Page 11 of Waves of Time

“It must be hard for you to date since you’re always in different places,” Callie suggested.

“It can be interesting,” Aria said, wondering how she’d gotten so good at lying.

“Right! So many different types of people to meet,” Callie said.

“Exactly.”

Callie’s smile widened. She dropped her head back to swallow the last of her cocktail, then grabbed Aria’s wrist again and said, “Come on! Come with me!”

Aria wasn’t sure what else to do, so she hurried through the crowd toward the bathroom, where Callie fluffed her hair in the mirror and then removed a small vial from her purse. Something cold and hard dropped into Aria’s stomach.

“It’s my gift to you,” Callie said mischievously, the vial raised. “A welcome to the city gift.”

Aria had never done drugs in her life. Back in college, she’d known about the harder parties, the ones that had usually ended with police and suspensions from college, but she’d never attended any of them. On the one hand, she’d been a little too depressed to socialize properly, and on the other, she just didn’t care for that kind of stuff.

“Thank you for the offer, but I’m okay,” Aria said.

Callie dropped her head back. “Come on, Aria. You’re cool now. I can see that.”

Aria bristled.Why did she suddenly feel like she was thirteen, getting peer-pressured into doing something she didn’t want to do?

“I had a long flight today,” Aria said. “And I don’t want to mess with my head. I told you. I’m here for work.”

“Aria. Don’t be lame.” Callie’s eyes flashed.

Suddenly, Gigi and Marnie entered the bathroom, calling Callie’s name. “Were you going to do that without us?” Marnie demanded saucily.

“Girls! I’m just trying to be welcoming to Aria,” Callie said.

Aria crossed her arms over her chest, feeling defensive. “I have to work tomorrow,” she repeated.

“So do we,” Callie told her. “Are you suggesting that your job is better than our jobs?”

“No, but…”

Callie tilted her head. “Uh oh. I think I know what’s going on here.”

Aria’s heart thudded in time to the pulsing beats outside the bathroom.

“You don’t do drugs, do you?” Callie said, taking a step forward. “You never did.”

Aria rolled her eyes, suddenly over it. “No. I never did, and I’m not going to start now.”

Callie giggled. “I knew it. I always knew how lame you were.” After another pause, she added, “Tell me you didn’t get this Sotheby’s job because of your mother.”

Aria’s jaw dropped.How had Callie known about her mother’s job? Had Aria talked about it?

Callie smiled at Gigi and Marnie as she added, “Aria spent all freshman and sophomore years in her dorm room, sobbing about wanting to go home to Nantucket. Didn’t you, Aria?”

Aria fumed with rage, but her tongue was frozen. It occurred to her, now, that she’d never actually liked Callie.Why had she forgotten that?She’d been caught up in the chaos of the night in a city she didn’t know, she supposed. That, and she’d wanted to believe she was braver than she really was.

“When are you going to grow up and stand on your own two feet, Aria?” Callie demanded icily. “When are you going to face the music of being a real adult?”

Before Callie could say another word, Aria turned on her heel and burst out of the bathroom, shoving herself through the crowd. Very soon, she found herself on the sidewalk beneath a Californian moon, shivering with fear and anger. A cab pulled over to pick her up, and she sat quietly in the backseat, watching the bright lights of the city blur past the window. When she reached the hotel, she mopped up her tears in the elevator and then entered the hotel suite, grateful to hear her mother’s television still on. It was only twelve-fifteen.How had so much drama happened so quickly?

“Aria?” Hilary called sweetly as Aria appeared in the doorway of her bedroom. Hilary sat up against several pillows, her eyes half-open as she watched a reality dating show. Aria hurried over and nestled against her mother, breathing deeply. “How was your night with your dad?”

“It was fun,” Aria said.

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