Chapter 29: Chapter 29 - Hell Spawn
Mrs. Carter pulled her hands back aghast at Deans behavior but unlike her son she could not reprimand him. Dean was leagues ahead of her in money and power. After all it was his event she was attending.
She cleared her throat and hurriedly wiped her hands on the front of her dress. "Ahh Mr. Cortez, this is some soiree you have put together." She smiled at him with her full teeth, as if trying to hide her disapproval of him. Dean however laughed and drank another mouthful of alcohol God knows where he found. "So we are going to ignore me calling your demon spawn a rat I suppose, very well then. Yes this is some event. I am actually going to take my guest of honor back as our announcement is coming up soon."
We turned around and headed away from her which she could not stop us from. "He knows damn well why Felix is not here and yet he still puts up that front." Toni Carter scoffed. "Hell spawn... rat... he does not deserve the life his father has given him. He is the real devil."
Rebecca awkwardly moved away from Mrs. Carter leaving her all alone as she huffed and puffed over her situation.
"Dean who gave you that drink I told you to take it easy." I fussed once we were back to our secluded table. At this point he seemed more apparently buzzed but still in control of himself. "Yes yes I know princess but I finished the bottles you gave me and was getting hungry. You were taking a long time with my food."
I flushed a bit at that remark as it was true. I did not hurry back like I was anticipating. "Though I forgive you. Lets eat a bit before we need to get this show on the road." He patted my cheek softly before sitting down and eating the food I grabbed.
Once he looked more sober we then headed back to his families table and began the rest of the gala. The first half of the gala began once the majority of the guests arrived which primarily consisted of performers from dance troupes and top ranking singers. As the latest idol was singing I leaned over to ask Dean what was bugging me and what Mrs. Carters presence reminded me of.
"Dean you know I have not seen Felix around at all during the event. Do you know what happened with him?" He smiled and held the bridge of his nose as he started laughing silently in his seat. "Ohhh wanna hear something funny. I sent him on a wild goose chase. The details of what exactly he is looking for is not important but he is not going to show up tonight especially if he knows whats good for him."
I looked at him wide eyed as he continued to drink and laugh. He can't be serious. "You can't be serious." He glanced over at me with his grin widening and leaning in even closer. "As serious as a heart attack."
I could not even imagine what Dean sent him that made him miss this event. His reputation is barely recovering and an event like this would be great for rebuilding relationships with business partners or at least rope in new ones.
Eventually the time for our announcement arrived. Dean took the stage, he stood lazily in front of the audience. But despite that he still looked put together. He wore a crisp simple white long sleeve button up and some clean black slacks. To hide his tattoos he wore skin colored medical patches to cover the ones on his neck. Under the bright lights you could not see them at all.
"Welcome everyone to this years gala event. I was actually in charge of this event so hopefully it was to everyones liking. My only announcement that I have is one that myself as well as some partners have been putting together for some time. This next fiscal quarter I will be presenting an art exhibition."
He paused a bit as the screen behind him shared the image of his plans. "This art exhibition was driven primarily to showcase the finest art created by those who have made tremendous contributions to their community."
As each slide passed showcasing some of the featured artists as well as the theme for the exhibition surprisingly many in the crowd looked very excited.
I knew art was immensely valuable but I did not consider that many of the people in our crowd would appreciate it. Many are here to make money and tons of it. So something recreational did not seem to fit within their narrative.
The final artist highlight showed my name and picture. "Celeste D'Angelo is also one of our artists who will be submitting her work. Our partnership for this project actually stems from something we both hold very valuable and what we felt was of most importance as one should emulate the art they enjoyed.
I felt everyones eyes glance my way, the confusion made sense what could passion have to do with us. "These artists strive to speak and act on greater meanings within society and give back to their respective communities and loved ones."
"In light of that, the proceeds from the exhibition will be donated to the Children of Hope foundation. They have worked tirelessly to help children get dire medical attention at no cost to the families they assist. With this we hope to support the future which lies in the children of each generation."
This was something Dean suggested a few late night dinners ago at his apartment. "Celeste you have a foundation right? Children of Hope?" I knew it was serious as he did not even call me princess. "Yes... why?" He shared that he has wanted to link the exhibition to my foundation. I was surprised but after hearing his reasoning I understood and realized that he thought very deeply about things that others would not peg him to do.
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