Daphne

The hotel room I'm staying in, which is right next to Mason's, is so fancy. I've never stayed in a hotel this fancy before. I usually ended up in crappy motels, this was a five star hotel in New York City.

We had gotten here at around 9:30 this morning and Mason told me I should take some time to get some rest. I slept until noon when Mason had room service send up food to my room. I watched a movie while I ate and then I took a hot bath in the soaking tub. I felt so spoiled.

Anyways, now it's 3:00 and I have three and a half hours to get ready. I opened the closet and just like Mason said, there were three dresses hanging for me to choose from. The first dress was a grey/blue satin dress that dropped right to the floor. It was v-necked with spaghetti straps and a leg slit. It fit nicely and wasn't too over the top. The second dress was a navy blue strapless dress. The stomach part was see through and had boning in it. The last dress was black. It had a strap on only one shoulder and was fairly simple other than that.

After careful consideration, I decided on the first dress. It fit nice and I liked it better than the other ones. The boning in the second dress was uncomfortable and the third dress just wasn't my style.

I put a robe on while I styled my hair and did my makeup. I made three thin braids on each side of my head and tied them together in the back of my head. I let the rest of my hair stay down and I styled my waves to make them look nicer. I used more makeup than I usually did, but not too much more. I used a neutral eyeshadow with silver accents and did a simple line of eyeliner with a small wing. I brushed on my usual mascara and topped off the look with some blush and a nude pink lipstick.

Once I had my hair and makeup just how I wanted them, I went back into the bedroom and put my dress back on. All of the accessories I needed were also in the closet. I put on a pair of silver high block heels and opened the jewelry case. I gasped when I saw all of the contents. It was beautiful, I didn't deserve to wear this, but still I picked out two silver bracelets and a pair of diamond earrings. The last thing I needed was a handbag and there was a wide variety. I picked one that matched and put my phone, my debit card, and some makeup for touch ups inside.

I was right on time for myself which was actually a half hour early so I sat gently on the bed and waited for Mason to come get me. I smoothed my dress before opening the door and Mason's jaw dropped. Did I look that bad? I thought I looked ok. He certainly looked good in his tuxedo.

"Do I look ok? I can go change dresses or fix my hair-"

"You look perfect," Mason cut off my rambling and I blushed. He thought I looked good? Well that's good. At least I don't look bad.

"Thank you," I replied and found my gaze dropping to the floor.

Mason took my hand and led me downstairs to an awaiting limousine. The driver opened the door for us and Mason held my hand as I stepped inside and he stepped in after.

"I feel like a whole different person today," I said absentmindedly.

"How so?" Mason asked.

"I've just never experienced this side of life before. I feel so lucky that I get to see it today. Thank you."

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself. You deserve the world," Mason said and I blushed. He could be so sweet sometimes.

"There are probably going to be paparazzi outside when we get there. I forgot to mention it earlier, sorry. Just ignore them and stick with me," Mason said when the limo stopped. I nodded and the driver opened the door. Mason stepped out first before offering me his hand to help me out. I took it and he was right, there were a lot of paparazzi. Mason led me through with a hand on my lower back. I heard them shouting questions at Mason, but I just kept walking until we were safely inside and I let out a sigh of relief.

"You did great," Mason said as he led me to the ballroom where the event was being held.

The door was opened for us by two men who were stationed there. They didn't even ask for our names before letting us in, Mason was that well known. The ballroom was immaculately decorated from the table arrangements to the centerpieces and more. I can't believe I'm actually here.

"Ma-son," came a sing songy voice that I recognized.

It wasn't long before Katrina stepped into view with a man I'd never met before.

"Kat, Danny," Mason greeted them. "This is Daphne."

"Oh my God, you brought Daphne? She's so cute," Katrina said and I blushed. "You look beautiful Daphne."

"Thank you," I said, "You do too."

It was true. She was wearing a dark red gown that hugged her body down to her knees where it flared out. She looked like a model.

"You are too sweet," Katrina said and we talked for a bit before a middle aged couple approached us.

"Mason!" The woman exclaimed and gave him a hug.

"Hi mom," he groaned, although you could tell it was fake and he enjoyed the hug.

Then Mason greeted the man, his father.

"Who is this?" Mason's mom asked, realizing I was there.

"This is Daphne," he introduced me.

"She's his assistant," Katrina chimed in from a little ways away where she was drinking a glass of champagne and eating hors d'oeuvres. Of course I blushed, I couldn't seem to stop it these days.

"Ok?" Mason's mom directed towards Katrina and then she turned to me. "It's lovely to meet you Daphne."

"You as well Mrs. Zolar." I reached out to shake her hand but she pulled me into a hug instead.

"Call me Marsha," she said when she pulled back, "and this is my husband Fredrick."

"It's nice to meet you," I said to Fredrick and he shook my hand.

"You too Daphne."

Mason led me to a table and we sat down.

"Sorry about them," he said.

"They were sweet."

Everyone started sitting down and dinner was served. I was sitting at a table with Mason, Katrina, Danny, Marsha, and Fredrick. They were all quite nice and talked to me throughout dinner. Marsha even made plans for us all to meet tomorrow in Central Park. Mason protested at first, but gave in easily.

When the last of the plates were cleared away, Mason stood up and grabbed my hand. I stood with him and we walked out to the dance floor.

"May I have this dance?" Mason asked and I giggled.

"You may."

Mason placed his hands on my waist and this time I was positive there were goosebumps. I put my arms around his neck and we danced. Mason never broke eye contact with me and it felt like we were the only people in the room. Everything else faded away.

When the music stopped, I blushed and stepped back. Mason placed his hand on my lower back and led me away to talk to some colleagues of his.

"I'm going to go freshen up," I told him and made my way to the bathroom. I wanted to splash some cold water on my face but I couldn't do that without ruining my makeup. My lipstick needed to be reapplied after dinner so I did that and was just about to leave when the door opened and a group of girls walked in. They were giggling and talking but all stopped when they saw me.

"Oh look, it's Mason's new toy," the first girl said.

"She clearly won't last long," the girl next to her said and they all agreed.

I tried to walk by but the girls had formed a wall, blocking me in.

"Excuse me," I said, but they still didn't move.

"Well aren't you just the cutest," the first girl talked down to me.

"Can I please leave?"

"Not yet," the girl said and walked towards me causing me to take several steps back. "You seem new around here so I'm going to give you a break this once. Stay away from Mason. He's mine."

"Oh, it's not what it looks like," I tried to explain but the girl shut me up. "Look, can I please go?"

The girl took a few more steps towards me and I was starting to feel claustrophobic. I didn't like people getting all up in my face. My heart was racing and I tried my best to calm down.

"Get the fuck out of here Bree."

I let out a breath I had been holding in when I heard a voice I recognized.

"And why should I?" Bree retorted, turning her attention away from me.

"Because I can get you dragged out of this event at the snap of my fingers and there's a long line of paparazzi outside that'd pay to see that."

Bree huffed and she and her friends rushed out.

"Are you ok?" Katrina asked me.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little overwhelmed. I don't like people getting all up in my space like that," I told her.

"Yeah, sorry about her. She's a real bitch. She's like obsessed with Mason and he couldn't be less interested. She's just jealous because he invited you instead of her."

"Well, thank you for stepping in Katrina. I really appreciate it."

"One, your welcome and two, we're friends now so you can call me Kat," she told me.

"Ok. Thank you Kat."

I quickly exchanged numbers with Kat before we left the bathroom together. Bree and her friends had really stressed me out tonight, but I got a new friend out of it and that made me really happy.