The Neighbors

2.15 Cocktails

I had no other choice but to be cordial to the woman who had just stepped into my home, although in my head I was fantasizing about punching that smug smile off of her face.

"Hello, Victoria," I said coolly. "Welcome to our home."

"Thank you, Lise," she said, giving me a fake smile.

Louis said, "Oh, so you two know each other."

"Yes," I nodded. "We met when you were all in college together. I'm not sure why I never met you, Louis, but I've heard a lot about you from Harry. All good things, of course."

I led Louis and Victoria to the living room where most people had camped out to listen to the album. Then I waved Niall over, trying not to be too obvious. I motioned for him to follow me into the den, and then I closed the door. "Did you ever question Victoria in person, or did you just investigate her records and such?"

"Just her records," he said. "Why?"

"Because she's here," I said. "She's the one who just walked in."

He nodded, saying, "Okay, well I'll keep my eyes open for suspicious behavior."

"Thanks."

A bit later, Victoria found me alone in the kitchen. I noticed that she was wearing a beautiful seashell barrette that was encrusted with three different colored jewels. "That is a gorgeous barrette," I observed, proud of myself for actually saying something nice.

"Oh, thank you," she answered. "It's a one-of-a-kind, custom made by an Italian designer. My mom gave it to me for my 21st birthday." Then she changed the subject. "It's amazing how many followers Harry has on Twitter, isn't it? He's pretty famous already."

I looked at her suspiciously. I had never noticed her on Twitter. "Oh, do you follow him?" I asked.

"Of course I do," she said. I made a mental note to look her up as soon as I could.

"What's your username?" I asked, trying to be nonchalant.

"VickyLaw," she replied.

"Oh, good, I'll find you and follow you," I said.

"Oh, you're on Twitter, too?" She asked innocently. "I didn't think you'd have time for such things with all your kids. They must keep you really busy."

"Yes, I like to follow Harry's career," I simply said.

"I'm sure that's the only thing you can do when you have such a large family," she said.

For some reason, she felt it necessary to keep jabbing me about our many children. What was she getting at? That Harry was out having fun while I was home, barefoot and pregnant? Or that I was somehow missing out because my many children were holding me back? Or that we were holding Harry back?

On a whim, I asked, "Victoria, what did you study at Fitzhugh?"

"I took classes in audio and video production. You know, so I could produce music videos or whatever."

"Did that include photography?" I asked. I don't know why, but that picture of Zayn and me in front of our house suddenly came to mind.

"Oh, yeah, I took a ton of photography classes. It's always been a hobby of mine anyway." She came over and popped a cherry tomato into her mouth. "So, Harry's in LA a lot, huh?"

"Yes," I replied, not wanting to give out any more information than was necessary.

"I've never been there," she said. "But I'd like to visit some day."