My day went by relatively the same, except for the random glances and smiles while taking Mia out and about for the evening.

"Why does everyone keep looking at you?" She asked holding her jar with a caterpillar in it.

"Maybe they're looking at the cool caterpillar in your hand!"

"Yes, it is very cool. This is Cali the caterpillar! It's beautiful isn't it!" She held the jar to my face.

"Cali is beautiful, now let's get home before Cali dies from lack of air!" I laughed.

I dropped her off and started my journey home, again with eyes tracing my path. I even heard a few whispers, it almost felt like I was in highschool again.

My phone rang, it was Charles. Hopefully this time he was going to tell me what was going on.

"Hello?"

"How far are you from your home right now?"

"I'm literally climbing the stairs to the apartment right now."

"Good! The stylist will be here with options for you soon."

"Charles, can you please be kind enough to tell me what we're doing? I can't tak this! My heart is going to fail one day-"

"Enough with the melodrama!"

"Then tell me why is a stylist coming to my house."

"The perfect event just showed up for us to attend."

"What is it?"

"The Royal family of Monaco is hosting a charity ball, I've been invited and asked to bring along a plus one."

"A ball! I've never been to one."

"I'm giving you your Cinderella moment, choose the gown you like best." He ended the call.

He was giving me my moment, but it sucked not having a Prince Charming. What felt even worse was he was right there and still completely inaccessible.

I tidied the home a little bit and the doorbell rang, it wasn't just a stylist it was a team! They were here with more garment bags than I could count.

"Good evening Miss Tara I am Franco." The man in a crisp white shirt shook my hand.

"Hi Franco! You can just call me Tara." I smiled.

"Okay Tara, Charles has given me the idea of the event, I've got a few options for you here." He led me to now, an assembled rack with the most beautiful gowns I had ever seen.

Each one of them looked so exquisite, the fabric and textures felt so luxurious beneath my hand there was no way I could afford any of them.

And he was back, just because he had been this petty right when I was starting to think he was being nice I decided to make his pockets hurt.

I tried on all of the gowns, but one particular elegant gown with the most delicate tulle skirt I had ever seen caught my eyes. I felt like the prettiest person alive just putting it on, looking into the mirror I had never felt this confident before.

"It looks lovely on you." Franco beamed.

"I think I'm in love!" I swooned.

"It fits like a glove too! Little to no alterations required!" The seamstress chimed in.

"This is the one! I'm getting this one." I smiled.

"Okay Tara, let Anne just take your measurements quickly so she can make the small changes."

In a few minutes, Anne took my measurements while the rest of the team started packing up again. She was done with them and said that Franco would have the altered dress delivered soon.

"Thank you so much! I felt like a princess today!" I thanked them.

"You are with a man no less than prince, we are glad we could help you feel like a princess." Franco winked.

I awkward laughed and then they left, I sent Harriet a few pictures of the dress I had just finalised. She sent back lots of hearts and informed me to head to Gabriel's in a while, she and Julia would be there.

I changed into slightly more formal wear and headed down, I decided to stop by the florist who was now closing and made a quick purchase of some flowers. This was the first time I was visiting their place, there was no way I'd show up empty handed!

I opened the door to see my favourite people hunched around the table over a screen, I stood there awkwardly trying to see what was going on.

"Um, hi guys!" I smiled.

"Tara!" Julia pulled me in for a hug.

"I got you flowers!" I handed the bundle to her.

"They smell lovely!" She took a big sniff before hurrying away with them.

"What are you two up to?" I asked them.

"Oh, hi Tara!" Gabriel beamed. "Just seeing Charles completely freeze during the driver's press conference yesterday and laughing."

"A little mean isn't it?" I winged.

"That girl in the pictures this journalist's talking about, looks a lot like you!" He laughed.

I remained quiet because I didn't know what to say, he had told me not to tell anyone yet. Now that I was being confronted by friends what was I supposed to say. Harriet glared at me, almost like she was threatening me into speaking.

Gabriel's eyes widened, he looked like he had just made a mind blowing revelation. "IT IS YOU!"

I nodded, still unsure what to say. Right then Julia was back with the flowers in a vase, she asked Gabriel what was with the look on his face.

"I predicted this! You called me crazy when I said it- it happened! Jules! She's seeing Charles!" He blurted.

"YOU'RE SEEING CHARLES?" Julia squealed, "Harriet you knew about it?"

Harriet nodded her head, the couple were squealing and going crazy. It was adorable but so funny to watch at the same time, we finally sat down to play a game of Ludo which didn't last too long because they had so many questions.

"So when did this happen?"

"I met him at Mia's birthday, you might remember the day very well." I blushed from embarrassment.

"Ah yeah, you swore to never wash your hand, now that you're seeing him do not bathe anymore." Julia smirked.

"Get your head out of the gutter!"

"Go on! Ignore Julia's remarks."

"Yeah, so Pascale gives him my number because he was intrigued. He called me up, we spoke for a while and he asked me if I'd like to go out with him."

"So how was your first date?"

"It was- we haven't had a proper date yet." I sighed.

"What?"

"Yeah, the first time we went out was dropping him at the Heliport." I laughed.

"When are you seeing him again?"

"In a while, once he's back from Canada."

"Where are you going to go? Has he told you about your date?"

"He's taking me to the charity gala-ball thingy."

"You mean Bal de la Rose?" Julia asked.

"I don't know, he said that it was a charity ball the royal family was hosting it."

"You mean THE event! Hollywood celebrities, athletes, industrialists, designers everyone will be there!"

"Bigwigs. No I can't possibly attend this, I'm scared!" I yelped.

Why couldn't he tell me things as they are flat out! It's like he wants me to panic all the time, which isn't a very good look for me. I could feel my heartbeat so fast, why was I so terrified? My phone rang, it was him.

"Give me a minute!" I smiled walking away from the table.

"It's him. It's definitely him." I heard Gabriel in the back.

"Hello?" I answered the phone.

"So which dress did you pick?"

"You didn't get the bill yet?" I teased him.

"Feisty!" He laughed, "Which one was it?"

"Hold on a second I'll send the pictures to you!" I squealed, the dress felt magical to me. I sent the pictures to him.

"It looks beautiful on you." He complimented me.

"Thanks." I couldn't help but blush, "What are you going to wear?"

"A suit? You'll see." He smiled.

"Hmm okay, keep it all a mystery. Good luck for the weekend!"

"Thanks!" He ended the phone call.

I joined them again and we continued, talking playing a board game and then finally eating dinner. Julia was more excited about my outing to the ball than I was, she offered to help me get ready that evening and I couldn't be more glad.