I had been right about the beautiful natural lighting of this room. The tall and glamorous windows seemed to do nothing but capture the best light of the day break just for me. But in this moment I wish it was still dark out, since the brightness seemed to only increase my want to fall back asleep. The comfy and inviting blankets didn't help either.

It had been a long, and tense night. With all the extravagant meal courses that Theo's mother insisted on, the dinner felt like it lasted an eternity, but the drag night thankfully didn't end there.

I wound up heading to bed around midnight. Delicately taking my expensive clothes off took another ten minutes, out of fear of ripping them. My makeup and nightly routine took another twenty.

But after I pulled on my pajamas and slid under the covers, I was out like a light. I fell asleep as soon as humanly possible with full memory of all the good and the bad that had happened last night.

***

My grip on Theo's arm only tightened as we descended the staircase. Slightly out of fear of chaotically tripping over my high heels before tumbling down the million steps below. But mostly out of dread of what tragic scene laid ahead of us.

I let out of breath that I hadn't even noticed I was holding, and loosen my hold on Theo's expensive suit sleeve. I can already see the wrinkles I had creased into the previously smooth fabric and an immediate feel of guilt settles on my conscious.

As if on cue, Theo glanced down and notices the now crumpled cloth covering his arm. This only enhances my feeling of mortification and I wish I could just retreat to my room.

I extend my opposite hand to attempt to fix and smooth out the mistake only I had caused, but Theo immediately halts my action and holds my fingers in his palm.

"Don't worry about it." I hear his tender words roll of his tongue before bringing my hand up to his lips and placing a soft kiss on my skin. I take a deep breath and release it before glancing up at him through my now thick and unfortunately false lashes.

"I'm so nervous." I admit.

"I know you are, but you'll be fine. Just follow my lead, okay?" He looked down to me waiting for my answer.

"Okay," I breathe out nervously. "I'm ready if you are."

I was the exact opposite of ready, but might as well get the worst dinner in the history of dinners over with, right?

I knew that the double French doors blocked us from a hellish experience that would most likely ensue after we opened them. But to calm my jittery nerves I let out a shaky sigh, and tried to slap an easy going smile on my face.

"Let's get this over with." Theo said before giving my hand a reassuring squeeze.

I simply nodded in agreement and held tightly onto him war-ready.

Before I could run to my room to hide, Theo twisted the door handles and the grand doors opened.

While we walked to our designated seats, I stared in awe at the room that resembled the inside of a castle.

The floor was a pure white and gray swirled marble that just screamed elegance. The walls were painted a deep charcoal with chalky, clean trimmings. There were two tall, classic cabinets placed at either end of the room. One was accommodated with what I'm assuming was the finest china, while the other was filled with bottles of various liqours.

In the direct center, laid a long bone white table with a glossy finish. The legs were monstrous and was detailed to perfection. The tabletop was surrounded by 8 chicly trimmed and cushioned chairs. Only two of the eight had arms, like a pair of thrones, one on each end, as if only royalty could sit there.

I glanced up to Theo nervously, and he smiled down to me as if a single thing couldn't have gone wrong tonight. Hopefully he was right, but with my terrible luck? Yeah, we all knew this was going to end badly.

"Oh, Theo! You've finally arrived." Mrs. Thompson smiled as if this was the best discovery on the planet.

"Yes. Hello, mother. Father." He nodded to each of his parents in a polite but distant greeting.

He took my hand and led me down the row of fashionable seats until we ended up beside the one man, whom I still had no idea of's identity. Theo pulled out my seat for me and I silently thanked him while seating myself.

"And Mr. Freeman, is it?" Theo asked as the one unidentified man seated across the table from me came into our view.

"Yes. That would be me." The man confirmed with a growing smile.

"Nice to meet you, sir." Theo carefully leaned over the table to shake the man's hand.

"Nice to meet you as well, young man. My family's actually a big fan of your team."

