit right in and I have to hand it to her for picking the proper attire when even I wasn’t completely sure.
“Well?” she asks me. “What’s your brilliant plan?”
“We go together,” I say.
She nods with a frown. “Okay. Right.”
“But you pretend to be my assistant.”
She blinks rapidly. “Huh? I mean, I am your assistant.”
“You’re going to pretend to be my girlfriend pretending to only be my assistant.”
“Oh, my god. Are you kidding me?”
“I’m afraid not.”
“You’re insane.”
I lean closer to her. “It’s the only way we get past this. It’s the middle ground of everything.”
“I don’t think it’ll work.”
“We’ll find out then.” I open the door and step out onto the sidewalk before helping her. When we’re up and the door is closed, I frown at her slightly before walking ahead and into the venue.
I feel her scurrying to follow. I don’t slow down or look back. I greet a couple people I recognize with a smile and a handshake before I hear my name called from across the room in a thick French accent.
I turn to greet Maxime as he sweeps over the crowd. He kisses my cheeks, which I know he’s only doing to annoy me, and shakes my hand. “Lovely to see you,” he says.
“Maxime, you remember my assistant, Paige?” I ask, gesturing to her. “I thought she’d like this as a little thank you for her good work lately.”
“Hello,” she says with a little smile.
“Hello, darling,” Maxime says. “Assistant, eh? Yes, of course. You are a lucky girl, are you not?” He winks at her.
“Leon is a very good boss. I’m just happy to be here.”
Maxime laughs and grins at me, a twinkle in his eye. “Very good,” he says, shaking my hand again. “Well, enjoy the show.”
He leaves off again and heads away. I stand and watch him go with a smile on my face… but I have no clue how that actually went.
I move to turn back to Paige but I catch Cerise standing against the far wall, holding a champagne glass in one hand and watching me carefully. I give her a tight smile before looking away.
“Well?” Paige asks at a whisper.
“Well, what?” I sigh and look away. “I’d better go mingle. Try to have fun. I’ll see you inside.”
She nods once, understanding. If she’s just here to enjoy herself and not as my date, we wouldn’t spend the whole evening together.
I leave her, get a drink, and try to enjoy myself, even if the whole thing is a damn farce.
Fortunately I know a few people. Someone asks about Paige and I give the same line about giving her a little extra present. Someone makes a joke about that and the conversation moves on, nobody the wiser.
The whole evening is a mess. I’m stressed but trying hard not to show it. I refuse to let myself track Paige down so I have no clue how she’s faring. I wish I could stay with her, introduce her to people, but I know I shouldn’t.
Once inside, we barely speak. And the movie itself sucks. It’s the most boring nature documentary I’ve ever seen in my life. There are more long tracking shots of these weird prairie rats scuttling over dead grass than I ever wanted to see in my entire life.
When it’s over, I think we’re getting off perfectly. But in the crowd of people filing out, Cerise appears just as we step onto the sidewalk.
“Leon,” she says to me, glancing at Paige. “Hello. I did not get to greet you.”
We kiss on the cheek. “Thanks for inviting us,” I say. “You remember my assistant, Paige?”
“Oh, yes,” she says. “I thought she was something more, however?”