If anyone else sees the way he’s staring at me, they’re going to figure out just how much we’re benefiting from our friendship. Charlie clearly doesn’t care, and the feeling of holding his attention in such a large crowd is almost drugging. It’s all I can do not to turn my cheek and kiss him. But I pull back and give him a once-over. “You look fine, I suppose.”
“I lookdamnfine.”
I roll my eyes, but I’m smiling. My nerves have evaporated. I’ve coated myself in all my protective layers, but they aren’t what makes me safe. It’s Charlie. I don’t need to be in-command photographer Alice or obliging daughter Alice or perfect girlfriend Alice. I can just be me. A woman at a party, trying to figure out her shit like everyone else.
I’m introduced to Julien, a longtime friend of the family and the chef and owner of the Tavern. I meet friends of both Charlie’s and Sam’s and their partners. I meet Percy’s parents. When Harrison joins the group, I notice Charlie takes a step closer to me.
At one point, Percy lets out another loud laugh, and Charlie and I turn to see her and Sam cracking up about something. I glance at Charlie, and I’m hit with a sense of déjà vu. It takes me a moment to figure out why, to place the familiar expressions: Percy’s big smile, the way Sam is focused on her, and Charlie, watching his brother with a delighted smirk. It’s how they were in my photo.
I snap frame after frame, and then Percy pulls me over to ask me what shade of lipstick I’m wearing. And soon we’re talking about makeup and magazines and art directors we both know. I glance at Charlie when I hear his laugh, and I see him and Sam sharing some kind of inside joke.
And it dawns on me.
This isexactlywhere I wanted to be when I was seventeen, but it’s also exactly where I want to be now.
Percy, Sam, and I are deep in a conversation about the manuscript she’s working on when I feel a hand on my back.
“What can I get you to drink?”
I pause and look up at Charlie.
“And why are you smiling like that?” he says.
Because for once in my life, I don’t feel like I’m on the sidelines. For once, I’m in the photo.
“I’m having a good time,” I tell him. “Sparkling water would be great, thanks.”
“Really? I hired a bartender. She’ll make anything you want.”
“I don’t drink while I’m working.”
“All right,” he says. “One sparkling water, coming up.”
“What do you think of the tree house?” I ask Percy and Sam once he’s left.
“We haven’t seen the finished product,” Percy says.
“Charlie’s being dramatic,” Sam adds. “The official unveiling is tonight.”
“It’s pretty incredible,” I tell them, and they share a look. I get the feeling Percy and Sam can communicate without speaking. “It’s come a long way since you were last here.”
Percy’s smile grows. “He’s let you in it, then?”
Her question is a loaded one, and I look around, hoping Charlie will return and rescue me from what I’m almost certain is about to become an interrogation. But he’s nowhere in sight.
“He has,” I say slowly, knowing I’m turning a vibrant hue.
Sam arches a single brow and takes a sip of whatever brown liquor is in his glass.
“I’m going to pop inside,” I tell them. “I want to get shots of your guests.”
I slip away but not before I hear Percy telling Sam, “You owe me twenty bucks.”
Thirty minutes later, I feel a hand on my shoulder. “There you are. I’ve been trying to find you.” Charlie passes me a glass. “You get what you needed?”
“For the most part.” I’d like to take a few more of Percy and Sam, but otherwise I think I’ve captured enough crowd and detail shots.
“Want to put the cameras away for a while? Enjoy the party?”
