I Played Their Affair at His Family Party novel · Chapter 2 of 24

Chapter 2: Elevator Eight

Ciara waits in Theron's building and meets the woman from the videos in the elevator. Brynn says Ciara's own sister-in-law introduced them.

I didn't sleep.

At eight the next morning I was sitting in my car across from Theron's building with a coffee I hadn't touched.

He had never given me a reason to park outside his apartment.

He had given me a key in the second year and told me to come and go whenever I wanted.

I had used it about twice a week for three years, always on nights he said yes.

Shelley had said nothing else on the porch.

She had looked at my face, gone back inside, and refilled her wine.

I had gone home alone, and Theron had texted at midnight that he was finally leaving work.

He had sent a champagne emoji again.

At 8:20 the lobby door opened and a woman walked out in a long camel coat.

Her golden hair was loose and tangled, and she was holding her phone out in front of her at arm's length.

She was filming herself.

It was Goldie.

I got out of the car before I had decided to.

She turned toward the parking lot, talking to her phone in a bright whisper.

"Okay, babe, the walk of shame is basically a walk of pride when you're being introduced to the family in two weeks."

Then she saw me coming across the lot and lowered the phone.

"Sorry!" She laughed. "I'm in everyone's way today."

"You're Goldie," I said.

My voice sounded steady, which surprised me.

Her whole face lit up. "Oh my gosh, do you watch me?"

"Every week," I said, and that was true. "The concealer video helped me a lot."

She clutched her chest. "That's the nicest thing I've heard all month."

I stood three feet from her and looked at the woman who had slept in my boyfriend's bed.

She was younger than me, maybe twenty-six, and prettier in person because she smiled with her whole mouth.

I hated that I could see why he liked her.

"Can I get a picture?" I asked.

"Of course!"

She put her arm around my shoulders and held her phone high.

We smiled, and I looked at the building behind us in the screen.

Theron's window was on the fourteenth floor.

The blinds were open, and a man's shape moved across the glass, shirtless, stretching.

I knew the shape of those shoulders.

Goldie followed my eyes and grinned.

"My boyfriend," she said. "He's a night owl. I can't get him up before ten."

"You live together?"

"Basically." She waved her hand. "He has this girlfriend from way back, if you can even call her that. He says it's more like a roommate habit that neither of them knows how to end."

"A roommate habit," I said.

"He's gentle about it. He's going to tell her after the family thing." She lowered her voice as if she were sharing a secret with a friend. "Honestly I almost feel bad for her."

I laughed, and it came out almost normal.

"What's your boyfriend's name?" I asked. "So I can tag you both."

"Oh, I never post his name. He's private. His family's really old money, they hate screens." She tapped her thumb on her phone. "I call him my silent partner."

I felt something cold settle over me.

She wasn't lying.

She truly believed every word, and Theron had made sure she could.

"How did you two meet?" I asked.

"At a dinner party. It's the cutest story."

She was already smiling at something far away.

"A girl who knows his family sat me next to him on purpose. She said, you two are going to be trouble. And she was so right."

"Who was she?"

"Oh, she's basically my fairy godmother." Goldie laughed again. "Her name's Shelley."

The wind blew her hair across her face, and she pushed it back with a hand that had a new pale-pink manicure.

I stood in the cold with her arm still warm against my shoulder.

My sister-in-law had been sitting across from me every Sunday for four years.

She had told me last night that I was holding on too tight.

I smiled at Goldie, and I took her phone to look at our picture.

Then I handed it back and said, "Congratulations on the family party. I hope they love you."

"Thank you!" she cried, and walked off toward the street.

I watched until the camel coat turned the corner.

Then I took out my own phone and sent one text.

"Happy New Year, Shelley. Are you free for brunch this week? I'd love to hear all your advice."

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