“You look absolutely amazing.”, Clary whispered in awe and I flushed a little. But she wasn’t wrong. I did look pretty good.

Of course, I didn’t have anything on Clary herself.

She looked like a goddess in her dress. Sexy and beautiful at the same time.

The smokey eyes made the blue color of her eyes pop out, even though they were not as brilliant blue as Damien’s. Her eyes were a little more greyish.

The dress was hugging her curves and was showing off her small waist. The high heels she wore were a few inches higher than mine and I was impressed she could even walk straight in them.

“You do too.”, I said smiling while she brushed a dark hair strand back, that was so shiny and smooth that it looked as if it were silk. She grinned back at me and her smile revealed her cute little dimples.

Every man would fall for a smile like that, no doubt.

I turned back around and looked into the mirror.

Clary had put half my hair up to reveal the open back and the rest was swept to the side. My makeup was rather simple, but Clary had managed to make my eyes look brighter and more alive and I didn’t seem as pale either.

The dress was complimenting my figure and made my waist seem smaller and my boobs larger than normally.

The shoes were a perfect fit and I had no idea how Clary even knew my size, but I didn’t really care either.

Clary had also lent me some jewelry that was matching the crystals on my shoes, some beautiful long earrings, and a stunning necklace. I didn’t even ask how expensive they were.

I just hoped I wouldn’t lose them.

We had gotten ready in Clary’s bathroom. I had thought the room I had stayed in, was amazing, but this was a whole new level.

The bath- and bedroom were huge, and her bed was big enough for 5 people to sleep comfortably in it.

The shower was bigger than my entire bathroom in our apartment and she had a gigantic walk-in closet, crammed with clothes. And she didn’t even live here anymore.

Also, her makeup collection was so big that even the Kardashians would have been impressed, and now half of it was spread on her vanity.

Somebody knocked on the door and a second later the tall white wing doors opened and Mrs Black stepped in. She was wearing a sapphire blue long dress with her put up in an elaborate coiffure. When she saw us, she put a hand on her heart and sighed.

“You two look absolutely stunning. You will catch a lot of guy’s attention in these dresses.”

She winked in our direction. I flushed again and to my surprise, so did Clary. She didn’t usually flush… -not over some random guys.

But then again, maybe they were not so random after all.

“So, whose attention are you trying to catch?”, I asked grinning after Mrs Black had left, announcing that we had only 10 minutes left until we had to go.

I leaned back on her couch and crossed my arms.

She flushed harder. “No one’s.”, she answered stubbornly, and I rolled my eyes.

“I might be stupid, but not that stupid. Tell me, who is it? Do I know him?”

Her cheeks turned dark red.

I gasped. “So, I do know him?”

She didn’t respond and that was answer enough.

I thought for a few seconds but the only one I could think of was…

“Jared?”, I asked shocked.

Why hadn’t I seen it before? It was so obvious now that I thought about it. She had stared at him the entire time, whenever he hadn’t been looking.

She shushed me.

“Don’t scream like that!”, she begged and looked to the door as she expected someone to storm in and ground her.

“Okay, fine. But I want to know everything. I mean he seems to be pretty close to your family. Since when do you like him… like that?”, I wanted to know and she buried her face in her hands, until she realized that she could ruin her makeup.

She let hands drop again.

“Promise me you won’t tell anyone! Least of all Damien! He is going to kill Jared. And then me.”

“I swear.”, I said and laid my hand on my heart faithfully.

She sighed very deeply and sat on her bed.

“It started about a months ago. Jared, Graham, Talia, Damien, and I went to this club. It was super amazing but after a while Damien left with Talia, and Graham met some old friends, so he dumped us too. I was pretty out of it, meaning, I might have had a couple of drinks too much.

And next thing I remember is me and Jared dancing together. One thing led to another and we well… kissed.

And then we went to his apartment. But unlike you and Damien we didn’t sleep together right away, not that I would have minded though.

He let me sleep in his bed and he crashed on his couch. The next day I realized that I didn’t want to be just friends with him, and I panicked and just acted like I had been too drunk to remember. And he didn’t bring it up either. I think he is just way too good of a friend to Damien to start dating his little sister. I mean in a way he was always like a brother to me…”

Her voice sounded bitter and I stood up and grabbed her hand.

“I don’t even know if he actually likes me. And Damien would freak out if he found out. Jared has a reputation with girls, if you know what I mean. He would never date me, and I think he has been keeping extra distance since that night. He literally has a new girlfriend every single week.”, she snorted, and I squeezed her hand.

“If he is too afraid to stand up to your brothers and rather dates random girls to make him feel better, then he is a douchebag. You should really listen to your own advice. Tonight, is about having fun and you look really hot which means you can flirt with lots of cute guys to make him jealous.”

She straightened up and her grin returned.

“You are so right. Who needs men anyway?”

“How far is it?”, I asked Clary, when we got in the back of the van.

Stretch limos were way too big to drive around in them in New York City, especially on Saturday evenings.

“Not that far. Maybe ten minutes, depending on the traffic.

There were two men in black suits with us. Bodyguards, I assumed.

Both of them were tall and had broad shoulders. The shorter one got in the driver’s seat and the other one sat on the seat next to him.

The rest of us were in the back and the four large seats were facing each other. There was even a little minibar.

Clary noticed my curious gaze.

“Do you want to drink something?”, she asked and leaned forward and opened the little fridge.

