Wags To Riches (33 page)

“You look fantastic Gail” Adam says when I finally walk back into the bedroom.  “That dress is lovely.  It really suits you!”

   “Thank you!” I say beaming at him. 

   “And look!” Adam says and pulls back the sleeve of his jacket to show me his cufflinks.  “They look great don’t they?”  He walks into the dressing room to have a look in the mirror.  “What do you reckon?” he asks.  “Will I do?”

   “You look gorgeous!” I assert, “Almost as gorgeous as me!” and Adam laughs.  “Come on - let me show you round before everyone starts arriving” I say and taking hold of his hand, lead him downstairs and outside into the garden.  Dusk is just starting to steal over the garden, making it look even more magical. 

   “Gosh Gail – this looks amazing!” Adam says, looking round.  “Look at all the lights in the trees!” 

   “It’s taken the best part of a day to get those hung up” I reply.  “Come and look at the marquee – it’s fantastic!”  We walk through the garden, past all the little tables dotted around and past the barbeque and go into the marquee.

   “Wow!” Adam says open mouthed looking around, “Gail - I can’t believe you organised all this!”

   “Well – I have had some help” I say modestly, “But I have to say I have surprised myself with this!  Now – come and say hello to the DJ”.  I introduce Adam to the DJ and then the barman gives him a glass of champagne. 

   “Happy Birthday!” he says.

   “Thanks” replies Adam and we then go outside and one of the conjurors comes up to us.  “Can I show you a card trick?” he asks.

   “Okay” Adam says and the conjuror proceeds to make Adam’s chosen card seemingly vanish and then reappear.

   “Wow – that’s really good!” Adam says to him, impressed.  “How did you do that?”

   “Magic!” the conjuror replies smiling and we laugh.

   “I can’t believe you did all this” Adam says to me as we walk back towards the house.  We arrive at the back door and Adam looks round at the garden, shaking his head in wonder.  “The garden looks fantastic!  Thank you so much!” he says smiling and gives me a kiss. 

I smile up at him.  “All we need now are guests!” I say as we walk back into the house and into the living room.

   “I think the first ones are starting to arrive” Adam says, looking out of the living room window.  I hurry over and can see the driveway starting to steadily fill with cars and people getting out of them, talking and laughing.

   “Oh there’s Gina - looking fab in a shimmery green dress” I say, pointing her out to Adam, “And that woman in the red dress – now that’s Sharon’s friend Candy Stoutman, the actress.  Who’s that with her?  Isn’t he a DJ or something?”

   Adam looks at them both.  “Yeah I think you’re right” he replies.

   “Oh look – there’s Tony and Sharon” I say and point at them getting out of Tony’s Porsche.  “Sharon’s driving – that’s unusual” I say to Adam who shrugs.

   “Not really” Adam says, “Tony probably thought it was his turn to get drunk instead”.

I smile and turned back to the window to look at everyone walking down to the house.  “Look at all those people!” I say, “I’m nervous - but I’m excited as well!” I say and squeeze Adam’s hand tightly.  Oh God – I’ve never done anything like this before.  Still, I’m sure if I just keep smiling and hold my stomach in I’ll be fine.

   “I’m excited and nervous too” Adam says and we grin at each other.

   “Right - are you ready to go meet your adoring public?” I ask him.

   Adam takes a deep breath.  “Yes” he replies and we go out through the front door and stood together on the doorstep smiling and holding each other’s hand tightly.  Oh - I hope tonight goes well and everyone has a good time. 

Think I’ll have to have another drink soon to steady my nerves.

“Hello!” I say brightly as I shake hands with yet another person I’ve never met before.  “Who’s that?” I whisper to Adam as the woman I’ve just been introduced to turns to say hello to someone else.  “I’m sure I know her from somewhere”.

   “It’s Michelle Finley – she’s a sports reporter for the BBC” Adam replies. 

   “Oh yes of course!” I replied.  “I’ve never met this many famous people Adam – I would say this party even beats Gina’s wedding for celebrity head count!”

Adam smiles.  “Let’s go and get some more champagne” he says and we make our way over to the bar inside the marquee.  Suddenly I hear a familiar voice squeal my name.  I turn round and am almost knocked over by Alex who grabs me in a massive hug.  Dave is stood nearby, looking very smart in a navy blue suit.

