Page 51 of Always Knew It Was You

“Hey,” Carly calls her attention softly. “Are you doing okay? He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

She seems surprised that Carly is addressing her and then nods. “No, he didn’t hurt me. Although, he’ll probably get me fired after this.”

“That won’t happen,” I say to her and she turns to me. “I can assure you of it.” I know the owner of this hotel and can pretty much ensure that she keeps her job. “What’s your name?”

“Clara,” she says. “Clara Romano.”

I nod and say, “You won’t be losing your job, Clara Romano.”

She swallows and offers me a small smile. “Thank you.”

Carly tries to help the woman pick up the pieces of glass, but she waves Carly off insistently, then rushes off before we can say anything else. After, Carly finally uses the bathroom. Then we head back to the party.

The grand ballroom is already full by this point with people swarming around the dance floor, talking in groups, or waltzing to the orchestra on stage. Goody bags sit to the side, meant for the guests upon leaving. Servers glide about with drinks on their trays, eagle-eyed and searching for beckoning guests.

Carly stiffens as she takes it all in, and her expression begins to look distinctly uncomfortable.

“Relax,” I say. “We’re just going to mingle a little, have a little wine, and then we leave.”

“For how long?”

“Maybe ten, thirty minutes. Here…” I snag two wine glasses from a passing server’s tray and hand one of them to her. “Have some wine. Relax.”

She downs that glass in a few seconds flat and then finishes off my glass too. Only then does she begin to visibly ease up. We find Jamie and Ally again and spend most of the time talking to them with Jamie and Carly being mostly quietly attentive, and Ally and me doing most of the talking.

In any case, thirty minutes pass pretty quickly and before we know it, we’re saying our goodbyes and stepping out through the back to avoid the paparazzi.

“Ah,” she says as she turns her face to the sky, a gentle breeze ruffling her hair, and surrounding me in the smell of pine. “Freedom at last.”

I laugh. “It wasn’t that bad.”

“No, it wasn’t.” She sounds surprised to admit. “It was kind of fun. And your friends aren’t as snobby as I thought they would be. But it is nice to be out.” She finally turns to the goody bag in her hand. “I wonder what’s in here.”

“Probably jewelry.” That’s usually the types of goodies we get. “Something basic. Maybe a Cartier bracelet, or a Rolex.”

“That’s basic to you?” She says in amazement, pulling out the box. Turns out I’m right. It is a Rolex.

She opens up the box and analyzes it.

“How much do you think this costs?” she asks.

“This isn’t a super expensive model. Maybe twenty thousand. Why?”

She stares at me. “Can we go to a pawnshop? I think I saw one on the way here and it might still be open.”

“Why?”

“Because I can think of a few things I want more than a watch.”

I shake my head. “Yeah, but you’re going to get lowballed at a pawnshop. Better to resell it online.”

She shakes her head. “No. It has to be done today.”

“What do you need the money for?” I cock my head. “If you need it urgently, I can just send it to you.”

“No. This is something I have to do myself and I have to do it today.”

After a few more minutes of back and forth, during which Carly stubbornly sticks to her guns, we take the limo to a pawnshop that Carly saw, and fortunately for her, it is open. Carly isn’t a bad haggler and manages to sell the watch for close to its original price of eighteen thousand. And then she directs us to a twenty-four-hour grocery store next, in order to buy canned food of all things.

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