I would laugh like Kelly does but instead I hush Trish. “Don’t call him Z here—that’s just for us. I don’t want anyone to overhear.”
There’s a moment of contemplation in Trish’s eyes, followed by a soft smile. “What?” I question.
“Nothing, just … just déjà vu. You know when you get that it’s supposed to be a sign that you’re in the exact place you’re supposed to be.”
The quiet reflective moment is over with the DJ requesting guests be seated in the next ten minutes for the show to start.
“Cheers, my loves,” Kelly says as she hands Trish a drink and Trish hands mine back.
Our glasses clink and the lights dim further.
“We’re needed up front,” a man in a gray suit with a silver striped tie says over Kelly’s shoulder. Kelly finishes her sip, and quickly introduces him to us before running off with him.
I vaguely recognize his name from some event a while back and I’m fairly sure the two of them had a fling back then. It’s practically ancient history, though, since it was before Kelly got married.
“Good luck tonight,” Trish says.
“You got this,” I add and off Kelly goes, hand in hand, dressed to the nines with a French designer and the spotlights shifting to be on them.
Applause fills the room and I join in looking to my right and then my left, waiting for Zander to emerge.
“Do you want to take our seats?” Trish questions, already tugging on my arm.
“I want to wait here I think,” I reply and again I look over my shoulder for Z. “He said he’d be right back.”
“He might be a little bit,” Trish comments and I stare back at her with my blood running cold.
“What do you mean by that?” My voice is deathly low as the designer takes the floor, announcing the new line and partnership with Kelly.
Trish searches my face seemingly confused before asking, “Did neither of them tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
She only gets a few hushed comments out before Zander is back at my side. Shivers climb up the back of my neck as I stand there, absorbing it all as quickly as possible so as not to show that I now know what he wanted kept from me. There’s a pounding in my chest as he kisses my cheek like nothing’s wrong and asks the two of us, “Could I walk you to your seats, ladies?”
A moment passes before a smile graces my lips and I let him take my hand.
All the while, turmoil and fear rage inside.
Still, it’s: Lights. Camera. Action.