CHAPTER FIVE

Grace stood at Enrique's side. He had his hands around her waist and she placed her hand on his chest while they stood on the red carpet, smiling for the flashing cameras.

"Are you so famous?" Grace asked him as they made their way upstairs and into the venue.

"Definitely not famous enough, you don't know me after all," Enrique replied.

Their coats were collected and Grace smiled in satisfaction when she saw Enrique's eyes roam the exposed skin of her back.

"You are very beautiful," he said clearing his throat.

"Thank you for your compliment," she smiled.

Some couples stopped to greet them as they walked into the ballroom. They all looked very much interested in knowing whom exactly Enrique's date was.

"Be serious, should I be searching you name on the internet?" She asked even though she had zero access to the internet.

"There's no need for that, I'll tell you about myself. I am kind of a celebrity chef," he said, smiling.

"What? For real? Why didn't you tell me? So you cook fancy food on television?" Grace asked, wide-eyed.

"Yes, sorry that I didn't mention it earlier, my family owns chains of restaurants in Spain and also here in New York. I grew up surrounded with lots of cooking, it would be a shame if I didn't learn to cook, myself. So you haven't seen my cooking show on TV or YouTube before?" He frowned.

"No," Grace replied. She couldn't possibly tell him that she rarely ever got to watch TV because she was always so busy working a part-time job, or being an escort. The only times she got to watch TV was for brief moments at a coffee shop or a restaurant.

Camila never allowed Grace or Penny access to smartphones, so watching a cooking show was out of the question.

Their luggage and belongings were always searched to ensure that they weren't hiding a smartphone. Throughout college, Grace was made fun of for not having a smartphone. She didn't even know how to use one.

No one was willing to hang out with a weird, terrible dressed and phoneless girl like her, so she was a total loner.

"After tonight, you might want to search for my videos. Who knows you might learn a few things about cooking. Are you a great cook?"

"No, I just manage the usual typical breakfast and lunch," she forced a laugh.

Grace didn't like how it was so easy to talk to Enrique. He was so rich and a celebrity chef too? Super wealthy guys were usually jerks who talked however they pleased, why was Enrique being so polite. She reminded herself that he wasn't polite earlier that day.

He was probably being nice because she was beautiful and classy, not at all the bumpkin from earlier.

"Enrique, it's so lovely to see you tonight. Now, who do we have here?" A woman asked while swaying from side to side as she made her way up to them.

She was tall and had short dirty blonde hair. Her dress was equally short, leaving her thighs exposed. She wore a mask that covered most of her face, so Grace couldn't tell if she was beautiful or not.

"Martha, have you gotten acquainted with the champagne already? The ball hasn't even started officially," A tall man in his thirties frowned as he held the woman to his side.

"Oh Julian, you worry to much. I am only having fun here. Who is this beautiful damsel, Enrique?"

Drawing Grace closer to himself, Enrique replied, smiling, "she is Lila, my girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" Martha and Julian gasped.

"Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you both. My name is Delilah, but you can call me Lila. I love your outfits, it's indeed fabulous," Grace complimented the couple.

"Wow, she is a true beauty and has such an amazing voice. Thank you darling, forgive me for being tipsy at the moment. It's just, I really love champagne, but Julian, my annoying husband will never let me have it whwn we are home. I'm just trying to enjoy as much as I can here," Martha said, slurring her words.

"It's nice to meet you, Lila. Enrique is a good friend of mine, but he definitely didn't inform me about having such a beautiful new girlfriend," Julian said, smacking Enrique's shoulder.

"Forgive him for that, I am the one who doesn't really like social gatherings. It's why Enrique hasn't been able to introduce me to you yet," Grace replied.

Martha pulled out of Julian's arms and followed after a waiter holding a tray of champagne.

"Excuse me, I need to stop my wife from drinking any more champagne," Julian said before running after Martha.

"What a weird couple," Grace remarked.

"Martha isn't usually like that, she's just going through a lot."

"What exactly?"

"They are both struggling with infertility. They've been together for ten years, married for eight years now, but haven't gotten pregnant ever since."

"Oh my, that's terrible. I hope they are successful and have a baby eventually," Grace said, honestly.

"Yeah, that's what we all pray for."

"Enrique," a heavily accented voice called from afar.

They both turned to see a beautiful and slender woman who from a distance looked about thirty-five, but when she finally came face to face with them, she struck Grace as probably forty or more.

"Good evening, Mum, you look incredible as always," Enrique greeted in fluent Spanish.

"You are equally very handsome, my son," she replied in the same language.

Grace stared at them, confused at what was going on. The woman had very dark hair which reached her lower back. She had no mask on, so Grace could tell that she was extremely beautiful and if not for the subtle age lines on her face, Grace would have thought of her as Enrique's age mate.

"Sorry, my love. I'm sure you are confused, this is my mother, Gabriela Black. She has been waiting impatiently to see you. Mum, this is my girlfriend, Lila," Enrique introduced both of them.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ma'am," Grace smiled and was stunned when the woman suddenly pulled her into a hug.

"You are welcome dear, thanks for making it to this event. I know you are very busy, it's a pleasure to have you here."

"Thank you Ma'am," Grace smiled.

From that moment, Gabriela took Grace's hand and introduced her to probably everyone present in the room.

Many of them tried to dig deep by asking for her last name, probably to find out if she was from high society or not, but Grace ignored their questions and refused to talk too much about herself.

Enrique's sister, Sophia, was such a delight, she had the same skin tone as Enrique, but her accent was totally British, due to her being based in London.

She was tall and Grace felt like shorter than she usually did while standing at Sophia's side.

"I'm so glad that my brother finally decided to move on." Sophia suddenly said.

"Really?" Grace asked.

"Yeah, he was really hooked on Margot for a long time. Oh, here she comes, she is such a bitch," Sophia said, frowning.

Grace turned and saw a tall, slim and graceful blonde walking up to where they stood. She was walking, but with how beautiful she was, she looked more like an angel floating on clouds.

The lady was so flawless and classy. Her lilac dress hugged her slim body to perfection. It had a high slit which showed off her toned legs with each step she took.

"Good evening Sophia, it's good to see you again. Who is this?" Margot frowned at her, with a look of distaste on her face.

Grace was intimidated by her, but there was no way she was going to let it show. Margot was a few inches taller than Sophia which made her seem like a giant to Grace.

Grace opened her mouth to reply when she felt someone's hand slide to her waist.

"Hello Margot, meet Lila, my girlfriend," Enrique smiled before kissing Grace on the cheek.