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“One more thing,” Rita continued, right as I set my hand on the doorknob.
I turned back to face her. This time she did smile.
Oh, shit.
“Mr. Brighton has requested our presence tonight at a company event for Plush. The official launch of their fall line, I believe. I trust you will be able to rearrange your schedule in order to attend.”
I felt my hand involuntarily ball into a fist. The voice in my head rattled off a quick speech that started with a “fuck this” and ended with an “I quit”, but I reined it in and tried to focus on the fact that if I did that, I would likely cost Bryce his job as well and that wasn’t something I wanted to be responsible for.
“That won’t be a problem,” I answered, through gritted teeth.
“Excellent. Do keep in mind that even though it is a private event, you will be representing our company tonight, so please adhere to the black tie dress code and don’t abuse the open bar.” She smiled sweetly at me and folded her hands atop her desk.
My nails were cutting into my palm and it took every last shred of self-control to turn and leave the room without flinging myself across her desk and sinking them into her skin instead.
I stormed back to my desk and saw Bryce perched on the edge of it. He reared back at my entrance. “What the hell happened to you? You look like you’re ready to explode.”
“That pretty much sums it up. Listen, I’ve got to get out of here. If Rita asks where I went, just tell her Cinderella had to go get ready for the ball.”
“Cinderella? The ball?” Bryce’s eyebrows creased. “What on earth are you talking about?”
“Never mind. Just cover for me, okay?”
“Okay. See you tomorrow,” he answered. “Have fun at the, uh, ball.”
“Oh, it’s going to be delightful.”
Chapter Six
By the time I got home, ravaged my closets, and subsequently came to the conclusion that I had nothing suitable to wear, I had less than two hours to get to the event. It would actually be helpful if my sarcastic comparison to Cinderella came true and a fairy godmother would come to rescue me. At least then I’d have a killer dress and proper transportation. I checked my bank account balance online and sighed at the numbers staring back at me. Pitiful.
Short on time and cash, I decided the best plan would be to hit up the consignment shop two blocks down from my apartment. Before leaving, I sent out an SOS text to one of my friends, Hannah, begging her to meet me at the shop. Most of the girls I knew were girlfriends of the bikers who hang out in the same bars I do on the weekends. I’d met Hannah a couple years back. She had been dating a guy named Lou, and we hit it off. Lou and her ended not too long after that, but we managed to stay in contact. Hannah had a Hollywood glamour vibe to her, and I knew she’d know what to wear to something like this and she’s great with hair too.
I darted from my apartment, hauled ass down to the shop and was frantically digging through the jam-packed clothing racks when I heard Hannah’s voice ring out across the shop. “Allie!”
We embraced quickly. “Thanks for coming. I know I sound like a total crazy person.”
“Well, yeah. What are you trying to do? Your text said something about a black toe party? I know you hang with some sketchy people, but what the hell?”
“Black toe?”
She dug out her phone and showed me the text. I started to laugh. “Black tie! It was supposed to say a black tie party.”
Hannah looked at the screen and then back at me and started to giggle. “You know, it’s pretty sad that I honestly didn’t even consider that it was autocorrect gone horribly wrong. I really thought it was something to do with toes! I was picturing…well, never mind, you don’t even want to know. Anyways, I raced down here to save you!”
“Holy shit, Han, my friends aren’t that bad!” I said after I caught my breath from laughing so hard. I held my stomach and explained the actual reason I needed her help.
“Man, I don’t see you for two weeks and all hell breaks loose.”
“Tell me about it.”
“So when you say this dude’s hot, like how hot?” Her eyes were sparkling with interest as she begged. “I haven’t gotten any in way too long, so I need all the yummy details.”
I rolled my eyes at her. “He’s crazy, stupid hot. But that’s not the point! Hannah, he’s also arrogant, cold, and a complete control freak!”
“I bet you could loosen him right up,” she said, throwing me a wink. “I can’t believe you didn’t go out with him! Come on, a hot, rich guy wants to take you out to a fancy dinner and you said no? You should have at least gone to get a free steak—err salad— out of the deal—or whatever it is you vegetarian people eat.”
“Hannah, focus!” I flipped my phone on to check the time. Less than two hours now.