   “Hello!” Alex squeals.

   “Alex!” I say beaming at her, “Someone I actually know!”

   “Look at you – you look amazing!” Alex says.  “That dress is fantastic!”

   “Thank you” I reply, “You look great too”.

   “Oh thanks” Alex says, looking down at the lime green mini dress she’s wearing.  “I had no idea at all what to wear and I didn’t want to show myself up.”

   “Don’t be daft Alex – what made you think that?” I say, frowning at her.

   “Well – with all these women in designer outfits...” Alex says, gesturing round the marquee.

   “Well – just because someone has a designer outfit on doesn’t make them stylish” I say as a woman wearing a hideous orange outfit walked past, “A case in point” I say nodding towards her.

   “I see what you mean” Alex says grinning.

   “Exactly!” I say laughing.  “And how are you anyway Dave?  Alright?” I ask, turning to him.

   “Yeah – great thanks!  This party is unbelievable!” Dave says grinning.  “Those jugglers are fantastic – they were juggling champagne bottles just now!”

   “They are good aren’t they?” I say, smiling back at him.  I hope they don’t drop any bottles of champagne - it costs enough.

   “Happy birthday Adam!” Alex says, kissing him on the cheek.  “We’ve bought you a present” she adds and gives him a brightly coloured gift bag.

   “Oh thanks!” Adam says, opening the bag.  “Oh lovely!” he says looking at the bottle of red wine that Alex and Dave have given him, “I’m sure Gail and I will enjoy that!  I’ll just go and put it somewhere safe – won’t be a minute” and makes his way through the crowd.

   “You are having a good time aren’t you?” I ask them both anxiously.  “I know you don’t know many people...” 

   “Are you kidding?  We’re having a brilliant time!  I’ve never met real celebrities before!” Alex says.

   “You met that guy off Watchword,” I say, “I remember you telling me once at work about it!”

   Alex looks at me and rolls her eyes.  “Gail” she says, “that’s hardly the same as meeting Chris Jakes – lead singer of
Light Enhancing
, now is it?”

   “Just ignore her – she’s gone all star struck!” Dave says fondly, putting his arm round Alex.

   “You can talk!” Alex retorts laughing, “Who’s kept tapping me on the arm all night going ‘he plays in midfield he does – and that’s Ivan Kento, the best goal scorer in the league over there!’”

I laugh.  “I’m going to catch up with Adam” I say.  “Alex – I’ll come and find you later and then we can catch up properly okay?”

   “Okay!  See you later!” Alex says happily and I start making my way through the crowd, stopping to say hello to Pierre and Agatha and compliment Agatha on her dress - a stunning peach and ivory lace creation.  I don’t know where Adam is.  And then I see him near the entrance to the marquee.  He’s talking to a woman with bleached blonde hair who’s wearing a black corset style top and tiny black mini skirt.  She is hanging onto Adam’s every word and I watch in disbelief and gasp as the woman puts her hand on Adam’s arm and looks up at him adoringly.  How dare you! I think and walk over to them.

   “Adam?” I say uncertainly as I stand just behind him.

   Adam turns round and beams at me.  “Gail!” he says with obvious relief in his voice.  “I was just on my way back to you.  This is Chanel.  Chanel - this is my girlfriend Gail”.

I give Chanel a brittle smile.  “Nice to meet you” I say, not meaning a word of it.  “Adam -
there are some people who want to say hello to you.  Do excuse us won’t you Chanel?” I add and without waiting for a response, walk outside with Adam.

   “Thanks for that Gail – I was trying to think of an excuse to get away” Adam says, squeezing my hand.  “I’d just been to put that bottle of wine in the kitchen and she grabbed me as I was making my way back to you”.

   “Who is she Adam?” I ask.  “I know you said her name was Chanel, but who exactly is she?  She looks a bit of a...”

   “Slapper?” Adam says finishing my sentence for me.  “That’s the word I would use.  Her name’s Chanel Winters.  She’s a glamour model and a right bloody gold digger as well”.

   “Oh right.  She does look a bit tarty.  I don’t remember inviting her though” I say puzzled, “unless she came as someone else’s plus one”.

