Beau looks at me when I walk into view, eyes staying on me and not going back to the TV. “Wow. You look amazing.” He stands when I get to the couch.
“Thank you.” I do a twirl in my dark emerald tea-length dress. It’s fitted over my curves and has a shining floral motif on it that glitters every time the light catches it. The main thing that attracted me to it in the store, like a fish drawn to shiny objects.
Priya hits Gavin on his shoulder. He responds while rubbing the appendage. “Ow. I already told you that you look amazing in that dress when you tried it on last night. And the four others you tried. And when you finally got out of them, I told you that you looked even better.” Gavin finally turns away from the TV to wag his eyebrows at my cousin, making me feel like a voyeur.
“Let’s go, guys. We can’t be late for our own party.” I move them along before they fornicate on my couch. I know what they got up to in other people’s homes when they were dating, and well, I’m not leaving them alone in my castle anytime soon.
Beau helps me with my coat and rushes to get my elevator door. He does the same with the door to exit the building, and then the door to the car.
“First I thought he was being polite, but does he legitimately not think you can open a door by yourself?” Priya whispers to me from the back of the Loot SUV she called for the night.
“I don’t know. I think he’s just being nice. Like a gentleman thing, maybe?” I respond, at an even lower volume. I hope he thinks I can open the door by myself. I’ve also been known to own my own property and even vote.
No. I’m going to think positive—this is politeness.
We catch the omnipresent city traffic, giving all us couples longer to make eyes at each other during the stop-and-start ride. I never thought I would be in a similar position as my besotted cousin, but I catch myself smiling at Beau in the reflection of the car window behind him and I can’t deny that I look exactly like Priya.
Except we aren’t some old married couple. There’s an expiration date on this...relationship-lite thing we have going.
The car stops in front of the venue, the Angel Orensanz Center in the Lower East Side, before anyone jumps their partner.
But just barely.
Instead of thinking of Beau, I focus on our breathtaking venue. The building was originally built as a synagogue, but now it’s an event space. Inside, the beautiful, blue-lit ceiling soars above our party decorations, with intricate Gothic arches carved into the far wall. A row of thick columns supports a balcony running on each side, and minimalist chandeliers light the space. It’s one of my favorite event rentals in a city filled with an embarrassment of riches when it comes to beautiful architecture, and we’ve held some of our most popular parties and sales here.
Tonight, it’s dressed in an anonymous “classy winter evening” theme, but if anyone had asked me, I would have told them it could have used some actual Christmas decorations. Christmas trees dressed in colorful ornaments. Santas. Rudolph and the others. Frosty and his snowman family.
But alas, no one asked me.
We’re the first ones to arrive, Priya making us get here early in case of emergencies. I find our table and set our jackets on the chairs, the warm room making them unnecessary. And then we leave the guys at the table.
“If you stealanyof my clients tonight, you can’t come to any more company events and I get to choose what we watch for the next month. And the first thing I’m going to choose is that British television show that you can barely understand, where clergy members solve crime in a quaint English village with an improbably high murder rate,” Priya warns the love of her life.
Really, they’re a couple we can all aspire to be.
For the next half hour I run around after Priya, not so much to help her, but mostly to talk her down from her annoying perfectionism and give out extra tips when she leaves people in a daze in her wake. When the first guest arrives, I assume that I’m off the clock and join Beau at the table.
“I’m already exhausted.” I slump into the empty seat next to Beau, the soft murmur of the slowly growing crowd hiding my criticism.
Beau pauses in the act of stuffing his face with samosa. “No one’s even here yet.”
I give him a dirty look and lean in to take a giant bite out of the delicious fried dough he’s eating. I moan when the life-giving sustenance hits my tongue and mount a large-scale theft from his plate to rival Lord Elgin’s campaign on the Parthenon.
He gives no resistance to my plan, pushing the plate closer to me.
Good man.
“Has my wife already sold all the items on your online sales?” Gavin asks.
Priya’s laughing with a group of buyers who just walked in and I think that might be a distinct possibility.
“She’s very good at her job.” I’m loyal behind her back even though I’m the first to sass her to her face.
“I know.” An affectionate look is on his face as he looks over at Priya.
Beau slides his drink over and I take it with zero guilt. It’s an open bar anyway.
“Hi, beta.” A voice comes from over my shoulder and then my face is surrounded by the glittering sequins of a bright pink sari as Chachihugs me from behind. The weight attempts to crush me and I’m impressed, as always, by how strong she must be for all the times she wears the heavily beaded, beautiful garments.
