Page 91 of So Close

Does Lily remember all the lurid details I told her while she was unconscious?

“You look great!” she exclaims, raking me with a friendly head-to-toe glance. “I love your jacket.”

“Thank you.” I didn’t know I’d be meeting Lily for a drink after work, so I didn’t dress for the occasion. While she’s in happy hour attire, I’m wearing slacks and a blazer. Luckily, my outfit is one of Tovah’s picks, and Lily’s not the only one who complimented the cropped green velvet blazer.

“I love your kimono,” I tell her because I grudgingly do and am expected to say something nice back.

“Oh, thank you. Me, too. It was my mother’s.” She hangs her purse on the hook beneath the bar.

I don’t have any of my mother’s clothes. I don’t think she even owns anything resembling an heirloom like the lustrous silk draping Lily. My dear sister-in-law has it all, everything. Yeah, she had an accident and lost a few whacky years she can laugh about at parties, but really … her life is fucking perfect.

“What’ll it be, gorgeous?” the bartender asks her as he sets my new martini next to my first one, which I’ve consumed only halfway. “You two are making my night. The genetics in your family make for a fine view.”

I wait for Lily to correct him and tell him we just look alike, but she simply thanks him and orders the same thing I’m having but better – filthy, with only a swish of vermouth and extra olives.

So... Witte lied about her being a teetotaler. Why? To ruin my gift idea so hers would be better?

With a tight smile, I add him to my shit list.

“You got it.” Winking at her, the bartender adds a rap of his knuckles and has no idea his tip is decreasing by the minute. Seriously, his martinis are shit.

Lily cants her body to face me. “How’d your day go?”

I shrug and take another drink. I force myself to take a sip instead of the gulp I want. I’m getting through each workday sticking to the detox, but by five o’clock, I can’t stand sobriety another damned minute. “It was work.”

Setting her elbow on the bar, she rests her jaw on her hand, looking elegant, relaxed and engrossed in anything I might say. If she only knew what’s on my mind …

“Would you mind telling me about it?” she goads. “Kane mentioned you had a social media management agency you folded into Baharan?”

“It didn’t fold. It got digested.” I stare at her, wondering what her angle is.

She looks to the bartender as he serves her drink, then he sets a votive candle between us. The Italian restaurant sits on the corner opposite the Crossfire and has floor-to-ceiling glass windows on three sides. During lunch, sunlight floods the space enough to require window shades, but night is falling and votives twinkle on every table. While Lily focuses on sampling her drink for the bartender, who waits for her approval, I take the opportunity to knock back the rest of my first martini and shove the glass away.

When she looks back at me over the rim of her glass, I’m chewing on my lone olive.

“Kane showed me the creative for the launch of ECRA+,” she says. “It’s really impressive.”

“Thanks.” I try not to sound irritated. What the hell does she know? “I think it’s run-of-the-mill. I’m working on something better right now.”

“What aren’t you happy with?” Lily genuinely seems interested.

“Everything. The colors, the imagery, the messaging. Packaging, science and Rosana and Eva’s flawless faces aren’t going to be enough to compete in a crowded celebrity beauty space, but that’s what they’re focusing on.” I’m relieved when the bartender clears my empty glass. It looks much better with just the one drink in front of me.

“So, how do you fix it?”

I push back my irritation with her incessant questions. I like talking about my work, even if I don’t like talking with her. And as far as I’m concerned, if I answer a bunch of questions, she’ll have to do the same.

“By showing the product at work, on everyone, highlighting dermatological conditions that show improvement. Vibrantly real, untouched photos and videos.” I take another sip. She’d be horrible as a brand ambassador. “It’s not reinventing the wheel, but it’s telling people what they want to know: the product isn’t just beautiful wrapping, and it’s not just worn by influencers they admire. The product is truly a good bang for the buck.”

Her smile is luminous. “I can’t wait to see it.”

I’ve drunk enough courage. “Why do you care?”

She leans into the bar. Her legs are crossed and canted to one side; with her short dress, they look a mile long. Skin that pale should be blinding, but she just looks beautiful, like she’s perpetually lit by moonlight.

“I think we could help each other.”

My brows shoot up. Unless she wants me as her stunt double for Kane’s mattress gymnastics, I can’t imagine anything she could offer that I’d want. “How so?”

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