Page 2 of The Other Half

“Party pooper? What are we... five?” My brow furrowed to match his.

“Every party has a pooper. That’s why we invited you,” Richie sang-song and my small group of friends burst into laughter then joined him in the taunt.

“Seriously, you guys. I’m just not into it tonight.”

Lately I’d been questioning all my recent decisions. The parties. Drinking. Drugs. Even all of you, I thought while I looked at the five faces that accompanied me out to the clubs every night. Sure, we had some laughs, the paparazzi loved us, the music was great, and from what I could remember of our outings, I had fun. But each day when I awoke with a pounding headache, the ache in my gut I had tried to booze away returned with a vengeance and it seemed to deepen even more, cloaking me in dark energy. It had taken two years, but I was starting to realize that numbing the pain didn’t erase it. In fact, it only seemed to amplify it.

“Come on, baby. Just have some fun.” Donovan leaned forward, careful not to topple me to the floor, and plucked a blue pill from the pile.

“That one’s my favorite!” Liza said, clapping her hands, and I noticed the diamonds on her manicure for the first time tonight. They glittered in the colored lights pulsing around us. “Come on, Cassandra. What gives?” Pushing out her over plumped red lip, she batted her lash extensions.

“Sorry, guys. I’m just not in the mood.”

Donovan pressed the little pill to my mouth, and I pursed my lips tight. I didn’t want it.

I didn’t want this.

But despite my best effort to resist, the promise of escape called to me and I felt my resolve loosening along with my lips. With a push the pill popped inside, and I swallowed. My posse cheered their approval and glasses raised in the air. Shoving a glass of champagne in my hand, Donovan kissed me on the cheek, and I swigged the rest of it down. Before I could blink away my regret, I felt the weight I carried with me lift off my shoulders and float away on the notes of the new song.

“Ouch!” I grunted as I landed on the curb outside my New York high-rise. My friends roared with laughter as I tried to right myself, one leg still in the limo, my dress up over my waist, and my purse contents scattered out on the sidewalk. “That hurt!”

“Oh my God, Cassandra! You fell!” Jessica laughed, and Liza choked on her drink.

“I tripped.” With a snort, I rolled over onto my back, and lay on the sidewalk while the upper-east siders passed by and stared down noses wrinkled in disgust.

“I love you, baby!” Donovan said, freeing my stiletto from the door and folding my leg out of the limo. “I’ll call you!”

With my limbs now clear of the limo, he closed the door, and I heard the volume go up. With throbbing bass and shaking windows, the car pulled away into the traffic already thick at ten in the morning.

“Ow,” I grumbled and crawled to my knees, scooping my spilled belongings back into my Birkin. A woman walking a dog side-stepped me and clutched her pearls. The look of pity in her eyes stripped away my buzz, and I realized how ridiculous I looked this late in the morning, crawling along Fifth Avenue. Hurrying to get inside, I tripped on the stairs leading to my building and Archie, the doorman raced to support me.

“Good morning, Miss Cassandra. Let me help you.” His arm slipped around my waist and I leaned on him for support. It wasn’t the first time he’d needed to help me into my apartment building, and I reminded myself to get him something really good for Christmas this year.

“Thanks, Archie. You’re the best.” A hiccup punctuated my sentence and drew a smile from Archie.

“Looks like you had another fun evening, Miss Cassandra. I’ll help you up to your apartment.”

“That won’t be necessary.” The judgmental voice coming from the lobby ripped the smile from my face, and I cringed against it. Looking up, I saw Eleanor’s stern face with those eyes burning from behind her glasses. As my grandfather’s assistant and head of our household, those keen eyes seemed to see everything. “I’ll take her up.”

Archie and I exchanged a glance like two busted school children, and I straightened myself up, lifting my gaze to meet hers. “Good morning, Eleanor. It’s not what it looks like.”

“It never is with you, is it? Follow me.” Without another word she spun on her kitten heel and click-clacked her way to the elevator. Looking at Archie, I sucked the air through my teeth at the exact moment he did. We dissolved into laughter and the click-clacking heels stopped. Eleanor spun around and leveled us with a glare.

“Oops. Busted,” I whispered to Archie and stumbled off after her, blowing my savior a kiss over my shoulder. “Again.”

When I reached the elevator, we stood beside one another in silence. The gold arrow counting the floors ticked toward the left as it descended, and both sets of eyes remained fixed on it. I knew she wanted to give me an earful, but the last time she had a few weeks ago, I reminded her she wasn’t my mother. Not even close. Eleanor was just a housekeeper who had no right to speak to me that way. Going off on her wasn’t my proudest moment, and since that day she’d kept her lips sealed when I crawled home each morning. I’d apologized for the outburst, but I could tell she hadn’t forgiven me yet. And I deserved her bitterness. After being there for me through some of the worst days of my life, I’d treated her like nothing more than a servant.

When the elevator dinged, and the doors opened, she stepped in and I followed like a scolded child. With my blonde hair in tangles and my disheveled appearance, I wouldn’t be surprised if I looked more like a kid who’d just come in from playing outside than a twenty-eight-year-old woman.

“Your grandfather is waiting to see you,” she said when the doors closed.

“What?” Whipping my head around to look at her, I searched her face. “Isn’t he at work? What does he want?”

“To see you.” Where her tone had once held warmth, now only an icy chill remained, sending a shiver up my spine. The warmth had disappeared the morning I insulted her, and she’d finally given up on me. She’d been with my grandfather as his right hand since before I was born. She was his assistant, his head of household, and the woman who held everything in our lives together. After my grandmother passed when I was twelve, she’d felt like one when I needed comfort. And now she felt like a stranger riding beside me leading me to my grandfather as he waited in our apartment upstairs.

To see me.

Before I could ask another question, the elevator reached the penthouse and the doors opened to the long corridor that led to our home. On one side was my grandfather’s half of the expansive floor, and mine was on the other. I started after Eleanor and turned toward my bedroom door.