Chapter 9 25 November 2016 #2
A wave of homesickness crashed over her, and she plucked at the hem of her borrowed dress.
Later, when she was home, she’d FaceTime them.
She had collected a gem of a Prescott anecdote she was dying to share – Elizabeth Romero was rumoured to have purchased a second first class ticket on her flight home from Paris on Sunday, for her Hermès Kelly 25 handbag in étoupe, which she’d picked up on a shopping expedition in Faubourg Saint-Honoré.
The bag had, according to Alice, cost just shy of a quarter of a million dollars.
The second first class ticket had set her back just ten grand.
Grace and Jillian would die when she told them. She broke out in a huge grin just thinking about it. Then she drew in a deep breath and stood. She felt better. It was time to get back out there.
When Hannah re-entered the dining room, she nearly turned back around.
In the time she’d been gone, Edward had gone from buzzed to full-on drunk.
He stood beside a painting of the Hudson River Valley, one in a series of early twentieth-century American landscapes meant to give the dining room a sense of heritage and open air – in contrast to the dark privacy curtains drawn across the windows on the opposite end of the room.
He leaned far too close to Madison, who stood before him with arms folded across her chest and an unamused expression on her face.
‘You’ve always wanted to,’ Edward murmured, his face inches from hers. ‘The De Vries room is open.’ He held up his hand. From his middle finger dangled a bronze door key.
Madison scowled, taking a step back. ‘You know I don’t mess around with boys, Edward. And the one thing worse than a high schooler is a sloppy drunk college freshman.’
‘Fuck you,’ Edward hissed. The bloom was off the rose – here was the real Edward, self-possessed and mean. ‘I had my pick of Prescott pussy when I was a student there. I don’t need another private school bitch.’
He’d met his match in Madison, who didn’t flinch.
Dessert was on the table, but Hannah had lost her appetite.
So, it seemed, had the majority of Bash’s guests.
At opposite ends of the table, Theo and Elle both poked at their pear Tartes Tatin.
Alice gawked at the scene unfolding between Edward and Madison with open-mouthed glee, a forkful of pastry dangling forgotten from her fingers.
Even Tyler, who had spent most of dinner cracking jokes and constructing a leaning tower of bread from the Parker House rolls, had pushed back his chair and was taking a stroll towards the library with Alex.
Hannah met Ami’s eyes and mouthed, ‘Let’s go.’ For a moment, Ami seemed rooted to her seat. Her eyes trailed from Alex’s retreating back to the half-full glass of wine at her place, and Hannah stiffened. But then Ami pushed back her chair, and Hannah let out a low breath.
They had left the coat check and were walking to the door when a soft voice carried to Hannah’s ears.
‘You’re leaving?’
She turned. Theo Fitzgerald stood in the lounge, a sweating glass of Coca-Cola in his hand.
‘Yeah.’ She glanced back to their table, where Edward now sat sulking into a fresh glass of white.
Madison was at the bar, making a show of admiring the Italian silk tie knotted around the neck of a good-looking club member in his late twenties.
The antique black-and-white clock above the bar struck eight-thirty, but it felt like midnight. ‘I think the night is over.’
She zipped up her coat and tucked her newly retrieved phone into the pocket.
‘Hey, Theo.’ Ami gave him a small smile, then turned to Hannah. ‘You coming?’
‘One minute?’
Ami groaned, then stepped towards the door. ‘See you outside.’
When they were alone, Theo set his Coke on a small marble-topped table and shoved his hands into his trouser pockets. ‘I know we can be a bit much. But I’m glad you came.’
Hannah’s breath caught. Instinctively, she peered behind Theo, back to their table. Elle met her gaze with narrowed brows, then looked pointedly away.
Theo turned, following Hannah’s gaze. ‘Oh,’ he said. ‘Look, about that. I never lied to Elle. And I never cheated on her either. It wasn’t me in the photos with Gemma, swear to god.’
‘Right,’ Hannah said quickly. They’d never spoken openly about the Gemma thing before. Discussing the scandal felt a bit traitorous in light of her friendship with Elle. And Gemma, for that matter.
Still, she wanted to believe Theo. Not that it mattered. He was Elle’s ex-boyfriend, forbidden fruit.
‘We’d been growing apart all summer,’ Theo continued. ‘She was travelling for most of it, with her family. And my parents had to spend a lot of the summer upstate. You know we’re opening a new restaurant in Hudson?’
Hannah nodded. Alice had mentioned it, more than once.
‘Anyway, I thought, with school back in session, that might fix things. But then the photos came out, and the rumours started…’
‘If it’s really not you in the pictures, then why didn’t Elle believe you?’ Hannah asked. Subtlety had never been her forte, but he’d been the one to bring up the topic of Elle, after all.
Theo frowned and shoved his hands deeper in his pockets. Hannah bit down on the inside of her cheek. Maybe she’d pushed too hard.
But then he blew out a breath. ‘Fair question. I think Elle had been having second thoughts about being with me for a while. Maybe it was easier to cast me as the villain.’
‘But you ended things.’
‘Yeah. When it became clear she couldn’t get past the gossip, there wasn’t much point, was there?’
Hannah nodded. The words ‘I believe you’ were lodged in her throat.
‘Hannah.’ Ami had stuck her head back through the door to the club. The butler peered at her with mild amusement. ‘It’s freezing out here.’
‘Sorry,’ she said to Theo. ‘I have to go.’
He smiled. ‘Right. See you at school on Monday?’
‘Come on.’ Ami tugged on Hannah’s coat sleeve.
Hannah gave Theo a small smile, and in spite of herself, her heart gave a little flutter.