As well as this being one of our first official ‘dates’ after my very formal mess of asking Lily out in bed after that gig she had attended front of house. A total mistake in the after-sex haze. I was so scared she would shoot me down. Jumping me for round two has certainly not been in my expectations. In the weeks since, we had certainly grown closer. Maybe it was just the holiday spirit; I hoped not. The stolen kisses backstage when the band weren’t looking were the best part of my day. Even though everyone pretty much knew already that we were ‘an item’.
If nothing else, tonight was a grand excuse to buy Lily a new designer dress and take her for a total make over. I was struck by how beautiful she looked, I nearly fainted at the sight of her in those Gucci low heeled boots with just a touch of glitter, with a black and silver evening dress. The train studded with Swarovski crystals. Her hair twirled up into a tight bun, wispy ends framing her face with the most perfect black and silver eye makeup. I also hadn’t quite broken to her that the Swarovski pendant and earring set were hers to keep. Lily still hated me spending money on her, that frigging ex and his ‘gold digger’ bullshit still stuck in her head no matter how much I tried. Hopefully, one day it would fade, as I just wanted to buy her everything! Shower her in the love and gifts she had never had.
I know tonight would not be easy for her, I honestly was surprised she hadn’t tried to bail out of it. Her ex was going to be at the awards, thankfully not the one I was presenting, or I do not think I could be an adult with him. I just wanted to take him out back and give him a good kicking for what he had done. The only thing I could do was be by Lily’s side as much as possible tonight, supporting her from the vultures of the press as well as that monster.
Lily was tense as we walked down the red carpet. Her back straight, not leaning into him at all. My hand on the base of her spine as the only point of contact as I led her way through it all. The conversation was vague and light with the press, never giving too much away. Just enough half comments to make them think they had more of an answer than they did. About our budding relationship and how Lily felt about publicly dating such a huge star. A few fudged facts about how we met over music meetings through a friend, which was almost closer to the truth than Lily actually knew. A secret that I was still protecting, that would no doubt blow up in my face eventually. I couldn’t bring myself to risk everything we gained by telling her yet, maybe in ten years’ time when we were married and had kids, and none of this was so raw that it would hurt her. I had to hope our relationship could grow strong enough to survive the truth.
Me officially dating would be all over the press by morning. I could imagine all the photos and instant online blog posts going up as we finished walking into the event. It was a weird feeling, but a good one to be finally out there, not hiding her. I was surprised when Lily agreed to go public, I expected her to want to hide away. Most ‘normals’ did. I guess her experiences with that asshole taught her about our world more than most of them. The press was having a field day, one called me back for one more photo, while Lily excused herself to grab us two glasses of fizz. I glanced over to make sure she was okay before answering another batch of questions.
The next thing I knew, there were raised voices and the cameras were flying from being around me, to Lily’s side. Where that vile, disgusting man was shouting at her. Oh no, this was not how my night was going to go down. I shoved through the press to be at her side before they realised I moved.
“What the hell do you want?” I demanded, pushing Lily gently behind me.
She was clearly upset. “The gentleman, and I will use that word in the broadest sense here, decided he has an issue with us dating and decided to bring that to my attention. I informed him that it has completely, utterly and totally nothing to do with him or anyone other than us,” she said coldly.
The man laughed. “Yeah sure little bitch. I was just informing this little harlot that fucking a man for his money is a little thing called prostitution. Something she is famous for.