   “I think she came with Johann – our left back” Adam replies.  “God knows what he is doing with her.  Anyway” he says, giving me a kiss, “Let’s go and talk to people.  There are some people here from the club that I would like you to meet”.  We go back inside the marquee and start chatting to them.

   “It’s a lovely party Gail” one of the women says.

   “Oh thank you” I reply and smile.  Out of the corner of my eye I can see two of the catering staff looking concerned and having an urgent, whispered conversation behind one of the food tables.  Oh God – what’s gone wrong?  I
knew this was going too well.

   “Will you just excuse me for a second?” I say to Adam and the others, “I just need to check something”.

   “Yeah – sure” Adam says, looking surprised and I let go of his hand, leaving him chatting away while I hurry over to the catering staff who are still whispering to each other. 

   “Is there a problem?” I ask mildly.

The two men look at each other for a second and then finally one of them speaks.  “I’m afraid we forgot the mini sausage rolls Miss Auden” he replies finally. 

   “What?” I say, my heart starting to pound.  “How can you forget 200 sausage rolls?”

   “I don’t know, but we did” he replies.  “I am sorry Miss Auden and we will of course reduce your invoice accordingly”.

   “We are really sorry,” the other guy adds, looking extremely apologetic.

   “Is there plenty of everything else?” I ask.  The last thing I want is to not have enough food for everyone, not when I’d worked so hard on choosing the menu.  To my immense relief however, they both nod firmly.

   “Oh yes – there’s lots of mini pasties, chicken, sushi - there’s lots of everything else” the first guy says.

   “Well that’s good then” I say and turn away.  I know I should be grateful really that that was the only mishap to have happened so far, but I feel quite upset about it.  I know sausage rolls don’t really matter in the big scheme of things, but I just wanted everything to go right.

   “Everything all right?” a voice asks from behind me.  I turn round to see Gina who is in the middle of helping herself to some food.  “I couldn’t help but overhear some of that conversation”.

   “Yes, its fine thanks” I reply, “They’ve just forgot the sausage rolls that’s all.  I hope people don’t mind too much”.

   “Oh no – don’t worry about it Gail.  Hey - most of the women here can’t eat them anyway as we are all on diets!” Gina says smiling.  “This sushi is fab though!” she adds, tucking into some.  “You’ve done really well Gail – it’s a fantastic party.  You should be really proud!”

   “Thanks Gina” I say, “I appreciate that” and Gina smiles warmly at me.  “Thanks for all your help as well with everything”.

   “Oh it’s no problem – I enjoyed it” Gina says.  “Why don’t you try the sushi?” she adds, putting some more onto her plate, “it’s really nice”.

   “I might just do that” I say.  “I’m starving!”  I take a plate and help myself to sushi.  “How was the second honeymoon anyway Gina?” I ask.

   “Oh it was marvellous, thank you, I’ll show you the photographs next time you come round,” Gina says.  “How’s the driving going?  Well done on passing your theory test!  Did you get my text message congratulating you?”

   “Yes thank you!” I say grinning.  “Adam took me out for dinner to celebrate that night.  It was amazing” I add and Gina smiles.  “The lessons are going okay” I continue, “I’m having three a week now”.

   “Good for you Gail!” Gina says, drinking some champagne, “And if you can throw a party as good as this, I think you can pass your driving test!”

   “Well I’ll do my best!” I say smiling as Adam comes over to join us.

   “Well – this food looks amazing” he says, picking up a plate and piling it high with chicken legs, salad and mini pasties.  “Just talk among yourselves ladies while I tuck in” he says and proceeds to tear a huge chunk off a chicken leg. 

I look at Gina and roll my eyes.  “Honestly Adam – you are such a pig sometimes!” I say.

“I know – but you love me” he says in between mouthfuls and I laugh.

   Once Adam has finished eating, I give the nod to the caterers – that’s the signal for them to bring Adam a bottle of champagne to start the champagne flowing down the tower of glasses.  The catering staff pull out two crates of champagne and the head barman goes to stand near the tower of champagne glasses in the centre of the marquee.  “Ladies and gentlemen” he says into his microphone and immediately the noise dies away, “If I can just have your attention please?  Now it’s time for the champagne to really start to flow!  If the birthday boy would like to do the honours?” he continues, turning to Adam and there’s a cheer from the crowd.