Six hundred guests came out for tonight’s occasion, all dressed in elegance.
I look over at Crystal in her black, one-shoulder gown with beading along the bodice. Her curls are pinned up, her beautiful porcelain skin glows. Lisa is here with her husband. She is wearing a navy cocktail dress with a matching wrap. Her husband looks handsome in a tuxedo, even if he doesn’t appear to be happy to be wearing one
I am wearing a strapless, dark purple chiffon dress I borrowed from Crystal. I was very happy to see it fit, though not as well as it would Crystal’s hourglass figure. I paired the dress with metallic gold shoes and a necklace that used to be my grandmother’s.
Crystal and I spent the afternoon getting our hair done. I opted to keep my blonde tresses down but I did let the stylist at the Louis Licari salon talk me into getting highlights. After two hours of foils and glaze, I was nervous to see the transformation. I had never done anything to my hair, aside from dipping it in Kool-Aid when I was thirteen, streaking a few strands red.
Noting my hesitation, Crystal insisted I not look until everything was done. I felt like one of those women on the Today Show who get makeovers that make them look like a completely different person. One look in the mirror and I was impressed with the transformation. My hair is still the same length, with slight shaping and a few angles. The strands, however, are much lighter and brighter. I look sunnier, somehow. I even let them do my makeup. They didn’t overdo it. They made me look just right.
Lisa’s husband hands me a glass of champagne and I take it, giving a cheers to the girls.
Frank appears from behind and asks if I can be taken away as he has people he’d like to introduce me to. I walk around the room with Frank, greeting the guests who are here to, hopefully, donate money to our little school. Some faces I recognize and many more I am meeting for the first time.
The band plays on and I look over to see Lisa and her husband twirling around the dance floor having a good time. Crystal is at the bar talking with a gentleman I have never seen before and I hope they are hitting it off. She deserves to meet a nice guy.
I continue to look around the room when my eyes stop at the entrance and a man who is so beautiful it takes my breath away.
Alexander Asher walks into the room looking fierce and determined. All six feet of him are standing tall, and he’s positively gorgeous in a black-on-black tuxedo fitted at the waist, showcasing the incredible body underneath. A white shirt and black bow tie outline his masculine neck and square jaw, while his golden highlights twinkle in the mood lighting of the room and his bronzed skin looks like silk. Strong thighs, broad shoulders and a chest that was created by God to model a double-breasted suit . . . oh, my.
The band is currently playing a Brian Setzer tune, but I can only hear Beethoven’s Eroica playing in my head. It’s a structurally rigorous composition of great emotional depth, just like the man who inspired the song to play in my head.
He looks around the room, taking in the event. A man approaches him and shakes his hand. While they talk, Asher’s eyes continue to roam. Another man comes up to him and he carries on a conversation with him, as well. In between words, his eyes still look about the gala . . . searching . . . for something.
It is when those golden eyes find mine and the full, luscious lips curve up slightly that I realize what he was looking for.
Me.
Asher courteously excuses himself from the men he is chatting with and walks toward where I’m standing with my feet frozen on the black and white tiles on the floor. I wait for him like I am the bull’s-eye about to be struck by an arrow. When he approaches, he stands in front of me looking directly into my eyes. Taking a moment, he gives me an adorable half grin and extends his hand.
“Hello. My name is Alexander.”