Chapter 29
Lily spent a delightful day in Melbourne with Sigrid, ambling from museum to café to library.
At first, Lily had worried about what Sigrid thought.
What had Dorian told her? Was she protective of her brother or suspicious of Lily’s motives?
But within minutes of meeting again, her nerves were forgotten.
Sigrid had a ready laugh and a blithe sense of humor.
She was full of easy banter and provocative insights into art, literature, food, architecture, and comedians, and Lily soon gave up being careful.
She found herself enjoying Sigrid’s company so much that she opened up to her completely.
If Sigrid hadn’t steered well clear of any talk about her brother, Lily probably would have told her the whole story.
At twilight, bundled up at a rooftop bar beneath a gas heater, sipping on mulled wine, talk inevitably turned to the future.
“I just don’t know what I should do,” mused Lily.
“You don’t have to decide now,” reassured Sigrid.
“I have to eventually.”
“Why? I mean, really, the whole idea that we’re in control of our lives is such a lie. Don’t you think? So much of it is just chance.”
“But you decided to do psychology.”
“Barely. I fell into it. I wanted to be an actor. More than Dorian did. He didn’t choose his path; he just got lucky.”
“You think so?”
“I loathe this pretense that he did it all himself, you know, that any of us ends up anywhere through choice and hard work. So much of our lives is determined by circumstance, opportunity.”
“Not to mention fate. And maybe more importantly, the algorithms,” Lily added, smiling. She looked at the drinks menu. “Maybe this is the only real choice we’ve got?”
“What to drink. And who with,” laughed Sigrid.
“It doesn’t seem like a lot, but this is a really long list.”
“And no one says you have to like what you get.”
“You can always politely send it back.”
“Or impolitely.” Sigrid’s mouth twisted. “Although last time I tried that I just sounded exactly like my mother.”
“There’s no escaping family,” Lily had to admit.
“Come on, let’s go back to the apartment. No one else will be there and it’s super close. We can get some food delivered. Unless you’ve got plans?”
Lily had to admit that she had none, so Sigrid led the way to the penthouse apartment of a flashy high-rise.
“Production got it for him,” she explained as they emerged straight from the elevator into a well-lit, minimally decorated space with floor-to-ceiling views of the gardens and city. Sigrid led Lily into a cavernous living area, then suddenly stopped short as a figure rose from the couch.
“Casey!” she exclaimed.
“Sigrid! So great to see you!” he gushed as they embraced.
“You’re supposed to be coming tomorrow!”
“Didn’t Dorian text you? Oh my gosh, it’s you!” He whooped with excitement as he took Lily into a big bear hug that lifted her off her feet. “What are you doing here? It’s been too long! You gotta tell me everything!”
But before Lily could answer, another figure drifted up from the couch, and Lily found herself face-to-face with … oh dear. Cecilia.
“Oh my God. It’s that girl. Lizzie,” she said with a dazzling smile.
“Lily.”
“Of course. I’ve missed you so much!”
Cecilia wafted closer in what passed for a delicate hug.
“What are you even doing here?” said Cecilia.
“Just visiting.”
“You seem to do that a lot.”
“Not as much as you, Cecilia, surely,” breezed Sigrid. “I’ve never known you to stay in one place longer than a month.”
“Hi. You got my text, then?” It was Dorian himself, emerging from the butler’s pantry in the lavish open-plan kitchen, holding a tea towel.
“What text?”
“The change-of-plan text.”
“You know, changes of plan usually warrant an actual phone call,” Sigrid laughed.
“It’s okay, I can head on home,” Lily said, but Sigrid wouldn’t hear of it and the others assured her very loudly (Cecilia with a little less enthusiasm) that she should indeed stay.
“It’s not my fault my brother doesn’t know how to communicate. Anyway, now it’s a party.”
And soon Lily found herself in sociable conversation with Sigrid at her side, drink in hand, view of Melbourne at her feet, feeling more comfortable in this company than she ever had before.
Indeed, she felt like herself, and somehow this situation of being in a penthouse with movie stars who had just flown in for a movie premiere the following day didn’t even seem weird.
“Melbourne is so cool,” gushed Casey. Lily and Sigrid had to agree, which sparked a pleasant conversation about the personalities of cities.
“I need another drink,” announced Cecilia. “No, not that, something good. Dorian? Where’s the good stuff?”
She wandered off to the kitchen, where Dorian was making a salad, and left Lily, Sigrid, and Casey to discuss the differences between Sydney, Melbourne, and London. Sigrid knew all the cities well, although she hadn’t lived in Australia since she was a child.
