The Agency

VIII. the gala

Warning: mild sexual content

A/N: The image at the top is where the gala is being held! Hope my descriptions do it justice. 

The ride to the Ripple of Hope Awards Dinner was torturous. First, Stephanie had been 30 minutes late. Alex sat in his limo playing Mario Kart with his driver while she was "baking her face", whatever that meant. Then, once she got in the car, Stephanie had insisted on listening to Fifth Harmony the entire ride and to his disgust, knew every single word. She nudged him to sing along with her but he made the weak excuse of how he wanted to save his voice for the gala.

As they got closer to the event, he looked out the window nervously, forgetting how big these types of events were. There were cameras flashing everywhere and there were even some national networks covering the red carpet.

Stephanie did look good tonight. Her chestnut hair was all on one side in Hollywood waves and it looked like she put some shimmer in it. She wore a strapless pink lace dress that had a short train with roses embroidered on it. Her makeup was dewy, rosy cheeks and pink glossy lips.

"Nervous, honey?" Stephanie purred, massaging his shoulders. Honey? She didn't wait for his answer before continuing. "Don't worry, you're gonna be a natural. But you're so cute, I doubt the cameras will let you go easily." She laughed. "Especially if you're with me."

What on earth is she talking about?

The car pulled up in front of the Midtown Hilton, where the events were already underway. Alex found the boxy grey exterior of the hotel to be quite ugly but the inside was anything but. His driver parked and opened the door for Alex and Stephanie. Alex waved goodbye and thanked his driver but Stephanie acted like he wasn't even there. It was going to be a long night.

Stephanie confidently wrapped her arm around his as they strode together onto the red carpet. The moment Stephanie was seen, the cameras swarmed them like sharks after blood in the water.

"Ms. Woods, Ms. Woods!" The paparazzi shouted, all wanting to get her attention. Alex could not see who was talking through the constant flashing white lights in his face. He put his hand up to protect himself from damage. "Is this Alex Stroud? Is this the guy you said you have been dating?"

It took all of Alex's self-control not to look confused and disgusted. How long had she been telling people that they had been dating? All he told her was that he was going to accompany her to this dinner, just to see how things went. He was only doing this for Ruben to begin with. He never mentioned anything about dating.

Please don't say yes, please don't say yes...

"Yes, this is him," she gushed, kissing him on the cheek. "Isn't he just the hottest thing you've ever seen?" She pulled him closer for a shot of the two of them together, cheek to cheek. Alex attempted to flash a smile but he didn't know if it worked.

This woman is fucking crazy.

"Alex! Alex! Is this true? How did you two meet?" The reporters asked, their notepads out and ready to record his every word.

He didn't want to risk his reputation and look stupid in front of the cameras so he swallowed his pride and lied.

"One of my friends is her brother and he kept telling me how wonderful she was," Alex looked down at her, a fake smile plastered across his face. He knew Stephanie's brother, Ruben and Jabari were probably dying of laughter right now. Those bastards probably knew she did this and didn't say anything to warn him for their own sick comedic pleasure. "Ruben kept pushing me to ask her out and here we are."