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"As you know, this hospital does incredible work for our community, and it is our privilege to support their mission," she said. "Tonight, we are here to raise funds and awareness for their most vital and important programs, and we hope that you will all join us in this effort."
She paused for a moment.
"But tonight is also a very special night for our family," she added. “Our son Christian has found love and happiness with his girlfriend Alex."
“What?” I stuttered, my brain screeching to a halt.
"We are thrilled to announce that Christian and Alex are now engaged," she said, her voice ringing with joy. "They are two wonderful people who bring out the best in each other, and we couldn't be happier for them."
The crowd erupted into cheers and applause, and I felt my eyes widen.
"As we celebrate this wonderful occasion, let us also remember the important work that the Children's Hospital is doing. Let us pledge to do all we can to support their mission, and to make a difference in the lives of those who need it most."
The crowd rose to their feet, applauding and cheering, while I turned to Alex.
“What the fuck?” I heard Alex swear beside me, her voice low, taking on a dangerous tone.
“I had absolutely nothing to do with that,” I said. She looked raving mad. Meanwhile, my mom was laughing. She appeared to be accepting congratulations, as were the Greys.
“You don’t say a word to me Christian, not a word, or I’ll kill you right here,” she said to me, a chilly smile painted on her face.
Her mom came over, smiling widely.
“Oh my goodness, Alex, you didn’t say a word,” she said hugging her tight, apparently not noticing the lack of an engagement ring.
“I certainly will have a lot to say about it later,” she mumbled just loud enough for me to hear.
People came from all corners of the ballroom to congratulate us. After this, Alex would probably never speak to me again. She was probably worried about having to tell explain to her parents that the engagement wasn’t real. And from her reaction, it was clear she’d assumed that my mom got the impression that we were engaged from me.
When the excitement over the announcement had dissipated, Alex turned to me, spitting fire from her eyes. “Balcony, now!” she said, marching away, clearly expecting me to follow, which of course I did.
“Damn,” I swore, following her out of the ballroom. The night had been perfect so far, and now it was ruined, and I had no idea what was even going on. The once perfectly delivered sentence from my mother and everything had turned to chaos.
On the balcony, Alex was very still. I took my place next to her. She was staring out and away into the night, a wry smile on her face.
“That wasn’t necessary you know,” she said, still not looking at me, almost as though she was talking to herself.
“I had nothing to do with any of that,” I told her. “I swear it”
“Could you drop me off at home?” she asked finally looking at me, but with new eyes. She looked like she wanted to be anywhere but here.
“I’ll just get your purse. Give me a moment,” I told her. As I made my way to the table, I scanned the ballroom for my mom, but she was nowhere in sight. We would need to have a talk in the very near future.
When I got back to the balcony, Alex looked ready to burst. I handed her the purse, and she turned silently away from me and marched down the steps.
“Fuck” I swore aloud. Not this again. We always seemed to be in opposition. Someone was always ruining our moments together. I’d drop her off tonight, but I’d be back at her place tomorrow after I'd had the chance to speak to my mom and figure out what was going on. And to think, tonight had been on its way to being perfect. Now it was ending like all of our big dates seemed to end, with Alex not speaking to me and both of us going home alone, I thought as I walked down the balcony stairs into the night.
Chapter Eight
Alex's POV
I sat at my desk, scrolling through the spreadsheet where I kept track of the endless list of job applications I'd sent out. If I got a response, it was a polite rejection saying that they'd found someone else for the job. I'd been hunting for that perfect marketing position for months now, and it was getting harder and harder to keep my spirits up.
As I clicked on an email that had just popped into my inbox, the doorbell chimed. I got up to answer it, not in the mood for company, but not wanting to be rude and just ignore it either. When I opened the door, I was surprised to see Christian standing there. We hadn't spoken in about a week, not since the night of the ball.
"Hey," he said, his voice tentative.
I crossed my arms over my chest, not sure what to say. "What are you doing here?"
