Hello, Privet! #1: Hello/Привет

Chapter 57

SOPHIE

The next day, I'm at another party, but this time we're having it near the lake. The dress I'm wearing today is an old one that Anne doesn't want anymore, a strapless white dress with a lace and tulle ballerina skirt, ending just a few inches above my knees. Aunt Grace said it was Chanel, as is the white tweed jacket I'm wearing over it (borrowed from Alison). The silver ballet flats are mine, purchased online on sale.

I wait outside the den where I think James is. I don't feel like going to the party without him. From the open door, I can see my grandfather and my stepfather. They are also drinking what looks like champagne, and my grandfather is smoking a cigar even if he's not supposed to. On their way out, they nod at me. Connor and Alison's husband, Topper, remain inside. They appear to be in the middle of a heated discussion. Connor removes his jacket and then drapes it on the nearest armchair, sitting down. Topper sits on the leather couch and reaches for the remote.

"And Clinton was the one who repealed the Glass-Steagall Act," Topper is saying to Connor. "Many people don't know that."

"Sophie," Connor says to me, when he notices me standing outside the door.

"Hi, Sophie," Topper says.

"Hi," I say.

Topper switches the channel to CNN. He rests his elbows on his thighs, leaning forward. "A lot of people also credit the repeal of Glass-Steagall as making this financial crisis possible, and it's simply not true." Their concern is simply academic. They were the kind of people who will be safe through any financial and economic upheaval. None of this will affect people like them. None of this will affect people like us.

"Yeah, but it opened the doors for the banks to consolidate and they were just too big to fail—"

Meanwhile, on TV, the newscast switches to sports updates. It is while I'm there when I find out Anton had an accident at his quarterfinal US Open match.

I was just listening to that game yesterday, but I didn't have the chance to hear the rest of it.

Connor glances at me, and then turns up the volume of the TV. "Didn't you work for him?" he asks me. He knows perfectly well that I worked for Anton, and it is highly likely that he already knows about me and Anton. Of course Alison had told him. They tell each other everything the way James and I tell each other everything.

I shrug, trying to seem uninterested and nonchalant. "I did."

"What's he like?" Topper asks.

"He's okay," I say, trying to keep the expression on my face neutral.

"You know, if you want to go see him, the AeroStar is at your disposal," says Connor, watching me.

On TV, they're showing Anton's photo, and then his opponent's, Vegard Jakobsen, the Norwegian tennis player who's proving to be a challenge even for the world number one, Zoran Matijevic. The reporter is saying Jakobsen walkovers to the semifinals.

"Why would I want to see him?" I ask, keeping my voice even.

Connor raises an eyebrow at me and then turns back to the TV. "All I'm saying is, if you wanted to fly to New York right now, the pilot is ready. Do you want me to call him?"

"I am not going there." I turn around and walk out of the room, where I nearly collide with James.

"I was looking for you," he says, stepping back, holding my wrist gently, his other hand on my back. "Hey, are you all right?"