Читать книгу Lauren Weisberger 3-Book Collection: Everyone Worth Knowing, Chasing Harry Winston, Last Night at Chateau Marmont - Лорен Вайсбергер, Lauren Weisberger, Lauren Weisberger - Страница 18

‘How do you eat like that and stay so tiny?’ I asked Penelope for the thousandth time since we’d met. We’d just settled into a booth at EJ’s after an hour-long wait. I was famished enough to order one of everything on the menu, but I was enjoying my still-thin figure too much to jeopardize it now. I’d managed to cut out all trips to Dylan’s and even most of my morning bacon, egg, and cheeses – with the occasional Slim Jim acting as my only real indulgence – and it was almost starting to feel normal to police myself with food. Which only made it all the weirder when Penelope ordered the way we always had – three-egg cheese omelet with bacon and hash browns, accompanied by a short stack of chocolate-chip pancakes and a baby fistful of oozing, melted butter. She raised her eyebrows when I ordered an egg-white omelet with spinach and tomatoes and two slices of dry whole-wheat toast, but she kindly refrained from commenting, with the single exception of a murmur: ‘Elisa influence much?’ I ignored her wan smile and changed the subject.

‘Is everything okay with you and Avery?’ I asked as sympathetically as I could, wanting very much to draw her out and not sound critical. I’d helplessly watched them leave Sanctuary, knowing how upset she was but feeling powerless to do anything but watch. When she’d called early this morning, I immediately ducked out of my standing Sunday brunch plans with Will and Simon and jumped in a cab downtown.

She avoided my eyes and instead concentrated on slicing her pancakes into small, even pieces. Slice, spear, mouth, repeat. I watched this cycle three times before she spoke. ‘Everything’s just fine,’ she said tonelessly. ‘Once he explained everything to me, I could see that last night was just a big misunderstanding.’

‘I’m sure. It must have been surprising to see him there when you weren’t expecting it,’ I prompted, hoping to elicit some sort of acknowledgment from her.

She laughed without pleasure. ‘Well, you know Avery. Likely to crop up just about anywhere, any time of the night. It’s good one of us is social, I suppose, or else we’d drive each other crazy sitting in the apartment all the time.’

I didn’t know where to go with that, so I just nodded.

‘What about you? Looked like you were having fun when I left, talking to Elisa and Philip. Was it a good night?’

I stared at her, thinking about how awkward I’d felt with Elisa and Philip, as if I were a trespasser in a members-only world – a feeling that had become pretty familiar to me since I’d joined Kelly & Company. I thought about how I’d gotten in the cab and argued to be dropped off alone and how – much to my surprise – Philip hadn’t argued back, not one bit. I thought about how empty my apartment had seemed when I got home, and how even Millington curled up beside me in bed didn’t make me feel much better. And I looked at Penelope and wondered just when, exactly, we had grown so far apart.

‘It was all right, I guess. I was hoping to hang out with you more …’ I stopped short when I realized it sounded accusatory.

She lifted her gaze and looked at me sharply. ‘I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting the situation with Avery. Also, I would have loved for it to be us, going out, like we used to, but you were the one who had us meet up with all your work friends to scout the location. It seems like they’re omnipresent these days.’

‘Pen, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for it to sound like that. I was just saying that I’d rather hang out with you any day. After you left, it just got worse. Philip was babysitting some girl from home and I shared a cab home with them because I didn’t want to start a big scene at the club, but then people saw me getting in the backseat, and I felt like shit. Oh, and Abby, too. It was just a giant mess and I wish I’d left when you did.’

‘So did you go home with him? Where did the girl sleep?’

‘No, I just got in the cab because it seemed easier than listening to him throw a fit. I made them drop me off first, but people watching would never know that.’

‘Why didn’t you go home with him? And who’s “people”?’ I could tell she was trying to keep everyone straight, but she hadn’t even met all the players.

‘Well,’ I lied, ‘I’m not sure I’m ready to get involved in Philip’s world. He’s tied in to just about everyone and everything at work, which makes it all even weirder.’

‘I wouldn’t know. You didn’t introduce me,’ she said lightly.

I felt the reprimand and knew she was right, but I didn’t want to turn it into a big discussion. ‘No? Last night was a little hectic. Trust me, you’re not missing much. He’s gorgeous, that much you saw, but otherwise he’s your basic spoiled party kid, just with a fantastic accent. Damn shame he’s so cute, though.’ I sighed audibly.

‘Well, that little speech sounds all well and good, my dear, but you should’ve seen your face when he walked in with that model. I thought you’d die. You like him, don’t you? Admit it.’

I didn’t know how to say that of course something attracted me to him, but something simultaneously repelled me. I didn’t want to say aloud how flattered I was that someone like Philip could want someone like me, even if he didn’t seem to be all that great of a guy. I didn’t want to explain the entire situation at work, how I suspected Elisa might be jealous that Philip was interested in me, or how Kelly had seemed ready and willing to whore me out to Philip because it meant good things for the business. I just shrugged and salted my omelet, making sure to fix my coffee cup to my lips so I wouldn’t have to say anything just yet.

Penelope understood that I wasn’t going to get into it then. It was the first and only time in the nearly nine years we’d been friends that I could remember both of us sitting at a table and willingly withholding information from each other. She’d refused to tell me her real feelings about her relationship with Avery; I’d taken a pass on commenting on Philip. We sat in a comfortable enough but foreign-feeling silence until she said, ‘I know I don’t know the entire situation, and of course I know you’re more than capable of handling everything yourself, but please, for me, just be careful? I’m sure Philip is a perfectly nice guy, but I’ve seen enough with Avery’s friends and now your work friends to know that the whole scene just freaks me out. Nothing concrete, but I worry about you, you know?’

She placed her hand over mine and I knew we’d get back to our old selves at some point. In the meantime, we’d have to settle for thinking about each other from afar.