Side Story 14: Fundraising event – part 1

When Mia finally left her room, Jack Cross was in the entrance hall, and he gulped at the sight of her walking down the stairs.

She had her hair tied on the back, in a pun, but with long, curly bangs floating behind her as she walked, with only a thin gold necklace that ended on a shining diamond adorning her neck.

Her short, tight dress had strings over her shoulders, and it let it show a long cleavage all the way to her belly button. If it wasn't for the thin string of the dress made of small, shiny gems near her breasts, Jack was sure those bouncy balls would jump out.

The dress ended near the middle of her thighs, as if it were a mini-skirt, leaving in plain sight her curvilinear, long legs, which ended in high heels with small gems as well, decorating that pair of high-design shoes.

She was carrying a tiny purse with gems, and she gave him a slight smile while walking down the staircase. She stopped near him and asked, "What do you think? I hope this is not too much. I must absolutely look my best tonight. Not only because of the kind of event we are going to but also..." She glanced around, checking if there was a maid nearby, and whispered, "I want to look good near you. So, what do you say? You want to grab me or what?"

"I… am not sure what to answer. I think that if I grabbed you, I would ruin your dress or your perfect skin. You seem to be shining. Is it because of the lights in here, or is it your makeup? Or oil? You put oil all over your body?"

"Oil? No, no one does that. Except on the beach, probably. Or bodybuilders. They put oil on their bodies to make the muscles shine. But if you think I am shining, that is probably good news. It might be because you think I am important to you, or I look like an angel!"

She grabbed his arm and slowly dragged him to the door. Jack opened the door for her, and she smiled when he let her pass. "What a gentleman you are! Listen, we need to set our story straight."

As he closed the door behind him, and while they were walking to the limousine parked on the right side of her mansion, Jack raised one eyebrow, puzzled by her words, making Mia roll her eyes and explain, "As a bodyguard, you are supposed to be in a corner or near a wall, looking at me, and always alert to any threat. But not tonight. You will be with me at all times, and even if someone calls for me or I have to go greet someone, you will come with me."

"Why? If I am your bodyguard, I should act like one, no? Or else, people might find it strange and start asking questions about who I am or what our relationship is."

"You say your name, nothing else. I want you to be as mysterious as you can," Mia said as she pulled him to the back seat with her.

It was Jack's turn to roll his eyes. "You didn't answer my question."

"Look, it is difficult for me to explain, okay? It's just… I want to pretend that we are together… at least for tonight… Like that, I can check on other people's reactions and see if they get used to seeing you with me. And also, because some of my friends will for sure be there, and I want to show off. And… darn it, I might as well tell you everything! There will be guys there, sons and nephews of rich families that my father knows, and many of them are always trying to flirt with me. If you stay near me, they probably won't get any closer. And if some do, you could… I don't know, tell them to go away, or something?"

"Let me see if I got this straight… You want to fantasise about us being together, and at the same time, you want to check other people's reactions because, deep down, you are ashamed of being interested in me. Then you want to show off by appearing with a new guy and then using me to keep away the vultures? Is that it?"

"I am not ashamed of being interested in you, but because of my social status, I have to check the waters before I show everyone how close we are. Most of those people never interact so closely with their employees, and if they even dream I lived in your house, they won't stop nagging me with questions. Questions I want to avoid at all costs. I don't want to appear in the pages of a magazine and have reporters find out where you live or go after Sophia to interview her. She will probably get angry and try to kill me!"

With a sigh, Jack asked, "So, what is our story, then?"

"You are my escort tonight, a man that I met by chance, and we became good friends. If people ask about your family because for sure some will, you avoid the question. The same if they ask what your job is."

"That is not a story. It is just me not answering any questions."

"What do you suggest, then? Because I already told my father not to say anything about you. He even made sure that all the records about you working for his company were erased. No one will find out that you even worked there." Mia said with a thoughtful look while the limousine drove out.

"But why all the secrecy? Is it because you don't want people to find out that you were almost kidnapped, and because of that, we lived together for a while?"

"Exactly. My father had a lot of trouble keeping everything hidden from the reporters and those annoying paparazzi. By the way, be ready if a few of those buggers surround us as soon as we leave the car. I bet they will be waiting for me in front of the hotel where the fundraising will be held." Mia said with a sigh and then continued, "Hitting them is not a good idea, but you can push them away from me because they tend to be annoyingly close, and I don't want greasy hands touching me or bad smelly breaths on my face!"

