Page 55 of We Used To Be Magic

‘Yeah, but we don’t need to shout it from the rooftops. It’s not anyone else’s business.’

‘Come on.’ I laughed. ‘This place is a fish bowl.Everythingis anyone’s business.’

‘I’m serious.’

‘So am I. I mean – I get why you might want your privacy, but—’

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

‘Just, because of everything that happened with your sister, I suppose.’

‘It has nothing to do with her.’

‘… Okay. I’m sorry, I—’

‘I’m tired,’ she said brusquely, abruptly standing up and peeling off my sweatshirt, throwing it in my lap before striding away. I just sat there for a moment, too stunned to be hurt. Then I remembered that it was the middle of the night and scrambled to my feet, trailing her back to the dormitories like a scolded dog. The next morning, she greeted me at breakfast with a smile and pretended like nothing had happened.

Basically, ‘blame Eleanor’ could mean absolutely anything.

‘Is she … all right?’ I venture.

‘Great,’ Edie says. ‘She’s decided to give reality television a go. Her and a few other “influencers” are getting paid a stupid amount of money to live with cameras pointed in their faces.’

‘Oh,’ I say, the implications dawning. Edie and Eleanor look spookily similar. They share a surname. And if the show is popular …

‘She told me about it before she signed up,’ Edie continues. ‘I begged her not to, obviously. I told her that it wouldruinany chance I had of being taken seriously at my new job, and …’

She falls silent, shaking her head before taking a sip of her wine. She’s clearly furious – her nostrils are flaring, which is always a dead giveaway. I think she might stab me with a cocktail skewer if I pointed that out, though.

‘And … ?’ I prompt hesitantly.

Edie lets out a small, humourless huff of laughter. ‘And she told me that she could get me on the show as well. In a supporting role, of course.’

I wince, imagining the nuclear argument that inevitably ensued.

‘Yep,’ she says tersely. ‘But it’s a big firm. Seeing as no one knows or cares about who Eleanor is outside of theUK, I applied for a transfer. They run pretty much the same internship scheme in New York as they do in London.’

‘Right,’ I say. ‘That was lucky.’

‘Not really. Mum went to uni with the head of my division, so …’

‘Ah.’ I smile. ‘Nepotism strikes again.’

‘It’s not like you can talk,’ she says, rolling her eyes. ‘You’re working with your dad, right?’

‘No. What made you think that?’

‘I just assumed. Did Maggie find you something?’

‘Caroline, actually. I wait tables in her girlfriend’s restaurant.’

‘Very funny.’

‘Not a joke,’ I say mildly, taking a sip of my drink.

Edie blinks at me. ‘Seriously?’

‘It’s only part time, but – yeah. It’s all right.’

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