Chapter 11: The Tab

Daphne's twenty-eighth birthday party was on a rooftop bar in Uptown, with string lights and a view of the whole city.

I had booked it in March.

I had put down the deposit on my own card, because she'd said she was between paychecks.

Saturday night, I rode the elevator up in a plain black dress and my own sneakers.

There were about forty people on the terrace, mostly her coworkers and gym friends.

A banner over the bar said HAPPY 28TH DAPHNE in pink glitter.

She stood in the middle of it all in a white dress, with a drink in one hand and her gold heart necklace at her throat.

Her left hand was lifted a little too high.

On the third finger was a round diamond on a thin gold band.

She saw me and went pale.

"Wendy," she said, loud enough for everyone. "What are you doing here?"

"I booked the room."

A few people looked over.

"You can't just show up," she hissed. "You're not invited."

"I'm the one who invited you to this bar, Daphne. In March."

I walked to the bar and gave the bartender a polite nod.

He recognized me and straightened.

"Ms. Carrow," the manager said, coming up fast from the end of the counter. "Is everything all right?"

"It's fine. I just have a question about the tab."

"Of course."

"Whose card is the tab on tonight?"

He checked a small screen.

"Yours, ma'am. Open bar for forty guests, a six-thousand-dollar minimum. And the deposit from March."

The bartender stopped pouring.

Daphne's friends were now watching us openly.

"I'd like to close it," I said.

Keep reading free with an account. Start Five of Us Went to the Theme Park, They Only… from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.