Hidden Truths

Chapter 15: JDC

"Are you all dressed yet?" Michael yells up the stairs.

"Not yet, Dad!" Theo shouts down the hall, while Grayson and I both shout "No!" I'm still rushing to get ready for the charity gala even though I've been getting ready for about an hour now, most of it being spent on doing my hair. Zoey came by earlier to help me with my hair and makeup. My hair is straightened in a half up half down style. I spray it with anti-humidity spray to keep it tamed for the night. I never noticed just how long my hair is when it's straightened until I took a glance at it in the mirror. Zoey really did a good job on my makeup. It's natural and really compliments the look I'm going for. Now I'm just waiting for my dress to arrive.

As if on cue, Sebastian strolls into my room holding my dress. "Your dress is ready, Alexandria." I smile at him. "I dry cleaned and steamed it, hopefully to your satisfaction."

"Thanks Sebastian," He nods and turns to leave. "And Sebastian, you can just call me Andi." He nods again, this time with a smile.

"No problem, Andi" He grins and leaves the dress on a hanger and walks back out the door. It's absolutely gorgeous. It's gold sheer with floral imprints that flow all the way down to my feet. The bottom of the dress is soft tulle that contains specks of gold in it. It's long sleeve and off the shoulder. To complete the look, I put on white, five-inch Louis Vuitton heels, that I bought on Michael's credit card. It took some persuading, but I was able to get through to him. They cost way too much to even think about.

When I'm finally done getting ready, I head downstairs. Mom is running around looking for her purse while she puts on her earrings. Her dress is stunning. The dress fits her body perfectly. It's strapless with a sweetheart neckline and small diamonds fill the dress all the way down to the bottom until it reaches a slit near her mid-thigh. As the diamonds end, the dress turns from nude to gold and flows into a tulle where the diamonds make small beautiful designs. Her shoes are nude and compliment the dress perfectly. She's also wearing a diamond necklace that falls beautifully on her neck.

I sit on the couch and feel Mom's purse right under me. "Here, Mom," I say handing it to her and she sighs in relief. "Thank you, Andi."

"Alright, are we ready to go?" Michael stands near the door looking at his gold watch and tapping his foot impatiently. The boys run down the stairs not caring if they wrinkle or dirty their suits. They've obviously done this before.

"Oh you guys look so good, let me take a picture," Mom gasps searching for her phone in her purse.

"Rach, we don't have time," Michael says already out the door. Mom frowns but follows quickly behind. I step outside with the boys and see Michael pull out of the garage in his luxury SUV. Before the garage door closes I see multiple cars lined up. Theo yells "Shotgun!" and runs to the car. Michael stops him before he gets in and opens the door for Mom. Theo sighs and gets in the back of the car with the rest of us and we drive off.

When we get there, we're greeted by a mob of paparazzi. It was actually really overwhelming. I don't know how celebrities do this on a daily. Mom and Michael posed for them really quickly before going into the building. Michael selected a few of his employees to join us at our table. I can tell they're nervous because some of them subtly bounce their legs underneath the table and laugh at all of his jokes. One particular employee is paying extra attention to Michael. Since we've been here she's been eying him like a piece of meat and asking specific questions about his income and his Michael Kors watch. I hear her whispering to Mom. She's been the only employee to completely ignore us: Nate, Grayson, Theo, and I. The other employees have been talking to us all evening, even going as far as subtly bribing us which Theo has definitely taken advantage of.