The Single Mother

Chapter 18- Phoenix King: 'Will You Marry Me?'

I could feel my cheeks and ears warming up as Taylor glided out of the room and Talla started at me, her own blush making itself known on the tip of her nose.

She wasn't wearing much make-up, just enough to cover the dark circles under her eyes and to give her cheeks a little more colour. Her lips were a slight pink, and her eyes were accentuated by a light brown smokey eye and false lashes.

Talla was naturally an extremely beautiful person, but I didn't think that, by adding just a hint of make-up and by touching up her hair, she'd look like a supermodel who just stepped off the Paris Fashion Week catwalk.

"Phoenix?" Talla's soft voice snapped me out of my daze. "Can you please lead me to the room to get changed? The guests come in about half an hour."

I may have been speechless, but I was even more so when I caught a glimpse of the gorgeous blue gown that Taylor had hung in the guest room for Talla to get changed into. I knew that tonight all eyes would be on her, and I doubted that anyone would have anything negative about her.

---

"Your parents chose a pretty one for you to marry." Taylor commented as I helped her pack her cosmetic kits, and hair styling boxes back into the van out the front of my house.

"It's not just about beauty Taylor..." I playfully chided the stylist who rolled her eyes and scoffed at me.

Taylor's mother used to be my Mum's stylist for events and would blab on about her newest fling all the time. When my Mum finally got sick of the gossip she would sternly ask Ms. McEvoy about his personality instead of his overall appearance, to which Ms. McEvoy would go silent and just quietly do her job.

"Do not give me one of your mother's speeches right now Phoenix." Taylor demanded after she slammed the back door to the van shut. "However, I am curious to know Talla's personality; she just seems so shy and outspoken. I mean, don't get me wrong she's extremely nice but is she the type of person to be in the spotlight with you?"

I quirked an eyebrow at Taylor. Had she never heard of Talla Knight before? Or seen her on one of those gossip magazines that liked to spread mostly false allegations about celebrities?

"You know Talla is the daughter of Casey and Phoebe Knight right?" I asked and it was Taylor's turn to raise an eyebrow at me. "You know what, just Google her later tonight when you get the chance."

"I'll do that once I deal with my last client; whom I better head off to before I get a phone call from. Have fun tonight Phoenix! Oh! And tell Talla she'll kill it tonight!"

With that Taylor pulled out of the driveway and sped down the empty street, honking her horn as she left.

---

Guests had been mingling in the house for around 20 minutes and Talla still hadn't made an appearance. I know that confidence wasn't one of her strong suits, but I thought that she would have been out of the guestroom by now. Was she having a mental breakdown? Giving herself a pep talk? Did she climb out the window and run away? A million scenarios flickered through my mind.

I was stuck in a conversation I didn't want to be in with a bunch of my Dad's old work associates which wasn't helping my situation of overthinking- it took away from the boredom.

"Phoenix!" Alexander called, and I felt all the worry flee my mind. "Here he is everyone! The groom to be!"

I could tell my best friend was drunk from the way he sauntered over to me. He stumbled past a group of my co-workers and winked at a bunch of girls who worked in the admin part of the law firm. Alexander gained a lot of confidence when he was drunk.