Dancing in the Gray (21 page)

The audience collectively gasped and
then cheered as Trey walked across the stage. Elise was in shock.
When he told her he had an event tonight, she assumed it had to do
with his campaign. She was so excited to see him, and apparently so
was Jeremy and the rest of the people at the banquet. He stood
there for a long while as the audience continued to cheer for him;
Jeremy being the loudest. Elise was sure the crowd was on the edge
of their seats to see how the drama on the red carpet would now
unfold here at the ceremony now that Trey was also here.

He looked spectacular in his tuxedo. It
was black with a tailored cut and a two button jacket. It looked
like Armani or maybe even Tom Ford. Trey’s hair was slicked back.
She wasn’t sure if he looked more like a Presidential candidate or
James Bond. He was throwing both vibes out there. He looked perfect
from head to toe, and she could see why every woman in the room was
screaming their heads off.

He looked through the crowd quickly
until he spotted Elise. Once he found her, his eyes were locked on
her. Elise was short of breath from the intense look Trey was
giving her, and she couldn’t help but smile. For a while, it was
just the two of them and that’s how Elise wanted it.

Once the crowd died down, her nerves
started to kick in. She didn’t know if Trey was aware of what
happened. She deduced by the way that he was looking at her, he had
no clue about Rixby’s antics on the red carpet. She hoped that when
he did find out, that he would still look at her the way he was
right at this moment.

Trey stepped to the microphone and
began his presentation of Elise’s award.

“Good evening, New York!” The crowd
erupted again.

“As most of you all know, my mother is
Rebecca Watts.” Another eruption occurred. She was truly an icon
and everyone in this room somehow had been inspired by
her.

“She would truly appreciate the warm
welcome that she always receives here at the Women of Fashion
awards banquet. My family knows that there are three events in New
York that my mother always attends: the tents in Bryant Park during
New York’s fashion week, the Met Gala, and this banquet. She was
supposed to be standing here tonight to give this award out, but
her service to this country as First Lady took her away on an
unexpected trip to West Africa.”

“When she called me a few days ago and
asked if I would give the award out on her behalf, I would be lying
if I didn’t say that I was a little confused on why she asked me
and not my fashionista sister Sophia, or even my brother Will.
Then, she told me about the award and its recipient. At that point,
I knew the huge honor that was bestowed upon me and gladly agreed
to be here tonight in her place.”

“She asked me to give a few words on
her behalf about Elise DePaul who is tonight’s Trailblazer Award
recipient. She said that she had followed Ms. DePaul’s career from
her first micro line of cosmetics, where she was lucky enough to be
one of her first customers.”

Elise was shocked. She had no idea that
the First Lady even knew who she was much less used her cosmetics.
She was speechless. Jeremy grabbed onto her arm and gave her a
squeeze.

“She believed that this award was long
overdue since Elise changed the cosmetic industry down to the
molecular level, literally. Her ingenuity and understanding of her
industry changed the business for the better, and she was truly
saddened that she couldn’t be here herself to meet THE Elise
DePaul.” Trey smiled down at Elise as the crowd went
crazy.

He continued, “So that’s what my mother
wanted me to say about Ms. DePaul. Luckily, I have had the honor of
meeting Ms. DePaul and have a few words about her myself.” It was
total insanity. The audience was cheering and whistling, and Elise
couldn’t help the devilish smile that crossed her face and was
captured by the cameras filming the event. Her face was plastered
on the big screen letting everyone see exactly what Trey did to
her.

“I first read about Ms. DePaul in
Forbes magazine where her multimillion dollar business deal was
featured. In the financial world I work in, she was a rock star.
Then I was able to meet THE Elise DePaul and instantly learned how
she was able to attain her rock star status so quickly in her
career. She was brilliant and focused. Her confidence in her
products combined with her work ethic created a brand that was the
juggernaut that created this new direction for her industry. She
was fearless as she built her empire from the ground up with
success being the only option she had. Like any smart boss, she
surrounded herself by gifted talent that helped her develop and
market her products. Some of us call those people co-workers or
partners, Elise calls them family.” Trey nodded his head to Jeremy
who was tearing up. Elise wrapped her arm around Jeremy’s and
hugged it close to her. She wanted him to share in this award and
was touched that Trey included him in the speech.

“From her humble beginnings to her
award winning empire, the story of Elise DePaul was not only
fascinating, but inspiring. I am so honored that I was able to be
here tonight to present this award to a Pioneer, an Inspiration,
and my Rock Star. She is also a great dancer and one hell of a
tequila connoisseur. Please join me in recognizing this year’s
Trailblazer award winner, Ms. Elise DePaul.” Trey extended his arm
out in the direction of where Elise was sitting. The energy of the
banquet was unmatched by anything Elise had ever experienced as the
crowd got to their feet and gave her a standing ovation. The moment
was so surreal.

She grabbed Jeremy’s hand and pulled
him up to escort her to receive her award. They walked up the
stairs and onto the stage where Trey was standing with her award.
He extended his hand out which Jeremy immediately grabbed and
brought him in for a hug causing the audience to laugh. When Jeremy
finally released him, Trey handed Elise the plaque as he put his
arm around her shoulders guiding her to the podium.

“Congratulations, Elise. I am so proud
of you.” Trey kissed her on her temple and gave her a hug. Elise
leaned her head into his kiss as she soaked in his sweet embrace.
He backed away from the podium allowing Elise to set her plaque
down and address the audience with her acceptance
speech.

The crowd was still cheering and the
audience was making their way back to their seats. Elise took a
deep breath and tried to swallow down the lump in her throat. After
a few seconds, she addressed the audience.

“Thank you, everyone, for that
heartwarming applause. I cannot tell you how deeply honored I was
to be considered for the award much less to actually be receiving
it tonight. As a young girl with humble beginnings as Mr. Watts
alluded to, I didn’t think that my passion for knowledge would lead
me to where I am standing at this moment.”

