Page 20 of The Show

Her deep purple dress contrasted perfectly against the pale rose of Beulah’s as she did a little twirl.

“Thank you.”

“That lip color looks so good on you, Lowe,” Beulah smiled at me. “I want it. Do you know what it is?”

“No, but I can find out.”

Murray’s head was moving in between us as he tried to keep up with the conversation. “God, girl chat is so random. I’d never go up to Rafe or Penn and compliment them on their lips.”

“Ouch!” Rafe grabbed his chest dramatically. “That hurts. And I was just about to tell you how good I thought your ears were looking tonight.”

Beulah rolled her eyes at the pair of them, “Gimme a break! The three of you talk such shit when you’re together. Half of it makes no sense at all!”

“It makes perfect sense to us,” shot back Rafe with a grin.

Murray halted a passing waiter and relieved him of the canape tray; he and Rafe both devouring three in one go. “So, who’s going to be here tonight then?”

“Just the usual crowd.”

“Oh,” I nudged Lauren, “Dylan heard that Adele is singing Happy Birthday.”

Kit’s eyes bugged like mine had. “Fuck, seriously?! That is so cool. I love her. It’s probably so lame to ask for a picture, right?”

“There’ll be a photographer doing the rounds, just try and stand near her when she makes an appearance.” Rafe’s head flew back with a loud guffaw.

“We should get Penn to have her sing the anthem at The Lions Opening Day game,” chuckled Lauren, with an evil glint in her eye. “Then you can ask her.”

“He’s going to take on the club then?” asked Beulah.

“Not sure he has a choice…”

A loud throat clearing stopped Lauren from saying any more. Penn and Lucian were on their way back, though Lucian did nothing more than give us a quick wave before continuing down the path.

“Hello, dickhead,” Lauren sniped as she hugged Penn. “Decided to rejoin our family, have you? Not sure Nance is too thrilled about it though.”

“Shut up,” he huffed lightly, hugging her back.

I glanced over to him; he was looking at the boys, but from this angle, I could still see his eyes were a little more red and puffy than they had been before he’d left with Lucian. It was as he eased himself away from Lauren, then kissed Kit and Beulah, greeting them with a hello, that I realized he had never done the same to me.

And I wasn’t just talking about tonight.

Penn Shepherd had never greeted me with a kiss or without a minimum of three feet between us.

I was still pondering on it when the three boys walked off together without another word, leaving the four of us standing there.

“Excellent. Girl time,” Lauren announced, “Let’s get another drink in before the hordes arrive.”

* * *

The party was in full swing by the time my parents arrived. I’d made Lauren wait with me by the bar nearest to the entrance, though it was too far away for me to see when my parents’ car arrived among the convoys of chauffeured SUVs, Maybachs, Rolls Royces, and Limousines. I’d already seen two former Secretaries of State, the winner of last year’s Academy Award for Best Director, and the guy who was always trying to push Lucian off the top spot of the world’s richest man list.

“There they are.” Lauren nudged me while I was trying to figure out if I’d just seen Brad Pitt walk in.

I followed her finger, though I didn’t need to as she was already dragging me in their general direction.

“There she is!” I heard my dad cry, but I didn’t get a chance to hug him before my mom grabbed me with a shriek and clasped me to her so tightly that my arms went numb from lack of circulation, and her enormous diamond ring biting into my skin.

My dad gradually loosened her grip and peeled her off me, her eyes already glistening.

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