Elly and the Road Less Traveled

Chapter Three

Peter announced he had turned on the Times Square countdown in the theater room. The guests trickled out to watch the ball drop. Elly didn't follow, for the new year no longer held any hopeful aspirations. She didn't need to herald its arrival. She attempted to slip away, but her shoes had apparently developed rounded heels, for she wobbled and stumbled. With disgust, she plopped onto the nearest sofa to remove them. She no longer cared to keep up appearances. Maybe she'd even retrieve her coat, though now she felt a little flushed instead of cold. She deposited her empty glass on the coffee table, catching it a couple times before it stayed upright.

Klutz.

Now for her high heels. She fiddled with the tiny buckles holding the straps. When a shadow fell across the floor beside her, she looked up in hopes Brandon had remembered her. No such luck.

Jennifer. Great.

The last person she wanted to speak to was Brandon's sister. Elly concentrated on her shoes. Why had the manufacturer made undoing the buckles so complicated?

"Need help?" Jennifer asked with sweet derision.

"No." Another tug and the shoe came off. Glory be to God. Now for the other one.

Jennifer perched her perfect derriere on the adjacent chair's armrest, crossing her long legs. "We're all absolutely thrilled with Brandon's achievements. The Newton Aldrich Fellowship! When did he tell you?"

Elly didn't need to look up to know she was being mocked. Jennifer had patented the Innocent Questions That Mask Subtle Digs method of communicating. Right now her lips would be upturned in a tiny smile, her eyes bright with false sincerity. Elly worked on her other shoe buckle.

"Oh! You were as surprised as we were." Jennifer's voice lowered. "It's obvious you were expecting a different kind of announcement."

Elly's vision blurred with tears. Her buckle had come free, but she pretended it hadn't. She kept her mouth clamped shut as she ran her thumb over the metal square. When she didn't respond, Jennifer unfolded her legs and stood.

"Better luck next year."

After Jennifer walked away, Elly removed the shoe. She needed to escape. Get out of here. Away from this house and these people. Someplace far away. Someplace Brandon would find her and be sorry he treated her so horribly. She could go out the door, down the drive and follow the street to the ocean, letting the waves pull her under. That would teach him. But the water would be frigid. In fact, she wouldn't get further than the end of the drive before turning back from the cold. She didn't like cold. No, what she really needed was sleep. The late hour and champagne had caught up to her.

She hooked her finger through the back straps of her shoes and used the armrest to help stand. Her feet remained unsteady even without the heels. She weaved around the chairs and end tables, cursing their placement as an obstacle course for her to fight through. A handful of stragglers blocked her path to the main stairway, so she headed toward the kitchen. Perhaps she could snag some crackers for her roiling stomach while passing through. Instead, she discovered Jennifer and her mother standing at the counter.

"—happy news," Barbara was saying when Elly walked in. "Not at all what we were expecting, was it?"

"Thank God," Jennifer replied. 

The two had their backs to Elly. If either turned, they would notice her. But they didn't.

"I wonder what Brandon is thinking there," Barbara said. "I do hope he listens to your father. A mismatch can have lasting consequences, as you well know."