Foreign

Chapter 34

We walk back to the lounge. Diego is probably waiting.

"What happened?" Diego asks.

Josh tells him a short version. Diego whistles.

"Damn, heavy."

"You know what's even worse?" Josh answers. "I forgot all about that stupid party!"

"You can't be serious!" Diego says. "Didn't I tell you about my shopping trip this afternoon? Why did you think I wanted to go shopping?"

"Because you're a sweet grandson?" I suggest.

"I am! But I also need a new suit."

"Diego, I need to go shopping with you," Josh says.

"I don't know, Josh, you aren't really my type," Diego teases.

"Please!" Josh pleads.

"Of course you can come, my grandma would love that! In fact, we need to leave."

"You boys have fun," I say with laughter in my voice.

"Don't you need a dress?" Josh asks.

"Oh no mister! I hate shopping! And I already have a dress! Isabella made it for me."

"God, I hate shopping too," Josh says with a sad voice.

"I love shopping!" Diego sounds excited. Hmm, maybe he's for Team Brody after all?!

"You know what, we'll have a little reception in my room before we need to go to the actual reception. How does that sound?"

"Terrific!" Diego says. "But we need to do it in Josh' room. It's huge!"

"How do you know?" I ask with raised eyebrows. "Wow, shopping, visiting each other's bedrooms!" I wiggle my eyebrows.

"Stop it!" Josh says. "He sometimes helps me with the script."

"If that's your story!"

I run away before he can hit me and I hear him grunting behind me. Laughing, I run up the stairs. I totally forgot about the party but I asked Isabella to make a dress ages ago. Brody is fixing my make-up.

Once I'm in my room I take my laptop and go to the balcony. I desperately need to talk to Jolene. I check the time and its 1 pm here which means its 7 pm in Belgium. I haven't told her I would Skype her today so I'm hoping that she's available. It takes some time but she answers.

"Hi Charlotte!" she says with a surprised voice. "Are you okay? I didn't expect to hear from you today." She has a glass of rosé wine in her hand.

"I'm fine. I just wanted to talk."

"Okay, let me pause the film. Emily and I were having a movie night." She smiles.

"Oh hi Em! I didn't see you!" Jolene turns the screen a bit so I can see both of them. Emily also has a glass of wine and suddenly I'm very homesick. I miss our movie nights!

We talk for a while and it feels good to talk about what happened. They're not in the middle of this so they see things in a different way. They're on my side of course! They would probably fly to the States and punch Hero in the face if I asked them to.

After my chat with Emily and Jolene, I decide to take a nap. I hadn't been out in ages and I'm exhausted. How did I do this back in the day when I was a student at Ghent University? We partied all the time!

I wake up screaming after the familiar nightmare. I take some deep breaths to calm myself down. I check my phone and I have to be in Brody's room in half an hour so it's time for a quick shower. For some reason I'm very nervous for tonight. I need to make a good impression if I want more jobs. I'm also nervous because Hero will be there. In a suit. Just the thought of that is enough for my body to tremble. I can feel something stir inside me. No, no, no! I turn up the music and sing along to keep my mind off Hero and his suit. I put on my heels and Isabella's dress. It's so beautiful. It's strapless, very long and red. The warm kind of red. Like fire or a sunset. Because of the shape it makes my boobs look great and I actually look tall because of the length and my heels.

Brody's room is on the same floor and when I knock Isabella opens. Her dress is lavender.

"God, you look amazing!" I say.

"So do you! I knew red was your colour!"

Brody fixes our make-up in no time. I look in the mirror and barely recognize myself. I've never looked this good!

"Damn, you need to teach me how to do this!"

"Some of my best work, if I may say so myself," he says.

Brody escorts us to our little pre-party.

Josh opens the door in a light grey suit. Somehow the light colour makes his eyes pop out. He looks extremely handsome.

"Well, don't you look good," I tease him. "Shopping went well I see?"

"God, it was horrible! Diego made me try on like a thousand suits."

"You definitely made an excellent choice!" I assure him and his face lights up.

"You look very beautiful, Charlotte." It's a soft whisper, barely loud enough for me to hear.

"Thanks!" I give him a bright smile and drag him to the others who're already drinking champagne.

"Really, Diego honey, I think you should escort me to the party," Brody says in his most sexy voice.

"I'm a girl! I can't walk in alone!" Isabella frowns. "You should escort me." She bats her eyelashes. I look at Josh and have to look away. I bite my lip to prevent myself from laughing.

"Maybe I can escort you, Charlotte?" Josh asks with a hopeful voice.

"Ehm..." I hesitate.

"Or not." His face drops.

"No, I would love that but I don't want to provoke Hero." I say. I know Hero would get mad if I walked in with Josh on my arm. I really don't want to upset him. If he really was jealous last night, then maybe there still is hope for us?