Lies, Lies And More Lies✔️

47: You Poor Thing

"...Isn't that right, babe?" Candice's obnoxiously loud voice pulled me away from my thoughts and I glanced in her direction to see her smiling up at Derrek who seemed lost in his own world. "Babe?" She nudged his arm and he blinked a few times before turning to her.

"Yeah?" He answered and Candice seemed annoyed for a split second before putting on her fake smile once again.

"I was just telling them all about how you proposed to me at the top of the Eiffel tower in Paris." Candice recalled and I glanced at Derrek who seemed a bit thrown off. He nodded anyway and gave a small smile.

I gave a unconscious sigh and glanced down at the seasoned turkey legs sitting on the table in front of me. It had always been my dream to get proposed to at the top of the Eiffel tower. I always thought it was so romantic, standing on top of all of Paris while he popped the question with a French band singing behind him. I never took Derrek for a romantic but it seemed he did have a romantic bone in his body after all. Sadly, all his affection was focused on Candice. I gave another sigh.

"Are you okay? What's with the sighing?" William whispered in my ear and I shook my head, giving him a smile. He looked like he had more to say but the European woman to the left of him called his attention.

"That is so romantic! I wish my husband had done something even half as romantic." The dark skinned, middle aged woman across from me sighed. "Emeka was my dad's apprentice at his electronics store back in the day and his romantic idea of a proposal was to hide the ring in between a nut and bolt and watch me try to spot it out." She rolled her eyes but there was a smile playing on her lips as she spoke.

"My fiancée proposed to me on a yacht here in Lagos. Being the clutz he is, the ring fell overboard before he could slip it on my finger." One of the models from the show, Zoe laughed. I had recalled her the moment I had seen her. She had been on so many billboards all over Lagos.

"How about you, Tiara?" Candice voiced a few moments later. "I heard you recently got engaged. How did he propose?"

I was completely caught off guard by her question. How had she found out that I was engaged? How much did she know? Did she know I was fake engaged to Derrek?

"Oh, my God! I'm so sorry! That was a touchy subject." She feigned an apologetic reaction and I balled my fist in an attempt to restrain myself from doing something I would have regretted. She was trying to humiliate me.

"How come?" Zoe asked and I noticed all seven pairs of eyes were on me now, waiting for my response, including Derek's which looked curious.

"My engagement was called off but it's alright. I've moved on now." I tried to keep my response as short as possible, avoiding eye contact with anyone.

"You poor thing." The middle aged lady from before cooed and I laughed, although awkwardly as I tried to look unaffected by the topic but I was, especially when the cause of my heart break was sitting a few seats across from me.

"I didn't know you were a model, Tiara. You absolutely shocked me today." Derrek spoke up before anyone could and I felt grateful to him for switching topics. I couldn't stand the awkwardness from before.

"This was actually my first show." I responded and I heard a gasp but I couldn't tell who it had come from.

"Wow! You did great!" The European woman clapped in applause and I thanked her. I got more compliments from the guests at the table and it actually brightened up my mood.

My eyes met with Derek's and he held my gaze for a few moments. There was a look in his eyes that I couldn't decipher but before I could try to, Candice called his attention. They went into a discussion and I turned to see that every one else had been conversing with each other. I suddenly felt left out.