She did her hair in a long flowing coif and applied striking makeup since it was a dressy affair. She had a ton of fun making herself look glamorous, which meant she completely lost track of time, so when the doorbell rang, she threw out a curse, hastily grabbed her heels and sprayed on some perfume before she rushed to the door.
Ray was standing there, waiting patiently, dressed in a well-tailored suit and perfectly combed hair. His shoes were like mirrors and relatively new. He probably hated dressing like this, but being a salesman, he was an old pro at it.
“Ready?” he asked pleasantly.
Krista checked to make sure everything was in place. “Crap, my clutch!” She clattered down the hall like a lame horse. When she returned with everything accounted for, Ray led her down the front steps, holding out his hand to help her. Apparently the unlady-like clomping on wood floors made him nervous.
“I got it,” she said, daintily following him. She figured she’d better be extra elegant so he didn’t think she was homicide in heels.
It was then she was greeted by a fantastic sight! Nothing said important like showing up in a limousine! This was shaping up to be a good night.
“Going in style!” Krista said as Ray opened the door and handed her inside.
“Krista, honey, you look ravishing!” Marcus exclaimed as she climbed in.
Krista smiled radiantly. “Thanks, kind sir. I just bought this dress.”
“Who is it?”
“Michael Kors. I can’t afford Gucci.”
“Not yet, honey. Not yet. But someday soon you will.” Marcus and Judy laughed together as Krista got comfortable, a non-hopeful smile on her face.
Krista surveyed her surroundings as Ray handed her a glass of champagne. Sean sat near the front of the long, totally decked out limo. An overdone-up Monica sat beside him in a pair of tall stilettos, a super tight, ultra revealing black dress, and her entire bag of makeup applied to her face.
Those two were sitting in no-man’s-land, which was the very end of the limo, without a door in easy access. A person at that end had to crouch, scoot and climb down the middle of the smallish aisle while trying to look graceful and not tripping and falling on their head. If you were a girl with heels and a tight dress, like Monica, it guaranteed a fall! Krista should know, she’d been there before. Twice.
“Jesus Geek Girl, you live out in bum-fuck nowhere!” Marcus exclaimed.
“A.K.A. by the beach,” she retorted.
Marcus and Judy sat halfway down the long aisle, across from the champagne.
“Yeah, way out by the beach,” Marcus said as he looked out the window at the not so distant waves. “I haven’t been out this far in I don’t know how long.”
“Well, at least you’re doing it in style!” Judy said in high spirits.
Judy and Marcus looked a perfect pair. Both were dressed in sleek, black numbers. Marcus was in a suit that made him look young, hip and at the height of fashion. His handsome face was shed of all stubble and his smile was never misplaced.
Judy was the model of conservative, with a high-neck, form-fitting dress. It was flashy without being tight or revealing. She had a cute pair of pumps that seemed well placed on her matronly, yet somehow still sleek, appearance. Krista hoped she looked half as good at her age.
And if she’d said that out loud, she’d probably get slapped. Mental note.
Then there was Sean.
Krista had to hand it to him, the man made the world sigh when he went all out. She didn’t get to see him standing, but she could imagine. Armani suit, she was sure of it. She would later learn it was perfectly tailored to his outstanding body. His hair was spiky in front and tamed on the sides, which made him look trendy and bad-boy at the same time. The man was a confident, shiny million-dollar-bill.
She refrained from looking at him other than in glances, because Monica was overbearing in her scrutiny of the newcomer. Krista did not want to get in a catfight for a guy she had no interest in pursuing. How high-school.
It took about ten minutes before Sean started his tirade of what to expect, who was important, and what to say. Moreover, what not to say. None of this dealt with the idiot at Krista’s table, so she let the bubbles wrap her up as she looked out the window in the lap of luxury.
At one point in the hour-and–a-half-long drive she came to realize a limo ride sucked without tunes, and reached up to the console above her head to flick on her favorite station. It wasn’t until she noticed the entire limo looking at her that she remembered this was a work function, and Sean had been talking.
