“You were going to be an actress, weren’t you? We were all so sure you would be,” Lorna said with a note of sympathy, one eyebrow arched, lips turned down in a sad little pout. And there it was.It hadn’t taken five minutes for her failure to be the topic of conversation, for pity to be thrust in her direction. Before she could think of a response, Rob spoke up.
“ ‘All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.’ Now, I think we must exit stage left to find ourselves a drink. We’ll catch up with you all later.” He then steered Chloe away from Lorna and Matteo, through the crowd. It was perfect, polite and decisive. Chloe couldn’t have said something better if she’d had a week to think of it.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“Let’s start with an easier audience, shall we?” he whispered back. “I was registering high levels of passive aggression.”
“Well, that’s Lorna all over,” Chloe said, reaching back to find Rob’s hand.
“Chloe,” came a shriek behind her, and now she turned to see Thea Bankole weaving her way through the crowd toward them. Thea had roomed on the same corridor as Chloe in first year. They hadn’t moved in the same circles—Thea had studied law—but they’d always been friendly toward each other. When Rob looked at Chloe as though to check whether this was someone she was happy to be left alone with, she gave a small nod and Rob said, “I’ll go get us a drink,” then disappeared through the crowd in search of a waiter.
“Look at you!” Thea said, sizing Chloe up. “Wowzers.”
“You look exactly the same,” Chloe said, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek and then pulling her into a hug. Thea had short black braids, had incredible skin, and wore a loose gray shift dress that flattered her curvy physique.
“What are you up to these days? You’re not on socials, are you?” Thea asked.
Chloe shook her head. “I work for a film company. Nothing that exciting, how about you?”
“Oh boring, law.” Thea pretended to yawn. “I live at work, I have nothing interesting to tell you.”
“I heard you made partner already,” Chloe said, feeling genuinely pleased to see Thea. “Congratulations, that’s really impressive.”
“There has to be some upside to selling your soul to the corporate machine. But it doesn’t leave much time for a personal life. My ovaries are screaming at me.”
As though on cue, Rob reappeared with three glasses of sparkling wine. He offered one to Thea and introduced himself. Chloe felt a glow of pride at how self-assured he was, the way he looked people straight in the eye when he talked, gave them his undivided attention.
“Oh hi,” Thea said, blushing.
“So how do you fit into the Lincoln landscape?” Rob asked. “I’m just learning all about the different tribes.”
Thea smiled. “Oh, I was law tribe. Glutton for punishment. Chloe and I lived on the same corridor, so we shared late-night cups of tea when I was reading case notes and she was rehearsing lines. Did you ever do any work, Chloe?”
“Only in stolen hours backstage,” Chloe said, smiling, and Rob looked enchanted by this detail.
As she and Rob worked their way around the room, she saw firsthand how charmed everyone was by him. He was courteous, he was curious, he listened like it mattered, and in return, people lit up for him. And the best part? They were so focused onhimthat no one lingered onher. No dreaded “So what are you up to these days?” No strained smile after “Still acting?” And best of all, no sympathetic head tilt and softly delivered “So…are you seeing anyone right now?” Rob was the perfect decoy, and while he held the spotlight, she got to stay comfortably in the glow just behind it, seen but not scrutinized.
“Chloe?” A voice interrupted their conversation. She turned to see Harriet, pale and willowy with her sharp black bob and smattering of freckles. “Rob and I got chatting on the bus. Hi again!” she said, fluttering her eyelashes at Rob.
“How was the grilled cheese place? Did it live up to your recollection?” Rob asked her.
“It did,” Harriet said, looking impressed that he’d remembered something they’d talked about. Then she took Chloe by the arm and said quietly in her ear, “Sean who, right?”
Harriet then looked back up at Rob and laughed flirtatiously. “Rob, won’t you tell us how you and Chloe met?”
Chloe felt a prickle of discomfort. She’d meant to rehearse an answer to this.
“We were set up,” Rob said, lifting Chloe’s hand in his, then gently kissing the back of it. “The stars were aligned for us. And then, in the blink of an eye, I found myself captivated.”
Wow. Everyone within earshot visibly swooned. Even Chloe was taken aback. She turned to smile up at him appreciatively, but as she did so, a space cleared in the crowd and across the room she saw him: Sean.
He was standing at the other end of the hall, surrounded bya group of people. Seeing him here, among all their peers, felt like jumping back in time. He hadn’t changed at all. He still had that boyish face, the same foppish hairstyle that fell across his eyes. She knew from photos online that he’d had his teeth straightened, whitened, but that was the only difference she could perceive. Seeing him, her body tensed. She remembered how miserable she’d been in third year, how lost she’d felt without him in her life. All those nights she’d spent questioning herself, questioning that moment on the stage bridge. There was so much history between them. Was she really just going to go over there and say hi?
“I’m going to go talk to Sean,” she told Rob.
“Do you want me to come with you?” he asked, but she shook her head; she needed to do this part alone. Wiggling her way through the crowd, she picked up another drink from a passing tray and then found she’d drunk half of it by the time she arrived at the conclave of people gathered around Sean. He was in the middle of telling a story, and so she waited at the edge, catching the end of what he was saying.
“—and then the stuntman said, ‘That’s way too dangerous, I’m not doing that,’ so Tom grabbed the fireproof jacket, put it on, and said, ‘Light me up!’ ” He threw his arms in the air, and everyone erupted into peals of laughter. Sean always knew how to deliver a story.
