Broken Inside

66 - The Engagement Party

"OMG, he proposed?" Neesha shrieked through FaceTime and Alex laughed. Ethan was speechless. Luckily he was blinking, otherwise Alex would have thought that the video was frozen.

"He did, and I said yes."

It was lunch time on Monday and Alex finally had some spare time. So she decided to break the good news to her best friends. She was talking to them while sitting on the steps outside the B&G office building. 

"Well, show us the ring!" Neesha said excitedly. 

"Well, I don't have it yet," Alex told her. "Paul said he will get me one before the engagement party on Friday."

"Oh, okay," Neesha said. Then she frowned, "Ethan, why haven't you said anything?"

Ethan shook his head and out of nowhere, he started sobbing. Alex didn't know what to do. "Ethan? Hey, Ethan, what's wrong?" she asked.

"It's just, I just... when I met you... then Jesse thing, and Zack thing, then Andy did the thing," Ethan started mumbling and sobbing, "I'm so happy for you!"

Alex and Neesha laughed and shook their heads.

"Ethan, you drama queen!" Neesha called him out and he scoffed. Then Neesha asked Alex, "Tell us how he did it."

"It was the sweetest thing," Alex said. Then she started telling them how Paul proposed to her in the meadow during sunrise. She also told them how he redecorated his Master suite to prepare for her to move in. 

"Wow, big. Huge. Wow!" Neesha said, looking amazed.

Ethan had finally composed himself and was wiping his nose with a tissue. "If you don't marry him, I will." Then he continued, "Don't tell Ian."

Alex and Neesha rolled their eyes and laughed.

*****

The engagement party was held at a restaurant owned by one of Paul's close friends. Alex was expecting a small, intimate celebration but the party was quite elaborate. The whole restaurant was closed for the event.

Alex wore the red couture gown that Paul had bought for her with the Louboutin heels. She had only dressed so luxuriously for photoshoots and never for personal events. She felt a little bit like a fraud, like a cheap perfume inside an expensive crystal vial. 

Paul was looking sharp in a white and black suit. They stood side by side, greeting the guests who came to celebrate their engagement. As always, he was perfectly poised and composed.

An elder woman with white shoulder length hair, and dressed in blue silk with pearl necklace and earrings approached them. She looked serious, her green eyes wide with disapproval. Alex wondered who she was.

"Mother, I'm so glad you made it," Paul said to her, to Alex's surprise. It's his mother! He held her hands and kissed both her cheeks. Then he turned to Alex and introduced them. "Alex, this is my mother, Wanda."

Alex reached out her hand and Wanda took it, scrutinising her from head to toe. "It's very nice to meet you," she said, somewhat nervously.

"Hm," Wanda hummed and said, "You're very beautiful, Alex. I can see what Paul has been gushing about." She glanced at Paul and he chuckled. Alex couldn't tell if she was being nice or condescending. "Are your parents here? I would very much like to meet them."

"No, they are not," Alex replied, with a tight smile. 

Paul leaned in to his mother and whispered something in her ear, probably telling her that Alex was an orphan. Wanda blinked a few times and nodded her head. "I'm sorry, dear," she apologised to Alex. "Anyway, your guests are waiting so I will talk to you later."