“Oops,” she half-shrugged with an apologetic grin at five astonished faces. Well, four astonished faces. One was frustrated and mostly angry.
She smiled sheepishly and turned the thing off, but for some reason, “My bad,” didn’t erase Sean’s look of death. He might have been under the impression she wasn’t paying attention.
All too soon they arrived and were immediately thrust into the social work-world of Monica’s devising, which, being honest, she fit into perfectly. She twittered and moved around the crowd, touching men’s arms and laughing constantly. She was a social butterfly in mating season; it was gross.
Krista, in comparison, was the bearded lady. There was a special area for people like her, but unfortunately, she wasn’t in it. She was the nerd among cool people. The youth among adults. The poor college student among the business elite. And like a poor college student, she went to the bar. She knew how to fit in like a pro at the bar! Who said she didn’t have experience?
~*~*~*~
“You made it,” John said as Sean joined him.
“Just got here. There was more traffic than I expected.”
“Perfect timing. Tory just arrived. He’s without Emily.”
Sean looked around and spotted Tory over by the list of names and seating arrangements. “That’s not a good sign. He’ll probably try to duck out early.”
“That’s what I was thinking. Who have you got him next to?”
Sean turned away from Tory so the man didn’t realize he was the object of scrutiny. “Marcus. Tory doesn’t trust either of us and there was no one else.”
“What about Judy?”
“No.”
“Monica? She is looking hot tonight. She’s good for that sort of thing.”
“She doesn’t know the product. And she isn’t the right sort to talk to him.”
“True. Did you bring the cute Research girl?”
“Yes. She’s by the bar.”
John scanned the twinkling social hub and whistled. “Wow. Nice rack.”
“She’s not one I’d pair with Tory,” Sean said, looking the other way uncomfortably.
He could watch Krista all night. In fact, that’s all he wanted to do. Despite the pressure of their job here tonight, it’s all he wanted to do. Earlier in the limo, as they’d pulled up to Krista’s house, Monica had spread her legs so her knee brushed his, trying to focus his attention on what waited between her thighs. And two years ago that might’ve still worked. But the second Krista’s body was silhouetted in the door frame, sporting a sleek, glittering blue dress that showed her off as he had never seen before, his thoughts and eyes stuck to her. Monica was pretty, sure, but in a manufactured sort of way. Krista was different. She was real. Too good for a guy like him. Too pure.
And if that would stop him trying for her, he’d truly be a changed man. He was more mature now, but he still had the arrogance of youth. He just wished he had a few tricks up his sleeve that she’d buy. She was a magician’s worst nightmare.
All that aside, he had an important job to do tonight, and he didn’t want, or need, the distraction. Tonight wasn’t about girls, no matter how pretty. No matter how intriguing. Sean was nervous and excited both. This was a true challenge. Tory was a smart, business-savvy executive at the height of his career, sitting on the empire he basically built. To land him tonight meant Sean was well on his way. It meant the Junior VP position was all but his.
“Speaking of Tory …” John said, interrupting Sean’s thoughts.
Tory was making his way to the bar. To the open spot right next to Krista, which happened to be the only place available.
“Doesn’t matter the man, we all like to look,” John said in that creepy way he had become known for.
“Maybe I’ll head over,” Sean said in a tight voice. He didn’t want Krista speaking with Tory. She was too honest and he was too shrewd. It’d be over before it’d even begun.
“Leave her for a minute. Tory will know something’s up if you sprint in now. By the look of her, she doesn’t know who he is.”
Chapter Nineteen
“Scotch on the rocks.”
Krista glanced to her right when she heard the smoker’s voice and saw a man in an expensive suit in his late forties or early fifties. Remembering that she was supposed to mingle, she turned her head in his direction. Then, not knowing what to say, hesitated with her mouth open.
“Are you all right?”
She recognized the look of concern in the man’s eyes, which probably had something to do with her looking skyward, mouth open, thinking.
