Page 58 of The Suit

“Just cheese?”

I nodded.

I wasn’t sure what made cheese so funny, but her head fell back to the cushion as she laughed loudly and genuinely. If I’d thought her smile was beautiful, it was nothing compared to her laugh – soft, symphonic, and totally perfect.

Unfortunately, whatever expression I was wearing, stopped her, “What?”

I leaned over to the firepit and switched it on, watching the flames come to life before settling back down. She was still looking at me, waiting for me to reply.

“I’ve never heard you laugh before.”

Little frown lines appeared between her brows, “I laugh.”

“Well, you should do it more. It suits you.” She started chewing her lip, setting off a memory I’d forgotten about. “Actually, that’s a lie. I have seen you laugh.”

She came out of her thoughts, looking at me eagerly. “Oh yes? When?”

“Halfway through first year. Hollis Watts lost a bet and turned up to class dressed as Lady Gaga. Every time Professor Grannery turned her back to write on the board he got up and performed one of Gaga’s dance routines until she caught him and kicked him out. The entire class pissed themselves laughing…” I pointed to her, “even you.”

It took a few seconds but then the laughter set in until her entire body was shaking and tears poured down her face.

“Oh God, is that what it was? How had I forgotten that? I was so confused when he turned up. I had no idea what was going on. I’d barely heard of Gaga before then and it was so weird,” she wheezed, wiping her damp face. “Wonder what he’s doing now.”

“He works at the White House Counsel’s Office.”

“Wow. Good for him.” She picked up her wine, and I remembered the question I didn’t want to waste asking the other day when she was looking over my college photos.

“Who did you hang out with? I never saw you with anyone.”

She pensively rolled the stem of her glass between her palms, “I didn’t really. I was too busy studying. I wanted to be the best.”

“Still didn’t get you the Number One slot, did it?” I shot out, then instantly regretted it.

“No, no it didn’t,” she replied softly, which only made the regret of my comment more profound.

In the distance I could see the boardwalk lights lining the beach begin to light up, along with those belonging to the superyachts scattered about the ocean as their dinghies ferried patrons to the shore.

I peered over to her, as she nibbled on a stick of celery,

“I was jealous of you, you know.”

She stopped mid crunch.

“I worked my ass off, I slaved away in the library every day and never so much as got more than the grade I’d earned. But all the professors loved you.Lovedyou.”

She didn’t offer any explanation as she continued crunching loudly enough to drown out the sound of the crashing waves. It was a noise I usually found unbearably annoying, even going so far as to ban the boys from eating cereal in my company, but for some reason, with her it seemed acceptable.

“They did, didn’t they?”

I looked back over to find her grinning at me, the old grin though, dripping in smugness.

“Yes.”

Another silence stretched out, this one long enough that I finished my glass of wine, and poured another, topping up hers as well.

“Did you know my father used to be a professor at Harvard?”

I blinked, trying to understand if I heard her correctly while I wracked my brain for a Professor Holmes, but came up blank.

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