The Pull of Destiny (36 page)

“Not funny.”

But she was
smiling, so I assumed that it had been a little funny.

“At least Faith
will be happy you’re in pink, just like her,” I said reflectively.

We walked into
the ballroom and immediately, it seemed all eyes were on us. Or rather, on
CiCi. Obviously. A beauty in a vibrant pink dress, who wouldn’t look? I was
having a hard time keeping my eyes off her myself!

“Now I know
what Cinderella felt like when she arrived at the ball,” CiCi whispered out of
the corner of her mouth.

I grinned at
her, my eyes on her face. “Tonight, you’re my Cinderella,” I told her.

She smiled
back. “Lucky me.”

And we walked
to our table, neither of us knowing what the night would bring.

***

I should have known it was
too good to be true. You know that saying ‘the good things never last’? I guess
that would sum up the gala night perfectly.

And it started so well,
too. My date showed up looking like she had just stepped out of a high fashion
magazine and took my breath away, she looked that amazing. And Joanna’s
reaction...

Let me just clarify one
issue. I’m not usually a vindictive guy. In fact, people who know me will tell
you that I never make fun of anyone’s misfortunes and I totally don’t laugh
when someone falls. Well, not to their faces, anyway.

That being said, I just
couldn’t help feeling a certain amount of malicious pleasure at the look on
Joanna's face as I proudly led CiCi to our table. Trust me; I’ve never seen so
many emotions fight for dominance on one person’s face. Anger, amazement and
straight up jealousy flickered over Joanna's heavily made-up face as she stared
at us from her table. Her words from earlier echoed in my head-
‘speaking of
hot messes, what the hell is she gonna wear?
’ and I laughed to myself.

Eat your words, Joanna.

At this moment in time, I
was positive that CiCi looked prettier than any female in the room. Probably
even the entire hotel, but maybe that was just my hormones talking.

Joanna wasn’t the only
person eyeballing CiCi from her table. Her sleazy stepdad was giving my date a
slow, lascivious head to toe look, probably trying to undress her with his
eyes. Meanwhile, Joanna’s mother was giving her husband the evil eye. I shook
my head, biting back a grin. What a screwed up family.

Unfortunately, I had a lot
to learn about just how screwed up a family could get, or as I should say one
family member in particular.

And yeah, I’m talking
about my father.

Everything was going so
well when CiCi and I got to our table. Faith bounced up and down in her seat,
clapping her chubby hands at the sight of CiCi.

“Celsi! You’re here! And
you’re wearing pink!”

“Hi, Faith!” CiCi also
looked very happy to see Faith as she patted her on the shoulder. “You look so
pretty in your dress.”

Difference between the way
CiCi complimented Faith and the way Joanna did it- sincerity. Joanna’s
gushiness when dealing with Faith was about as believable the existence of
mermaids. And CiCi- all you had to do was look at her smile to know that she
meant every word she was saying.

I pulled out a chair for
CiCi next to mine, placing my hand on her back to steady her. She flinched at
the sudden contact and gave me a wide eyed glance, just like I knew she would.

Smiling sheepishly at her,
I whispered, “Sorry,” without feeling sorry at all. Was it a crime that I liked
touching her, even though I wasn’t a touchy feely guy? It wasn’t my fault that
her skin was so soft!

Faith shot CiCi a wide
smile as she sat down. “Thank you!” She turned to Hope, who was looking
curiously at CiCi as she arranged her dress over her legs. “See, mommy? I told
you I wouldn’t be the only one here wearing pink!”

I grinned wryly.
“Obviously Faith has an ulterior motive for being so happy to see you,” I
joked, sitting down next to CiCi.

Hope nodded indulgently,
smoothing back Faith’s hair. “I see, Faith.” She turned her attention to CiCi,
extending her hand across the table. “Hi, I’m Hope, Luke’s stepmom.”

CiCi shook Hope’s hand.
“Nice to meet you, Hope, I’m Celsi,” she introduced herself.

“I’ve heard lots about
you, Celsi, mostly from Faith,” Hope continued.

