Chapter 169

A few days later, I had six tickets to the progressive dinner in my hand. When Joe picked me up in the limo to take me home, I had him swing by Gray’s restaurant.

Amy was alone in the kitchen, cleaning the floor. When she saw me, she turned her back and leaned on the mop. I hated how her shoulders slumped like she had lost all hope.

“Amy, the progressive dinner is next Friday night,” I said. “It was your idea, and you should be there.”

She didn’t move or answer me. She seemed to be barely breathing.

“I brought tickets for you and your Dad.” I held the tickets over her shoulder so she could see them.

But she wouldn’t take them from me.

Instead, she turned around and looked at me with pain in her eyes. I realized then that she missed me as much as I missed her.

But her expression told me it wasn’t enough to bring us back together.

“Why would I want to go to a dinner to be humiliated by Alphas again?” she asked. Her voice was calm, but her eyes told a different story.

“I would never let that happen to you again,” I said. “I was wrong to leave your side at the party. I’ll do anything to make it up to you.”

“We’re too different now to be friends,” Amy said. She glanced at the tickets. “You’re here giving away five thousand dollar tickets to a dinner while I’m mopping a floor to help my family have enough money to eat.”

“How much money somebody has doesn’t matter,” I said. “Having money doesn’t make me who I am.

“It does matter,” she argued. “The fact you can’t see that shows me how much it matters. Daisy, we can’t be friends. The things that united us don’t apply to you anymore.”

“I’m still me,” I insisted. “I love you like a sister, and I need you in my life. Please, you and your dad should come to the dinner.”

I held the tickets out to her, but she refused to take them.

“Dad said I shouldn’t blame you for what those Alpha girls did to me,” she said. “But he wasn’t there. I just don’t know.”

I put the tickets on the table where Amy took her breaks. “Just think about going to the dinner. I promise to stay by your side the entire time.”

Amy shrugged. “I have to get this floor mopped and start the prep work. I’ll think about it later.”

She turned her back and started mopping the floor again.

I went back to the limousine and climbed into the backseat. I was sure Amy would think about it, and she would go to the dinner.

She spoke to me. That had to mean she was starting to forgive me. I missed her terribly. I would even work as a waitress again if it meant I could spend time with her.

My phone vibrated. It was more messages from Alphas wanting to buy tickets to the dinner. The messages and phone calls on my cell and at my office had been nonstop all day.

Debbie had made sure the word was out the day after we made the plans.

The press was reporting that the charity event would be a very exclusive and unique dinner party and listed the restaurants participating in each of the five courses.

They also made sure everyone knew there would only be two hundred tickets available.

Suddenly, everyone was talking about the dinner party, and everyone wanted tickets. They didn’t care what they cost.

People were using their connections and calling in old favors to help them get their hands on the tickets.

The dinner would make a million dollars for the charity foundation, yet I could have charged more.

I answered a few of the messages from the most important Alphas, promising they could pick up their tickets at the main desk of Alex’s office building.

Most of the messages I responded to with my apologies. There wouldn’t be enough tickets for them all.

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The night of the party arrived quickly. I was dressed and ready to go downstairs to meet Victor in another of my mother’s cocktail dresses.

This one was a gorgeous burnt sienna with gold mica sequins covering the square neckline and bodice. The calf-length skirt with a thin lace overlay floated around me with my every movement.

I felt pretty and feminine in the dress and wondered if my mother felt the same way when she wore it.

Victor was waiting for me in the foyer. I could tell he liked the dress by how his smile reached his eyes.

He looked fantastic in his white tie and tails. His black hair was swept back from his handsome face, and his turquoise eyes sparkled.

“Where is Alex?” Victor asked.

“He’s meeting us for the entree course,” I replied. “He’s been a bit tired today and doesn’t think he can handle traveling to all five restaurants.”

Victor and I left the mansion for our first stop, Gilded for the first course, cocktails and hors d’oeuvres.

There was a crowd of onlookers and photographers outside of the restaurant. I felt like an actress at a movie opening.

I took Victor’s arm, and he escorted me inside while flashbulbs went off in our faces. It was exciting and a little bit scary.

It was something I never thought would happen to me. My heart raced, and I clung to Victor’s hand.

As soon as we entered the restaurant, a bunch of Alphas hurried over to us and began complimenting me and the event itself.

“A progressive dinner is such a wonderful idea, Daisy,” one woman said. “I’m very pleased you are taking charge of the social scene. It hasn’t been this exciting since your mother was alive.”

“It was my best friend Amy’s idea,” I insisted. “She thought of the whole thing.”

“Your modesty is charming,” the woman responded. “Your mother was the same way.”

While the Alphas chattered about my genius ideas and modesty, I looked around for Amy.

She had to have changed her mind. Mr. Gray wouldn’t let her miss out on such an important event.

“I’ll be right back,” I told Victor. “I’m going to the ladies’ room.”

“What do you want to drink?” he asked. “I’ll get it for you while you’re gone.”

“A sparkling fruit juice, please,” I replied.

I didn’t need to use the bathroom, but it was located at the back of the large restaurant, and I wanted the chance to look over the crowd.

I hoped Amy was here somewhere, maybe hiding in a corner with her father, until they saw I had arrived.

Moving slowly toward the bathrooms, I received more congratulations on the fantastic event. I thanked them all for being there, but I insisted the idea was my best friend’s.

However, no one seemed to believe me, and I grew more frustrated from their disbelief and from not being able to find my best friend.

By the time I was returning to Victor, I realized Amy wasn’t there. She hadn’t come after all.

I didn’t blame her after what happened at the Foster’s party, but my disappointment lay heavy on my heart.

Had I lost my best friend forever?

I blinked back tears and smiled my best fake smile when dozens of reporters descended upon me. A few had a TV news cameraman with them.

The local TV news stations were covering the dinner!

“Miss Wilson, this must be the most successful charity event held in the city of Denhurst,” one reporter said as she held a microphone in front of me. “How did you get the idea for this splendid dinner?”

All eyes and cameras were on me, waiting for my answer.

That’s when I got the idea to talk to Amy in front of the entire city.

Amy and her dad always watched the ten o’clock news together in the kitchen as they cleaned up for the evening.

“Everyone needs to know that this dinner was not my idea,” I began.