Page 61 of With This Lie
“Go, girl!”
She turns her attention to Jake and we turn to scan the room for more people to chat with.
“Oh great! Hold on a second, okay?” Lucas says, leaving me there.
I watch him walk to the door where a woman is standing. She’s older, like a grandmother’s age. It’s obvious they know each other. He walks her over to Robert and from the looks of it introduces them to each other. She sits down and I see Robert’s face light up for the first time maybe ever since knowing him.
Lucas walks back to me and wraps his arms around me, looking pleased with himself.
“What was that all about?” I ask.
“Well, you told me about your neighbor Robert. And that nice lady is my lonely neighbor Stella. And I’m playing a little matchmaker at the moment.” Lucas gives me his best evil grin.
“Oh my gosh, that’s fabulous,” I say. “I hope it works. We’ll have to check in later.” I take a sip of my drink and hear “Die Young” by Sylvan Esso come over the speakers. I begin to sway.
Lucas’ face turns more serious as he watches me. “Let’s dance,” he says.
He leads me out into the center of the room, where the lighting is soft and staged for dancing. He slips his arms around me and I wrap my arms around his neck. We sway together in unison. I don’t remember dancing with someone before this. Not at a school dance or for fun or in my adult life. No one had ever asked me to.
“Can I tell you something?” I say.
“Of course.”
“This is my first dance. I just realized.”
“Really?” he asks.
“No one has ever asked me to before.”
“Well, I’m glad I fixed that. You can’t go your whole life loving music, never being asked to dance,” he says.
“I’ve danced on my own. Around the kitchen.”
“That counts for something,” he says. He presses his body into mine and rests his cheek against the side of my head.
I lean into him, and we sway like this, listening to this song about love, listening to this song about something we don’t share.
As the song ends, I feel Lucas pull one hand away from my side. He begins to wave at the door behind me.
“Oh great, my brother is here! He actually showed up!” There is genuine excitement in his voice. “Wow, he hasn’t changed a bit,” he says.
“Great, do you want to go see him?” I ask, pulling away from Lucas and adjusting my dress.
“I’ll just wave him over.”
I look up at Lucas and he looks back down at me. Dancing to that song was probably the best gift I’d get all night. I know being able to meet his brother would mean a lot to him though.
“Oh, here he is!” Lucas says.
I turn and freeze. All the saliva drains from my mouth. I squeeze Lucas’ hand without drawing too much attention.
“Dani, this is my brother, Marcus Elliott Stone. Most people call him Mark, I call him Elliott. Mark, this is who I’ve been telling you about. This is Dani.” Lucas looks from my face to Mark’s and back to mine.
“So nice to meet you, Dani,” Mark says, putting his hand out to shake mine, as if we’d never met before.
I’m still half-frozen in place but starting to come around to what’s happening. I mechanically put my hand in his. “Nice to meet you too,” I say.
Mark squeezes my hand hard, shaking it up and down a few extra times before letting it go. Fuck. Of course. This is what happens in the city. Everybody fucking knows everyone. I feel my heart beating rapidly in my chest and try to smile normally.