Faith, who had been gazing
at CiCi with an adoring look on her face, leaned closer to her. “Don’t worry; I
said nice things about you.”

“Of course you did, you
sweetie,” CiCi replied, making a playful face at Faith.

Not wanting to be left out
of the loop, I nudged CiCi. “I said nice things about you too,” I told her,
winking cheekily.

Wrong thing to say.

“He said he was excited
you’re his date and he’ll kiss you,” Faith said in hushed tones, her eyes
sparkling with glee. Shit. Out of the mouths of babes...

CiCi quickly glanced at
me, her eyes wide with surprise and I quickly corrected Faith, feeling my
cheeks flush.

“Your hand. I told her
I’ll kiss your hand when we dance,” I explained, feeling slightly embarrassed
and even worse, hot and bothered.

“Oh,” CiCi said, looking
relieved. Unfortunately, Faith was on a roll.

“I told him to. Like
Prince Charming in Cinderella.” She leaned closer still to CiCi to ‘whisper’ in
her ear. But you know how kid’s whispers are the loudest things out there, so I
heard every word. “Do you wanna know what I heard Joanna tell Wendy?”

Little eavesdropper. I
wondered what Faith could have possibly overheard those two talking about, and
where. I didn’t have too long to find out.

Looking suitably
interested, CiCi asked, “What?”

“He’s a good kisser!”
Faith shot me a proud look as I groaned, putting my head in my hands. Why were
siblings so inappropriate?

“Really?” CiCi said, a
laugh in her voice, but Faith- she wasn’t done.

“How can she tell he’s a
good kisser?” she asked curiously, looking up at CiCi.

Before CiCi could answer
(and I had a strong feeling she was about to) I put a hand over Faith’s mouth,
effectively silencing the beast. “Enough, little sis.”

While Faith struggled to
get my hand off her mouth (so she could embarrass me even more? I didn’t think
so) Hope apparently agreed with me that enough was enough. “I’m sure Celsi’s
not interested in all that,” she said dismissively. “That’s a gorgeous dress,
by the way. You look very pretty in it.”

CiCi beamed at Hope, her
face lighting up. “Thank you, Hope.”

“So I hear you’re helping
Luke with his list?” Hope asked.

CiCi nodded. “I’m trying
to,” she said, shrugging self-depreciatingly.

Obviously, she didn’t
realize how much it meant to me that she was willing to drop whatever she was
doing just because I asked. Like today, she could have been at Aisha’s fashion
show to cheer on Shazia, but instead she was here with me. And how did that
make me feel? Pretty special.

Hope smiled at me, a look
I couldn’t read in her eyes. “Judging from the way Luke’s been acting lately,
you’re doing more than just trying. I’d say you being around him is a very good
thing.”

Oh, God, not another feel
good speech from Hope! Even though CiCi being around me
was
a good
thing, did Hope have to say it before I could?

Still, it was worth having
Hope embarrass me to see the pleased as punch look on CiCi’s face. I just loved
it when she smiled. “Thanks, Hope.”

“Yeah, Hope, thanks for
embarrassing me in front of my date,” I said playfully, slinging my arm over
the back of CiCi’s chair.

“I’m just stating the
truth,” Hope went on relentlessly. “It’s been so long since I heard Luke
whistle, but all of a sudden I hear him singing in the shower.” She gave CiCi a
deeply meaningful look. “Whatever you’re doing, don’t stop.” CiCi looked
bemused but happy as Hope continued. “He needs a friend like you now more than ever.”

Way to talk about me like
I wasn’t even there!

CiCi smiled at me, her
eyes shining, making my heart skip a beat and I didn’t know why.

Yes, you do.

“Then I’ll be the best
friend I can be,” she said softly, a shy smile curving up her lips.

I smiled back at her as a
waiter came by our table with a menu, giving CiCi the chance to change the
subject. I was kinda glad. Hope meant well, but she could be pretty intense. At
least Faith had decided to shut up and was playing on her Nintendo DS for the
time being.