“We moved back to England with Mum after she and Dad divorced,” Sigrid explained to Lily. “They came out here together just after they married. Dad loved it, Mum not so much.”
Lily could feel Dorian’s eyes on them but didn’t dare to look. Was he worried Sigrid was revealing too much? Did he think Lily would make his private business the new hot gossip at Pippi? Lily didn’t want to seem nosy, but Sigrid was as open as Dorian was closed.
“I come back and visit Dad whenever I’m on break, and Dorian whenever I can pin him down,” Sigrid went on. “How perfect that they’re both in the same place at the same time!”
“This is not the same place as Geelong,” corrected Dorian from the kitchen. “Tell her how much you love Geelong.”
Lily flicked her eyes to him. Far from disapproving, he seemed to be listening with approval, even encouragement.
Sigrid made a face.
“I wish Dad would move to Melbourne, but he’s so stubborn,” Sigrid continued. “He loves Geelong. Have you been there? It’s a nineteenth-century industrial relic with beautiful water views and chain stores and drive-through fast food.”
“Does it still feel like home?” Lily ventured.
Sigrid laughed. “Not really. How about you, D? Does your soul belong to an old colonial outpost? Or London? Or Hollywood?”
“My soul belongs with those I love. Wherever they may be,” said Dorian with a smile.
“Oh, same!” declared Cecilia.
Over a delicious dinner, conversation flowed amicably and Lily was quietly delighted.
Any residual social fears evaporated. Sigrid was so welcoming and relaxed and Dorian remained surprisingly pleasant.
Cecilia’s ongoing performance of overfamiliarity was so roundly ignored by Sigrid that it wasn’t even annoying.
After they’d eaten, Lily helped clean up and found herself working companionably alongside Dorian in the kitchen.
“How did you enjoy your day on set?” he asked.
“It was really interesting.” Lily smiled. “And I’m glad I went but—” She dropped her voice. “I’d never have gone if …”
“You weren’t there to see me,” Dorian said. “I gathered.”
His face darkened and Lily felt his old, cold manner emerge then clear as swiftly as a passing cloud.
“It was a good day to be there,” he said. “Better to see the stunt guy than me, really.”
“I also loved the cameo by the guy on the bike.”
“Who?”
“The guy on the pink cruiser.”
“Oh no. Again? Honestly, we’ve tried everything—”
“It was fine,” laughed Lily. “It’s his town, after all.”
“So it would seem.”
“Why shouldn’t he ride his bike down his own street?”
“Because we paid him not to.”
“I guess there are still some things money can’t buy.”
“What? What can’t money buy?” demanded Cecilia from the other side of the room. “Have you ever noticed that people who say that just can’t afford what they want?”
An awkward lull.
“No offense,” she added. “So what’s everyone wearing to the premiere?” “Everyone” clearly did not include Lily. “The weather’s so weird, I can’t decide between a dress or a suit.”
“I think something subtle would suit you,” suggested Sigrid, and Lily had to suppress the urge to laugh.
Dorian turned to Lily. “Sorry, I meant to ask you earlier. Would you like to join us at the premiere?”
Lily and Cecilia looked at him, both dumbfounded. Sigrid seemed less surprised.
“Please come,” Sigrid urged. “It sounds grand, but really it’s just a movie and drinks.”
“If you’re not in the industry,” Cecilia muttered into her drink.
“Our dad’s coming,” added Sigrid.
Lily avoided Dorian’s expectant look as she tried to figure out what to say.
Was he asking her out? Even after she’d rejected him?
Of course not. This couldn’t be a date; Sigrid had seemed in on it.
It was a casual invitation. But why? When he already had his sister and his father and his best friend and Cecilia, who had clearly been to premieres before and looked stunning on a red carpet?
“No pressure, of course,” Dorian said as Lily paused. “If you’re busy, I understand. Or if it’s just not your thing. Big crowds, you know.”
“No, I’d love to come, thank you.”
She wasn’t quite sure what had made her say it.
Maybe it was to gratify Sigrid, who seemed keen, or to irritate Cecilia, who was obviously against it.
Maybe she wanted to see more of Dorian, who was so clearly working to repair the rift between them.
However she had felt about him previously, this was a chance to start over.
He was being nice, she was enjoying his company, maybe there was potential for friendship that had previously been thwarted by her misconceptions and his former arrogance.
Whatever it was, she abandoned her resolve to avoid Dorian for the rest of her life and decided instead to pursue the strange force that kept throwing them together.