Chapter 16

**Blue **

Two hours later and with a great deal of effort from a stylist and make-up artist courtesy of Rhea, I'm ready for lunch. Once again I don't look anything like myself. My blue hair is pulled away from my face in a tight bun, and there is a good amount of makeup on my face. Far more than I would ever use. The clothes are better than what Abigail had picked. Today I'm wearing a dress that looks inspired by the sixties. It's straight against my body not showing much of my figure, but I don't mind.

Rhea smiles and rushes over to shower me with compliments, but I'm more concerned about what Artemis thinks. Which is dumb since I shouldn't care, but I do. I want to make a good impression on his family today. I look past his sister to gauge his reaction but I'm met with his usual stone-cold expression. His jaw looks tight though and he is suddenly on his feet.

"Let's go," Artemis says sharply and walks toward the door without waiting for us.

Rhea rolls her eyes and slips her arm through mine so we can walk together.

"Ignore my brother. He hates everything. You really do look beautiful. This was all last minute but just wait until we have more time we can go crazy making you over."

I laugh and smile at her as if I'm open to the idea, but what she thinks is a nice gesture makes me feel more unworthy. Artemis made it seem like the whole point of me being his fiance was that I wasn't like these women, but he isn't the one who has to stand under their judgment. Of course, I don't want to be them, but I also don't want to be looked down on as something not worth their time. As nothing at all.

He has all these plans for who I'm meant to be in his life, but I still have to live in this world while he's off on his own. I want to be more than his rebellion. I want to have a real life with this chance I've been given and part of that is making allies. His sister is nice and has been kind to me, so if I need to endure a crazy glow-up to make her happy then fine. This is an important day and it could set the tone for this new life I'm starting.

Rhea and I make it to the car and Artemis is already inside waiting. All his attention is focused on his phone. He doesn't acknowledge us or say a word the whole ride to the restaurant where we are meeting the rest of his family. Rhea is happy to fill the silence with all kinds of things, but I don't hear much. Mostly because I don't understand what she's talking about. It's not the sort of thing I ever heard anyone care about, and I'm certainly no expert on whether someone has had a nose job or not.

When Artemis said his sister was an author I thought she would be a bit soft-spoken and shy. I guess I figured authors were introverts and a little nerdy. I made the mistake of stereotyping and I was proved very wrong. My curiosity does flare up when she mentions her husband. She had said she was the screw-up of the family, what's that all about?

"What does your husband do?" I ask her in a brief moment when she stops talking to take a breath.

She seems surprised by my question but laughs it off. "Oh you won't believe this but he was my high school boyfriend. I went through a faze and decided to date someone completely different from our family. He won me over and I was ruined for any other guy. He's a musician."

"Have I heard any of his music?" I don't listen to much music other than what others play at Monica's or in the park on the same days as me.

"Probably not. They are more of an Indie group. He likes to keep things small."

My kind of guy.

"Blue is a musician too," Artemis says suddenly.

My eyes snap to his and instead of the cold look, he was sporting not long ago he's smirking. Is he trying to put me on the spot? Why? He was happy to pretend we didn't exist a moment ago.

"You are? Oh my gosh! That's amazing. Where can I see you perform?" Rhea seems excited by this news obviously not catching her brother's intentions.

I don't understand his intentions in mentioning this either.

"I play at Monica's Cafe and the park a couple of miles away from there."

"Really? I never heard of that cafe but you have to tell me when you play so I can bring Max. He would love knowing another musician is marrying into the family."

I feel some of my anxiety ease knowing there will be someone more like me in this family. Maybe he can give me some tips.

"She won't be playing for a while," Artemis says cutting into our conversation.

Rhea looks at him and then back at me. "That's too bad. I hope you'll play for us then."

When she isn't looking I scowl at Artemis and even though he isn't looking directly at me his smirk tells me he saw it.

The car finally comes to a stop and both passenger doors open at the same time to let us out. Artemis doesn't waste a second escaping the small confines of the car. I on the other hand need a second to compose myself. Rhea rests a hand over mine and gives it a squeeze.

"Don't be nervous. It'll be over quickly and you can make a quick escape. Let's knock them dead."

I nod and give her a smile in appreciation before sliding out and stepping aside so she can follow. She passes me and heads for the front door while I take a minute to examine the building in front of me. It's...nice, but I wouldn't be able to tell what it is if I didn't know there was a restaurant inside. It's a one-story building that's clear. It looks a lot like a hotel actually.

"Are you coming?" Artemis's voice makes me yelp.

I thought he had already gone inside with Rhea.

"Y-yeah." He holds his arm out for me to take and I do so hesitantly. "What's going on? You seem angry." I whisper to him as we walk toward the entrance of the building.

"What makes you think that?" He sounds angry for one.

"Because you stormed out as soon as you saw me and tried to make things weird in front of your sister. I didn't think you would want them to know anything about who I was before we met. And since you plan on keeping from playing at Monica's why would you bring up me being a musician?"

"Why would I hide who you were?" His intense eyes lock on mine and I try to read the emotion in them but the man is an enigma.

Does my post need to be known for him to accomplish his goal with his family? I'm not sure I like the idea of that.

"I figured you would want me to keep that part private. I understand you want me here because I'm not like the girls they would choose for you, but I'm not sure how far you wanted to go with that."

"Did you want to lie to them? Besides, I doubt they would be happy either way."

He focuses straight ahead and I can tell the conversation is over so I let it go. I'll follow his lead. If he wants me to be real then I will, but unless asked I'm not volunteering any information about myself.

When we walk through the sliding doors we aren't inside a restaurant. It looks more like the lobby at the hotel we're staying at. My heels make soft noises as we walk over the marble floors. I look around and see a table with perfectly rolled white towels, water bottles, and a canister with water and sliced fruit in it.

"Welcome, are you part of the Rhodes party?" A woman asks.

She's wearing a skirt suit and has her hair pulled back into a tight bun a lot like mine. She looks like she should be working at an office not whatever this place is.

"Yes!" Rhea says happily.

"Wonderful. Right, this way." We follow her further into the building and out one of the side doors.

When we are outside I realize what sort of place this is. It's one of those clubs where people play golf.

Why would we come here for lunch? And why did we have to dress up when most of the people here are in shorts and polos?

"Rhea! Artemis!" Someone calls out.

I look in the direction of the voice and see a large patio area full of white tablecloth-covered tables. There are a lot of people sitting down and some of them are dressed nicely like us while others are dressed more casually. The woman who had called out to us is weaving her way through the crowd with a drink in hand. She's wearing a white flowing summer dress and a large floppy hat. It reminds me a little of My Fair Lady. One of my favorite movies, but she looks nothing like Audrey Hepburn.

Actually, she doesn't look like Artemis at all. She has long blonde hair and when she lifts her sunglasses I see blue eyes looking at us.

Artemis's body tenses when the woman moves closer and holds her arms wide like she expects him to walk right into her arms. He doesn't but her fake smile doesn't fall instead of waiting she walks toward us and hugs him instead. I have to let go of his arm so I'm not smacked in the face by the giant hat.

She releases him and does the same thing to Rhea who pulls on a similar fake smile of her own. When the woman finally moves back from her children she looks my way. Her smile falls only slightly but I see it.

"You must be the fiance I've been hearing so much about!" She sounds almost genuinely excited to see me but I don't have to know her well to hear the strain in her words.

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Rhodes. I'm Blue." I say holding my hand out to her.

She doesn't reach for it or say anything. What she does do is laugh.