“So have you met Timothée Chalamet? What were the Oscars like? Are you really dating Gracie Lamé?” Everyone had questions. Chloe felt a thumping in her chest. This wasn’t the right time. She didn’t want their first conversation in years to happen in front of an audience. She turned away, ready to retreat, but then she felt a hand on her arm.
“Chloe.”
When she turned around, there he was, familiar eyes locked on hers, a tentative smile on his lips. “Hi,” she replied.
“It’s so good to see you,” he said, a familiar fondness in his eyes.
“You too,” she said, and now a wave of emotion threatened to overwhelm her. It was as though part of her had been holding her breath for ten years waiting for Sean to look at her like this again.
There was too much to say, too many years to catch up on. She wanted to get out of here, go sit in the quiet of the cloisters, have him to herself, catch up properly. But before she could say anything, Elaine Harper stood up on the small stage at the front of the hall and clinked her glass with a knife.
“We’ll catch up later, yeah?” Sean said beneath his breath, before turning his attention to the stage. She felt a sinking in her chest. Was she just another person to catch up with? Chloe had put this huge significance on their reunion, but maybe to him, she was only another face in the crowd. This weekend, something to fit in between meetings with producers in London. The thought made her feel nauseous.
“Welcome, welcome!” Elaine said, projecting her voice, waiting for the room to hush. “As head of the alumni committee, I wanted to welcome you all here tonight. It’s so wonderful to see such a good turnout. Some faces I’ve seen recently, others I haven’t laid eyes on since graduation, so thank you for all making the effort to mark this anniversary. It’s also wonderful to meet so many of your other halves. Thank you, newbies, for coming along and indulging us on this trip down memory lane.”
Chloe looked back at Sean, trying to catch his eye, but someone else had already intercepted him. “We’ve got a fun-packed weekend of events lined up,” Elaine announced. “Puntingtomorrow morning for anyone who wants to sign up, the weather looks tip-top. Then we’re having a picnic lunch in the university park with garden games, followed by formal hall tomorrow evening. Black tie, please, for everyone who’s asked me, it was on the agenda I emailed around. Please do adhere to the seating plan, you know how much work goes into these things.” She tugged at her pleated, metallic gold skirt, as though suddenly self-conscious that it was too tight. “Now, a big thank-you to the college for letting us back, and to Freda and John for their help with logistics. I’m not going to rattle on. Tonight we’ll just let you drink and catch up, no organized fun, I promise.” She lifted a hand, showing crossed fingers, and laughed. “But first, Lorna Childs has something she wanted to say.”
Lorna stood ready to take the mic and there were whoops and cheers as she took center stage. In her stunning, figure-hugging purple dress and immaculate blowout, she looked like a model taking the catwalk.
“Hello, Lincoln!” she called, which made everyone cheer. “I know Elaine is in charge of the fun and games this weekend, but this is something Harriet and I thought we’d do before everyone gets too merry.” Lorna let out a short squeal of laughter, then waved for Harriet to come and join her on the stage. Harriet hurried to her side, walking awkwardly in high heels, then held up the college yearbook like it was some sacrificial offering she was bringing to the altar. “I have stayed in touch with so many of you, online or otherwise,” Lorna went on, “and I have felt such pride in seeing what huge success you’ve all had. Be it running your own business like Harriet here, curing rare diseases—I’m looking at you, Mark—or taking over Hollywood…” She paused and someone yelled, “Go, Sean!” Lorna lifted a hand to her chest. “I know we were lucky enough to attend one of themost prestigious universities in the world, so maybe it’s not surprising how many of you arekilling itout there, but, ladies”—she pointed to a few women in the crowd—“credit where credit is due, we all know motherhood is the hardest job of all. Am I right?”
There was a flutter of applause, though Chloe noted that people didn’t whoop as loudly for the mothers as they had for Sean. “Now, in the spirit of celebration, we thought it would be fun if we read out some of the yearbook predictions and see what came true.” She clapped her hands and squealed again as Harriet opened the book and started to read.
“Most likely to marry a footballer—Lorna Childs,” Harriet said, and everyone cheered again.
“Not a footballer, but I think you’ll all agree, tennis isfarclassier. My gorgeous Matteo.” She blew him a kiss. “How lucky am I?”
Chloe looked across at Matteo, who was lewdly moving his hand while thrusting his tongue into the side of his mouth. Lorna tried to laugh this off, but her eyes were shooting him daggers as she frantically waved at Harriet to move on.
“Most likely to cure cancer—Mark Patel,” Harriet read, and everyone scoured the room for Mark.
“Not yet, but give me time,” he called out, and there were more whoops and cheers.
“Most likely to be a millionaire before thirty…,” Harriet read.
“And we’re not including inherited wealth in this one, sorry, Araminta!” Lorna interjected, causing a ripple of laughter around the room.
Chloe heard someone whisper, “I heard she put most of her trust fund up her nose.”
“Leo Brunswick,” Harriet said, and people looked around to see if Leo was there.
“Just on the phone with my hedge fund manager,” he said, holding his phone to his ear. “He says none of your goddamn business what my net worth is.” A few people laughed at this, while others rolled their eyes. Leo had always been a conceited prick.
“Most likely to end up together,” Harriet read on, once the chatter had subsided, “Sean Adler and Chloe Fairway.” Chloe felt her heart in her mouth as all eyes in the room turned to look at her. “Ah well, if anyone’s met Chloe’s new boyfriend, they won’t be feeling too sorry for her passing up our Sean.”
Chloe felt her cheeks heat. She couldn’t stop herself from glancing across at Sean, who had fixed his face into an expression of polite amusement. But Chloe noticed his ears had turned pink and she knew this meant he was mortified too.
Chloe felt a reassuring hand on her waist and turned to see Rob standing beside her.
“I got you,” he said quietly in her ear, as though he knew exactly how uncomfortable she was feeling. She sank backward into his warm embrace. Would it be mad to keep him, at least for the rest of the trial? What would happen after that? No, she couldn’t think about it. She was here to see Sean, to mend their friendship.
“Most likely to become an evil dictator,” Harriet read, and Chloe felt the attention of the crowd move on. Rob bent down to kiss her neck.
“You are the most beautiful woman in this room, you know that?” he whispered. His Irish lilt sounded even more pronounced. Was he getting more Irish as the night went on, or had she just had too much to drink?
“I’m not, but thank you,” she whispered back, closing her eyes, clasping his arm that was wrapped around her. When she opened her eyes again, they fell on John. He was standing just a few yards away, looking in their direction. Everyone else at this party was dressed to impress, but John was wearing the same jeans he’d worn on the bus. The people around him blurred into motion and noise, but John exuded a quiet stillness, like the only person in focus in a photograph. Chloe straightened up, stopped leaning against Rob. He felt like a protective cloak in front of all these people, but for some reason the illusion didn’t hold in front of John.
He narrowed his eyes at her, as though he knew something was off, as though he couldseewhat Rob was. But howcouldhe know? Unless he had X-ray vision. Or had it been Richard’s strange behavior at the bus stop that made him suspicious? He couldn’t know. She narrowed her eyes back at him, and he responded with an innocent shrug, looking around, as if she must have been narrowing her eyes at someone else. She bit back a smile, then rolled her eyes at him. He rolled his right back. She pouted, feeling her cheeks heat at this exchange, then turned back to Rob. Safe, unquestioning Rob.
