She whistles. “No wonder everyone and their mom sucks up to him.”
“Orflirts with him. Fitz didn’t offer to have me come home with him. And he was definitely flirting with Kathy, right?”
“Yikes. Someone is paranoid. I see the way he looks at you. He’s so into you,” Carolina says soothingly.
“Maybe just for sex, but not to actually date.”
“He’s been taking you on dates, unlike Kno—”
“Shhh!” I grab Carolina and drag her out onto the roof deck. “I didn’t tell you this yesterday, but in Knox’s house I found—”
“Proof! Can we finally hang the bastard?”
“No. Well, yes, but no. He still has my photos.”
“He has pictures of… ohhh,thosephotos.”
“God, I’m so stupid. I never should have sent them to him.” I pace around the deck.
“You were young and dumb.”
“And then he gets with Kathy anyway.”
“Hey, at least you know you live rent-free in his head. He’s jacking off to photos of you. He never got over you even after all these years.”
“That’s the Carolina brand of toxic positivity we know and love.” I adjust the centerpiece on the table. “God, I’m not going to be able to be in the same room as him, knowing that he still thinks he’s entitled to me after the way he treated me and used me and dumped me for my own sister.”
“Ladies!” Loony Laura parades out onto the deck, tottering in white stilettos with big shiny bows on them. “It looks so good in here. It’s so nice of Fitz to let us have the engagement party here on short notice. I mean, wow, Winnie, you really hit it out of the park with that one,” she says, her bleached teeth in a grimace of a smile. “You got the one-in-a-billion-dollar man.”
She starts rearranging the centerpieces. “Look at you, setting everything up yourselves. Men. Of course he didn’t tell his staff to stay and do it.”
“Well, this was sort of sprung on them last minute, and we’re not paying to be here, so I don’t want to take more of their time,” I explain. “The restaurant staff has to prep for dinner—they do the restaurant service for the hotel downstairs.”
“I’m sure you’ll tip them very well. But seriously, Fitz is their boss. They have to do what he says. Now, go tell them to do their job before the men show up,” Laura orders, pointing like we’re kindergarteners. “We have to have this party in motion when they get here.”
“Like I don’t have this engagement party under control,” I complain as Carolina and I head back inside. “Did you see her messing with the decorations?”
Carolina and I are making sure the grazing table is perfect when we hear Laura yelling at a poor cowering bartender about the color of the signature cocktails he’s making.
“…and you need to beservingtheappetizers,” she’s barking when we rush over.
“Laura, it’s buffet style, remember? You said you didn’t want servers because you wanted it to feel more casual, like a party Taylor Swift would throw in her house,” I cut in.
“Yeah, this is a casual rooftop engagement party. Easy elegance.” Carolina hypes her up while I apologize to the servers.
“This is Fitz’s restaurant,” she shrieks. “Calm down. You should have a better level of service than this.”
“It’s one of many. It’s not even his nice one—it’s, like, a step up from a sports bar.”
“Sweet! Meatballs!” The hockey players high-five each other as they pile into the restaurant. They are in their best athleisure, while the WAGs are all dressed to the nines.
Kathy has her smile plastered on as she serves out meatballs and cheese dip.
“Is Fitz coming?” Laura snaps at me. “I don’t think they should be eating if he’s on his way.”
“I don’t know…”
“What do you mean you don’t know? How do you not know where your own boyfriend is?”
