She bit her lip and looked to the side. When she did turn her gaze back to me, it was infuriatingly my tie that she directed it at. “I’m not that great at parties.”
“You’ll be fine,” I said briskly. “And this will help you get into the swing of things in the corporate world. A certain amount of socialising is expected in this business.”
Lucy grimaced. “Oh, is this a businessy party? I defo don’t think that’ll be my bag, Felix. And I’m right in the middle ofThe Mandalorian.” I gave her a blank look. “You know – Mando, Baby Yoda?”
I tamped down my irritation. Any other woman, especially one working in my industry, would absolutely leap at the chance to accompany me to an industry party. But Lucy was instead talking about randomStar Warsspin-offs and preferring to spend her time watching a small green alien puppet.
“You’re coming,” I said in a firm voice. “It’ll do you the power of good, and I promised your mum.”
“You always were bossy,” she muttered, standing up and shuffling across to put on her massive scarf. When she was done, only her eyes and the freckles over the bridge of her nose were visible under all her layers. She looked both totally ridiculous and heart-stoppingly pretty. She started shuffling off towards the lift with her massive fluffy slippers still on her feet.I pinched the bridge of my nose and looked down at the ground.
“Luce, you can’t go out in those.”
She looked back at me, and I pointed to her feet.
“Oh, right,” she said, her voice distracted. “You wouldn’t believe the number of times I’ve been to the shops or pub back home in these bad boys. Totally slips my mind.”
I could just see Lucy traipsing around in those ridiculous slippers back in Little Buckingham. Nobody would have batted an eyelid. I wondered for the hundredth time what on earth this girl was doing in London and how the hell I was going to help her even vaguely fit in.
“Don’t suppose it’d be a good look for your posh party, though,” she said. I couldn’t see her mouth, but I could see her eyes crinkling above her scarf as she smiled. Shuffling back to the desk, she toed off her slippers and put on the heels from earlier, wincing as she bore weight on them. I sighed.
“Just put your Uggs on,” I said.
“Oh great,” she replied, pulling off the heels and reaching for the furry Ugg boots I knew she kept under her desk.
Well, at least she most likely didn’t have that god-awful jumper on underneath the puffa. Maybe this wouldn’t be a complete disaster.
Chapter 9
Not really a party person
Lucy
This was a complete disaster.
I looked like a right numpty in my jumper and Uggs. But Felix had said it was ahouse party. What he failed to mention was that it was in one of the poshest houses in London, complete with a shiny marble entrance hall and multiple servers circulating with champagne and canapés. A house party back in Little Buckingham consisted of a six-pack of beer, maybe some cider if we were feeling fancy and a large bag of Wotsits. Sometimes Trina, who worked behind the counter at the Post Office, would wear the occasional mini-skirt, but that was as smart as it got. Every woman here was immaculate. They were all in heels and looked like they had collectively stepped off a shoot forVogue. The men had all clearly come straight from work in their tailored suits. There wasn’t a pair of jeans or a bottle of beer to be seen.
With all these people and the fancy environment, I felt like I was drowning. It took all my willpower not to bolt back out of the front door. I tried to stop the rising panic with the techniquesMum had taught me: look for three things you can see, two things you can smell and one thing you can feel. Okay, well, three things I could see – Felix looking absolutely gorgeous as always, Will smirking at me from across the room and now a glamorous, tall woman sweeping up to Felix and kissing him on the cheek.Okay, none of that was exactly helping with my impending panic attack.
“Felix, darling!” the woman cooed. “Where have you been hiding, you naughty man.”
As I stood next to him, feeling like a spare part, I tried to move on to two things I could smell. Well, the only thing I could smell was this woman’s overpowering, expensive perfume – so no help there either.
“Felix, mate.” A suited man approached him from our other side. “How’s it going? Heard about the Hyde Park development. Bit ballsy thinking you’ll get the planning?” As various glamorous people engulfed Felix, I was pushed further and further out of the increasingly large circle forming around him. Okay, something I could feel – I fiddled with the sleeves of my jumper, realising this one had particularly large holes in it and feeling super awkward.
“How do you like Felix’s house?” I startled at the voice right next to me and turned to see Tabitha standing there, holding a glass of champagne, staring down her nose at me.
“Er… is this Felix’s?” I asked stupidly, willing my heart rate to slow down and the nausea to recede. At least Tabitha was a familiar face.
But Felix hadn’t told me that it washishouse party. Wow, his house was massive. Wasn’t it a bit weird to live somewhere this huge if it was just you? Somehow that wasn’t how I viewed Felix. He’d always preferred Mum’s cottage to his parents’ mega-mansion. I’d just assumed he would want to live somewhere more cozy. This was anything but.
Tabitha’s eyebrows went up. “Yes,” she said slowly. “I thought you were family friends or something? Bit weird that you don’t even know where he lives.”
“I think family friends is stretching it a bit,” I mumbled, feeling more and more out of place. “Felix just owed my mum a favour.” I scuffed my foot on the floor and bit my lip. Truthfully, it was a little hurtful that I hadn’t even seen his house so far when I’d been in London for a month.
Tabitha snorted. “Yourmumgot you the job? That must have been one whopping favour he owed her.”
I forced a small laugh. “Mum was Felix’s nanny.” A waiter came past and offered me a tall glass of champagne. There weren’t any pints of cider, so I took it with a muttered thanks, suppressing a grimace – fizzy wine was gross.
