The Silencer: A Bad Boy MMA Romance (27 page)
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Authors: Aubrey Michelle
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Table of Contents:
CHAPTER 1
Lexi
I’ve been waiting to go to the Gala for as long as I’ve known it existed. It’s a special event that’s thrown every year and is exclusive. It’s been so exclusive, in fact, that I’ve not been able to get into one before now. Think about that one for a minute. Me, Lexi Williams, the girl known for partying, has not been able to get into the biggest party of the year. That’s not because of a lack of trying, though. For the last five years, I stood in line with a beautiful dress on, hoping they would assume I was supposed to be there and let me in. Every year yielded the same result. I would get up to the door, the doorman would check for my name on the list, he wouldn’t find it, and I’d be forced to leave in the most embarrassing fashion. This year was going to be different. This was going to be the year that Lexi Williams got to legitimately crash the Gala.
Most of my month had been spent trying to figure out a new way into the event. I thought of attempting to find a way to figure out who was on the guest list. From there, I’d try to find out who wouldn’t be able to make it. From there, I’d show up, give that person’s name and then walk inside to party my ass off. One afternoon while I was checking the mail, I found out that wasn’t going to be necessary. Mixed in with the bills, magazines and requests for donations was a large gold envelope from The Fallen Warriors Initiative. I yelled out in excitement because I knew that FWI was the organization responsible for putting on the Gala. Once I gained my composure, I looked at the envelope again and realized it wasn’t addressed to me. The name on the envelope was Sarabelle Williams.
Sarabelle is my identical twin sister. I’m not really sure that we actually shared the same womb because we couldn’t be more different than one another if we tried. While I am probably the most outgoing girl in the whole city of Scarsdale, my sister is incredibly laid back and reserved. While I date a lot and try to have as much fun as possible, my sister is perfectly content with sitting at home in her pajama pants while watching marathons of her favorite shows on Netflix. Although I am almost the perfect definition of a social butterfly, it was my sister who was receiving an invite to the gala, the most important social gathering in the area, in the mail.
Immediately, I started formulating plans in my head. I wouldn’t even have to tell her about the invitation coming in the mail. As Sarabelle’s twin sister, it wouldn’t be hard to show up at the gala and give her name to whoever is manning the door. Of course, I’d have to change my appearance up a little bit. I wouldn’t be able to dress in my usual manner because my sister would never be caught outside the house wearing anything that showed a hint of cleavage. I’d have to get some modest dress and do my hair back into a sleek ponytail with straightened bangs because that’s the only way she ever wears it. Once inside the gala, however, all bets would be off. I’d become the life of the party, making it no question which one of the William’s twin was attending the party. Unfortunately, these ideas would not be able to get put into action as my sister snuck up behind me.
“Is that the mail?” she asked, causing me to jump at the sound of her voice.
“Jesus, you scared the shit out of me,” I replied, attempting to shuffle the invitation towards the back of the pile. Instead, I ended up dropping the mail all over the floor, leading to Sarabelle bending down to assist me in picking it up. As my luck would have it, she the first thing she grabbed was the gala envelope.
“What’s this?” she inquired, looking at the envelope front and back.
“Judging by who it’s from, I’m pretty sure it’s an invitation to the annual gala. How in the hell did you end up with one of these anyway? I’m the one who’s been trying to get into the gala every year.”
“That’s a good question. Doesn’t the gala have something to do with charity?”
“Yeah, the Fallen Warriors Initiative throws it every year.”
“Well, I did get involved with The Center for Children and Families this year. I’ve spent a lot of time raising money. I bet that has something to do with it.”
“Yeah, that must be it. Are you going to go?” I asked, hoping that she would say no.
“Me? I doubt it. You know I don’t go to things like that.”
“Yeah, I know. Do you think I could have your invitation? I’ll go in your place. Nobody would ever know.”
“Lexi, I can’t do that. Even though I don’t plan on going, I’m sure there’s going to be plenty of people there that are also involved in the organization. That means there’s going to be lots of people there that I know personally. If I let you act like me and you get caught, a lot of future possibilities could be ruined for me.”
I could already see where this was going. The fact that my goody-two-shoes sister wouldn’t go along with my plan shouldn’t have come as a surprise to me. She’s never been the type to do anything that could be construed as being against the rules. She’s been that way since we were little kids and it only got worse after we lost our parents in the fire. The thing is, I used to act just like her. I wanted to be the perfect little girl to make my parents happy. Once they were gone, it was like somebody pushed a button and I didn’t care any longer.
Sarabelle looked at the contents of the envelope before tossing it onto her desk and leaving the room. Since I’d never actually seen a gala invitation, I snatched it and gave it a read. The first thing that caught my eye was the fact that the invite was good for her and up to three guests. There it was. Being her guest was my way into the gala. The only thing I had to do was convince her that she should go. Of course, that was going to be much easier said than done.
I decided to bide my time and not bombard her right away. Over the course of the next week, I dropped little hints and made backhanded statements about how she never left the house and needed to get out more. As expected, she went on and on about how parties and the like aren’t her style. After many attempts, I was finally able to convince her that showing her face at the gala could only help when it came to getting involved in more charities, which was the one thing she was truly passionate about.
“You’re right, Lexi,” Sarabelle began. “Maybe making an appearance wouldn’t be the worst thing I could do. The only way I’m going to do it, though, is if you’ll come with me.”
