Cruel Fortune

by K. A. Linde

  “That sounds like you.”

  “But I can cancel if you want me to come with.”

  “No, you’re head over heels for Enzo. Plus, that sounds like it’d be good for business, too.”

  “I’m head over heels for his dick. Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves.”

  I laughed as the lights flickered overhead, announcing the start of the show. Everyone hustled to their seats, the lights dimmed, and the curtain rose. Showtime.

  * * *

  Three hours later, I brushed tears from my eyes as I rose to my feet for a standing ovation. Amy and I barely had words as we stepped out of the theater and back into reality. It felt too surreal to even be here when I felt like I was still living that moment.

  “I just…” Amy murmured.

  “Yeah.”

  “Life-changing.”

  “Genius.”

  Amy shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m leaving you after that experience.”

  I laughed. “Go have fun. Just make our flight in the morning.”

  Amy kissed my cheek. “You’re the best.”

  She grabbed the first cab that stopped for her and was off to SoHo for the night. I pulled out my phone and had a message from Jane with an address for the martini bar, Tilted Glass. I stared down at the message and shrugged. This was going to be interesting.

  Tilted Glass ended up being only a few blocks from the theater. Even though it was cold, I walked through the throng of people and into the bar. It was tiny with only a smattering of two- or four-person booths and an L-shaped bar. Everything was dark with black leather seats, hardwood, and dim lighting. Still, I could pick out Jane Devney with her large fur coat and mile-high heels. Her signature oversize sunglasses were next to a half-empty martini glass with two olives.

  I strode to the seat next to her. “Hey, Jane.”

  Jane turned to face me. Her hazel eyes wide and unassuming. “Natalie, you made it. I’m so glad.” She snapped her fingers at the bartender. “Kendrick, this is Natalie. Treat her like a princess. And make it extra dirty.”

  “Will do,” he said.

  “Thanks,” I said.

  “You do like dirty martinis, right?” She slid a hundred-dollar bill to Kendrick and winked at him.

  Kendrick took the bill without comment. As if Jane Devney giving him hundred-dollar tips was totally normal. Maybe he was used to it since he was handsome, tall with dark brown skin and a shaved head. He wore a white button-up with a black vest over it. Looked to be the uniform, but he filled it out.

  “I do actually,” I confirmed.

  “Excellent. Kendrick here is the best damn bartender in the city. Natalie, tell him to come work for me at Trinity.” She fluttered her eyelashes at him.

  “What’s Trinity?” I asked as Kendrick slid a dirty martini in front of me.

  “My club,” she said nonchalantly. “I forget that you’ve been out of the city. I’m hoping to soft-open next month. It’s a testament to my love of the arts. Trinity is for art, music, and fashion, and I want to do something revolutionary with the space. Fashion shows and art exhibits and concerts, all within a classy, unforgettable club space.”

  “Wow. That’s amazing. Is that what the investor meeting was about?”

  Jane nodded and downed the rest of her martini. “I’m working with all the best minds. You know John Forrester on Wall Street?” I didn’t nod, but she continued as if I had, “Well, he has a friend, Jeff Mathers, who works with bankers, and they’ve been setting me up with the right investors within the arts fields and on the club scene to pull it off. Already, I have a dozen fashion designers anxious to use the space and only the best celebrity entertainment.”

  “Wow. Sounds like you know what you’re doing.”

  “It’s been a struggle. You’d be amazed at the number of people who don’t want to work with a young woman.” Jane rolled her eyes and popped an olive in her mouth.

  “I don’t think I would actually.”

  “Yeah. Well, I’m going to prove them wrong.”

  “I have no doubt. It’s pretty amazing to me that you’re not resting on your laurels,” I confessed. “So much of the Upper East Side is content to be rich and stay rich. Nothing else really matters.”

  Jane twirled the new martini glass Kendrick had set before her. “I’m a driven woman. Much like you, I assume. I mean, your debut novel is killing it right now.”

  “Thanks. It is doing pretty well.”

  “And with Warren.”

