“I’m probably not, either. I don’t remember anything after getting to that club, the one with the circus people.”
“The Supper Club?” offered Elly.
Lola groaned. “Honestly, they all look the same to me. Joe’s going to have a fit when he sees the pictures.”
“There won’t be any pictures. We got out of that club without the paparazzi seeing you. The only pictures will be of you leaving Pierre’s, looking put together and sober.”
Lola shook her head as tears began rolling down her cheeks. “Why do I do this to myself? Why can’t I just stop? Why is it so hard?”
Elly didn’t have an answer for that, so she just sat beside her and held her hand while she cried. Finally, Lola took a shaky sip of orange juice. “Oh. That’s good. That’s really good.”
“If I may …,” said Elly tenderly.
“Yes? Tell me. Anything.” Lola attempted to pull her long tresses back into a bun.
Elly took a deep breath. “I think you might have the world’s worst friends. I’m serious. Lola, those people are terrible. It’s no wonder you can’t stay sober—they don’t want you to. Their partying depends on your fame, and your fame, unfortunately, right now depends on you partying.”
Lola sniffed adorably. “I know. I know, they’re awful. The only real friend I ever had was Chloe. We were more like sisters than friends. I would have died for her. But then … just like that, it all fell apart. It turns out she was using me, too. Everyone uses me, and then when they are done, they just let me sink into my own ridiculous world and drown.”
Elly reached for the tissue box as she was struck by the thought that this was really happening. She was consoling Lola Plumb in her living room. Oh well. Stranger things had happened to her. “There was a time when I thought I would drown, too. I was floundering, and there comes a point where your friends and those who truly do care about you can only do so much. You have to decide to kick. You decide to kick and swim for your life. As terrible as they are, your friends didn’t shove those drinks down your throat, and they didn’t make you go into the bathroom and snort crack.”
Lola raised her head. “That wasn’t crack.”
Elly put her hand up. “I don’t even want to know what it is. What I’m saying is that Joe … Joe loves you. He seems to believe in you. Why are you wasting time with anyone who doesn’t want the best for you?”
Lola leaned against her shoulder and Elly sat stiffly on the couch, trying to look at ease. “You’re my friend, right Elly?”
Elly nodded. “Yes. I am. Listen, why don’t I take you home?”
Lola smiled. “Oh, don’t worry. I’ll just call my driver. And Elly?”
Elly stood up. “Yes?”
“Thanks,” whispered Lola. “I’m really not a bad girl.”
Elly’s heart broke a little. “I see who you are, Lola.”
With relief, Lola sank back against the couch, her eyes closing slowly. A few minutes later, her driver pulled up at the curb to take Lola away. Elly walked her to the car, her eyes burning from her late night. Elly gave Lola a gentle hug, wishing that she could take away all her struggles and pain, and absorb it into her soft body. There was room to spare, couldn’t she spare this girl some pain?
Just before the limo pulled away from the curb, Lola rolled down the window as Elly turned to go. “Elly?”
“Yes?”
“Do whatever you want with my wedding flowers.”
“Really?”
“I trust you. Whatever you think is best.”
“I think I can come up with something that will make you and Gemma both happy.”
Lola slid on her huge sunglasses. “That’s assuming there will be a wedding after Joe hears about last night.”
“Honesty is best.”
Lola’s car pulled away from the curb, leaving Elly walking back toward the Posies storefront, her eyes lingering on Keith’s Deli. Honest, huh? thought Elly, with a painful twinge in her heart. She remembered Keith’s eyes as she asked him point blank why she had never been to his house. He had looked away. Truth was apparently not an option for him. It was amazing how much she missed him. On mornings like this, on evenings like last night, every waking moment, she missed him. Weary with want and blurry from lack of sleep, she walked back into the apartment to find Dennis standing in the living room, two coffees in hand.
“Where did she go?”
“Lola? She left.”
“Seriously?” He slammed the coffee down on the kitchen table, spilling it all over Elly’s wedding trends books.
“Hey! Watch it! Those are expensive. Jeez, Dennis, calm down!”
“No! You calm down! I didn’t even get to take my picture with her to show my friends!”
“Real friends or online friends?” Elly muttered, grabbing a cloth to clean up the spilled coffee. “What was that?”
“I said, real friends or online friends? I feel like there is an actual difference.”