"*Ugh* That took way too long, my cheeks are hurting from smiling so much." groaned Charlie as he removed the microphone and Natasha, Dom, Michael and Joy laughed at him.
"You always have something to complain about, here I am wearing high heels that are way too tight and you don't see me complaining about having to stand and walk around as if I'm not in serious pain." said Lulu as she scoffed.
"Well that's the price you pay for beauty, anyway I'm out of here, my date should have arrived by now." said Charlie as he walked off the stage and handed his microphone to the DJ.
"Charlie is really annoyed sometimes." said Lulu as she scoffed.
"Not sometimes, all the time." replied Nine as he shook his head and took his leave.
"Why do I feel like the entire family gathered just for that address and now we are all just going to go our separate ways?" asked Michael.
"That's because we are, see you guys later, I'm going to take my escape before old family friends that I haven't seen since I was nine suddenly show up and start with their old people talk which is cute, but I'm not in the mood for it, so adios." said Lulu as she walked away.
"When did you start speaking Spanish?" asked Dom as she turned back while walking.
"Ahora mismo (right now)" she replied as Dom scoffed and she left.
"Mommy, and can I go and play upstairs?" asked Joy as she really did not want to remain bored down here while she could have fun upstairs with the other children,
"I don't know my darling, there's no one to take you, and no one will watch over you there." said Natasha in worry.
"Oh but please mommy, I can go there myself and there are people watching the playground, so can I please go?" pleaded Joy as Natasha sighed.
"Alright my darling you can go, I will come look for you later." said Natasha as she knew that Joy was probably really bored here and she could not argue with that, events like these were certainly boring for children, it was more enjoyable for the parents than the children.
"Okay, thank you mommy, see you later." said Joy as she happily scurried away in delight.
"Wow, she did not even think twice about leaving us." said Dom as he watched Joy leave and Natasha laughed.
"Leave her be, she's just a child and if I was a child in this kind of setting I would be bored out of my mind. Good thing Lulu thought of that before any of us did." said Natasha.
"I agree." replied Dom as he smiled.
"Ahh, Dom, I need you to come with me greet Mr. Lio, he's been asking for all all evening." said Michael.
"Sure, just give a moment to put on my smiling businessman face." said Dom as both Natasha and Michael laughed.
"I don't think it would make a difference, you would still look very pissed if he said something you did not agree with." said Michael as he laughed.
"And it's for the same reason that I need at least ten minutes to prep myself, and some wine." said Dom as Natasha walked off the stage.
"I'll come look for you later, I don't want Natasha to be alone." said Dom as Michael nodded.
"I understand, see you later." said Michael as he smiled and Dom slowly rushed after Natasha.
"You don't have to follow me everywhere, I know that you're busy, and you have things to do, people to meet." she replied as he caught up to her.
"But I don't want you to be alone, you don't know most of the people here." said Dom.
"I'm not a child, I'll be fine." she replied as her face suddenly lit up when she caught sight of the all too familiar blonde hair of her closest friends.
"Chloe!" she called out happily as Chloe turned around as soon as she heard her name being called.
"Oh Natasha, darling, you look so beautiful." said Chloe sincerely as she gave Natasha a big hug.
"Oh thank you, and I should say the same to you." said Natasha as she smiled. Chloe was wearing a very nice dark shade of green dress and she and Neil matched.
"But in all seriousness, you look totally breathtaking, I love the red everywhere." said Chloe as Natasha laughed.
"And I love the green you're wearing, hi Neil." said Natasha as she smiled and gave Neil a kiss on the cheek.
"Hi, Natasha, it's really nice to see you, I have to agree with Chloe, you do look absolutely breathtaking." said Neil as he smiled.
"Oh thank you Neil." said Natasha as she smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Oh Dom... you look really... lovely in yellow." said Chloe as she stifled a laugh as soon as she saw Dom.
"Thanks Chloe, you're the hundredth person to tell me that in the space of this evening." he said as he laughed and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Neil." said Dom as he and Neil shared a handshake.
"Dominic." replied Neil.
"I am really glad to see you two here." said Natasha as she smiled.
"Well I am really glad to be here, it's not everyday that you have an event like this to dress up for, oh and before I forget, happy fiftieth anniversary." said Chloe as she smiled.
"You're right about that, and thank you." said Natasha as she and Dom both said the word thank you at the same time.
"No, thank you for inviting us." said Neil as he smiled.
"So where's Ethan?" asked Natasha as she looked around and could not see Ethan anywhere.
"Oh you know Ethan, he bailed out on us as soon as we arrived, he's really upset that we arrived late." said Chloe as she scoffed.
"I don't get why it's such a big deal to him." said Chloe in annoyance.
"He doesn't like to be late hon." said Neil as Natasha laughed.
"Whatever, and where's Joy?" asked Chloe as she smiled.
"Well she was bored, so she went upstairs to play." said Natasha as she smiled.
"Ahh, well I saw her dress and it was absolutely lovely, that orange colour simple suited her too well." said Chloe as she smiled.
"Thank you." said Dom and Natasha as they both smiled and looked at each other confused.
"We picked out the dress together." said Dom as he explained.
"Ahh, no wonder it was perfect." said Chloe as she smiled.
"Oh, please excuse me, I have to go attend to something really important, I hope that you enjoy the evening and see you later." said Dom as he smiled seeing Michael waving at him as he had been waiting for him.
"Alright, see you later." said Neil as he smiled and Chloe nodded.
"I will be back soon, don't hesitate to call me if you need anything." he said as he looked at Natasha feeling more willing to leave since she was with Chloe and she would not be alone.
"I doubt that would happen but alright." she replied as he smiled and left while Chloe shot Natasha a knowing look that she would rather avoid.
"What was that?" asked Chloe with a smug smile on her face as she winked knowingly.
"What was what?" asked Natasha as she feigned ignorance.
"Alright fine, I won't bother you on that." said Chloe as she laughed and Natasha shook her head.
"So how is business Neil?" asked Natasha as she smiled in an attempt to change the subject.
"It's going good, I was actually planning on setting up a meeting between Dom and I, we might be needed his services soon." said Neil.
"Ahh I see, well I hope that goes well, and you need to do that really quickly, I'm sure that after an event of this magnitude new deals will definitely be flocking in." said Natasha as she laughed.
"You're right about that, I better start networking." joked Neil as they all laughed.
"Would you like to join me my lovely wife?" asked Neil as he smiled and stretched out his hand to Chloe as she smiled and placed her hand in his.
"I would love to." she replied.
"I'm really sorry to leave you Natasha." said Chloe.
"It's fine, I understand, go on, I'll be fine." she said as she smiled.
"Alright, if you say so." said Chloe as she smiled and she and Neil left.
Natasha sighed as she was left all alone, everyone else was probably being diplomatic and she really didn't want to do any of that, she had no plans to, which left her feeling bored.
Natasha decided to go get something to eat and since she was starting to feel hungry and she was not really comfortable with all the servers around them getting her something, she would rather do it herself.
Natasha made her way to the buffet table as she had to hand it to Lulu for getting caterers that knew what they were doing.
Natasha picked up a chip and dipped it in some guacamole when she suddenly heard a very familiar voice call out to her and her eyes went wide as she turned around slowly.