Damn it.
Cassie stands in the lobby, contemplating her next move as the doorman frowns at her. She can’t take the subway home because she’ll freeze to death walking there. She doesn’t have the money for a cab or Uber. Her only option is to text Joel and hope he comes down to save her. God only knows what he’s doing up there. Maybe if she leaves, they’ll invite Francesca and the two of them can have a grand reunion.
“Cassie?”
Cassie whirls around when she hears the voice call out her name. She notices the baby bump first and then the snowman face, and that’s when she realizes it’s Anna. The last person she wants to see right now. Well, not the last person, but certainly up there. Along with everyone else at that party.
Except then she notices Anna is holding her coat.
“You forgot your coat,” Anna says, holding it out to her. Now that Lydia isn’t with her, Anna seems much more innocuous. There’s something sweet about her heart-shaped face. Maybe it’s the impending motherhood. “I wouldn’t want you to catch a cold.”
“Thank you,” Cassie mumbles as she yanks the coat out of Anna’s hands.
Anna hesitates, chewing on her lip. “Don’t feel bad about the costume thing. It’s not that big a deal.”
“Yes,” Cassie says tightly, “it was.”
“Okay, fine,” Anna says. “It was… weird. I was shocked when I saw you. But in the scheme of things…”
“Lydia told me to dress as Cleopatra.”
Anna blinks, clearly thrown by this piece of information. “Oh…”
“She wanted to humiliate me.”
“I’m sure that’s not true.”
Cassie lowers her eyes. “I’m not so sure.”
“You have to understand.” Anna puts a hand on her round abdomen. “Lydia has nothing against you. She just hates seeing Joel with anyone besides Francesca. Lydia’s very loyal to people she cares about.”
“I’ll say,” Cassie mutters.
“It’s a good quality,” Anna says. “Except when it makes her act like a bitch.”
Cassie looks at Anna in surprise. She thought Lydia and Anna were really tight, and she didn’t expect to hear Anna badmouthing her friend. But it oddly makes her feel a lot better about the whole thing.
“Anyway,” Anna continues, “don’t concern yourself with Lydia. The whole world doesn’t revolve around her. You make Joel happy, and that’s good enough for me.”
Cassie manages a smile. “Thanks. You didn’t see Joel, did you? He sort of disappeared the second we got to the party.”
Anna throws her head back and laughs. “You don’t know? He and Pete got bored of the party, and they went to watch football in the bedroom. My husband’s probably in there too. Hell, half the men will be in there by the end of the night.”
“Oh…”
Anna raises an eyebrow. “Would you like me to get him for you?”
“No, that’s okay.”
“You can come back to the party, you know,” Anna says. “If you lose the makeup and the crown, you can be… um, a brunette Marilyn Monroe.”
Cassie laughs for the first time all evening. “If only I’d thought of that.”
“Come on,” Anna says. “It’ll be fun. And I told Lydia she had to quit being a bitch. She’ll be nice to you now. Nicer. She’s never nice—I’ve given up on that one.”