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“It’s fine. Stop fidgeting,” Sophia snapped from the seat next to me.
I glanced at her, taking in her pale and drawn appearance, a product of the treatments she continued to deny were affecting her. She had chosen a gray dress that covered her body, and I wasn’t fooled. The color and cut were just enough to hide the fact that she was smaller and weaker than she had been months before.
“Just because you’re used to dressing up doesn’t mean the rest of us are,” I told her in tempered annoyance.
“You aren’t supposed to show you’re anything but what I told you to be,” she said as the limo stopped.
“And I won’t, in front of them,” I said, glancing at the small lingering groups of people in the yard. “But I’ll damn well adjust the knot in here while I’m still allowed to at least act like a dancing monkey.”
“I see you’ve taken lessons from my youngest,” she said stiffly, though I couldn’t help but notice less ice in her voice.
“When I start doing lines off a high-priced hooker in an overpriced hotel room while drinking expensive liquor, then you can accuse me of that,” I said, smoothing the lines of the suit she’d had me fitted for earlier in the week. The whole damn thing felt expensive as hell, but I had to admit that as traditional as it was, I felt and looked good in it.
“Mind your tongue around this lot,” she told me with a sharp glance.
“That was for your ears alone,” I said, glancing toward the closed partition separating us from the driver. “You’ve never been afraid of the truth before.”
“You’re learning,” she said, not quite in a tone of approval but without her regular sharp tongue.
I was surprised she hadn’t commented on my attitude. Honestly, I had hoped she would find some excuse to keep me from going to the party. As interested as I was in seeing how the other side lived, I wasn’t looking forward to the whole song and dance I would inevitably be forced into to ensure Sophia wasn’t inconvenienced.
And I really didn’t want an excuse to see him.
It would be easy to assume that not seeing much of Shane since the Halloween incident would have been a relief. Instead, I found myself growing more and more uneasy the few times I did see him. He’d rarely spared me a word, and when he had spoken to me, it was no different than before I’d found myself on my knees in front of him.
That didn’t eradicate the feeling of uneasiness whenever my thoughts strayed to him. I had no reason to think it, but it felt like the alley incident was the beginning rather than the end of something. It didn’t help that there was always this nagging sense of anticipation in the room whenever I briefly came into contact with Shane. No one else noticed, and I well and truly hoped he found something to distract himself at the party.
Other than me, that was.
“Come along,” Sophia said as someone opened her door.
I slid across the seat, fighting the urge to roll my eyes as she shot me a dirty look when she saw me following her. Apparently, I had already managed to violate some rule of etiquette by either not getting out on my side or waiting until my own door had opened. She could be as grumpy as she wanted, there had been good money spent on my clothes, and the weather had been dreary and wet for days. I wasn’t going to risk stepping into a pile of mud or a huge puddle with probably thousands of dollars’ worth of clothing, even if it hadn’t been my money used to pay for it.
“Straighten your back,” she told me as I stood just behind her.
“It is straight,” I told her, immediately putting on my best smile as I spotted people glancing at us.
“Apparently, you’re shorter than I thought.”
“Or these clothes just create the expectation that I should be bigger.”
“I would be extremely interested to find out where this new attitude of yours has come from.”
Never was I happier for strangers to approach than I was at that moment. It spared me the startling realization that I was showing more attitude toward her than I had in the past. The realization was disquieting because there had only been one change in the past couple of weeks, and I certainly didn’t want to be interrogated by her over it.
Instead, I focused my energy on the names and faces of the people who approached us. Privately, I was surprised at how genial Sophia managed to be, or at least genial for her. She knew everyone who greeted her, even down to their new spouses, partners, and children, and asked after absent family members or friends. What she lacked in genuine warmth, she seemed to make up for with knowledge and whatever respect her name carried.
“And here is our hostess,” Sophia muttered to me softly as we finally made our way into the large hall of the massive building. The entrance made me recall when I was a kid watching Disney movies with my parents. The musical numbers had always been my favorite, and I’d always sung along with them whenever I could remember the words. This particular room reminded me of the sheer decadence and grandiosity of the “Be Our Guest” number from Beauty and the Beast. I quickly made a mental note not to make any jokes or references about it later.
“Oh Sophia, I’m so glad you made it,” announced the woman Sophia had gestured to briefly. She was older, though it was difficult to tell just how old. I couldn’t prove it, but I suspected cosmetic surgeries in the woman’s past and probably the most expensive skin treatments. Her black hair flowed behind her, down to the waist of her light, billowy golden gown, with curls of some golden material wrapped up in her thick locks. “You look wonderful as usual.”
“I appreciate the invitation as always, Meredith,” Sophia said. “And I see your flair for color and aesthetics hasn’t faltered.”
Meredith beamed, either ignoring the lack of any returning compliment or knowledgeable enough to understand that was the closest she was going to get. “I would never exclude you or your children. Your family means so much to ours, and it’s a shame the rest of your children couldn’t be here.”
“They have their own affairs to attend to,” Sophia said, and I noted a slight return of the sharpness in her voice. “But you can always trust that my youngest will be sure to be wherever the good times are to be found.”
“Well, then I count myself honored to have him grace my little party with his presence,” Meredith said with a soft laugh. She then turned her attention to me with a smile. “And who’s this?”