She laughed stupidly. “I’m an idiot, sorry. I was trying to think of a way to be chatty.”
“To be chatty?” He turned back to the bar.
So did she, “Yeah, you know, sociable.”
“It doesn’t sound like you work in PR.”
Krista laughed again. “No. Not even close. Research. They don’t let us out much.”
“Then why are you here? If you don’t mind my asking.”
Million-dollar question. Krista didn’t know who this guy was, but based on the fact that she was left alone without one of her team rushing over to save her, she figured he wasn’t anyone too important. Still, she had to stick to the same story with everyone, so she hedged.
“I did well in a presentation. This is my gold star. Well…that, and my boss didn’t want to come. I don’t think he likes these things much.”
“I don’t blame him. Were you not permitted to bring a date?”
“Personal question,” Krista mumbled.
The man next to her looked over. Krista realized he’d heard.
“Sorry,” she said to her drink, trying to be polite but not really meaning it. “Often times it isn’t wise to point out that a single girl is alone at a function.”
The man next to her turned toward her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—“
She waved him away and looked out at the people mill-and-flocking around. Some might also call it socializing.
“Don’t worry about it. It doesn’t really apply in this situation anyway. Long story short, I didn’t know if we could bring a date or not because I didn’t ask. I didn’t really want to bring the man I’m seeing. Plus, it’s kind of like a wedding—if you bring someone no one else knows, then you have to babysit. I hate bringing a date to weddings.”
“But you are at the bar alone.”
“Yup. Hindsight.”
The man next to her snorted.
“Tit for tat, why are you alone?” Krista asked, still trying to be polite and sociable. It didn’t come naturally with strangers. On the other hand, she’d have to leave her comfy little alcove at the bar soon, so she might as well talk to him until he wandered away or Sean would be irritated she wasn’t being a stupid social butterfly like Monica.
“My wife didn’t want to come, and unfortunately for me, she had a better excuse.”
“Had to wash her hair?”
The man laughed a smoker’s huff. He must have smoked for a good few years before he gave it up. He was older, late fifties, but no plastic surgery unlike many of the big-shot execs at this weird fundraiser. This guy was down-to-earth and had the buds of being interesting. He didn’t seem like he belonged. She knew how he felt.
“She claimed she was sick,” he replied, leaning against the bar. “Probably wanted to do a girls’ night.”
“Don’t blame her. I was really stoked about coming because I haven’t been to Napa yet, but I am having a hard time relaxing.”
“I agree with you.”
Krista looked out at the sea of people again and saw Monica making her way over with Sean in tow.
“I should go. Research has a stigma for being anti-social—I don’t want to prove everyone wrong.”
“It was nice speaking with you.”
Krista nodded, desperate to be out of the fearsome duo’s way. Unfortunately, since she was blocked in by rich old geezers and couldn’t sprint away fast enough, she got trapped by slut and sluttier.
Sean was looking at Krista in a penetrating gaze. He didn’t look happy. Monica was looking at her, too, but more in a, “Get lost, this is my man” sort of way that gave Krista the heebie-jeebies.
“Hey guys,” Krista said to the pair. “I was just heading out to...talk to people. It’s a really great party, Monica.”
“Sure Kristie, thanks,” Monica responded, dismissing her and smiling for the man with the smoker’s voice.
Krista hesitated with that little slip. The twit absolutely knew her name! She was being an a-hole on purpose, and Krista got the mad desire to punch her in her face. Fortunately for the clown, Sean was in the way and Krista didn’t want to ruin her dress. Still-- Whore.
“Okay, then…” Krista said, inching away. The man spared her a glance, and then turned back to the bar, ignoring Sean and Monica.
Sean looked miffed.
Krista slowly wandered around, smile always present, and marveled at her surroundings. The winery, in a word, was splendid. It was everything one could imagine from a Napa Valley winery. It was stately and elegant with neatly rounded bushes, walkways clear and pristine, and flowers of all shapes and varieties blooming on the vast expanse of lawn around the grounds.