Lexi pointed a shaky finger at Mrs. Dee. “You—you’re Mrs. D-Drake?” Her throat constricted uncomfortably.
“Yes, dear. I’m Mrs. Drake,” Elizabeth said with a smirk, the same smirk she had seen on …
Lexi spun to face Vincent, and then she glanced back over her shoulder. “You’re his mother?” Mrs. Dee nodded her head while Vincent stared at Lexi like she was a lunatic. “Oh, my God, now I remember.” Lexi clasped her hand over her mouth as a vague memory of Elizabeth in the kitchen of her house making sandwiches for the yearbook committee hit her like a ton of bricks. She had probably only crossed paths with Elizabeth Drake a handful of times, but now each and every one of the encounters became crystal clear in her memory. Lexi kicked herself for not recognizing her sooner. “And I just told you …” Lexi’s voice trailed off as the room began to spin.
She felt so stupid. Leigh had told her Vincent’s family owned the company, but she had been so flustered over seeing him again, that she hadn’t put it all together … until now. Not only had Lexi said these things to Vincent’s mother, she’s said them to the owner of the company.
“What’s wrong with you, Lexi? Are you drunk?” Jade snapped. “Who the hell did you think you were talking to?”
Lexi didn’t know if she should laugh or cry. She opened her mouth and random sputtering came out, so she tried to cover the verbal breakdown with coughing. “Sorry, crab cake down the wrong pipe.” She sank down into a chair, covered her face, and tried to catch her breath.
Someone, please kill me, Lexi thought over and over in her head.
Vincent took a step closer to check on Lexi, but Jade wrenched his arm and held him at her side. Instead, he asked stiffly from a distance, “Are you okay?”
Jade rolled her eyes and did nothing to hide her displeasure. “She’s fine, Vincent. Come on, let’s get a drink. I see some interesting people over by the bar. Sober up, Lexi, before you make a complete ass of yourself. Elizabeth,” Jade said with a curt nod, then steered Vincent away from the women.
Mrs. Drake shrugged her son and his girlfriend away with a wave of her hand. “Always a pleasure, Jade,” she said through gritted teeth as she sat down and turned her attention to Lexi. “Are you feeling better, dear? Ignore, Jade. I do.”
“Jade is the least of my worries right now. Can we please erase the last ten minutes from the record? That, or just kill me now and put me out of my misery.” Lexi’s cheeks flamed red with embarrassment as the realization sank in that she had just confessed her deepest, darkest, secret crush to none other than Vincent’s mother. She was absolutely mortified and afraid to look Mrs. Drake in the face.
Elizabeth’s warm hand settled on Lexi’s shoulder. “I only have a few minutes, but I need to make a confession, Lexi. I remembered you.” Her voice was as soft as a whisper. “As soon as I saw your name on the job application, I knew who you were. I may be the president of this company, but before we hire someone from the outside, I’m personally involved in the selection of candidates. And when I saw your resume, I knew you were exactly what we needed.”
“Mrs. Drake,” Lexi started, only to be interrupted.
“It’s Elizabeth, dear.”
“Elizabeth,” Lexi said slowly, “why exactly am I here? I don’t want to be a charity case.” Lexi’s pride kicked in, and her insecurities roared to the surface as she began convincing herself that Elizabeth only hired her because she felt sorry for her.
“It most definitely was not charity, Lexi. You’re here because I needed you, because my son needed you. Whether he understands that yet or not. It’s a long story, but he needed someone to be on his side.” She laughed. “Someone to be brutally honest with him, but most importantly, someone he can trust.”
“And that’s me?” Lexi asked incredulously.
“I think so,” Elizabeth said softly. “He’s been having a hard time the last few years, trusting the wrong people and making more enemies than friends. In case you hadn’t noticed, he’s not the same boy he was back in high school. I hoped I could trust you to keep an eye on him, if that makes sense, and you’ve come through in spades.”
“You do know we weren’t friends in high school.”
Elizabeth smiled sweetly at her and patted Lexi’s hand. “True, but Anna spoke highly of you back then, and I volunteered in the school office once a week. You’d be amazed the gossip you hear in there.”
“Oh, gosh,” Lexi cringed imagining the rumors that had probably been spread about the weirdo new girl during her two years at Riverdale High.
“Don’t worry, dear. It was all good about you. Your teachers always spoke of how hard working you were. Vincent on the other hand …”
Lexi couldn’t stifle her laughter. She had overheard plenty of stories about Vincent’s antics senior year, mainly pranks he pulled not only on the students, but faculty as well. “Remember the time the football team dared him to put the principal’s house up for sale in the newspaper? The poor man came home one day and saw the ‘for sale’ sign and thought his wife had thrown him out.”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes and joined Lexi in her laughter. When Vincent appeared out of nowhere, the two women could barely breathe. He watched the pair wipe their eyes on tiny cocktail napkins.
“Mother, they’re ready for your speech. Dad has been looking everywhere for you.”
Elizabeth stood up and wrapped her arms around Lexi. “I’m glad you’re with us, dear. And I hope you can forgive my tiny deception. We’ll talk more about it later, okay? And if my son does anything to upset you, let me know.” On her way to find her husband, she patted Vincent’s cheek, and then she disappeared into the crowd.
“Do I even want to know what that was about?” Vincent asked Lexi.
Lexi tried to hide her grin, but the attempt was futile. “Probably not.” She watched his brow pucker in confusion and laughed. “Where’s Jade?”
Vincent shook his head. “She’s in the restroom, something about her dress being tight. I have no idea.”
Their conversation was interrupted when the music paused and the lights dimmed in preparation for the program to begin. Everyone in the room quieted down, many taking their seats at the dinner tables. A portly man with white hair took the stage to say a few words of welcome to the many guests that filled the ballroom. Vincent remained beside Lexi, his attention focused on the gentleman speaking.