“Only in places you can’t see.” Priya winked. “Anyway, he’s going to do a temporary one for you. Of Charlie’s tattoo. So we don’t have to worry about your clumsiness and flying bracelets taking down croquembouche towers.”
“Oh,” Cass said. She let out a deep breath.
“Did you actually think I was bringing you here for some real ink?” Priya laughed, shaking her head. “I do think we should have some fun, though, and send Charlie a picture and tell her you two now have matching tattoos.”
“She’ll never believe it.” Cass had never really considered a tattoo, and Charlie couldn’t wait to get one when she moved to L.A. Sometimes Cass wondered if Charlie had done it as a way to ever so slightly change their physical appearances—as a mark of her individuality. Fair enough, because while there were plenty of awesome things about being an identical twin—not the least of which was the benefit of being able to switch places—it could be hard at times to always be viewed as a packaged deal.
“She’d probably be pissed.” Priya chuckled. “Especially if she thinks I put you up to it. I doubt she’ll believe it for long, but it might be fun to mess with her for a few minutes? That girl needs to chill out sometimes.”
“You don’t have to tell me,” Cass said. Charlie’s ambition had never been something she’d hidden, and even if her intensity was at times hard to deal with, it was one of the things Cass admired most about her sister.
“I love her. She’s a really good friend.” Priya set the magazine on her crossed legs. “And spending time with you this week . . . I mean, I know you two have really different lives, but you’re similar in a lot of ways, too. How hard you both work, for one thing. But sometimes I wonder if Charlie’s as happy here as she could be, you know?”
Cass nodded, although to her it seemed as though Charlie was doing exactly what she wanted to be doing. But she realized she didn’t know for sure. Charlie’s life had seemed so perfect on the outside she had never thought to ask.
* * *
? ? ?
“It looks so real,” Cass said, staring at the exact replica of Charlie’s tattoo that now adorned her wrist. It was a Gemini twin sign, with two intersecting triangles （which reminded Cass of the mountains of Starlight Peak）， and a thin circle overlay. It was beautiful and simple, and Cass liked the way it looked against her skin more than she’d expected.
“That’s what we wanted.” Priya held up two fingers to the bartender, and soon they had replenished cocktails in front of them.
After Jason put on Cass’s temporary tattoo—which took all of ten minutes, involved zero pain as promised, and would last about two weeks—Priya decided they needed to celebrate her new ink with a few drinks. The restaurant was busy and the bar area particularly packed, but Cass was feeling relaxed for the first time all day despite the somewhat claustrophobic room.
“I take back what I said earlier. You and Charlie are definitely different,” Priya said, raising an eyebrow as Cass took a sizable gulp of her drink. “Cheers, lady.”
Cass air clinked her glass to Priya’s, and then felt her phone vibrate inside her crossbody purse. She reached inside her bag, and upon seeing her screen, smiled.
“What? What is that smile about?” Priya asked.
“Nothing. Just a smile.”
“Uh-uh. No way you’re getting off that easily. That smile wasn’t ‘just’ a smile. It was a smile.”
Cass laughed. “Fine. You’ve cracked me wide open. It’s a message from a . . . friend.”
“What sort of friend? A cute physician assistant friend?” Priya grinned, and Cass blushed. “Show me. Immediately.”
Cass flipped her phone around to show the text from Miguel, but as soon as she did, her giddy feeling dissipated and a heaviness settled into her stomach.
“Whoa, what happened to happy Cass? This looks like ‘just had a run-in with jerky Austin’ face.” Priya cupped Cass’s chin, forcing her eyes up.
“I screwed up,” Cass said, sighing heavily.
“Come on now. It can’t be that bad?”
“It is. He thinks I’m Charlie. But I don’t want to lie anymore. I want to tell him the truth.”
“Then why don’t you?” Priya held up her two fingers again to the bartender.
“I don’t know how?” Cass shrugged.
Priya nodded, then grabbed the phone out of Cass’s hand.