“When I first met Jeremy,” Elise
grabbed his arm and pulled him closer, “I was struggling college
student that was trying to make ends meet by taking on a second job
at a cosmetic counter at Neiman Marcus. The job was originally
offered to my then roommate, now best friend and business partner,
Ashley, by a friend of her family. Her school schedule didn’t allow
her to accept the position, but being the best friend that she was,
she asked if she could send someone who was even more qualified and
would be an excellent fit. She knew I was looking for another job
and completely lied about my qualifications in order to land me
this one. My lack of talent was noticed immediately by the manager
of the counter, but he offered to mentor me so I could keep my job.
Jeremy was a great teacher and the reason that EDP cosmetics was
born.”

“You can find my own personal
contributions to the cosmetic collection listed under the
Ingredients section of the label. But inside every pan, tube, pot,
stick, jar and compact there is the actual beauty that was created
by Jeremy Anders. He is the genius behind the artistry that
continues to set trends throughout our industry, and I would be
remiss if I didn’t share this award with him and a woman who
invested in my friendship as well as my idea, Ashley
Graham.”

The audience erupted in applause as
Elise hugged her best friend. “Thank you, Elise. You are a class
act.” Jeremy was full on crying at this point.

“And I couldn’t have done it without
you.” Elise wiped the tears from her friend’s cheek.

Elise took another deep breath and
finished her speech. “So, thanks to all of you who were responsible
for this great honor and who continue to be loyal to EDP cosmetics.
I also want to thank our presenter Trey Watts and his mother,
Rebecca, for the kind words they had.” The whistles and cat calls
were sprinkled around the audience. Elise knew the audience was
hoping for more of a show than a few kind words and a kiss on the
temple. So she decided the only way to lessen the publicity
surround by what Rixby did, was to give the press an even bigger
headline.

“Alright, alright. Enough with the cat
calls! I know what all of you are hoping for. I saw the picture on
Twitter, too.” Elise pointed her finger randomly at the crowd who
was laughing. She turned around to look at Trey. She lifted her
eyebrows and watched as his very political smile turned naughty in
a millisecond. That was all the confirmation she needed. Elise
turned back to the microphone, “As a side note to Mr. Watts’ kind
words, he failed to mention his own impressive dancing skills which
I was privy to witness.” The ladies in the audience shrieked as
Trey turned a bright shade of red. Elise looked back at Trey while
biting her lip in hopes that he wasn’t too upset with her little
insight to the time they spent together. Trey just smiled and shook
his head.

“Anyway,” Elise grabbed the
attention of the audience causing them to quiet down, “so, Trey,
thank you for the lovely thoughts you shared with everyone, and
thank you for the wonderful surprise by being the guest presenter
of this award. I was definitely shocked when I saw you walk across
the stage, but I was also very happy to be receiving the award from
you.
Je ne peux pas
exprimer à quel point
je
t'adore.”

Elise turned and whispered to Jeremy,
“Watch my plaque while I thank Trey in true Rock Star
fashion.”

Jeremy smiled, “Oh, shit! This is gonna
be awesome!” He sang out every word.

Trey was only two steps behind Elise.
She turned her back to the audience and took the steps to close the
distance between her and Trey. He looked puzzled for a moment as he
watched her saunter over. Elise smiled as she ran her hand down his
tie while looking up at Trey, “You are a very bad boy for hiding
this from me.”

Trey leaned down and whispered in
Elise’s ear, “I look forward to seeing what type of punishment you
have planned for me.”

Elise slowly pulled on Trey’s tie
guiding his mouth onto hers. Trey cupped her face in both hands and
kissed her deeply. Elise slid her arms into his jacket wrapping
them around his back to hold him close to her. Her heartbeat sped
up as she made the stunning realization – she was falling for
him.

The audience was going nuts when Elise
heard Jeremy over the microphone, “Put your phones away, people!
She warned you the Trey Watts story was hotter!”

Trey pulled slowly away replacing her
kiss with a devious grin. He lean down and lifted Elise up into his
arms. He carried her off the stage while Elise waved to the
audience. Jeremy trotted behind them with her award in hand. He
turned to the screaming audience and took one last bow before he
followed them backstage.

~

As soon as Trey and Elise were
backstage, he placed her back down on her feet, but Elise didn’t
let him go far. She ran one of her hands through the back of his
hair and pulled him into a kiss that normally caused him to start
ripping clothes off of either her, or himself. He pulled her body
to him and let her get her fix. Nearly twenty four hours ago she
kissed him the same exact way on the living room floor of her
apartment.

“Ok, you two need to hit pause, go say
a few words to the press, then you can continue this X-rated
behavior in the car or when you get home.” Jeremy was
right.

Trey pulled is mouth away from Elise
slowly. Her face immediately switched from content to concerned.
“What’s wrong?” Trey held her face in his hands.

“I don’t know if you heard, but Rixby
approached me on the red carpet. I tried to call you
earlier.”

“I’d say approached is being very kind.
It was more like accosted.” Trey felt his jaw clinch at the thought
of it.

“So you know?” Elise’s blew out a deep
breath, and her concerned look faded away as she now looked
relieved.

“Yes. I saw it. Paul was holding me
down in the green room. Are you ok? You looked really upset.” Trey
ran his thumb over her cheek continuing to cradle her
face.

“She was.” Jeremy confirmed. “But, I’ll
take care of him. I’m putting a hit out on him with my first bonus
check.”

Elise was now smiling, “Jeremy, stop
saying that.”

“For some reason, she thinks I’m
kidding.” Jeremy looked serious, and Trey knew that he was very
protective over Elise.

“Trey, I am so sorry.”