“Can I call you after the show tonight? It might be late. Some old friends are coming and they'll be hanging around a bit after the show.”
He'd managed to keep ties with other people, apparently, just not me. “Call me whenever. I'll leave my phone on.”
“You'll do great tonight,” he offered.
“I’m not worried about that. All I have to do is show up.”It's the way I'll feel when it's all done that I'm worried about.
He laughed quietly. “All right then. Talk later?”
“Talk later.” I hung up and dropped my phone on the bed. Once again, the quiet of the apartment moved in on me. It threatened to swallow me up. No music from Amy's room or the TV on. It wasn't normal for New York to be quiet. It was unsettling. My phone beeping broke through the silence. A text from the car service Luke had booked for me. I tossed a few things into my bag and replied that I was on my way.
Downstairs, the black SUV stuck out like a sore thumb. My neighborhood was nice, but it wasn't car service nice. Luke's parents lived out in Westchester County, and I'd braced myself for just how highbrow their neighborhood would be, but nothing could've truly prepared me once we crossed over into the land of tree-lined streets and smooth pavement. Sprawling houses poked up from behind high walls and gates. Luke's parents had graciously left their wrought-iron cage door open, so my driver didn't have to deal with the security system. A handful of cars were parked in the driveway—BMW, Jaguar, Porsche. I was about to rub elbows with the well-heeled of suburban New York. I hoped they were ready.
I straightened my coat after ringing the doorbell next to the grand entrance. I could already hear merriment inside.
“Katherine, you're here!” Luke seemed genuinely surprised when he answered the door, but I could appreciate his attitude. I was pretty impressed as well. “Let me get your coat.”
“Hey Kat.” Amy rushed to the front door.
My heart leapt when I saw her. Her cheeks were flush and full of color. Her smile came easily and was absent of any irony or skepticism. My influence had already worn off and she looked all the better for it. “Hi, honey,” I croaked when I gave her a hug. Damn, I knew I'd missed her, but being around her put a much finer point on it.
“Come in. We have a ton of food and Luke will make you whatever you want to drink.” She was wearing an adorable ice blue party dress, with a fitted bodice and short full skirt. She looked like a slightly slutty Disney princess.
Luke passed my coat to a woman waiting off the wings of the foyer. “It's true. Whatever you want.”
“A Negroni?”
“Up or on the rocks? And is there a particular brand of gin you prefer?”
Luke wasnotmessing around. “Up, please. Hendricks if you have it.”
“Of course I have Hendricks. I wouldn't dream of having a party without it.”
Of course not.“Thank you so much.”
Amy grabbed my hand. “Come on. I want you to meet everyone. I've told everybody all about you.”
I stopped myself from saying the words fighting to make their way from my lips.And they still want to meet me?“Can't wait to meet your future in-laws.”
We started down a long hall. Overhead, soaring barrel ceilings dripped with chandeliers. Beneath our feet, a black granite and white marble checkerboard made our heels click with every step. Family portraits of suspiciously airbrushed people sat in fat gold frames on the walls. Everything screamed history and money. Longevity. Permanence. Perhaps that was part of the great appeal of Luke. This was the opposite of our upbringing.
The hall opened up to large carved pillars at least twelve feet high and a palatial room with a roaring fireplace at one end, a grand piano and a lavish display of opulently upholstered furniture. Milling about in the space, a gathering of well-coiffed men in V-neck sweaters and khakis grumbled and laughed.
I tugged on Amy's arm. “Where are the women?”
“In the kitchen. We'll go in there in a minute.”
“Don't you think that's a little strange?”
“Why is it strange?”
“It's weird. The way they separated the men from the women.”
“Nobody separated anyone. That's just the way it happened. You have been to a party before, haven't you? This is what happens.”
Something about this screamed misogyny and patriarchy and quite possibly toxic masculinity. “I still say it's strange.”
“Katherine, what is your problem? Please don't ruin this party for me.”