  I nodded.

  “I’m so happy for you. Now, tell me everything. I want to know the real Natalie Bishop. Who are you seeing? You were with Penn for a while, right?”

  “I…” I sputtered over my martini. “Uh, yeah, like a year ago. I’m not seeing anyone now. Just focused on my career.”

  “Smart. But no one at all? All work and no play makes for a dull girl.”

  “Well, what about you and Court?”

  “Oh, you know,” Jane said dismissively.

  No, I really didn’t.

  “Is he going to meet us out?”

  “He’s busy tonight, I’m afraid. Weekly poker game. You know how men are. No girls allowed.” She rolled her eyes and then reached out to grasp my hand. “You’re holding back. I heard you were seen with Lewis Warren. Tell me. Tell me.”

  I tensed. “Who…who told you that?”

  Oh god, had it already gotten out? Did everyone already know?

  “It was nothing, I swear. Someone mentioned at the party that you showed up with him. I assumed it was more than it was.”

  I deflated. My fear fleeing as quickly as it had come.

  “I don’t know about Lewis.”

  Jane laughed, squeezing my hand. “That sounds like you like him.”

  “Well, it’s complicated. With my history with his friends, it feels like I’m crossing a line.”

  “Your history from…a year ago?” Jane asked with an arched eyebrow. “That was forever ago. If you like him and he likes you, you’re both adults. You can do whatever you want.”

  “I know, but…I did date his best friend.”

  Jane shrugged. “So? Penn has moved on. Why shouldn’t you?”

  My heart twinged at the words, and I suddenly felt like I was going to be sick. “He…he’s dating someone?”

  “Oh, I don’t know if it’s serious. I’ve just heard all the rumors.”

  “What rumors?

  “Apparently he’s fucked half of the Upper East Side in the last year. He’s back to his old ways, seducing socialites and bedding every beauty who crosses his path. A modern rake.”

  A piece of my heart shriveled at the news. I hadn’t kissed anyone in a year. My first kiss in all that time had happened only two days ago. But Penn? Penn hadn’t pined for me. He hadn’t even cared. He’d given up that shred of morality he’d claimed to have and dived headfirst back into the pool.

  I shouldn’t have been surprised. He’d been writing a book on why casual sex was philosophically moral. That the standard view that said relationships were safer and all-around better wasn’t accurate any longer. Of course he’d taken his own advice.

  “Well, that’s interesting,” I finally managed to get out. “Here I was, feeling bad that I’d kissed Lewis. And maybe that was just stupid. Why would Penn care?”

  “You kissed!” Jane gasped in delight.

  “Yeah. I mean, I pushed him away because I thought it was wrong.”

  “But it felt oh-so right?” Jane waggled her eyebrows.

  I laughed despite my pain. “Oh-so right,” I agreed.

  “I’ve got the best idea,” Jane said. “You should invite Lewis out for a martini.”

  “Jane…”

  “It’ll be fun. You can decide then if you really like him without all that guilt weighing you down. Or you can have a damn good martini from Kendrick here with the most eligible bachelor in Manhattan and moi, of course.”

  “He might not even show up,” I argued.

 
Jane’s smile was electric. “Don’t know until you try.”

  What did I have to lose really? I’d done the right thing over and over. Always the right thing. Always the smart and good thing. Where had that gotten me? Maybe I’d just forget about that and take Jane’s advice. Nothing was holding me back any longer.

  “All right. But, if this turns out to be a bad idea, I’m blaming you.”

  She clapped her hands. “I take full responsibility.”

  I withdrew my phone and wrote a text I never thought I would compose.

  Hey, I’m at Tilted Glass with Jane. Any interest in meeting us out for a drink?

  My stomach was in knots as I hit the Send button. My brain going through all the reasons I shouldn’t have sent that. But then a text came in almost instantaneously, and all the nerves dissolved.

  I’d love that. See you soon.

