21. Smile #2
My mind accessorized it.
Diamond stud earrings. My oversize, pale pink, organza gardenia Celestina broach. My chocolate-brown pumps.
Simple, but with a hint of flair from the broach and a hint of sexy from the pumps.
Perfect.
“This one?” Germaine asked me.
I nodded.
She pulled it off its holder and tossed it over the back of a stool, then sent the rack back down the hall on its own.
Another rack came trundling in.
“Smile,” Madam Garwah barked at me.
“Sorry?” I asked her.
“Smile,” she repeated.
I smiled.
“Too much, smile less,” she ordered.
“We need to go through shoes and accessories,” Germaine said.
Through less of a smile, I told Germaine , “ I’ve got that covered.”
“I want approval,” she returned.
I stopped smiling and looked right into her eyes.
“ Aleksei is my mate. I would do nothing to embarrass him. But I am me, and today, the people are going to get their first real look at me, and it’s going to be real .
Classic . Traditional . Stylish . Royal .
But real . We’re going to have to learn to trust each other, and for you, that starts now. ”
Germaine gave me a look that was clearly taking my measure.
“Smile!” Madam Garwah demanded.
I smiled, a whole lot less this time.
“More,” she instructed. “ Less …no, a bit more…a bit more. Perfect !”
I tried to memorize the curve of my lips and knew I probably failed.
“Now, wave,” Madam Garwah ordered.
I waved.
“Close your fingers,” she said. “ Less movement. All in the wrist. There you go. That’s it.”
“They’re going to hurtle questions at you,” Germaine warned. “ No responses. At all. Smile . And then smile more. Don’t even dip your head or tip it. It can be taken as a response.”
“You may hold his hand. You may lean into his arm. But that is all,” Madam Garwah put in. “ He may touch you. Guide you. If he puts his arm around your waist, you may reciprocate. Stand close. Walk close. You’re communicating connection. Solidarity .”
I nodded.
“You’re also communicating romance. Happily ever after,” Germaine added. “ You’re living every girl’s dream. Act like it.”
“But with modesty. Decorum ,” Madam Garwah said.
“They’ll tell you to kiss. Don’t ,” Germaine said. “ That has to happen with the engagement op.”
The idea of a ton of photographers snapping pics of me kissing my male did not sit well with me.
But this was my life.
Again, I had to get used to it. I had no choice.
“Lex will probably speak. They’ll ask about the assassination attempt, and since they deserve an answer, he’ll assure them you’re both fine. When he does, whatever he says, gaze at him as if every word out of his mouth is a drop of nectar,” Germaine ordered.
That was probably the only thing I could manage to do authentically.
“Move, shift, adjust, give them different angles, different shots,” Germaine instructed. “ They have fifteen minutes. They’ll beg for more as you walk away. Just keep smiling, waving and walking. Lex will know how to work it. Follow his lead.”
“Right,” I said.
“Set the Ultra at clean, day, timeless, bright, healthy, fresh. Nothing heavy. Nothing smoky,” Germaine demanded.
“ You’re young. You’re falling in love with the male who’s destined for you.
You’re starting a fairytale life by assuming a role that’s millennia old.
Females need to like you, trust you, relate to you, envy you. Males need to want to fuck you.”
“I say!” Madam Garwah barked at her. “ Manners !”
“I’m not wrong,” Germaine told her.
“You are not, indeed. However , there are many words you could have used and did not. We are in the presence of the future Queen of Night’s Fall . It is now where you must learn never to forget that.”
Germaine visibly clenched her teeth.
I was stuck back on you’re falling in love with the male who’s destined for you , because, bottom line…
I was.
And that was a lot.
But as Germaine seemed to be gearing up to have a throwdown with Madam Garwah , I had to wade in.
“She can be herself with me,” I told Madam .
Germaine sent me another measuring look.
“You don’t expect respect, Mistress Laura , you demand it,” Madam Garwah retorted.
“I’d rather earn it,” I said.
Both of them gave me a measuring look then.
Madam Garwah’s eyes lit before Germaine’s did. But I got approval from Germaine too.
Phew!
“Lex will land right on the west lawn in his JetPanther , or better, his OpuStar . It’s less flashy, more luxurious,” Germaine said.
“ You wait. He’ll help you out. He’ll walk you to the delphinium field.
That will be your backdrop. There’s a gravel trail to it, and it’s been dry, so your heels shouldn’t sink in.
Even so, watch your step. He’ll then guide you back to the craft, and you’ll take off.
Be aware, they’ll be snapping pics before you even land.
So control your facial expression in the craft, coming and going.
There’s a blockade on airspace above the Sceptred Isle , so no crafts can get close to you there.
But other airspace isn’t blocked, even if it’s regulated.
So if they manage to get an approved course anywhere near you or within a long-range lens, they’ll snap you. Be aware.”
I nodded again.
“Smile,” Madam Garwah barked.
I painted on what I hoped was the approved smile.
Madam Garwah nodded smartly and declared, “ She’s got it. We’re done.”
I hoped I did.
Gods .
* * *
Several hours later…
Aleksei held my hand as we walked down the stairs from the landing pad to his penthouse, leaving his lavish OpuStar next to the JetPanther up top.
When we got in, he let my hand go and went directly to the glassed-in wine room that sat opposite the dining room table beyond the stairs.
He came out with a bottle of red and two glasses.
He lifted the bottle my way.
It was barely three o’clock.
I nodded.
He uncorked, poured, handed me one and grabbed the other.
Then he caught my gaze.
“Want to run far away from me yet?” he asked softly.
Oh, my sweet male.
It could not be denied that photo op was nerve wracking.
Just the shouting at us set the hairs on my neck to raising.
But then there was the jostling of the throng of paparazzi and reporters.
The pushing. Worrying if my smile was too big.
If I was waving from the wrist. If I leaned too far into Aleksei when he wrapped his arm around my waist. If I could get back to the craft without tripping on a stone.
It was a feeding frenzy, and we were the buffet.
But through it all, he was at my side, and in one way or another, his hand was always on me, wrapped around mine, around my waist, at the small of my back.
Tall, straight, protective, and so, so very handsome.
This was my happily ever after.
No one ever claimed they were perfect.
Just that the hero would be.
And mine, for me, absolutely was.
“Not even close,” I replied.
He didn’t drink his wine.
He swept an arm around me and pulled me to his body.
Then he kissed me.
Oh yes.
Not even close.