"Understood. Don't hit or kill anyone; just push them aside. How hard can I push?" Jack asked, and Mia raised one eyebrow, thinking.

With a shrug, she said, "Just send them away from me. There is no need to make them fall. Unless they touch me. If one of them touches me, you can send them flying. My father will take care of the eventual lawsuit that will follow. We can allege self-defence if needed. Some paparazzi only learn to not push their luck when they spend a few days in a hospital bed."

Jack leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. Mia kept looking at him and biting her lip. At least, until Jack sensed her stare, and she looked through the window, pretending to be interested in the scenery, when in fact she was still looking at his reflection on the window.

…

When the limousine arrived at the hotel, their destination, Jack saw a lot of cameras taking pictures of the people getting out of the limousine parked ahead of them. There was a rope forming a barrier on both sides of the hotel entrance, with a sizable group of hotel staff doing their best to keep the reporters and paparazzi on the other side.

When the car in front went to the underground car park of the hotel, Mia's driver parked in front of the hotel and quickly went to open the side door.

Jack Cross exited first, and even with the flashes of the cameras nearly blinding him, he shielded Mia as she got out by placing himself in front of her so that her small dress didn't show more of her body than it should when she placed her right leg out of the car.

Jack gently pulled her up, and she immediately clung to his arm, smiling to both sides as they went towards the entrance.

The reporters began shouting questions from both sides, with Mia only smiling and nodding at them. Then, a paparazzo went under the rope and ran to get in front of them as he shot his camera.

Mia closed her eyes, blinded by the proximity of the camera flash, and then she felt Jack moving forward. She blinked a few times to focus her sight and saw Jack leisurely grabbing the paparazzi by the collar of his shirt and taking him to the rope barrier. As soon as the paparazzi's back hit the rope, Jack pushed him, making him trip backwards, and he fell over the other paparazzi who were shooting their cameras at that strange sight.

Calmly, Jack addressed the reporters and the paparazzi and said, "Mind your manners. It is extremely rude to surprise a woman like he did. If any of you try something similar, I will push you away from her, and even harder."

One reporter shouted a question: "Who are you and what is your relationship with Mia Mills?"

"For you, it is Miss Mia Mills. She is not your friend, your family, or your classmate in school. As for your question, it is none of your business."

The remaining reporters and the paparazzi kept shouting questions, and Jack calmly returned to Mia's side and offered his arm while whispering, "Too rough?"

"No, just the right amount. Let's go inside; these flashes are giving me headaches."

"You don't need to say anything to them? I don't know, like, make a speech?"

Mia slowly shook her head and answered in a whisper, "They didn't come here to hear me; they just want a scandal. This fundraising was publicised enough over the last few days, and none of these guys came here to offer their money."

Without any more words, Jack escorted the smiling young woman into the hotel lounge and, from there, to the events room that was reserved for that night.

There was one long table on the farthest wall with all kinds of appetisers and small samples of food. On the right corner, there was a bar with a waiter preparing cocktails.

Mia gently squeezed Jack's arm and said in a low tone while signalling with her head to a group on their left, "Our first trial. I need to talk with that group. Those are the ones who always come to these events, and they have fat purses they like to show off by giving colossal sums of money."

Jack sighed and escorted Mia to them, keeping his unshakable seriousness, and Mia was wearing a fake smile. She introduced Jack as a dear friend and thanked them all for coming to her event, which she hoped would be a success because that would be the first time she was hosting fundraising events for her father's foundation.

While everyone congratulated her for the odd place she chose for that event, as well as for the simple decoration, Mia's left eye twitched at the insinuation that it was not as grand as they thought it would be, and they continued by complaining that on previous fundraising events that they attended, reporters were allowed to enter as well and to take a few photos of the participants for them to appear in magazines.

To such annoying remarks, Mia only smiled and said that time, she wanted people to focus on the meaning of that fundraising, the homeless, but for sure, at the next event, she would take into consideration their valuable opinions. She got a few smiles and words of appreciation for her care in listening to them, and she excused herself to talk with another group.