Chapter 34: The Party

When the car pulled up to the house, I nearly died. If David’s and Tico’s houses were huge, this was monstrous. It was gorgeous, with beautifully landscaped land, but God, my whole graduating class from high school could live here, and never see each other. There were 326 of us.

Tico lightly tapped on the door, and it opened. He and Ali got out of the car first, and I could see the strobe flashes of light as they had their picture taken, and heard the called questions. I couldn’t hear any answers, so I assumed they just ignored the reporters. I hope David did that as well.

David leaned in to talk to me. “Ready?” he asked.

“As ready as I can be,” I answered, and plastered on a fake smile.

“Here we go,” he said, and exited the car. He leaned in to pull me out, and I thanked God that I didn’t trip over the hem of my gown. My legs were shaking, and I’m pretty sure I whimpered a little. David tucked me in next to him, and whispered in my ear, “Smile baby,” and kissed my cheek. That set the vultures a –squawking.

“David who is she?”

“What’s your name, sweetheart?”

“How long have you been together?”

“How did you meet?”

Really, it wasn’t all that bad and I started to relax. They took a few photos, and I smiled honestly, and we made our way to the house. David was asked questions which went unanswered, but there was one last question that I heard that froze me in my tracks. It wasn’t so much the question itself but the disdain dripping from the reporter’s voice. “Hey, she’s really different from your usual type, isn’t she?” David looked at me. “Uh-oh,” he whispered. “You heard that one, huh?”

“Sure did, darlin’,” I replied.

He turned toward the person who asked that last question. “What do you mean, not my type?” David’s voice was innocent and light.

The reporter was undaunted. “I mean, she’s not a tiny little blonde thing. She’s got meat on her.”

I felt my color getting high, and I wanted to slink back to the car. This is exactly what I didn’t want to have happen. I knew I’d stand out from the rest of the people here. I knew I didn’t belong. David pinned the reporter with a glare, and the cameras continued clicking.

“Are you disrespecting my girlfriend?” he asked, incredulously. “To my face?”

“No disrespect,” the clueless guy continued. “Just pointing out a fact.”

“Here are the facts,” David said. “This exquisite Goddess by my side is exactly my type. She is strong, independent, smart, and boy does she clean up good.” That got a chuckle from the crowd. “I’ll thank you to keep your mean-spirited comments to yourself. I love this woman, and I will not stand for her to feel uncomfortable.” He kissed my cheek gently put a hand to the small of my back, and gently steered me into the house, completely ignoring the cacophony of questions that followed us in.

“Are you OK?” he asked me.

“Yeah,” I said. “You do realize that you just told those vultures that you love me.”

“Was it a secret?”

“No, not at all.”

“Then it isn’t a problem,” David said. “C’mon, let’s get you an introduction to our host.” David took my hand and brought me through the foyer and into the main hall. There had to have been three hundred glitzy, glamorous people here, and I never felt more like I didn’t belong as I did in this moment. I put on a happy face, though, and followed David out to the terrace.

“Bill,” he said, and The Pianoman turned around. “Davey!” he called, and made his way over.

“Davey?” I said, smirking at him.

“Shut up, Jenilee,” he said, and I burst into laughter.

“Bill, this is my better half, Hath. Hath, our host, Billy Joel.”

Bill took my hand and kissed my knuckle, much like David did earlier. “It is nice to meet you, Hath,” he said, and I giggled.

“Likewise,” I said to him. “You have a beautiful home, at least what I’ve seen of it,” I said, hoping I didn’t sound like a complete idiot.

He cocked his elbow and invited me to take it. “I can show you around, if you like,” he said. I slid a look at David, and he was smiling at me. Bill caught that, and smiled. “Don’t worry,” he said. “You’re much too young for me. I’ll skip the boudoir suites.”

I’m pretty sure I turned the same shade as my dress, but all the same, I let him escort me around the place. I met so many people it was amazing, and everyone was really nice. When he showed me his studio, I asked him if he still wrote music for himself. He said he did, and played something for me. It was beautiful and haunting, and in that moment, I acutely missed David. By the time we finished our little tour, nearly an hour had passed. When Bill handed me back to David, I said, “Thank you for taking time away from your guests to show me around, and for playing for me.”

He kissed my cheek. “My pleasure.”

David and I circulated around, and I met some of his friends, and eventually, we hooked up with Tico and Ali again. The men talked while Ali and I went to refresh our drinks. I told her about the house tour and hearing Bill play for me, and Ali’s eyebrow arched.

“What?” I said.

“Was David OK with that?” she said.

“What do you mean?” I was completely puzzled.

“He and Bill have a rivalry of sorts,” Ali said. “You know, the two piano players…” she trailed off.

“Oh my God, that’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard!” I couldn’t believe that.

“Well, believe it.”

I turned to see David and Bill talking in a quiet corner. Their heads were angled toward each other, and their expressions were blank. I rolled my eyes, placed my drink on the bar, and went over to them. “Excuse me,” I said to the two men. “Could I borrow my man here for a dance?” I put my arm around David’s waist and smiled at him.

“Of course!” Bill said. “I’d never say ‘no’ to a beautiful woman.”

“Thank you, you’re sweet,” I answered.

As David led me out to the dance floor and pulled me in close, I sighed.

“Are you having a good time, baby?” he asked.

“I’ll admit, I was a little overwhelmed when we first got here, but now I’m feeling much better.” I laughed. “I think I’ve met every single person here tonight,” I said. “Ali did warn me about that.”

“What do you mean?” David asked.

“She said that since I was the ‘new meat’ around here, everyone would want to get a look at me.” I looked into his eyes, and smiled. “Thanks for the warning, Davey.”

He winced. “Sorry, I didn’t think of that. Everyone seems to like you, though,” he said and I just nodded.

“Yeah, everyone’s been really nice, and I’m having a great time. Thank you for bringing me.”

We danced a few more songs, and the band announced the final waltz before midnight. David spun and dipped me like a pro, and I’ve gotta say, I’m impressed at the way he moves. When the countdown started, we spun to a stop, and put our arms around each other. We joined in the countdown, and at midnight, shared a long, slow kiss.

“Wanna get out of here?” he asked me.

“Absolutely,” I said to him.

We did, and rung in the new year in grand style in our bedroom suite.