“And you have me!” Lianne giggles as the song changes to one with an even faster beat. “Don’t be such a party pooper on your own birthday.” She grabs my arm and sways it in the air with hers.
A girl wearing nothing but a bra, panties, and fishnet stocking comes up to the table with our order. When she places the bottle and pitcher in front of us, she looks at Samuel with a pause. All he does is nod, and she mixes the two liquids, then pours them their own glasses before placing one in front of each of us.
Lianne chugs half the contents from her cup. “Just think about it. When are we gonna be able to do this again?”
I take the glass from her hand, not wanting her to regret her choices. “When we are given our chosen husbands, they could bring us.”
“My chosen husband has never brought me here.” She laughs.
“What did you say?” I look at her longer, and she tries to ignore me. “When did you get a chosen husband? They told you already?”
She gives me a doleful smile. “I’ve been with my Divine’s choice this whole time, Eden.”
I stare blankly, trying to make sense of what she is telling me. She looks over my shoulder at Samuel, who is watching her like a hawk.
“I’m gonna dance. Do you want to dance?” She pours more of the pink-toned liquid from the pitcher into her glass, then chugs. Slamming it on the table, she shoots up. “Come dance, Joshy!”
“Don’t call me that,” he says, annoyed, but lets her pull him to the crowded dance floor. She looks at me with a smile, trying to ease my nerves and thoughts.
“Here. Relax.” Samuel places my own drink in my hand, lifting it so the glass grazes my lips.
“What did she mean she has been with her Divine’s choice for her this whole time, Samuel?”
He takes a deep breath. “You really want to know?”
“Yes.” I nod.
“You might want to drink that first.” He looks down to the glass still in my hand.
I eye it for a beat, then take a sip, tasting the sweet lemonade, but the burn of the liquor is still there.
“More.” He tips my glass back to my lips, and I drink the whole thing down. “Good.”
“So? What did she mean?” I cough out as the sting in my throat subsides, and a warmth takes over deep in my chest.
“She meant exactly what she said. She has been with him the whole time, Mr. Wellingburg.”
His words sink in.
He grabs the pitcher and pours me another. This time, he doesn’t have to tell me to drink. I do it willingly, needing the warmth to calm me.
“Her Divine’s choice is... Mr. Wellingburg?” I laugh at how absurd that sounds coming out of my mouth. “But that’s her dad. He can’t be her Divine’s choice.”
He looks me over. “Not her dad. And he is.”
“No, no. She was adopted at fourteen.” I laugh harder, pouring myself another drink.
Samuel has a sick sense of humor with this one. The liquor is aiding me in playing along with it.
“The Divine made its choice for her.” He watches me drink my third glass, his eyes taking me in. “The Divine is never wrong, Eden.”
“But...” I chuckle, trying to gauge if he is serious or not. No, he has to be joking. “Samuel, be serious. Who is her husband?”
Taking a drink from his own glass finally, now that I have chugged three in a matter of minutes, he doesn’t say a word.
“But—”
“Let’s join them on the dance floor. Lianne looks like she is having more fun than the birthday girl. And I just can’t allow that.”
