“Where?”
“Nuh-uh, it’s a surprise.”
The outfit Frankie picked is the same one Bianca wore to her post-dissertation party that was somehow only a few weeks ago, but feels like it was a completely different lifetime. That silky red tank and her dark jeans are all wrinkle-free and neatly laid out for her along with her heels, ready to go.
“What . . .” She trails off, but Frankie shakes her head.
“Nope. No questions, just getting ready. Does Amelia need food before we go?”
“Yeah, thanks,” she says, as Frankie leaves the room, but Lexi comes in a second later.
“You done with the bathroom?” her sister asks, not even waiting for a response before brushing past her with an armful of cleaning supplies. “Good, I’m gonna give it a once-over. It’ll all be nice and clean when we get back and you’ll feel even better after that.”
“Lex?” Bianca calls to her back.
“What?” she asks, turning back to her, a strand of blonde hair, for once in its naturally curly state, falling over her forehead, escaped from the topknot she put it in.
“Thanks, you know . . . for all this.”
“Bianca Bean, it is the absolute least we could do.”
Wherever they’re going is in walking distance, even in heels, so Bianca follows her friends, not really paying attention to their direction until they’re out in front of Lorraine’s, and she blinks at them in confusion.
“What are we doing here?”
The sign on the door saysClosed for Private Party, but Lorraine is pushing it open and waving them in with a smile on her face, big and true and one that Bianca has rarely seen except when the bar is packed and she’s raking in the big bucks.
“SURPRISE!” the group around her shouts. The bar is decorated with gold and red streamers, her school’s colors, anda giantCONGRATULATIONS DR DIMITRIOUbanner hangs along one of the far walls, an arch of balloons beside it where drinks are already poured and a stack of presents is waiting for her.
“What . . . what is this?” she stutters.
“This is the party you deserved and a bridal shower, kind of,” Lexi says, throwing her arm around her shoulder and squeezing it tight.
“I . . . I can’t, you guys, this is too much,” she says, her hand immediately twisting at the ring on her finger.
“It’s not too much,” Erik says, guiding her forward.
“No, it’s not . . .” She trails off. “It’s not that, I can’t. Not with Xavier gone . . .”
Chloe scoffs. “He actually helped usplanthis. It was practically his idea.”
“What?” Bianca asks. What does that . . . what does that even mean?
“Yeah,” Frankie says, with a shrug, “he stopped by my place before he left and said that with him heading abroad and you starting your new job so soon, that we should do your bridal shower early.”
“He said that?”
“Yeah, he even did a registry for you.”
“Are you . . . are you serious?”
“Yeah, look.”
Scrolling through the list on Lexi’s phone, there’s everything she could need, up to and including a brand-new mattress, sans lumps and definitely big enough for two people.
“Oh God, this is . . . Guys, I am so sorry.”
They all stare at her, confusion playing across every face.
