Don't Call Me Baby

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Don't Call Me Baby

I knocked on Julian's door, "I'm ready," I shouted through to him. He opened the door and stopped in his tracks when he saw me. Yup, I thought smugly, I look drop dead gorgeous. Ok, well my eyes were still a little bit puffy, but I could tell from his expression that he wasn't expecting me to scrub up so well. The dinner was a black tie charity event and Julian looked rather dashing in his well-tailored suit.

"You look beautiful," he paid me the compliment as he took my arm in his.

"Why thank you," I responded gracefully. I was going to tell him he scrubbed up well too but, nope, he didn't deserve me to be nice to him so I kept quiet.

I had never been to an event like this before. The only time I had ever seen a man in a tuxedo was, just like the horses, on TV and despite all the drama today, I was actually looking forward to the experience. As we headed towards the stairs we could hear the hubbub of people gathering in the hallway below.

There must have been about one hundred guests milling around. Julian and I were late. As I glided down the stairs I was aware of glances upwards towards us. It seemed we were making quite an entrance. I was guessing that there weren't many black people living in the country because I didn't see any. Guess I would have to fly the flag for my black brothers and sisters I giggled to myself. I couldn't see Joe amongst the crowd, but Jasper came bouncing right up to us.

"Lola, you look ravishing," he beamed at me. "Trust Julian to have the most beautiful woman in the room on his arm."

"That's because I got his arm before Francesca could get it," I laughed shrugging off the compliment, not caring about the grimace this brought to Julian's face.

"My dear," he took me from Julian smoothly, patted my hand and began to whisk me away, "she's hardly human so she doesn't count," he whispered to me. I laughed aloud. I was beginning to really like Jasper. We seemed to be on the same wave length as far as sense of humour was concerned, and of course, our common dislike of Francesca. I decided that I was going to forget all the betrayals of the day and enjoy myself so I gladly went with Jasper as he toured the room introducing me to the country set. Not once did I look back towards Julian nor did my eyes roam the room seeking out Joe.

I took a glass of champagne from a passing waitress and was being entertained by Jasper, Bernhard, and a lovely portly older gentleman who was the Chairman of the local Rotary Club on whose behalf Jasper was hosting the event. I could feel the champagne flushing my cheeks and the heat of so many bodies, despite the cavernous room, made me grateful for a dress which was cool if somewhat lacking in material.

The venue, being surrounded by men dressed up in what Emm would call penguin suits; the chandeliers glittering; and the women in their evening dresses made me feel like I was at some Hollywood party rather than middle England. I was enjoying the mild flirtations of the men who were on their best chivalrous behaviour when I heard Joe behind me. I had decided that he would remain "Joe" for the time being. Not least, because if I started to call him Al now it was bound to slip out in the office. Besides, he definitely looked like a Joe to me.

"Lola," he said softly to me in greeting, "Can I have a word with you," he asked. A small frown creased my brow.

"Oh no you don't," protested Jasper good naturedly, "we are enjoying her company far too much for you to drag her away." Bernhard and the Chairman nodded in agreement and Joe backed down. He drifted off to one side in a sulk. I decided to ignore him to punish him. Between him and Julian I was not sure which one I had felt had betrayed me most. In fairness though, I had listened to Julian's excuses so I did decide to give Joe a chance to give his side of the story at some point. After all, we had been so intimate earlier in the day I felt that I probably should give him the opportunity. I flushed at the memory. Probably, on balance, I had had a lucky escape. With my propensity to be attracted to bad boys I had almost sunk to the point of no return after our afternoon of wild sex. In a way, despite the hurt, I was guessing it was a good thing I found out sooner rather than later.