“Are we? Because I fit in pretty well with your family. And it seems like you got on well with Mitch and Marg.”
“Mitch and Marg, maybe. But not everyone else here.”
“I’ll let you in on a little secret, sweetheart,” he said, pulling me a little closer. “No one fits in here. Everyone pretends they do. But no one does. It’s all an elaborate play.”
“You fit in.”
“I was taught how to play my part from the cradle.”
Okay.
That was kind of sad.
“I also want to stress that this,” he said, glancing around, “is not my world.”
“It’s part of it.”
“An extremely small part of it. I don’t care if these people like you or not. Most of them don’t even like themselves.”
“So this was a waste of a trip,” I grumbled, sipping the rest of my champagne.
Harrison plucked the empty flute from my fingers and placed it on the nearest table.
“Why does it have to be a waste? The food is surprisingly good at this event.”
“A bacon-wrapped scallop doesn’t sound awful.”
With that, he led me around, plucking food off of trays until I was no longer starving.
We were stopped no fewer than a dozen times. It seemed the news of our ‘marriage’ had gotten around. And everyone wanted to talk to the woman who snagged one of the country’s most eligible bachelors. No kidding. More than one person actually used that term.
Harrison remained effortlessly charming.
I only got more and more convinced that I was right after all.
Because with each interaction, I got insights into his world. There were endless discussions about international summer camps, college, and private clubs. Yes, plural.
Social clubs, gentlemen’s clubs, country clubs, yacht clubs, polo clubs. Yes, polo.
Then there were the philanthropy ones.
Museum boards, foundations, patron societies, historical preservation societies.
I mean, the guy even slipped into French at one point. In casual conversation.
“You okay?” Harrison asked when another group walked away from us.
“I think I need some air.”
I didn’t wait for him to answer, just broke away and made my way out of the event room.
The air immediately felt thinner in the front hallway, with its ultra-high ceilings and lack of a crowd.
My heels clicked across the floor as I made my way toward the front doors.
This had been a mistake.
All I did was convince myself more and more that I didn’t belong with Harrison while he remained completely unaware of that fact.
