Bad Taste (Part II) // Colby Brock

203 - Tara

Mrs Woods hadn't talked about much. She stood on stage making the crowd "laugh" and told them all that Angela would take over the business when she died, which was kind of obvious anyway. When I muttered that, Aryia informed me that it had to be officially announced somewhere, otherwise someone else could cut in and claim that they'd been made heir instead. It was a corrupt, complicated world.

Afterward, the creepy womaniser came back to the microphone to tell us to enjoy the evening then followed the Woods backstage. They didn't emerge from the curtains like we hoped they would, but we were soon swept up in conversations with overly-curious, imposing rich people.

I had my hands full with a small group of men asking me about what I did and whether I was a model or a designer, to which I said I was a friend. They weren't interested with me, though one of them tried to convince me to become one of his models until Jake came to stand beside me.

We drifted around listening to the others trying to avoid conversation after that, mainly hearing Katrina chatter away to a couple of girls around our age—or maybe even younger.  She was too good at it, allowing Sam to sit back and relax.

I noticed Colby standing alone at first until Maggie, one of the girls from Rebecca's studio, walked over to him. I couldn't help but listen—it wasn't every day Colby smiled at someone.

"Hi, Colby, right? I'm sure we haven't met properly," Maggie said in a small, sweet voice.

Colby have her a reassuring smile—not enough to floor her but just enough to cause her cheeks to turn a pale shade of pink. "Yeah, I don't think we have."

"It's weird. I see you every time you visit. You walk too fast for me, even if I wanted to talk to you." She laughed awkwardly at herself. "It seems like Rebecca was made to talk on that stage, don't you think?"

"Maybe," he agreed, "but she isn't one for other people."

"Don't I know it. She used to hate all of us."

Colby shook his head. "Hate's too strong a word. She just didn't... know how to like someone yet. She was still working on herself."

"You don't have to paraphrase," Maggie giggled, shaking her head. "I see the correlation between the two of you. She started to talk to us right around the time you started showing up. She's always happier right after you leave if she doesn't come with you—oh, and don't get me started on how she looks at the door when she's expecting you."

"She does?" he blurted before he could stop himself.

Maggie smiled. "Of course. You don't know how head over heels she is for you?"

He wanted to blush but he couldn't, leaving him staring down at the floor biting his bottom lip. Maggie knew exactly what the expression meant and she widened her grin, nodding to the stage. "I saw how you looked at her. It's mutual, huh?"

"You know it," I muttered even though she couldn't hear me. Colby made no reaction to my statement.

"I'd prefer not to talk about that," he told her, "but if you can think of something else..."

"I can always think of something else when I'm not talking to Rebecca," Maggie chuckled. "She makes me nervous."

Colby smiled again. "I'm pretty sure she makes most people nervous."

As Maggie went to open her mouth, she spotted something just over my shoulder and snapped it shut, only to take a few steps back. "Speaking of nervous, I don't want to have to speak with Mrs Woods, so if you don't mind, I'll just be going." Colby's head snapped up to spot what she was looking at and I followed suit. Mr and Mrs Woods were strolling through the crowd avoiding people, headed straight for us. It seemed as though everyone in the group was suddenly on edge.