Later, after Lachlan had returned to his own room and dressed for his meeting, he grabbed his phone and brought up David’s number.
“Mate,” David answered almost immediately.
“Hey man, what’s going on?” Sewing machines were grinding away in the background and Lachlan could hear David’s muffled voice as he covered the mouthpiece of the phone and yelled instructions to his staff.
“Sorry,” he said when he turned his attention back to Lachlan. “It’s chaos at the moment. Vogue adjusted the theme of their shoot so I have to alter some of the pieces for tonight and it’s driving me nuts.”
“Sorry. If you’re busy, I’ll call back another time.”
“Don’t sweat it, I’m almost done here and by tonight, this crap will be over. Where’d you disappear to last night? Craig mentioned he saw you with some chick.”
Lachlan gritted his teeth at the mention of Craig. The arsehole had nearly ruined his evening with April, and he’d been close to losing it when he’d insulted her. If he hadn’t been worried about April sneaking out the back door, he might have decked the guy. As it was, he’d told him to piss off as soon as he’d gone back to his table and Craig, seeing the look in his face, wisely made himself scarce. “Tell me again why we went out with him,” he asked David.
David chuckled. “Because Ryan was celebrating his engagement to Elisha and he wanted his brother to join us.”
“Right. Except Ryan and Elisha couldn’t keep their hands off each other and ducked out early, leaving us to babysit the prick.”
“Well, you won’t have to see him again until the wedding.” Lachlan cringed at the thought, while David again muffled the phone with his hand and yelled to his staff. “Are we still on for tomorrow?” he asked when he returned his attention to Lachlan.
What the hell. Lachlan thought. There’s no harm in asking. “Actually mate, I need a favour. I’ve asked someone to the Medical Research Institute Ball on Friday night and—”
“Hang on!” David interrupted. “Did I hear you correctly? You’ve actually asked someone out?”
“Yes.” Lachlan exhaled loudly, he knew his friend would make a big deal about this. “Her name’s April.”
“Shit! I gotta say man, it’s about time! So let me guess, you want me to hook her up with a dress?” Lachlan grinned, David had been his best friend since high school, and he knew he could count on him to help out.
“The thing is, David, it’s complicated. When I asked, she said no.”
“Who the hell says no to Lachlan Kennedy?”
“Yeah, I know. I didn’t like it. But one of her excuses was that she didn’t have anything to wear and I was hoping maybe if I can convince her to come and see you, then you could help her out.”
“No problem, I’m dying to meet the woman who can get you to ask her out and then say no.” He chuckled in amusement. “Is she my type?”
“Yes. Definitely.” Lachlan knew what he was asking. David’s dresses were designed for women with very specific physical attributes. “She’s perfect for you. Beautiful, curvy, sexy. Just the right amount of flesh to hang onto but not enough to ruin the shape of your dresses.”
“I can’t wait to meet her. Get her to give me a call and we’ll work something out.”
“Thanks mate.” Now all he had to do was convince April to call David.
“What were the other excuses?”
“What?”
“You said one of her excuses was she had nothing to wear, so what were the other excuses?”
“Oh.” Lachlan paused, bracing himself for David’s reaction. “She, uh… she doesn’t want to be seen with me.” The sudden resounding laughter echoing through the phone was so loud Lachlan had to pull it away from his ear. David didn’t let up either, he laughed so hard Lachlan could hear him choking in the background. Finally, when he was about ready to hang up, he could hear David pulling himself together.
“Sorry mate,” he said between gasps of breath. “Of all the things you could have said, that wasn’t what I was expecting. Did she say why?”
“She likes her privacy.”
“Ah” was all David said. He knew that of all the reasons she could possibly have given, that was the one that they both could relate to. Neither of them had much privacy anymore, their lives providing endless fodder for the gossip magazines. Clearly April didn’t desire fame.
There was more commotion in the background before David spoke again. “I have to go mate. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Bye,” Lachlan said into dead air as he heard the dial tone. David was always embroiled in some sort of drama at work. Lachlan sighed heavily and remembered the excited look on April’s face the moment he’d first asked her to the ball. He was so sure she was going to say yes, and then suddenly a shadow came over her and some shutters came down behind her eyes, and she’d said no instead. Well, he’d managed to deal with one of her concerns, now he just had to persuade her that he could deal with any others.