“No, no I am good. Thanks.”, I responded. I was way too nervous to be able to drink anything.

I hoped I wouldn’t have to see Damien tonight. And Talia either.

She shrugged and grabbed herself a can of gin-tonic. Mrs Black shot her a disapproving look.

“You are worse than your brothers. We aren’t even there yet.”

Clary grinned but didn’t respond.

Instead she opened the can with a click and quickly slurped the spilling liquid before it could drip on her dress.

“Does anybody else want one of these? They taste amazing.”, she teased her mom.

Mrs Black rolled her eyes but smiled a little.

The rest of the drive Clary old me a little bit more about the gala and how everything would go down.

First drinks, then dinner, then more drinks (because no one could survive the auction without some alcohol first), then the auction, then drinks again, and then the partying.

Mr and Mrs Black talked about some business stuff in Ohio and Indiana and the bodyguards didn’t say anything.

Clary was right though; the drive was only a few minutes.

When we arrived, I stared outside in awe. The building was lit up and there was a red carper rolled out that was leading towards the huge reception hall.

People were crowding around a few women in gorgeous long dresses that were slowly making their way to the entry that was guarded by a security detail.

To my surprise we drove by.

“Isn’t this it?”, I asked confused and Mr Black nodded.

“Yes, but this is the entrance for all the people that want to be in the magazines tomorrow. All the people that don’t want to be photographed by the paparazzi use the other entrance.”, he explained with a little smile.

“Oh.” I looked outside again and now, that we came closer I could see that the people surrounding the women were interviewers and photographers.

Even thinking about seeing a picture of me printed in some gossip magazine made me want to throw up.

“Don’t worry. They are not allowed to go past the entrance hall. We, and with that I mean our company, have hired some more discreet photographers and a camera team to be able to stream the auction.”, Clary calmed me and finished the last bit of her gin-tonic.

The other entrance was much smaller and was definitely less fancy but there was still security in front of the doors, currently letting an older couple inside.

The bodyguard on the passenger seat got out and opened the door for us before he walked us to the doors.

After the security let us in, he left with a short nod in our direction. We walked inside an entrance hall, not nearly as big as the one we had seen earlier and there were only a few people in here, but the tall ceilings and the venetian style still made it look impressive.

The light was dim but not too dark to make my eyes hurt. We made our way through the hall and a few staff members took our coats.

The only thing I took with me was my phone.

A woman with glasses in front of a standing desk crossed our names off the guest list and another staff member took us inside to show us our seats.

We walked along a huge hallway until we reached a winding staircase that took us upstairs.

I tried my hardest not to trip in my high heels and reached for the banisters while Clary wafted up the stairs as fleet-footed and elegant as always.

And that even though her high heels were a lot higher than mine.

I followed everyone upstairs and when we arrived my jaw dropped, and I was glad no one could see it as they were all in front of me.

I had never seen such a ginormous room.

Chandeliers that were probably the size of an entire car were hanging from the ceilings and were crowding around the high tables, sipping champagne, and chatting.

There had to be at least 200 or 300 guests and there were still more coming.

Around the room there were big round tables covered in white tablecloths with candlesticks and little name cards on them.

Waiters were walking around passing out champagne and small appetizers.

The standing tables were close to the big entrance hall I had seen earlier while the dinner tables were spaced in front of the empty stage but with leaving some room for the dance floor.

To our right was a bar with a long counter.

There were at least 10 bar tenders that were currently all busy mixing cocktails and pouring whiskey for the people that had lined up.

The young man in uniform showed us our table. It was further in the back, but it had a great view of the stage and the dance floor as well.

My name was written in cursive golden letters on a card that was made out of thick cream-white paper.

I was sitting next to Clary.

Every table had eight seats so there were four more seats at our table.

Inconspicuously I copped a look at the other nameplates. The others were Arthur McKagen, Donald and Anne Marie Ross, and Boris Ivanov.

None of the names sounded familiar to me.

We talked for a while and Clary and I got a drink at the bar.

We hadn’t seen neither Damien nor Jared, but it was just so crowded and loud that it was hard to keep track of who was coming and going.

We talked about all sort of things, but we avoided talking about Jared and Damien because tonight I would just have a good time with my new friend, and I would try to avoid Damien at all costs.

I told Clary about college in Pittsburgh and my friends Celia and Derek.

She was so excited she was going to meet them, and I was certain that she and Celia would get along great.

Celia was definitely the most adventurous and daring out of us three and if she wouldn’t love interior design so much she would have probably become a stuntwoman or maybe a deep sea diver.

She loved the thrill, very much unlike me.

I preferred staying at home and reading a book while she always wanted to go out and party. But unfortunately for me she was also very persuasive which was why she usually got her way.

It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy a good party. I simply enjoyed reading or baking or watching TV more.

We stopped talking when a woman stepped on the stage. The laughter and chatting slowly died out and everybody looked at the woman that had just stepped onto the stage. But my attention wore off the longer she talked.

The speech she held was boring and long and I only hazily lifted my eyes up when Clary pinched me in the side.

The buffet had been declared open.

There were a few different buffets spread through the hall so there wouldn’t be as many people jostling.

“I am starving. Let’s get something to eat.”, Clary said and got up from the chair she was sitting on. I nodded and grabbed my only half empty cocktail.

“You go ahead. I will take this to our table first.”, I suggested, and she nodded.

“Can you take mine too?”, she asked grinning and I rolled my eyes but took her drink.