The Next Best Thing: Part II

Fifty-Nine

Date night = the proverbial evening where a couple try to spice things up in their relationship; for Eoin and I however, it most always involved us driving around the city, looking for events to gate-crash as Mr and Mrs. Nate Sloane, Alex Palumbo, or Eoin Macken when we felt adventurous.

That night, he was taking me to a cancer benefit thrown in honour of his family's dedication to the cause. It was hosted by Nathalie and Anton Buchanan, a well-off couple in their early fifties and Tony's parents.

"Babe?" I yelled to Eoin from the bathroom in his room. "I need you in here." I was standing by the counter, applying minimalistic make-up to downplay my face and accentuate my regal ballgown; the zipper wouldn't budge.

He was still in only his dress pants since the last time I saw him, bright pink socks and his mane tamed in a coiffed bun.

"What's up, Zo?" he asked, sliding his hands around my waist. "You look great, by the way," he whispered into my neck.

"My zipper," I answered, making sure not to convey how I felt. When he held me, I almost always surrendered to passion, but I had to stop myself from wincing. "It's being really difficult." He swept my hair to the side, running his fingers down the nape of my neck. He tenderly traced the length of my spine, and slowly, he managed to zip my dress in one go.

"I get the feeling I wasn't invited here because your zipper jammed," he chuckled with a naughty twinkle in his eye. "I'd love to babe, but I think we should be on time for this one at least."

He looked gorgeous, always, but it was not the time to be wanting to undress each other. It would have been the first time we would since he told me about his ex, and I was finding it difficult to get over it. I was jealous of what they had, and I was still upset about how long he kept it a secret from me.

"Get dressed already," I shooed him away.

"Yes, ma'am."

A half hour later, he was walking me into a vast ballroom with a multitude of other equally well-off individuals, exuding impeccable manners and etiquette, another perk of affluence. Eoin was here on behalf of the Macken family, and I was his fresh-faced, doe-eyed, super young plus one. The greater majority of this crowd were middle-aged and much older pioneers of research, innovation and generosity.
This was a far cry from the kinds of soirees I attended with Mitchell - with Eoin, I still had fun, and I could still go dancing at a club, but I was also allowed to be a mature young woman worthy of a dignified, successful and amazing guy.

My bare arm was tucked into the nook of his, a champagne flute in each of our other free hands. "I'll give you a heads up on who's who here when we're ambushed, okay? It's only polite that you greet them with their names too." A few weeks before, his mom had decided to brag about me to all her friends, most of whom were present that evening. I was a hot topic of discussion at tea for an entire week, Eoin had divulged.

First up was Nathalie Buchanan herself, decked in exotic precious jewels and doused in intoxicating, gorgeous perfume. "Zoe, it's so nice to finally meet you. Juliet just won't shut up about you, and I can see why. You're a gem, darling. My Eoin is one lucky guy," she grinned in a kind smile. "You look marvelous. Thank you for joining us this evening."

I immediately warmed up to her, and soon we were trading stories about our similar childhoods in foreign countries, one of the many things we had in common. Tony bore a striking resemblance to his mom, down to their lovely personalities and pleasant, welcoming natures. Around them, the Mackens too, I was not any different from them. I was accepted.

"Zoe, this is Mrs. Charlotte Housley, a dear family friend," Eoin said as he introduced me to a beautiful elderly woman asking after Gaia and her newborn. She too was quite pleasant, eager to engage in conversation with me and approving of my relationship with Eoin.