"Well, I'm glad to have you as a supporter, sir." Theo gave him one of those charming smiles that always resulted in a swoon from me, but it seemed like a swoon was coming from Mr. Freeman as well. Theo was able to schmooze just about anyone apparently, no matter the person's gender.

He wrapped up the conversation with stats about his team and how they were getting prepared for the next big game. After about five minutes of the talk, some maids and a butlers came through the double doors with what appeared to be a salad of some sort.

Theo took that as his cue to take his seat. He grabbed the back of the chair directly beside me and pulled it out for himself. But just as he sat, his mother looked up with an astonished look in her eyes.

"Theo, why don't you come and sit beside Mr. Freeman instead?" She offered kindly but I could tell by her narrowed eyes that she had a different motive in mind.

With a glance up at Theo I could already see the annoyance growing in his facial expression. I didn't know if Theo would explode in front of two strangers or not. I knew he would do it with just his parents, but with their potential clients in the room? I had no idea what the outcome would be and that was a risk I didn't want to take.

"Actually mother I'm goin—" attempted to start his long rant, which could only end badly.

Which is why I immediately grabbed ahold of his right hand, and within a second his glare softened. He looked slightly confused but then saw my face. I gave him a curt nod telling him to just do as she says and not cause any problems.

It was actually kind of ironic that I still had no idea what Mrs. Thompson or her husband's names were since they probably knew every single thing about me, but that was the last of my worries at the moment. My main goal was to get through this meal without someone winding up in jail or someone getting stabbed with a shrimp fork.

Why must there be so many different forks? They all perform the same task, so why not just cut back and use one for everything?

I'm getting off topic, but my mind returned to the present when one butler set a magnificent salad in frontfq of me.

"A blue cheese ceasar salad for your first course." The butler announced with a pleasant look on his face, but in my prospective it looked quite forced.

Knowing I couldn't ask him what was wrong in front of everyone I settled for looking down at what had been set in front of me.

This wasn't any ole salad with lettuce and veggies. Oh, no. It's like the chef had sprinkled in some magic or something. Just the smell of it was already making my mouth water. Who knew that salads could smell good? Every part of me was ready to dive right in, but I had almost forgotten my manners.

The butler who had served us was about to walk out the double doors when I had finally looked up from my food.

"Thank you." I politely shouted after him.

Both Thompson parents' heads shot up and there was immediate looks of distaste upon each of them. Both men sitting to my and Theo's sides had evident looks of shock on their features as well. Was this really so odd to them? People having manners was apparently a weird aspect to the rich people of New York.

The steward quickly spun around on his heel and looked at me with an bewildered look on his face. My demeanor seemed to have astonished him as well. He blinked twice and cleared his throat so he could speak clearly.

"My pleasure, madame." He said but unlike when he was first leaving there was a small grin on his mouth like two simple and little words had changed his whole day so drastically. And with that he left out the doors in a flash giving me a chance to turn back to my delicious looking food.

The business man sitting by Theo's side excused himself to the restroom and I took that as my chance to dig in. Knowing my jinxed self, I'd probably start eating and the pressure of having so many important people watching me eat would probably end with some sort of food all down the expensive blue fabric of my current getup.

Just as I was about to hastily gobble down the appetizing meal laid before me, I caught Theo looking at me. He had a cute little grin on his face. I smiled back and looked back down to my plate before Cruella Deville (aka Mrs. Thompson) could see us making eye contact.

I took a forkful to my mouth and couldn't help to close my eyes with delight. My tastebuds were literally exploding at the taste. But when I reopened my eyes I could immediately feel a pair of eyes on me.

"You always make weird and slightly sexual noises when you eat?" The random man to my right whispered in my ear.

My cheeks immediately bloomed with color from self-consciousness. I quickly chewed and cleared my throat. I looked over to see his smirk only growing, and somehow he looked vaguely familiar. But I had never seen this man before in my life.

"What sounds?" I whispered back shyly.

