Page 37 of Push & Pull
“I’ll take your word on it.” Petra shook her head. “We’re almost there. Take a breath, would you? You’re freaking me out a bit.”
“Sorry.” Simone flipped down the visor again, checking her eyeliner in the mirror.It’s not smudged, is it? Totally even on both sides?She didn’t often wear eyeliner, but the last time she met up with the girls, Cady Thompson made not one, buttwosnide comments about how tired Simone looked.Of course I looked tired. My dad died and I had been crying for two weeks straight!
Then again, this was the same group that came to his funeral and paid their respects, so Simone couldn’t be too hard on them. They even consoled Simone when her father had married Astrid, although Shéla Johnson-Chu had gone a bit far calling Astrid, a woman she had never met, a“gold-digging cunt who probably smells like every man she ever let on top of her.”When someone went too far even for Simone’s sensibilities, it was rough.After she got married to Freddie Chu, she somehow got meaner.
“I’ll be in the area,” Petra said after pulling up to the drop-off curb in front of Capitol Hill Quarters. Simone grabbed her bag and ensured the top was closed. “You got my number?”
“Yes. Go on ahead to the hotel I made reservations at this morning. It’s too early to check-in, but they’ll hold our bags.”
“Please, I’m not gonna abandon the car inWashington DCwith all our stuff in the trunk.” Petra shooed Simone out of the passenger side door. “Have fun, sweetheart! Tell all your friends I said h – “
Simone slammed the door on that twee statement. As the frigid winter air immediately snapped through her clothing, she pretended that she couldn’t see her breath or that the bag in her hand was heavier than the lump in her throat.
The Volvo’s horn honked behind her, nearly sending Simone straight to heaven.
“You forgot your mask!” Petra shouted from the window. From her hand dangled the surgical mask Simone had unpacked that day for their journey.Nevermind, I have a better one in my bag…There was no point sharing that. Simone was better off snatching the surgical mask from Petra before hauling ass into the hotel lobby, where she slammed the mask onto her face and followed the signs for the restaurant.
She was the last to arrive, of course. She knew she would be, yet it still stung to see three other women already on their second round of mimosas.
“There she is!” Cady Thompson, in a velvety sweater dress as bright as amber, raised her impeccable nails into the air to catch Simone’s attention. “See? I told you Simone would come today. Why didn’t you believe me?”
Simone sat in the empty chair right as a waiter in uniform approached with a fresh flute of water. “Sorry I’m late. I just got into town.”
“We tried calling and texting.” That was Shéla Johnson-Chu, who suffered no fools as she brushed the wrinkles out of her blue and white skirt. “You weren’t answering.”
“Sorry. Yes.” Simone shoved her bag into the basket beneath the table. Her valiant attempt to scoot her chair forward was accompanied by a horrendousSkrrrt!sound that made Cady jump, hand over her heart. “I accidentally left my phone back in Miami. I am currently using a backup.” She held up the prepaid phone that was as stylish as her attempts at ’90s chic, complete with Cher Horowitz plaid and hair.
“Miami?” Shéla scoffed. “What were you doing there? It’s hot, even at this time of year.”
“I was staying with Hailey Lambert for a few days. The party the night before I left was… intense.”
Two noses turned. Cady was the only one still smiling as she asked, “Was your journey into the city all right? Traveling at this time of year can be fraught with weather-related peril.”
“I’ve actually been driving up from Miami. On my way home after this.”
“Driving?” everyone asked in unison.
“Yes, like the road trip we took to the Poconos back in the day.” A menu appeared before Simone’s face. For the best, because she wasn’t convinced her cheap phone could handle a QR code. “Zeta Nu!”
The awkward silence was not met with another round of“Zeta Nu!”Either everyone was getting too old for that, or Simone was still, as always, the awkward one whom nobody knew what to make of.
That was especially true when she happened to catch a look from Phyllis Wright-Shaw, whose name was hyphenated because of the glorious union of the New England Wrights and the London Shaws right before she was born.Not like Shéla, who married down into the Chus and had to keep part of her maiden name to maintain her status.Well, that was marrying down according to the sisters of Zeta Nu, since God and everyone knew that the Guangzhou Chus had more money than the Wrights and Shaws put together.Shéla is the richest one here now, and she knows it.Maybe that was why she lauded over their brunch table like she was the Sultana of Indonesia.
Phyllis, though… she was simply a bitch. No other excuse.
“Isn’t Hailey Lambert dating that cokehead from Stockholm?”
Shéla could hardly contain the smug look on her face. Cady attempted to change the subject. Simone ordered the half-sized chef salad.
“So, how is everyone?” she asked after the waiter took her menu and promised to bring back an iced coffee. “Is your mother feeling any better, Cady? Oh, Shéla, I saw that spread of your lovely home inModern Luxury.The Rembrandt collection you intermixed with your Picasso originals? Very interesting. Ah, Phyllis…” Simone unfolded her cloth napkin and spread it across her lap. “Your new hair color is… striking.”
While that placated Shéla’s need to be admired, Phyllis frowned so hard that she almost crushed her bottom lip.Don’t let your face set that way, Phyl.Also, was it Simone’s fault that Phyllis was always changing hair colors, attempting to find somethingnaturalthat totally didn’t give away the fact that she was already going gray at thirty?Genetics suck, huh?Phyllis’s mother had embraced her silvery hair for as long as Simone had known her, going all the way back to high school.
“My mom is doing a lot better now,” Cady said. “It’s kind of you to remember.”
“Strokes are no joke, as they say.”
“It’s a grim reminder to take care of one’s self.” With a sigh, Cady meticulously lined up her silverware with her place setting. “Which is why I passed up on the cheddar broccoli soup and am instead having minestrone. No bread.”
