Page 16 of King of Deception

“Careful!” he hissed. “You don’t even know what this is, do you?”

“It’s a single empty glass, not even a set,” I mocked. “Is this a prank or like a social media challenge or something?”

As if in slow motion, Alex extended his hands and cradled the glass, softly pulling it from my hand. “This is a vintage crystal champagne flute from the la fêtarde luxury set?” he explained. The empty, dumbfounded stare in my eyes prompted him to nervously straighten up, closely examining the piece. “I read an article about these once,” he murmured in awe. “This is a collectible! It must be worth a fortune.” He then looked up at me. “And to think that someone had the heart to engrave your initials on it,” he said with near disgust. “Must be a crazy person.”

“Jude,” I hissed.

He chuckled, carefully putting the glass back in its cradle. “Honey, he’d have to sublet his apartment and become homeless to afford this.”

“Really?” Confused, I stared back down at the package.

Suddenly frantic, Alex rushed toward the couch, picking up his phone. “Let’s just… gimme a sec.” He began typing, and his eyes grew wider. Grinning, he came over and held up the screen to my eyes. “Huh?”

My eyes remained fixed on the digits on the web page in front of me. In disbelief, my jaw dropped. “Ten. Thousand. Dollars?” I recited, still unable to process the information.

Alex slowly shook his head, whispering, “I don’t think this is from Jude, El. I really don’t.”

Looking back down, I realized that what I had thought was protective foam stuffing rolled up inside was actually a piece of paper. Sliding in my finger, I pulled it out. “It’s a card!” I slowly unfolded it, reading. “Lucid club invites you to the grand opening. Saturday, nine p.m.”

There was an address but no signature.

“Lucid? Lucid… why do I know this name?” Alex began snapping his fingers repetitively.

“Of course, you’d know it. You write for an awesome lifestyle portal. Why did I get this?”

“I really don’t know—”

“I mean, I’m not cool—”

He shook his head, “You’re so not.”

“I don’t get invited to club openings—”

“You—Never,” he mumbled.

“If anything, you drag me to those things!”

“Wait, hold on,” he leaned over to look at the card. “Is there a plus one?”

I dropped my shoulders, giving him an apologetic look. “No?”

“Damn it!”

“I know!” I raised my voice.

“Surreal. It’s like the universe is upside down right now.”

“Right?”

“I don’t get it.”

“I’m not going to this.” I dropped the card onto the table and picked up my glass.

“Excuse me?”

“What?” I went back to sit in my chair, pulling up my legs to cross them.

“You cannot not go.” He put his hands up in the air.

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