Lily left the room.
“Can I ask you something, Scarlet?” Opal asked. She didn’t feel comfortable talking to Lily. The other woman was nice, but she preferred to speak with her sister. Well, not completely a sister, but a sister by marriage.
“Sure, darling.”
“Can men be attracted to a woman who is a little heavier than his other dates?” Ever since he’d rubbed himself against her stomach, she’d been confused.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Well, what if a guy kisses you, and you know....rubs up against you and his erm....bit is hard, is that a good thing?” Her cheeks were hot, and she wished she’d kept her opinion to herself.
“Are you talking about Tony?”
“No. No. Don’t worry about it. Just me and my curious mind, which I’ve been told will get me into trouble soon. Not like you and my brother.”
She noticed her brother’s wife held a frown and didn’t say anything else. Lily walked back in with a glass of water. Opal wondered what could be wrong. As always, time was flying by, and she didn’t get chance to ask. The two women left early, and she had time to put on her gown before the bell pinged to let her know Tony had arrived.
She opened the door with a smile on her face. Pausing, she stared at him. He looked extremely handsome in a black and white tuxedo.
“Wow. You look handsome,” she said, then proceeded to blush at her childish words.
“Not nearly as beautiful as you.” He held out his arm. She took it, grateful for his support. The heels she wore, which she’d been practising in ever since Tony had made her buy them, were dangerously high. He helped escort her to the limousine he’d brought with him.
“In you go. Frank will take us where we need to go.” Tony got in beside her. The glass sheet was up between the driver and passengers.
“This is nice,” she said.
“I love your hair.” He leaned over and wound a lock around his finger. “So silky.”
When they were together like this it was like they were in their own little world. Tony changed with her. As if he could be more of himself when the world was shut away.
“Scarlet and Lily helped me,” she said.
“You look nice. Your hair reminds me of when I found you on the swing on your wedding day with that loser. The spiral locks are the same. All you’re missing are the flowers.”
The drive didn’t last long before Frank was pulling up outside a really fancy looking house. “This is someone’s house?” she asked.
“The event is being hosted by his wife. There will be media present, so try to act your part as my adoring wife.”
The moment the doors opened, the flashing of the light bulbs started. Tony reverted back to his old self, laughing and smiling for the camera. She didn’t get him. One moment he was really intense, while the next he was the happy-go-lucky man.
“Sir, your parents are here,” she heard a man say into his ear. He froze up in front of her.
He took her hand to help her out of the limousine. An arm went around her waist.
The media went into a frenzy. She hated the attention of the media and tried to stay out of it as much as possible.
“Sir, with your wife present does this mean your relationship with Rita Brooke has come to an end?”
“Are you and Miss Shaw back together?”
Questions were bombarded at them. Opal recognised the name of the model he’d been having an affair with. The security team got them inside the main doors.
“Savages,” Tony growled.
She stayed quiet. Ever since they’d been married, she’d attended a few parties with him but nothing else.
People stopped to greet him. Opal stayed behind him not wanting to get in the way. She wished she’d told him to go alone. Parties like this didn’t suit her. Like her mother said, occasions where you had to prove your worth and beauty were not fit for a person like her.
“I don’t think I should be here,” she said.
He spun and glared at her. “You’re supposed to be here. You’re my wife.”
At the present she sure did not feel like much of a wife.
When they entered the main hall where the charity event was taking place her tummy took a nose dive. Everyone in high society was there. The only consolation was when she saw a table with his friends in attendance.
The moment Richard saw her, he stood to greet her. As with proper protocol, she smiled and took the seat offered to her.
Tony sat down for all of two minutes before he got up and left. Business, he said. Opal sat staring at her lap, her hands shaking.
“How is he treating you?” Richard asked.
“What?”
“Tony. How is he treating you?”
“Fine.” She needed to check her vocabulary. All she seemed to say was fine. “I’m going to get up and move around.”
The two couples smiled at her. Feeling like a fifth wheel, she found some solace in an alcove hidden away from most of the room. From the viewpoint she could watch everything around her.
There was a point in her life where she’d been happy being who she was. What had changed from the happy go lucky sixteen-year-old to the incredibly depressed twenty-two-year-old?
Looking out over the dance floor she saw her answer. Her husband. What had started as a stupid high school crush had escalated into something deeper.
She watched as a woman approached him. Her arms wrapping around his neck. She saw the way the woman touched him. The brush of her hand along his arm. Familiarity was in each touch. Who the woman was she didn’t know, and she couldn’t put a name to the face. Unless the woman in question was Rita Brooke, the glorious super model of the month. The slender woman looked ready for everything, while Opal stood in her long black dress feeling like a sack of potatoes. Lily and Wayne sat together. She watched the couple with envy. He didn’t leave her side. Any woman who approached did so with caution. Her brother sat with them, Scarlet staring down at her hands.
Had her brother and Scarlet argued?
At another table, she’d spotted her parents with Charles. What was it about that man they loved so much?
Tony danced with the woman who loved touching him. A waiter passed, and being twenty-two she took a glass of champagne even though she hated the stuff. The humiliation of being brought to an event and seeing her husband pawing at all the other women was too much for her.
Leaving the room, she made her way out onto the patio overlooking the expanse of garden. A water fountain was alight, and there were guests walking round. She sipped the liquid from her glass with a wince. She’d never developed a taste for the vinegar tasting stuff. Moving round, she found a secluded area where no one stood. The night looked clear. No one to disturb her thoughts.