“Very.”
“I appreciate the honesty.”
Ellie shifted her weight.
“I was told these shoes had undergone testing.”
Camille looked down.
“They’re beautiful.”
“That was not the test.”
The tension in my shoulders loosened.
Camille returned her attention to me.
“And who have you brought with you tonight?”
There it was.
A simple question.
One I had answered incorrectly in different forms for years.
Friend.
Assistant.
Someone helping backstage.
A local acquaintance.
I looked at Ellie.
She was no longer smiling, but she held my gaze.
“Go ahead,” she said.
“This is Ellie Parker,” I told Camille. “She’s my girlfriend.”
The word entered the noise of the carpet without music, fireworks, or a change in lighting.
Girlfriend.
Not mystery woman.
Not friend.
Not the person who had fixed me.
Ellie Parker.
My girlfriend.
Camille smiled.
“It’s lovely to meet you.”
