I lied to Mr. Grey when I said I had my own dress. Now Miss Aird and I are stressing out looking through my mom's stuff.

"Is it even going to be that fancy?" I asked Esther as she held out an extravagant looking black gown from my mother's designer closet.

"Honey, this is a ball thrown by one of the richest men in New York, aside from Klein Grey of course." She hands the dress to me, "Your driver is coming in a half an hour. I just want to see it on you."

I apprehensively grab the dress from her, careful not to drag it on the ground.

Stepping into the guest room nearest, I take off all my clothes, carefully, so I don't mess up my hair and makeup. My hair is clipped out of my face behind my ears with two gold pins, and it falls into waves down my back. My makeup is natural, but sort of heavy. I have some shimmer on my eyes and a deep red lip.

Having so much time to myself growing up, one of my favorite things to do was watch makeup tutorials constantly. It was a hobby of mine, put on a full face, snap a photo, then wipe it off immediately.

I believe this will be my first time going out in public with a full face on.

I step into the dress and pull it all the way up my body. This is one of the only rooms in the house that does not have a bathroom, so I have no where to see myself.

"Are you done?" Esther knocks on the outside of the door, "Come on. I want to see how beautiful you look!"

I struggle while zipping up the dress, and finally pull the tab all the way up.

A shallow breath comes out of my mouth, "I-I don't know, Esther. It's pretty tight. I don't usually wear- Can I just wear like a skirt or something?"

She loudly twists the doorknob, "Open, open! I wanna see!"

I smile to myself at her excitement.

"Okay. But don't make fun of me."

"I'd never-"

I open the door and cover my face with my hands, waiting for her to tell me it's ugly.

We sit in silence. Every second that goes by of Esther not saying anything makes my heart sink further into my chest.

"I didn't think it was that bad..." I say with no confidence.

She uncovers her wide open mouth, "No, honey.."

"What?" My bottom lip begins to tremble.

She places her old, frail hand over her chest, "Never in my 45 years of life have I seen a woman as beautiful as you are. Especially right now." She puts emphasis on the word especially.

"Really?" I whisper.

She slightly rubs the back of her hand down my cheek, "I'm not even sure if I should let you go to this ball. There's going to be so many men gawking over you."

"I don't want you talking to any strangers, okay? Stick by your boss's side."

I nod and a bright smile goes across my face, "I think he is bringing a date though. I don't want to be a bother."

She ponders for a second, "Find a table in the corner and take a seat. I'll be right by my phone the whole night in case you need anything."

Esther hands me a pill to take for my anxiety, "Remember those breathing exercises, Lily."

My phone rings and I quickly swallow the pill, "His driver is here. Love you." I kiss Miss Aird on the cheek and grab my heels to put on in the car.

—

This has to be the fanciest room I've ever seen in my life.

I walk in, by myself, because the driver wasn't on the guest list and they would let him escort me in.

Looking up as I'm entering, it feels as if the ceiling goes up a million feet. At the very top, there's intricate art works scattered all over. Of many things like angels, gods, and goddesses. One day, I aspire to be as good as whoever painted them. And I will be-

If Mr. Grey gives me less work.

The lighting in the room is all warm-toned. The pillars are an aged marble color, and the floor is shiny with stone accents. There's Tiffany glass on random areas of the walls, but it looks so unbelievably perfect.

This ballroom is straight out of a fairytale book.

Walking forward at a slow pace I look around for my boss. I'm not sure of what to do, or where to go. I just wish I could've brought Esther with me.

The doors open behind me and I jump a bit out of surprise. I turn around slowly and see Mr. Grey and the same blonde from last night attached to his arm. I sigh.

"This place is so pretty!" She squealed loudly, her annoying high pitched voices bounced off the walls.

Some guests looks for a second, but immediately looked back in fear when they saw Mr. Grey.

I took a second to scan their outfits.

Mr. Grey was wearing an all black suit. Black undershirt, vest, tie, jacket, pants, all of it. The way that the clothing clung onto his muscular body made my heart go wild. He seemed to have cleaned up his short beard and messily gelled back his hair.

It must look like I'm gawking because my eyes met his and I immediately switch views towards the blonde on his arm.

She's wearing the most plain, black gown I've ever seen in my life. It contrasts so much from the extravagance of mine, that even I begin to feel self conscious.

Am I overdressed?

Her hair is slicked back in a ponytail. Looking at both of them now, I visibly notice how bad she is making him look. And I think the guests notice as well.

They walk up to me, "Hey!" She says with a very fake tone towards me.

I wave a little.

Her eyes scan my dress and I could see her suck her teeth, "You know, a personal assistant shouldn't be as dressed up like that." She uses the hand that's not attached to Mr. Grey's and puts it on her hip.

"You- you.. are you wearing hip pads or something? So fake." She scowls.

The girl snuggles her head into Mr. Grey's arm, "It must suck having to see her face in your office, huh baby?" She looks up at him.

He clenched his jaw. A feeling of newfound jealousy rushes through my veins.

Gathering up all my courage, I open my mouth, "I think I've seen your dress on Shein. If you needed something, you could've asked me."

I look at Mr. Grey. He cracked a smirk.

Is- is he smirking for me?

I shrink back down, immediately regretting what I said.

The blonde speaks again, "God! Fuck you. I hate you."

She drags him along harshly, "This dress is designer, you hag!"

I finally release a breath I didn't know I was holding. I must admit though, her words hurt me a lot.

A lot, a lot.

But I try my best not to show it. As a representation of Mr. Grey and his business, I reach in my handbag and swallow another pill that I took when Esther wasn't looking.

I've been to events like these before, but never as grand. I'll need the extra support to get me through the night without crying.

I lean against the wall by the entrance waiting for it to kick in.

A man walks in by himself. I take notice of him the same time he notices me.

Mark Hander. My father's best friend. Very flirtatious the second I turned 18, but he's never tried anything with me. Plus, he's almost 40. Weird, but my dad has always told me he would never try anything.

Mark smiles and makes his way over. I slightly tilt my head and give him a lazy smile. Now I'll finally have someone to talk to until the night is over.

"Hey, Lillian!" He walks up closer and opens his arms for a hug.

I hug him lightly and hold a smile on my face. We pull away after a few seconds and Mark just stands back and looks at me.

"Wow. I mean... wow. You look gorgeous." He rubs his hands together, "Is your dad here? Any plus ones?"

"Thank you, nope, and nope." I say, "I'm here as Klein Grey's personal assistant."

His jaw drops, "Klein Grey!" He holds his arm out, "Tonight is my lucky night. Shall we, sunshine?"

I think about it for a second. Finally giving in, I lock my left arm with his right one, "We shall." A small giggle escapes my mouth.