"You know. The sounds that you were just making. You know what kinda sounds I'm talking about." He said and waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Just when I thought I couldn't become even more mortified this guy has to say something like that? Oh gosh this night couldn't get any more awkward for me. Especially since this guy was associated so well with the Thomspons and was probably another rich client of their company.

A company which I still had no idea what they actually did. But all I knew in that moment was I needed to get through this horrific dinner. Unfortunately, trying to sprint to the finish line of this mess was similar to trying to run through a sea of maple syrup.

Not exactly the easiest task, but to get my mind off the weirdo sitting next to me I looked back over to Theo to see his eyes already trained on mine. I immediately felt relieved. He gave me a subtle smile and a quick wink.

"I'm sorry it was just surprisingly loud and it surprised me."

I turned to look at him again and took in more of his features. There were hints of stubble growing up around his jawline, and his cheekbones were perfectly structured like the rest of his face. His blue eyes shown with humor and his jet black hair was so flawlessly styled on top of his head.

Where did I know this man from? I felt like I knew him and his smirking face. But how?

I watched as he brought another piece of lettuce to his mouth and chewed before bringing the napkin from his lap and lightly touch the corners of his lips. Just the way he acted seemed all too well known.

"I know I'm unbelievably attractive, but will you ever stop staring?" He suddenly asked his smirk only growing.

Embarrassed that he had noticed my I swiveled back around in my seat. "I'm sorry, but you just seem to look so familiar."

"Well, of course I do you're—"

"But I don't remember ever meeting you." I admit looking back over to him. Maybe if I keep looking at him I will finally remember where I've seen him before.

I could see a smirk growing on his face like he had just been invited to play a very fun game. He quietly put down his fork and turned to me again. "I don't seem to remember you either...huh. Maybe we can retrace my tracks, and see if anything seems to jog your memory."

"That'd be really appreciated. Thank you." I said gratefully for his change in arrogant character.

"Hmm...my favorite restaurant, Diana's Place? You were our waitress whose butt I did not mean to touch even though you still gave the impression that you didn't believe my story when I explained that I have extremely clumsy hands. You stormed pissed off."

"Um...no. That wasn't me. I've never—"

"Oh! The Dusty Leopard! My favorite strip club. How could I forget my favorite dancer," He leaned in closer to speak low enough for only me to hear. "I mean Sparkly Rainbows, which name do you prefer in public? You look completely different without your fishnets and all that makeup. Forgive me."

"Nope. That wasn't me either. I actually do prefer my real name Amay—"

The man's blue eyes shone brightly with disbelief. "Oh, no! It can't be you...can it?"

"Me? Can't be who?" I asked surprised by his theatric outburst.

He looked around the room making sure no one was watching us and returned his eyes to mine when he realized everyone was still picking at their salads, paying us no attention.

"Georgina...you must've got a new face. You always did know the best plastic surgeons around, didn't you, darling?" He chuckled darkly. "But you can't be here!"

I was surprised by his sudden change in demeanor. He was suddenly nervous and constantly looking over his shoulder like someone was out to get him.

"What are you talking about?" I whispered as I started growing anxious myself.

"You know what I'm talking about! The restraining order says no closer than a mile radius. I got it against you for a reason, Georgie!" He continued to yell at me in hushed tones.

My jaw was frantically moving up and down trying to string together a sentence of logical response, but I was coming up empty. How the hell do you respond to that?

"But I'm not-"

"It's okay. Just keep your head down and hurry out that door over there." He pointed to the double doors which Theo and I had recently entered.

I looked from the doors and back to the man who I was having downright the most bizarre conversation with. "But I'm not...I'm still—"

"I'm still in love with you too, but you and I both know I can't handle being in a relationship with someone who is constantly throwing books and dresser drawers at me. Now get going and I promise I won't turn you in." He said as he directed me to the door once again.

"I'm just so confused. I'm not Georgina...I promise I'm not." I admitted as sincerely as I possibly could, but I was starting to lose my patience. Sure the guy was only trying to protect himself from his ex, but I still felt extremely attacked under his words.

