Chapter 17 The surgestion
"And besides from what I have seen of you, you're not that bad yourself and any man would be lucky to have you."
"Wha…" was all Gracie could say as she was taken aback by Michael's honest and straightforwardness.
Without her noticing she has started to blush slightly.
It's not that men had never complimented her before, the complete opposite in fact, whether she was at a party or in a meeting or just out shopping men and sometimes woman would compliment her or flirt her or try to sweat talk her.
Gracie knew however that these people always had ulterior motives, whether it was for her money or her body or that she was The Silver Queen or just to get closer to Alexia, She knew that they were not interested in her for who she was for what they could get from her.
Michael was different. She knew for a fact that he knew basically nothing about her and that made her intrigued because she enjoyed it before where she just treated her like a normal person. So she decided to ask him a question.
"Michael, can I ask you a question?"
"Of course, Miss Silver"
"What do you know about me?"
"Other than the fact that you're Miss Demonte's best friend, also that you're Sophie and Tommy's boss and the fact that you're something called the silver queen from what I heard earlier on the phone call I know nothing about you Miss Silver." Michael replied honestly.
(I was right he basically knows nothing about me or any of us, and he is just treating us like normal people instead of trying to please us all the time. How nice) Gracie thought to herself.
"Well I think that's should be enough waiting and we can make our way towards the plane now, shall we go Michael?
"Please after you Miss Silver" Michael said while opening the door for her.
"Thank you" Gracie replied with a natural smile few had ever seen and even she did not realise she was making.
After collecting their luggage from the boot of the limo and thanking Dennis they made their way into the airport as Michael pushed the baggage trolley and followed behind Gracie who knew the way.
Eventually they reached the departure area for private planes where Michael handed the luggage over to the staff.
They then made their way to the gate before heading out onto tarmac and climbing the boarding stairs to enter the plane.
As they entered inside they found Alexia and Jane already relaxing with a drink each and talking about something.
The stopped there conversation and turned to look at Gracie followed by Michael who just entered.
"Welcome aboard our private jet Michael I hope it meets your standards." Alexia laughed
"I would not worry about that Miss Demonte since I have only ever flown commercial before."
"Well you're in for a treat then, please grab yourself a drink then come join us and relax, Jane and I are just discussing some business that just cropped up I hope you don't mind." Alexa asked slightly concerned
"Of course not please carry on I don't want to be a bother especially when you're already being so generous to me." At his response all three ladies smiled before Gracie asked.
"So has something happened?"
"Jake Daniels" Jane replied with a sigh.
"Again? Won't the guy take a hint?" Gracie replied annoyed
"Apparently not, he insists on having the first dance with Alexia at the after party and you know that after that he will take any chance he can to talk to her." Jane sighed again
There was silence again for a few minutes while the plane took off and the three ladies considered options with troubled looks.
"Sorry to interrupt but who is this Jake Daniels and does he normally cause problems for you?" Michael asked to break the silence.
"Oh Mike sorry I don't mean to involve you in my troubles we can shelve this topic for now, ok ladies." Alexia replied with a smile.
Jane and Gracie nodded but before they could change the subject Michael spoke again "please it's obviously something that's troubling you all and maybe a fresh set of eyes could offer a solution."
The three ladies looked at each other before Jane spoke.
"Jake Daniels is a fairly popular TV star, while his popularity is not at the level of the top stars and certainly not at Alexia's level he is popular enough to be able to get an invite to any parties or gathering Alexia attends including the after party tomorrow night."
"Indeed he has been trying to woo our Alexia here for years now and takes every opportunity to interact with her.
Even tho his continued attempts are getting creepy he has never done anything untoward." Gracie finished.
"I see, and now this Jake Daniels is insisting on the first dance at you after party?" Mike questioned
"Correct, normally a first dance partner is arranged months in advance and indeed that was the case".
"It was supposed to be Peter Fitzleberg."
"The film director?" Mike asked surprised.
"Oh I did not think you knew anything about celebrities Michael." Gracie asked teasingly.
"Even I watch movies Miss Silver so of course I have heard of Peter Fitzlberg."
"Unfortunately Peter has just recently been taken ill in the last couple of days and had to back out of the party."
"Somehow it seems Jake learned of this and is now offering herself for the first dance, if we can't think of a solution then I will have to accept." Alexia added with a small frown.
They were all silent again for a moment before Michael spoke up.
"Can you not just select another guest for the first dance?"
"It's not so simple I'm afraid, Peter Fitzlberg was selected because of his seniority in the entertainment industry and the fact that he directed Alexia's successful film."
"We can't just pick a replacement from the guest list because relationships in the entertainment industry is a fine balancing act. Jane replied
"Alexia may be at the very peak of the industry however even she must balance relationships carefully." Gracie added.
"Hmm then why not let the guests decide who gets the first dance? Michael added before taking a sip of his drink
"Pardon"? Alexia asked
"Why not hold an auction for the last dance? Let the guests who wish to have the honour of dancing with you bid for it and then donate the winning bid to charity."
"That way you can say you did something for charity and anyone who does not win the auction will have to think twice about complaining because it was for charity." Michael explained.
The three ladies just looked at Michael in surprise because Gracie asked "can we do that?"
"I don't see why not? It's actually a good idea and will solve our problem, even if Jake Daniels does win the auction and gets to dance with Alexia she can just claim that it was all for charity in the future." Jane added
"It's brilliant Mike you're brilliant, why did we not think of this before." Alexia said with a huge smile.
"It's not that brilliant Miss Demonte you would have come up with something yourself eventually." Michael replied calmly
"Actually Michael, Alexia is right because this helps in more than just the first dance issue." Gracie added
"Oh how do you mean Gracie?" Alexia asked turning to her.
"The Lake Foundation" Gracie said simply and after hearing that Alexia and Jane both broke into wide smiles and said "ohhhh"
"Let's get Sarah on a video call as she will be happy we finally have an idea how to launch that project." Alexia said touching the digital display on the table and setting up a video call.
After a few moments beautiful lady with long brown hair and sharp blue eyes wearing professional looking glasses in a business suit appeared.
"Girls how are you?" Sarah said face blossoming into a beautiful smile.