"No need to apologize," Garrett replied breezily, helping Mara steady herself against him when the plane bounced sharply again. She clung to him, bouncing up and down against his lap.
"So you're that kind of girl," Garrett joked, making her blush. He was obnoxious, but somehow charming all the same. She couldn't help but notice how tightly he was holding her.
"You're driving me crazy," he growled, half-mockingly, but with a flirtatious edge. "Why don't you have dinner with me this weekend? That way, we can actually get to know each other instead of just fooling around like this."
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"I can't." She shook her head. "I have to work, I'm sorry." She wondered what Ryan would think if he saw her now, sitting on some other boy's lap.
"I'm making the reservation anyway." He shrugged. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that."
A few minutes later, the plane stopped shaking and the pilot announced that they were above the storm clouds and had settled into a stable cruising altitude. Garrett helped Mara to her seat, bowing and kissing her hand in a gentlemanly fashion. She exhaled a sigh of relief when he excused himself to attend to his other guests. He was suave all right, but she had a feeling Garrett Reynolds always got--or bought--what he wanted, and Mara was definitely not for sale.
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in girl-talk,
"you look great!"
means 7m so happy to see you"
INSIDE SCOOP, JACQUI TREATED THE DRESSING ROOM as a revolving door, posing in each skimpy bathing suit in rapid succession, discarding those that were too tight across the chest and too small in back. (She'd gotten in trouble for her thongs on Georgica Beach last year, and she didn't want to get hauled in again for violating the "morality" laws that kept the Hamptons beaches safe from the sight of exposed rear ends.) When Eliza found her, she was wearing a bandeau top and checking out the crucial crack-covering ability of a minuscule suit bottom by performing a series of squats in front of the three-way mirror (to the obvious consternation of an envious row of shoppers).
"Sorry, am I interrupting?" Eliza joked, as Jacqui performed deep knee bends in the tiny half-moon piece of fabric.
'"Liza!" Jacqui said happily, standing up for a hug. They embraced each other warmly, Eliza's stack of gold bangle bracelets clanking against Jacqui's bare shoulders.
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"Look at you!" Eliza said, pulling Jacqui's arms out and admiring how her friend filled out the Gaultier bikini.
"No, chica, look at you!" Jacqui squealed. The two of them clucked and cooed in the fawning, joyful way that girls greet each other, effusively complimenting each other on their hair, their shoes, their weight loss (real or imagined).
"I didn't see you at the Jitney stop and figured you'd be here," Eliza explained. "I'm sorry I'm late. The interview took a while."
"How did it go?" Jacqui asked, disappearing into the dressing room to change.
"Awesome! I got the job!" Eliza said, admiring a canvas Kate Spade tote.
"Hooray!" Jacqui cheered, emerging in a bohemian-style empire-waist dress and high-heeled Gucci clogs. "Do you take AmEx?" she asked the salesgirl, handing her the bikini.
"Can I take a quick peek around before we get Mara?" Eliza asked, critically examining a crocheted poncho while Jacqui paid for her new purchase.
"I think her plane gets in right now, so no."
"All riiiiight," Eliza said, looking longingly at the brightly colored Matthew Williamson sarongs. "We'll come back."
"So, how've you been?" Jacqui asked, when they were in Eliza's car on the way to the East Hampton airport. They rolled down all the windows to let in the fresh ocean breeze, even though Eliza had the AC cranking. The girls hadn't seen each other since Palm Beach, where they'd shopped on Worth Avenue and hung
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out at the Four Seasons pool with all the kids in tow. There'd been an insane Christmas ball at the Colony Club and a lavish New Year's party at the Breakers. Everything had been perfect-- except for the fact that Mara hadn't joined them. Jacqui couldn't wait for all three of them to be back together again soon, but first she wanted to make sure Eliza had come clean about what exactly had happened when Mara wasn't around.
"I'm good." Eliza nodded, and told Jacqui about her plans for world (or at least Hamptons) domination that summer. She was going to be working at the coolest club and hanging out with the hottest people--in her mind, it wasn't even a job, it was more like ... a title, a position. She would be representing what Seventh Circle was all about. Her old crew would come around, and soon she'd be calling the shots again. She had nothing to be embarrassed about this summer, and she was counting on her connection with Kartik and Alan to facilitate her return to the high life.
"Have you seen Ryan yet?" Jacqui asked, steering the conversation back to where she wanted it to go.
"No, but we've e-mailed, and I spoke to him on the phone the other night. I don't think it'll be awkward." Eliza had tried to push the memory out of her mind, but the fact that she'd hooked up with Ryan Perry--the love of her best friend's life--in Palm Beach was not easily forgotten. Especially when she had yet to tell that best friend. "I mean, it was just a stupid drunken thing, and we've been friends for, like, ever."