Then, over the noise, I spotted someone familiar slipping toward the door.
“Wait—Carmen?”
The woman turned, her glossy bob catching the light. “Rory? Oh my God! Hi!”
We both squealed and hugged like long-lost cousins at a wedding. Orim joined in too, and for a second, the night felt soft again.
“So this is your party? I should’ve known,” Carmen shook her head.
“Yeah! You should’ve! Where’s Marcus? Is he here?”
“Nahh, his kid’s sick so he went home early.”
“I see. Welp. At least you’re here.”
I love Carmen.
Carmen looked exactly like the kind of woman who had her life together with a tailored blazer, diamond studs and calm energy money couldn’t buy.
She’s the type of girl me and Orim loved.
I wondered if she’d let us taste…
“So,” Carmen grinned, scanning the chaos. “What made you decide to have this party? In your own room?”
Orim and I looked at each other.
“Pettiness,” we said in unison.
She threw her head back and laughed, a deep, easy laugh that made you want to join in. “You two remind me of myself in college. God help whoever pisses y’all off.”
“You have no idea,” Orim sighed.
“Well,” she said, straightening her bag on her shoulder, “before this turns into a crime scene and I have to testify in court, I’m gonna head out. I’ve got someone to meet, anyway. Y’all have fun and maybe don’t burn the hotel down.”
“Can’t promise that,” I teased.
She blew us a kiss and disappeared into the hallway.
The second the door shut, Orim turned to me, voice raised over the music. “She’s gorgeous.”
“Extremely.”
“She’ll make a good lawyer one day.”
“I’m aware.”
“And as much as I’d love to have her pretty ass represent me one day, today is not that day. It’s getting too wild in here. Time to shut it down.”
Damn. I walked into that one.
I looked around. All the old heads my father had at the launch were gone. Just the wild folks I invited over.
Plus their friends.
Someone was standing on the couch with a bottle in their hand. Someone else had spilled red wine on the white rug.
I think Orim was right.
