Page 81 of Mr. Match

Oh, good God. Can she be any more dramatic?

“And I must say, I’m surprised. You are strong, and smart, and pretty. You have carved a place for yourself. And she tells me you did it alone. But why go it alone, Katya, when you don’t have to? Why not harness the support of other smart, pretty, and better-connected young ladies? Wouldn’t it have been much easier to get where you are if you had help?”

I sigh, like I’m trying to be patient. “Look, Lauren. I get it. You’re all about helping others and everyone needs help some times. But I’m just not interested, OK? And I’d prefer if you left Lily out of it as well. We’ve worked really hard to get to this place and while it was tough going it alone, we like it that way.”

Lauren is nodding her head. “I totally understand. Lily asked me to try to talk you into it, but I respect your decision. How about we just forget about it and go enjoy the festivities outside?”

“Perfect,” I say. She doesn’t twine her arm in mine as we descend, but that’s A-OK with me. When we get back to the living room there’s even more people at the front door. The girl I recognize as Kelly is directing people to go around the side of the house to the back yard. But Lauren leads me further inside to a long dining room with a table that seats twelve, and then into the large commercial kitchen where there are about a dozen people busy cooking and setting up serving trays.

“This is some brunch you’re having,” I say to Lauren as we pass through without a word to the caterers.

“It really is. We only do this twice a year,” Lauren explains. “Once in the fall for Initiation Week. And once in the spring for Scholarship Week.”

Yeah, I’m so done with these girls. Initiation Week? “And what does initiation consist of?”

“Oh, they’re science fairs. Lily told you that, right? Everyone has an exhibit and they present them at the brunch. Her project is amazing. She’s been working on it for so long. Last month she was so afraid she wouldn’t get results worth publishing.”

“Publishing?” I ask. “She thinks she’s going publish her science fair results?”

“Katya, this is what I’ve been trying to tell you. We are no ordinary science organization. The Antimony ladies work with some of the best mentors in the country. The world, in some cases. Lily couldn’t afford to travel last semester, so I got Professor Albright from Cornell to come here.”

“You what?”

“And Lily didn’t disappoint. Albright loved her so much, she’s offered her internships in her lab at Cornell for both winter and summer break. Free of charge, of course,” Laurens adds, as if money was my biggest concern right now.

I decide to just stop asking questions. Obviously Lauren knows more about what my sister has been up to than I do, so why pretend? Why make a fool of myself? And wasn’t that Lily’s warning to me? Don’t ask too many questions, Katya.

Fine. Lauren stops at the double doors which presumably leads to the back yard, and turns to smile at me. “She’s really going places, Katya. And I hope you and I can be friends. We’re the same age, right? We really need to go out and have drinks in the near future.”

“Sure,” I say, just to make her stop talking.

I get a smile for my acquiescence and she opens both doors in a dramatic reveal.

And the scene outside is absolutely drama. The yard, for one, is several lots long. There is a fence, but standing up here on the porch, I can see over it. And on the other side is a street.

But that’s not the only dramatic thing happening in the Antimony back yard. There are tents. Seven of them, all made of a light-colored canvas. There are more than a dozen servers walking around with trays filled with tall fluted glasses and tiny little finger sandwiches. One of the tents is filled with musicians who look like they are just about ready to start playing. Not a band, like you’d see at most college parties. But a string quartet all dressed up in black and white. And the people. There has to be more than a hundred people here.

I let out a breath.

“It’s something, right?” Lauren says with a wide smile.

“Yeah,” I say, trying to take it all in. “It sure is something.”

“Oh, there’s Lily now. Come on, let’s go join the party, Katya.”

I follow Lauren into the crowd. People part for us—her, I should say. Her minions playing up her role of benevolent queen to perfection. Everyone is dressed in fine clothing and I’m suddenly self-conscious about my choice of dress.

I look like some kind of bohemian who came out of the alley compared to these people.

“Hey,” Lily says, coming up to kiss Lauren on both cheeks. Are we European now? She speaks Russian? She greets people with cheek kisses?

Where am I?

“You look stunned,” Lily says to me, laughing.

“Well,” I say, looking around. “You said small brunch. So obviously I was not expecting this.”

“I know.” Lily giggles as she takes a sip of whatever is in those tall fluted glasses. “You’d never have come if I told you how big this was. But I’m so glad you’re here.” She twines her arm in mine in a sisterly gesture of love.