How could he possibly think I was a crazy ex...or a stripper? He should see the way I normally dressed. I bet he'd guess I was a hobo he passed on the street recently.

"Leave her alone, Will." He whispered angrily with a glare shot in the guy's direction.

"What could you ever mean, Theo?" The man asked him playing innocent.

"You and I both know you're just trying to mess with her head. It's what you love to do." Theo rolled his eyes.

I beamed hearing Theo come to my rescue.

"Not my fault she's so gullible and I'm extremely good at improvising." The man shrugged and continued eating like nothing had ever happened.

So all three of those scenarios were made up? What an asshole. I scoffed and telling by Theo's vein that was beginning to pop out of his neck I knew he was about to get angry as well. So I did my best to defuse the tension.

"It's okay, Theo." I mouthed back to him with a smile before I looked back down to my plate.

It felt like I was never going to be able to eat this salad. Every time I was about to get started someone always got in the way. But I wasn't going to let anyone come between me and my food this time.

I felt like I could finally eat my salad in peace once again and smiled as I picked up another forkful but just as I was about to latch my teeth onto the delicious food I dropped it back onto the plate and whipped my head back to the guy sitting next to me.

"Wait..you're Will?!"

Will just looked at me with a know it all grin before turning to look across the table again. "See, brother? Gullible."

I looked between the two of them and that's when I could really see it. Even with their facial expressions entirely opposite at the moment, Will's a ever-growing smirk and Theo's a fresh scowl, I could still see the hints of genetic similarities.

William Thompson. First in line to inherit the family empire, kind of a dousche, and most importantly, Theo's dear older brother.

I looked between the two of them and realized they looked nothing alike. Will had raven hair, pale skin and ocean blue eyes. All features he seemed to have inherited from Mr. Thomspon. But Theo was the exact opposite. His chocolatey brown eyes, tan skin and brunette hair all were traits he'd obviously received from their mother.

It was kinda creepy how each son had only gotten traits from one parent, but before I could even begin to unleash the thousands of questions I had locked up in my mind, the elderly businessman had re-emerged from his rather long bathroom venture.

"Ah, you're back!" Mr. Thompson exclaimed from his seat and rose a glass of his deep red liquor to the man.

"Got a little lost on the way back," The old man chuckled. "You, Thompsons, live in your own little castle."

As if this whole dinner scene had been thoroughly scripted and directed, the whole Thompson clan laughed merrily.

Eventually the next course, filet mignon and asparagus ribbons appeared before us and then the dessert, tiramisu, but through them bot I just sat there in disbelief at the oddities that were unfolding before my very eyes.

It wasn't like I was missing much. Throughout the whole time, it was like the whole group was eating at a different table than me. Like I had been engulfed in a giant bubble that was sound proof and no one could even notice I was here. I didn't mind though. I would have nothing interesting to contribute to this conversation.

I knew nothing of stocks and bonds. And all the words that were related to the sport of golf left me at a blank.

But it was weird to see Theo having to alter his feelings. Most of the time he was truthful and upfront about how he felt, but this was a whole different side of him. It was like his mother had invited his stunt double to replace him tonight.

I hated how much control his mother had over him. It was like she decided to chain up the real Theo, toss him in a box and wouldn't let him out until the potential client agreed to sign on with their company.

Deep down I knew this had been going on most of his life, and just imagined a young Theo having to lie to try and impress his already distant parents made me realize just how good I really had it.

Not wanting to watch this fiasco of a dinner continue, I stood up and cleared my throat.

"Forgive me, but may I be excused?" I asked aloud as I quietly scooted my chair back across the marble.

Will continued to eat like he had zero cares in the world where I chose to spend the rest of my night, Mr. Freeman looked confused and slightly concerned, and both the Thompson parents looked extremely pleased to be seeing me leave.

"Oh, are you alright?" Mrs. Thompson faked her concern.

"Quite alright. Just a small headache is all." I said as I touched my forehead for show.