A Little Lie

Chapter Four

Lenore glances at the tiny watch on her wrist – 11:37PM – they've only been here for a little over two hours and yet it feels as if ages have passed since she and Milo rode the elevator leading them to Ginger's massive penthouse. The party has now been moved to the dining room where its chic, black wallpaper has been adorned with various gold decorations and several matching balloons. On the other end of the dining table, surrounded by what can only be her closest friends is Ginger – beaming and giggling, as one of the tall men in a stiff business suit puts a large, pretty cake in front of her. Ginger kisses him on the cheek before everyone in the room – Milo and Lenore included – begin to sing Happy Birthday.

With the giddiness of a small child, Ginger blows the candles – all twenty-seven of them. Her guests start clapping and cheering as the girl with the platinum blonde hair and plum lipstick snaps several photos of Ginger taking a handful of cake and eating it with her bare hands. "Classy." Milo mutters, but Lenore ignores him. She's far too invested in the image of the birthday girl walking around with heaps of caramelized frosting on her undoubtedly expensive designer dress. It's exhilarating – watching someone as elegant and poised as Ginger Roberts be as sloppy and clumsy as the people that worship her.

Milo politely refuses a piece of cake offered to him by one of Ginger's equally fashionable and important friends by lying he's lactose intolerant. When she tells him that the cake's completely vegan, he immediately stiffens before muttering, "I'm on a diet!" The girl eyes him suspiciously for a moment before silently handing the plate to Lenore and rushing to join Ginger and the rest of the party guests. She's the first person to approach them after Ginger made a complete fool out of Milo and now, Lenore can't help but feel as if people are purposely avoiding them.

That is, until Llewyn Pritchard – a short, skinny man with a patchy beard and orange blazer – turns and looks in their direction. Lenore accidentally catches his eye and almost immediately diverts her gaze to her now almost half eaten cake. "Not this guy again." She hears Milo mutter under his breath and for the first time tonight, she wholeheartedly agrees with her boyfriend. They had the 'pleasure' of having Ginger introduce them to Llewyn earlier that evening. This, of course, was before he'd gotten the chance to talk their ears off about his upcoming fashion line and how it was sucking the absolute life out of him. The second he'd been out of earshot and enthusiastically mingling with the rest of the party guests, Ginger had turned to Lenore, "He always asks me to introduce him as this big shot designer, but the truth is, we've been waiting for his collection to drop for almost a decade and much like the women he sleeps with – I don't think it's coming."

It had taken all of Lenore's strength not to choke on her drink.

"Ginger told me you're a writer," Llewyn says with a mouth full of what can only be caramelized cake. A bit of color rushes into what once used to be Milo's slightly paling face and Lenore wishes she'd had excused herself to the bathroom the second her gaze accidentally met Llewyn's.

"Yes." Milo nods. "Yes, I am."

"Are you writing anything at the moment?" The question captures the attention of several party guests and slowly, they begin to put a stop to their conversations and turn their heads to where she, Milo and Llewyn are standing.

"Ah, Llewyn," Lenore recognizes the sigh the second it leaves Milo's lips – he's about to start telling one of those infamous, anticlimactic stories of his and now she really wishes she'd made that trip to the bathroom. "I wish you hadn't asked." The girl who offered them cake and two of her friends – one who earlier introduced herself to Lenore as Torrance Welling – step beside Llewyn, listening intently. "Yes, I am writing at the moment. As a matter of fact, the book is almost on its way, but as you all know – the life of a writer – is not an easy one." Lenore shoves a big piece of cake in her mouth in order to prevent herself from snorting. "Someone has to pay the bills and unfortunately at the moment, my 'lucrative' writing career cannot do that."