I agreed without any hesitation. Of course, I would go with her. That’s what this whole damn thing was about in the first place. Did she think I was suddenly so concerned with whatever charity she was working with to talk sense into her? No way, it was always about me getting myself into that gala. I wasn’t about to say any of those things to her, however. I gave her a more suitable response.
“You know I’ll be there for you,” I said. “What are you going to wear?”
“I’m not really sure,” was her reply. “I’m sure I’ve got something in my closet that I can wear.”
Was she serious? She was going to go and pull something out of her closet? There was no way I was going to let that happen. The gala was a little more than a week away and I had to act fast or she was going to embarrass the hell out of me.
“Sarabelle, don’t you know that the Gala is
the
social gathering of the year? There is no way you’re going to be able to go into your closet and just pull out an old dress and think it’s going to be good enough. Besides, I’ve seen the clothes you keep in there. There’s nothing in there that will work. Do you want to get laughed out of the building?”
“Lexi, you’re being ridiculous. I doubt anyone would be willing to laugh me out of the building. Besides, what does it matter what I decide to wear? It’s just a stupid dance.”
Was Sarabelle being serious? Just a dance? That’s like saying the Super Bowl is just a football game or that the last supper was nothing more than a Sunday brunch. The fact that she didn’t realize how big of a deal it was pissed me off much more than it should have. The only way I’d be able to get her to understand was to show her.
I grabbed my laptop, typed in the website address for the Grand Roosevelt Ballroom and carried the computer over to her bed. The photos on the website were beautiful.
“Look at this place, Sarabelle. Does this look like the kind of place that would host just some dance?”
“Wow, it’s gorgeous. It looks like something straight out a fairy tale. What am I going to do, Lexi? Where would I even shop for a dress for something like this? I have no clue where to start.”
“What in the hell is your problem?” I asked her as I rolled my eyes. “You’ve got more money than you know what to do with. Call The Best Dressed of Westchester and set up a time for a fitting. Go down there and pick yourself out a ball gown.”
I could almost see the light bulb going off in her head. I swear that if I weren'taround, she’d be happy sitting around looking like a homeless refugee. She asked me if I wanted to go with her to help pick out a dress but I had better things to do. Besides, she wouldn’t like anything that I’d try to convince her to wear
.
§
A week had gone by and the day of the gala was finally upon us. My sister was a wreck and I couldn’t take all of the pacing back and forth that she was doing. I tried to ignore it as long as I could but I could feel myself coming a bit too close to the point of snapping. She’s literally been driving me crazy all day.
“Sarabelle, what in the hell is your problem? Why are you pacing?”
“It’s the dress store. They still haven’t called to tell me my dress is ready. What am I going to do if it’s not ready on time? Maybe going to the gala wasn’t such a good idea.”
This was turning badly very quickly. I had to give her some reassurance because if she changed her mind, it would be nearly impossible for me to change it back.
“Did they say that your dress was going to be ready today?”
“Yes, the lady who helped me said that they had a lot of orders but it would be ready this morning.”
“Then stop worrying. Damn, Sarabelle, don’t you know what kind of reputation that shop has? If they said it was going to be ready, then it will be there.”
Before I could even finish my last sentence, her cell phone started to vibrate on the desk. As soon as she answered, I could see the relief on her face. It was the shop letting her know that her dress was ready to be picked up. She seemed so excited when she hung up the phone. I thought she might even begin to jump up and down.
“You were right, Lexi. My dress is ready. You want to come with me to pick it up? I picked out a beautiful dress.”
“No, that’s okay. I’m sure you did an excellentjob,” I said sarcastically, knowing that anything she picked was much more likely to be hideous than beautiful. I wouldn’t be able to keep my mouth shut about something like that
.
§
I was so excited when we pulled up in front of the Grand Roosevelt Ballroom. For the first time, I knew I was going to be attending the gala instead of merely trying to get inside. There would be no pleading with bouncers or attempting to beg my way in. They would see that I was a guest of Sarabelle and no other questions would be asked. For someone who doesn’t get excited about much, I was giddy. I can’t say that I still wasn’t jealous but this time, I was jealous of my sister instead of everyone who was attending the gala. Not only was she the person who was actually invited to the event, but she also managed to kill it when it came to her gown. I was impressed. It was gorgeous and I had a hard time believing that she picked it out for herself. She doesn’t have the kind of fashion sense necessary to make that kind of choice. Her gown was so pretty that I actually tried to wear it myself. It figures that today would be the one time she decided to grow a backbone and stood up to me. Oh well, I still looked damn good in my short black dress and I was going to make all the women inside want to be me and all their dates want to be with me.
The line was slow moving but we eventually made our way inside. Even when you consider all the fancy, high-end clubs I go to, I’d never seen so many prominent, beautiful people in one place before. I felt like I was exactly where I belonged. My sister hated the idea of coming to the gala without a date so she asked Liam Bane if he would be her date. Liam had been Sarabelle’s best friend since long before our parent’s passed away. I always liked to make fun of him, calling him my sister’s gay friend, although he was actually a good guy. I liked to give him shit because he and my sister spent so much time together, yet never had any interest in getting together romantically. I always thought they’d make a cute couple but my sister would never hear of it. They were best friends and she wanted to keep it that way.