  Natalie

  11

  I had just finished my second martini when I noticed Lewis walking into the bar. Eyes turned to him. He attracted attention by his very presence in that dark gray suit. His black button-up opened at the neck. His eyes found me across the room. A slow smile spread across his face as he sauntered toward me, ignoring the looks that he drew from all sides.

  “This was a nice surprise,” he said by way of greeting.

  I tipped my martini at him. “You can thank Jane.”

  He turned toward Jane and grinned. “I don’t know what you did, but I feel as if I’m going to owe you a favor.”

  Jane laughed. “Favors are my favorite currency.”

  “I bet,” he said with a grin as he slipped into the seat next to me. “What are we drinking?”

  “Dirty martinis,” I informed him.

  “As dirty as they come,” Jane said. “I’m trying to convince Kendrick to bartend at my new place, Trinity.”

  “I haven’t heard that it’s been green-lighted,” Lewis observed.

  Jane shrugged. “Minor kinks. It’ll come through. You’ll be at the opening, yeah?”

  “Wouldn’t miss it. Maybe we can convince Natalie here to go with me.”

  “When is it?” I asked, a flush tingeing my cheeks.

  “December thirteenth. Friday the thirteenth felt lucky,” Jane said with a chuckle.

  Kendrick slipped me my third martini and passed one to Lewis, too. I was feeling the side effects pretty strong from the first two. I must have been to even consider going.

  “I’ll be back in Charleston.”

  “You could fly up for it,” Jane said.

  “Or,” Lewis said, “you could just move here.”

  I laughed unexpectedly. “I can’t move here.”

  “Oh my god, yes!” Jane said. “That would be a fabulous idea. Move to the city, Natalie.”

  “I can’t just move to New York,” I told them.

  “Why not?” Lewis asked. “You’re working as an author and making decent money, and you write better here. You told me yourself.”

  “I…I mean…yeah, but,” I ventured.

  Jane’s grin widened. “You write better in the city? Well then, you have to move here. We could hang out all the time. Get coffee while I work on my business and you write. Shop at Bergdorf and Barneys and go to all the best parties. It would be fabulous.”

  Except…that wasn’t the life I wanted or even could live. Just because I’d published my first book didn’t mean I could suddenly shop at Bergdorf. God, I couldn’t even imagine what it would cost to move to the city and get my own apartment. It was unreasonable.

  “It’s my first book. I don’t even have the next contract.”

  Lewis brushed that aside. “You’re a superstar at Warren. They’ll buy anything you put forth now.”

  “Yeah, and if they don’t, I think we know someone who might have a say,” Jane said with a pointed look.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down,” I said. “First off, no one is helping me get my book published. And even if they buy the next book, I don’t know if it’s a fluke that the first did well. There are so many variables. Too many variables to just move to New York.”

  “Oh, come on. Where’s the girl who used to hop vacation homes for fun while she was writing?” Lewis asked.

  “That girl got paid to do that and wrote on the side,” I reminded him.

  “What’s the real issue?” Jane asked, leaning in.

  I took a steadying sip of my martini. “I don’t know. I…don’t want to live here. I don’t fit in here. The Upper East Side isn’t my home. It’s this other universe that I’ll never belong to. I learned that the hard way.”

  Jane frowned. “Who told you that you didn’t belong? Because they’re wrong.”

  “I know who told you that,” Lewis said grimly.

  Penn. Penn had said it that first day on the beach when he saw me there. Katherine had said it later. And they weren’t wrong. No matter what Jane or Lewis thought. I didn’t have enough money or the name to fit in with this crowd. I was an outsider. Maybe less of a fish out of water than the first time I’d stumbled into that Hamptons cottage with the crew and their fabulous lives. But it didn’t change the fact that this world had hurt me. Walking back into it would be foolish.

  “Listen,” Jane said, “the Upper East Side is its own world. I’ll grant you that. But the only way you can survive it is by thinking you belong. The minute they see weakness, they’ll eat you alive.”

  That, she knew for a fact.

  “So, you’re saying…fake it till you make it?” I asked.

  “Fake it till you don’t give a fuck,” Jane said. She raised her martini glass.

