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A chill envelops me along with his absence, and it’s all I can do not to wrap my arms around myself. But no, not with Gertrude still standing here and looking daggers at me. The crowd fidgets, growing restless. Of course, they’re unsure which act to follow–the two Kings, tension cracking between them, or Gertrude and me on the verge of a chick fight. It doesn’t take long before they decide on us in the end since there’s no way to eavesdrop on the Kings anyway once they’re up in the gallery.
“I don’t know what game you’re playing here,” Gertrude spits out, poison behind her fake lashes, “but you’re going to lose it. Sade will never take you seriously.”
I might be doing the stupidest thing ever, but my ego has had enough. I won’t take another blow without fighting back, so I force myself to square my shoulders and push out my chin.
“Looks like he isn’t taking meunseriously.”
She seethes, huffing. I can’t help but think of a bull spurred on by a red coat.
“I’m warning you,maid.” Her upper lip curls over her teeth as she stresses that word. “I can destroy your life. I’m the cousin of a King, and I am going to become the queen of one. You don’t want to make that kind of enemies.”
“Looks like I already have.”
Not sure whether the protection Sade swore to me extends to what his own future wife might do, but I couldn’t hold back if I wanted to. Jealousy is gnawing at my heart, and knowing this is the woman who is going to share his bed, who’s going to have his babies one day, fills me with a meanness I never knew I could pull off.
“So I don’t see why I should hold myself back, and not take what I want from life, if it’s offered to me,” I continue.
“Take what you want from life.” She turns my words in her mouth like they’re a sick joke. “Youwanthim. Sade.” Exchanging a few looks with her girlfriends, they burst into laughter. “You can’t afford to want him, scum. He’s on top of the word in the most literal sense, and you’re nothing.”
The entire hall goes silent at the hatred that flows out of her mouth. The corner of my mouth pulls up.
“Not used to competition, are you?”
“Competition?” she spits out, saliva now flying out with the words. “In what world could you ever compete with me?”
“Seems like this one,” a familiar voice sounds close to us, and a second later, Mel steps by my side. She stands tall next to me, her shoulders pulled back. Unlike Eva, who prefers to dress in black and somber shades of blue and gray, Mel is all for white and hues of beige, and sometimes pink and yellow, if she feels they go with her skin tone. She’s definitely going to be a lawyer in Dior, not one in Armani Prive. She has a serious air, but she likes glamour.
“It’s time you backed off, Gertrude,” my friend says, her voice clipped. Talking to the seething heiress at eye level. “Or, if you have to be mean to someone, how about somebody your own size?”
Gertrude scoffs. “And who would that be, Melody Sorbaine? You?” She forces out another laugh, starting to sound like a witch. “You’re the heiress of a tobacco empire that’s about to crumble. I mean, who even fucking smokes anymore? Within the next generation, you’ll have nothing. You’ll be running a law firm in New York or L.A. if you’re lucky.” She gives Mel a once over. “Because marrying into money sure isn’t in the cards for you. You’re not that caliber of a woman.”
Sharp inhales travel through the crowd as if they could hear the words sear my friend’s flesh. But she keeps her regal posture, giving Gertrude a pitiful smile.
“Only the future will tell. But I doubt it can get any more pathetic than your present. You’re not even married to a King, and he’s already cheating on you with the maid, as you called her.”
Gasps, giggles, and downright laughter animate the thickening crowd. News must travel fast since they gathered here so quickly.
“Ladies,” another voice chimes, and I turn to watch Eva walking toward us with the stern mien of a headmistress. “The university isn’t the most appropriate place for a catfight, so if thismustcontinue, I’ll ask you to take it someplace else.”
Gertrude’s eyes fill with cunning as they travel from Eva to Mel to me and then back again. Annie is hot on Eva’s heels, ready to attack if necessary. Gertrude finally pops a hip, placing a finely manicured hand on it like she just had a fantastic idea. Behind the shield of her fake eyelashes, I can see a diabolical plan start to take shape.
“You know what, the pretty professor is right. This isn’t the time or place, and I’ve given this whole thing too much importance in public anyway. This mess is gonna take a lot of cleaning up on TikTok and Instagram already, I don’t want to add any more unnecessary work for my team.” She gives me another once-over that feels like a death sentence. “As for you, maid, you’ll learn your place soon enough.” A wink. “I promise you that.”
She spins around with a whip of her ponytail and prances away.
I didn’t even realize how much tension I was holding in my body until the air leaves my lungs in a whoosh, my whole body sagging. A hand catches my elbow and pulls me along.
“Come, we’ve given these bastards enough of a show,” Mel hisses through her teeth as she pulls me among the now rarefying clusters of students towards a lounge table in the back. Usually, at this time all tables are taken, and we have to cram on a few cushioned chairs scattered around. But everyone is still trying to make it look like they’re busying themselves with something, as if they actually have business here and didn’t come to gawk, so we get a good one.
It’s a table with a good view up to the gallery, too.
I plop into one of the seats, while Mel and Eva flank me on both sides.
“I’m gonna go get us some pumpkin spice lattes,” Annie announces, then points a finger at us. “Don’t get to the core gossip without me, or I swear to God...” Then she’s gone, winding her way among the students towards the cafeteria.
“You better start talking,” Mel says, ignoring Annie’s warning. When I meet her eyes, she’s frowning at me.
“I—” I blink, suddenly feeling walled in with her and Eva on each side of me. “I don’t know what you mean. Talk about what?”