Running a hand through her
hair, CiCi twisted in her seat to look around the ballroom.

“Is your dad here?” she
asked me curiously.

I nodded, jerking my head
in the direction of the wet bar. “Yeah, he’s probably at the bar, knocking back
shots,” I replied, leaning back on my chair.

Hope gave me a look.
“Luke,” she said disapprovingly, bringing her tweezed eyebrows together.

Jeeze, a guy can’t speak
the truth anymore?

Deciding that getting into
an argument with Hope on dad’s precise location wasn’t worth it, I backtracked.

“Okay, my dad’s probably
not
at the bar, knocking back shots.” CiCi looked confused. Who would blame
her? I was confusing myself! “There’s my dad.”

I pointed to the bar,
where dad and company were indeed knocking back shots.

Don’t act like I never
told you.

Flustered, Hope quickly
defended her husband. “He’s just joining his friends in a pre-dinner drink,”
she said, laughing shrilly as she tried to convince CiCi that dad wasn’t well
on his way to becoming an alcoholic.

We all fell silent as we
watched dad take a final sip of whatever he was drinking, stand up and walk to
our table. Shit. I felt dread rising in my stomach as he strode purposefully
towards our table, beaming for once at the sight of CiCi. If there was one
thing that Lucas George Astor Senior loved more than money and booze, it was a
beautiful woman. And, well- CiCi was a beautiful woman.

“Well, well, well, you
must be my son’s date,” he rumbled, staring at CiCi in stark admiration as she
started to get to her feet as a sign of respect. Dad waved her back into her
seat. “Don’t get up on my account.”

“Dad, this is Celsi
Sawyer,” I spoke up, feeling that a formal introduction was in order. “CiCi,
this is my dad, Lucas Astor Senior.”

CiCi smiled timidly at dad
and was awarded with a 4 million kilowatt grin in return. “Good evening, Mr.
Astor, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said as her foot tapped nervously on
the floor.

“My, and you’ve got
manners, too!” Dad roared with laughter at something that really wasn’t funny
and I nearly rolled my eyes. He wasn’t drunk yet, but he was close. Which was a
sign of bad things to come. Because when dad was drunk, or even slightly tipsy,
his mental filter was non-existent. “Where’d my son find you? I’m impressed.”

He rested his elbows on
the table, leaning forward to presumably hear CiCi’s answer better. Or maybe to
look down the front of her dress, I’m not sure.

“I’ll take that as a
compliment,” I muttered sarcastically while CiCi smiled uncertainly, obviously
unsure of what to make of the new situation she was in.

“Where’d you two meet?”
dad asked CiCi.

“We go to school
together,” she replied.

Dad nodded. “About time
Dalton had some ethnic diversity, huh? Especially since all the Legacy students
are good for is getting high, drunk and sexed up in the school bathrooms.”

He shot a triumphant look
at me as I pretended to stare at my hands. There he goes, always trying to get
a shot in at me.  I rolled my eyes and said nothing.

The waiter arrived and
started taking our orders as dad shot questions at poor CiCi. I squirmed in
anticipation of what was to come. As soon as he found out that CiCi wasn’t who
he evidently thought she was...  I was dead.

“So you’re a Sawyer?” was
his first question.

CiCi nodded brightly.
“Yes, sir.”

Tapping his temple, dad
said, “I know a Martin Sawyer from Staten Island. The media mogul.”
Namedropper. “Related to you?”

Shaking her head, CiCi
said “No, sir. But I’ve heard of him.”

“Of course you have,” dad
said wisely, as though everyone had heard of this Martin Sawyer. I sure hadn’t,
not that my opinion counted. He snapped his fingers, making Faith jump. “Okay,
I’ve got it. Yvonne Sawyer, the Bostonian actress. You’re related to her!”

Biting her lip, CiCi shook
her head. “Uh, no, sir. I’m pretty sure I’m not related to her.”

Dad scrutinized her and
went off on another tangent. “Where do you live? Park, Madison?” he barked at
her, sounding like a deranged drill sergeant.