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So, I bought the dress. I returned home from our shopping trip £345 down from a dress, £75 down from new heels, £90 down from new jewellery and £40 down from a new bag. Kam was such a bad influence but I had to admit, I was thrilled with my purchases for the ball and couldn't wait to wear it all on the night. Caden's admission that he was going to ask me to escort him on the night still lingered in my mind and I wondered if he would ask me again once he calmed down. I couldn't ignore the small feeling of hope that he would but I tried to force it away and tell myself that him and I going to events together was completely against the point of no-strings attached.
I threw down my bags in my room and rested on my bed for a few seconds before my phone rang. I jumped up quickly, something inside me telling me that it was Caden calling to apologise and ask me to the ball, but it was just my mother and I rolled my eyes at the disappointment and forced on a smile as I answered.
'Hi Mum,' I said, feeling overjoyed to hear her voice on the other end. It always made me feel better to talk to her, even if I couldn't open up about what was really going on in my life.
'Hello, honey, how are you today?' she asked, and I sighed as I was forced to lie once again.
'I'm okay, Mum, everything's just the same as always,' I replied. 'Actually, the guy who has taken over VC has told all employees that we can attend the annual ball this year so that's pretty exciting. I just bought my outfit for it; Kam and I can't wait.'
'Wow, that will be brilliant, Ava, I've read about that Victor Clark ball in the magazines before,' she said, gasping in excitement. 'Oh there will be so many famous people there; it will be so cool!'
I laughed to myself at her words. My mother was always a very conservative woman and never one to keep up with the latest lingo of the younger generation but she did try to come down to our level as best she could every once in a while. It was so cute the way she tried to make herself sound "down with the kids" as she so frequently stated.
'How are you anyway, Mum?' I asked her. 'Still beautiful and bronzed from Ibiza?'
'Yes, I'm doing good and your father is well too,' she replied. 'Oh, one more thing...I'm in London!'
'What?!' I cried, bolting upright on my bed. 'You're here?'
'Yes, I have ordered a pair of these absolutely stunning new curtains for the house, they're hand-made from the most beautiful and top quality materials!' she told me.
'What does that have to do with you being in London, Mum?' I asked, giggling at the way she went off on a tangent like she usually did.
'Because I'm picking them up, dear!' she exclaimed. 'They're being hand-made by a woman here and I took the train to collect them.'
'You could have told me to collect them for you,' I told her. 'I was planning on making a visit to Salisbury anyway. Or I could have mailed them to you.'
