Holly sauntered past them in a full-length gold sequinned dress and sky-high heels. ‘Cute dress,’ she said, but her tone was snide. ‘Did you make it yourself? I hear you like dressmaking. I’ve never been good at arts and crafts. I prefer to leave it to the professionals – Versace never lets me down.’ She smoothed a hand down her body for emphasis. ‘But then again, designer clothes aren’t an option for everybody, are they?’
Alex couldn’t stand her sneering. ‘No, and if it wasn’t for your sister, I doubt they would have been an option for you either!’
Holly glared at him and strutted away with a toss of her hair to join his mother at the top table.
‘Ignore her. She’s been sponging off her sister’s fame and wealth for years – she’s got no reason to be so proud.’ But to his horror, Ellie’s eyes were shining with unshed tears and she quickly ducked behind the seating plan. He quickly turned to shield her as much as possible. ‘Are you okay?’
Ellie nodded, blinking rapidly with an awkward laugh. ‘Sorry, I know I shouldn’t let people like her get to me. She just touched a nerve is all.’
‘Damn, it’s all my fault. I should have been clearer about tonight.’ He felt like his heart was breaking, seeing strong, confident Ellie brought to tears, and he wasn’t sure how to fix it. ‘I’m so sorry. If you want to change into your other dress, you can, I’ll make them delay. And I can take you to the mainland and buy you another for the wedding. There’s a few designer boutiques there – my treat!’
Ellie stopped him with a hand to his chest and a shake of her head. ‘I don’t think you realise what she meant by “an option”– she wasn’t talking about wealth. She means skinny privilege, that’s why she emphasised thebody.’
‘Oh…’ What a jerk, he’d not noticed until Ellie had pointed it out.
‘I’m just a little overwhelmed and I let her get the better of me. The fashion industry is designed for people like her and she knows it.’ She looked embarrassed and leaned closer to him to explain. ‘My nanna taught me how to make clothes – because she was sick of me crying in dressing rooms whenever we went shopping. Plus-size fashion is a bit better now, but when I was younger nothing fitted properly, or it just looked plain ridiculous on a tall and curvier girl. A sixteen-year-old with E-cups does not need to wear a t-shirt that saysBabein silver sequins.’ She rolled her eyes at her own joke, but he could tell the memories were still painful. ‘Nanna made a point of telling me that it was the clothes that were the problem and not my body. I’ll always love her for doing that. She took something that hurt me and turned it into a hobby I love. Honestly, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. A bitchy comment like that normally wouldn’t have bothered me.’
‘I’m so sorry… for what she said and for the shitty world we live in, and for not understanding sooner.’
Her eyes warmed. ‘You don’t have to understand. You’ve been kind and that’s enough.’
But it wasn’t, was it? ‘Everything is going to be fine,’ he promised.
‘Alex!’ called his mother, sounding a little more panicky this time.
‘Okay, let’s do this,’ said Ellie, raising her chin and stepping out from the shadow of the seating plan.
His mother and Ellie exchanged polite greetings as they settled in their chairs, although he could tell Ellie was uncomfortable.
‘Where’s the happy couple? Shouldn’t they be here by now?’ he asked, unable to keep the snide tone out of his voice.
His mother frowned and his father took a deep sip of his single-malt Scotch.
‘They’ll be down in a minute. So tell me, how did you two meet?’ She posed the question not to him, but to Ellie.
Ellie’s face fell and she lowered her glass slowly. ‘Erm… I gate-crashed his opening-night party.’
Alex’s mother, ever the professional, smiled without missing a beat, the quick glance towards him the only indicator of her surprise.
‘So, you haven’t been together long?’
‘No.’ Ellie paled and looked up at him for reassurance. ‘No, I guess it’s been a bit of a whirlwind.’
His mother’s pleasant expression remained fixed, but her eyes sharpened. ‘I forgot to ask. Do you plan to enter the business at some point?’
Ellie blinked, and Alex added for clarity, ‘Show business.’
He could tell by his mother’s sudden change in demeanour that she was worried. Even though she would have learned from the security checks that Ellie was a nurse, she still might suspect her of being hungry for fame and using him as a stepping stone to becoming famous – it wouldn’t be the first time. Several of his previous girlfriends had done that, and in the end he’d switched to only dating women who were already successful within the industry. But that hadn’t worked out either; Savannah was proof of that.
Ellie looked at him and then his mother and laughed, the joyous smile he’d come to love finally gracing her lips. ‘Me? Oh God, no! As if.’ She swallowed nervously and took a shaky breath. ‘Nothing wrong with it of course… I mean, well… just not my bag. Nursing is enough drama for me.’
His mother paused a moment, obviously surprised. He could literally see her mind churning: doesn’t everybody want this?No, he wanted to shout. Not everybody wanted their lives to be lived in public. He didn’t. Had hated it as a kid, and had fallen into acting anyway – even though he’d always preferred writing and directing.
His mother recovered quickly. ‘Oh, I played a nurse once – Nurse Wahler, or Walker, something like that. It was hard work.’
He rolled his eyes. Sometimes he wondered if she remembered what the real world was actually like. ‘That’s not the same, Mom.’
‘Close enough,’ Ellie said with an unbothered shrug. ‘Was it a film?’
