Edith responded: OK
No Enjoy your weekend. Or Thank you for killing hundreds of trees of my behalf every month. Just “OK.” This might have ruffled someone else’s feathers, but Lily was used to the thanklessness of her job. It was funny that Edith struggled with handling her own email but had no problem texting Lily at inappropriate times. Like in the middle of her sister’s engagement party.
Still shielded by the ridiculously long trench coat, Lily dropped her phone in her lap and leaned back against the wall. She could hear the sound of her family’s voices, shouting to be heard over the music. Aunts, uncles and cousins who all drove in from New Jersey. They weren’t arguing; they were just a loud bunch. A nosy bunch. Tonight was Violet’s night, but everyone had questions for Lily. When was it going to be her turn to get married? Was she dating anyone now? What was her job situation, still an assistant after two and a half years? Did she plan to sleep on Violet’s couch forever? All of the questioning combined with the unwanted social interaction made Lily’s skin crawl so badly, she honestly preferred to find a quiet corner and answer Edith’s texts rather than talk to her family.
Maybe she could stay hidden here for the rest of the night and no one would notice. When the party was wrapping up, she could emerge, say her goodbyes and then hop on the subway and go home—or to Violet’s apartment, which was currently her home.
Yes, that’s exactly what she’d do. She opened the e-reader app on her phone and decided to take this as an opportunity to finally start The Golem and the Jinni, a fantasy novel she’d been wanting to read for months. She never had time to read for pleasure anymore. That’s something they don’t tell you when you’re applying to be an editor. She grinned as she scrolled to chapter 1, eyes ready to devour text that had nothing to do with work.
Then she heard the telltale sign of click-clacking high heels.
“Lily?” a voice called, entering the room. Her sister Violet.
Lily held completely still. She used to play this game as a kid when she wanted to stay inside and read but her sisters came calling to go ride bikes or do anything remotely adventurous. If she was quiet enough, maybe she could actually become invisible.
“I know you’re in here,” Violet said. “Iris told me she saw you walk this way.”
Lily stayed motionless and held her breath when Violet’s footsteps paused. Maybe she’d give up and go back to the party being thrown in her honor. Then suddenly Violet’s footsteps grew louder, and the coats shielding Lily split, exposing her. Lily looked up and smiled sheepishly at her older sister. Violet smiled back and shook her head.
“I was working,” Lily said, holding up her phone by way of explanation.
“On a Saturday night?” Violet held out her hand and pulled Lily to her feet. “Come on, there’s someone I want you to meet.”
Lily groaned. “No thanks.”
“Oh, don’t start. You haven’t been out in forever. And Angel is so sweet. He’s one of Eddy’s new clients, an R&B singer! Eddy swears he’s going to be the next big thing, and he’s dying to meet you.”
Lily rolled her eyes. “I’m sure dying to meet me is an exaggeration. He won’t be interested. Let’s not waste anyone’s time.”
“What are you talking about? Of course he’ll be interested in you.”
“I don’t know what you’ve told him about me, but the reality is that I’m pretty boring, and he’s a singer. We won’t have anything to talk about.”
“Not true,” Violet said, looping her arm through Lily’s. “You work with books. You’re both in the arts. That’s something to talk about right there.”
Lily looked into her sister’s smiling face. Violet was the middle sister, the beautiful one. Smooth brown skin. High cheekbones and full lips. She had the kind of face that made people stop and stare. Tonight, she wore deep red lipstick, a gold halter jumpsuit and matching pointy gold pumps, all designer labels that Lily couldn’t afford. Violet’s thick, curly hair was smoothed back and tied into a ponytail at the nape of her neck. Lily, on the other hand, wore a simple yellow short-sleeve sundress and tan sandals, all bought on sale at H&M. Her hair was pulled into a topknot bun, her easy go-to style. A common passerby would assume the two sisters were attending completely different events and happened to run into each other in the coat check.
“Come on,” Violet urged again. “You won’t regret meeting him, I promise.”
Lily wanted to say no. She wanted nothing to do with dating. Not after the mess she’d gotten herself into last year emailing that author, or whoever they were. But Violet was looking at her with that hopeful smile, and Lily felt the pressure not to disappoint. And she knew the rest of her family would ask why she hadn’t given Angel a chance. If things didn’t work out with him—which they wouldn’t—Lily could at least say she’d tried and then be left alone.
“Fine,” she grumbled.
“Good,” Violet said, steering Lily out of the coat check.
Back in the main area, Lily spotted her parents by the bar, talking with her aunts and uncles. Her cousins were on the converted dance floor, mingling with Violet’s fashion friends. It gave a country-folk-meet-city-folk vibe.
Violet’s squeeze on Lily’s hand tightened in excitement as they approached Eddy and Angel. Eddy, Violet’s fiancé, turned toward them and smiled. Well, it was more like a smirk, really. Lily wasn’t sure if she’d actually ever seen Eddy smile. This was only her second time meeting him, and he always looked rather serious. Eddy was tall and slim with dark brown skin and a bald head. Like Violet, he was dressed to the nines, a crisp white button-up and slim, black slacks. He was a talent manager for a record label in LA and traveled a lot with his clients. He and Violet got engaged back in April and he finally had the time to come to the East Coast and meet the rest of the family. Lily’s parents and her oldest sister, Iris, thought Violet and Eddy were moving too fast. They’d been dating for only three months before Eddy proposed. Mostly, though, everyone was shocked that Violet, who never got serious with anyone, was suddenly a bride-to-be.
“There you are,” Eddy said, reaching out and wrapping his arm around Violet’s waist. She grinned and melted into him. He turned his attention to Lily. “Having a good night?”
Lily nodded and felt herself clamming up as she avoided eye contact with Angel, who was also looking at her. From a quick glance, she could tell he was tall and built. Handsome, with a friendly smile. Exactly the kind of guy that caused the words to evaporate on her tongue.
“Lily, this is our friend Angel,” Violet said. “Angel, this is my sister Lily.”