  Lewis laughed. “I’ll toast to that.”

  We all clinked glasses together, and I sipped my martini more carefully. I was drunk enough to consider this. That was absurd. I couldn’t move to New York. And I most certainly was not going to become Upper East Side by sheer force of will.

  “So, what do you think?” Lewis asked.

  “About moving?” I shook my head, still shocked we were even having this conversation.

  “Yeah. Do it, Natalie!” Jane agreed.

  “I mean, my interest is purely selfish,” Lewis said, leaning forward into my personal space. “I want you here. I want you close.”

  “I don’t know. I’m going back to Charleston in the morning. I’ve just been planning to write from there.”

  “Ugh, Charleston,” Jane said. “That’s somewhere in the South, right?”

  I arched an eyebrow. “Yeah, it’s in South Carolina. It’s beautiful.”

  “I bet it is. But it’s not New York.”

  “And you said you couldn’t write there,” Lewis reasoned again.

  “I did say that, but maybe now that I have my inspiration back for the story, I could work on it there.”

  Maybe. Hopefully. Fuck, hopefully.

  “What’s the new book about anyway?” Jane asked.

  “Oh, it follows this couple and their relationship over time. Starts with them young and falling in love despite the fact that they’re total opposites. Then, it shows the descent of their relationship and the way family and outside influences mold and sharpen it. It’s told from multiple points of view so that you see the relationship and its issues from every side. But you never quite know the truth.”

  “Sounds dark.” Jane’s fur coat slipped, revealing the bare shoulder beneath.

  “Sort of. Realistic is what I go for,” I said with a shrug.

  “It sounds amazing to me,” Lewis said. “How much do you have?”

  I shrugged. “Like, fifteen thousand words. It’s, like, thirty single-spaced pages.”

  “That’s a hefty amount in a matter of days.”

  “It is.” I leaned into the bar, wondering if this third martini was a huge, huge mistake. “Most I’ve written in a year.”

  “Rock star,” Jane said. “What about you, Lewis? Any fascinating new adventure?”

  Lewis’s eyes crawled over me as if to say that I was the new adventure. But, when he spoke, h
e was all business. “I’m working with a slew of new investors that looks promising. As you are probably aware, I manage hedge funds. We’re looking to rapidly increase return on investment by purchasing a new real estate opportunity.” He shrugged with his perfectly casual smile. “It’s all really dry and boring unless you know more about how they work.”

  “I’ve invested in a few before,” Jane said with her own shrug. “Real estate seems safe.”

  “It can be.” His tone suggested that what he was dealing with was anything but.

  I, on the other hand, had no experience with hedge funds. All I knew was that they were incredibly risky, and if they paid off, you made a shit-ton of money. Also, only super-fucking-rich people could use them. Which counted me out.

  “I’m going to…” I pointed toward the restroom.

  As soon as I stood up, my knees wobbled, and I thought I might fall over.

  “Oh shit,” I said with a laugh. “I didn’t think I was this drunk. How strong were those martinis?”

  Jane took another sip of hers, looking utterly unfazed. “Strong. As they should be.”

  I blinked rapidly as I tried to get my legs to cooperate and then teetered toward the restroom. After seeing to my needs, I checked my phone, shocked to see that it was past midnight already. Time to go home. As much fun as it had been—and it had been more fun than I’d thought—if I wanted to make my seven thirty a.m. flight, then I needed to sleep off my impending hangover.

  “Okay, I think I’m out,” I said with a laugh. “It’s late, and I have a crazy-early flight.”

  “So soon?” Jane complained. “Come on. One more drink!”

  “One more drink, and I’m going to black out,” I said with a laugh. I stumbled toward her and pulled her into a hug. “I had a great time. Thanks for inviting me out. I will see if I can make it up for the opening of your club.”

  “Yes! You have to be there. Or you know, just move here.” Jane winked.

  I laughed. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

  Lewis had gotten to his feet and was slipping cash onto the bar. “Let me take you back to your hotel.”