Lost and Found (Growing Pains #1)(87)

“Ready?” he asked pleasantly.

Krista checked to make sure everything was in place. “Crap, my clutch!” She clattered down the hall like a lame horse. When she returned with everything accounted for, Ray led her down the front steps, holding out his hand to help her. Apparently the unlady-like clomping on wood floors made him nervous.

“I got it,” she said, daintily following him. She figured she’d better be extra elegant so he didn’t think she was homicide in heels.

It was then she was greeted by a fantastic sight! Nothing said important like showing up in a limousine! This was shaping up to be a good night.

“Going in style!” Krista said as Ray opened the door and handed her inside.

“Krista, honey, you look ravishing!” Marcus exclaimed as she climbed in.

Krista smiled radiantly. “Thanks, kind sir. I just bought this dress.”

“Who is it?”

“Michael Kors. I can’t afford Gucci.”

“Not yet, honey. Not yet. But someday soon you will.” Marcus and Judy laughed together as Krista got comfortable, a non-hopeful smile on her face.

Krista surveyed her surroundings as Ray handed her a glass of champagne. Sean sat near the front of the long, totally decked out limo. An overdone-up Monica sat beside him in a pair of tall stilettos, a super tight, ultra revealing black dress, and her entire bag of makeup applied to her face.

Those two were sitting in no-man’s-land, which was the very end of the limo, without a door in easy access. A person at that end had to crouch, scoot and climb down the middle of the smallish aisle while trying to look graceful and not tripping and falling on their head. If you were a girl with heels and a tight dress, like Monica, it guaranteed a fall! Krista should know, she’d been there before. Twice.

“Jesus Geek Girl, you live out in bum-f*ck nowhere!” Marcus exclaimed.

“A.K.A. by the beach,” she retorted.

Marcus and Judy sat halfway down the long aisle, across from the champagne.

“Yeah, way out by the beach,” Marcus said as he looked out the window at the not so distant waves. “I haven’t been out this far in I don’t know how long.”

“Well, at least you’re doing it in style!” Judy said in high spirits.

Judy and Marcus looked a perfect pair. Both were dressed in sleek, black numbers. Marcus was in a suit that made him look young, hip and at the height of fashion. His handsome face was shed of all stubble and his smile was never misplaced.

Judy was the model of conservative, with a high-neck, form-fitting dress. It was flashy without being tight or revealing. She had a cute pair of pumps that seemed well placed on her matronly, yet somehow still sleek, appearance. Krista hoped she looked half as good at her age.

And if she’d said that out loud, she’d probably get slapped. Mental note.

Then there was Sean.

Krista had to hand it to him, the man made the world sigh when he went all out. She didn’t get to see him standing, but she could imagine. Armani suit, she was sure of it. She would later learn it was perfectly tailored to his outstanding body. His hair was spiky in front and tamed on the sides, which made him look trendy and bad-boy at the same time. The man was a confident, shiny million-dollar-bill.

She refrained from looking at him other than in glances, because Monica was overbearing in her scrutiny of the newcomer. Krista did not want to get in a catfight for a guy she had no interest in pursuing. How high-school.

It took about ten minutes before Sean started his tirade of what to expect, who was important, and what to say. Moreover, what not to say. None of this dealt with the idiot at Krista’s table, so she let the bubbles wrap her up as she looked out the window in the lap of luxury.

At one point in the hour-and–a-half-long drive she came to realize a limo ride sucked without tunes, and reached up to the console above her head to flick on her favorite station. It wasn’t until she noticed the entire limo looking at her that she remembered this was a work function, and Sean had been talking.

“Oops,” she half-shrugged with an apologetic grin at five astonished faces. Well, four astonished faces. One was frustrated and mostly angry.

She smiled sheepishly and turned the thing off, but for some reason, “My bad,” didn’t erase Sean’s look of death. He might have been under the impression she wasn’t paying attention.

All too soon they arrived and were immediately thrust into the social work-world of Monica’s devising, which, being honest, she fit into perfectly. She twittered and moved around the crowd, touching men’s arms and laughing constantly. She was a social butterfly in mating season; it was gross.

Krista, in comparison, was the bearded lady. There was a special area for people like her, but unfortunately, she wasn’t in it. She was the nerd among cool people. The youth among adults. The poor college student among the business elite. And like a poor college student, she went to the bar. She knew how to fit in like a pro at the bar! Who said she didn’t have experience?

~*~*~*~

“You made it,” John said as Sean joined him.

“Just got here. There was more traffic than I expected.”

“Perfect timing. Tory just arrived. He’s without Emily.”

Sean looked around and spotted Tory over by the list of names and seating arrangements. “That’s not a good sign. He’ll probably try to duck out early.”