“I don’t know how to do that.”
“You work it out. You’re the novelist.”
“Things don’t always work out in fiction. Look at all the great love stories, Gone with the Wind, Anna Karenina, Romeo and Juliet—they don’t end happily.” There was a long pause. For a moment she thought she had lost the signal. “Are you still there?”
“Still here,” he said at last, but his voice had changed. He sounded as miserable as she had felt that morning. “Give us a happy ending, Angelica. I don’t know how you can do it, but do it for me. I’m afraid, in reality, there is no happy ending for us.”
She felt a lump at the back of her throat. “As long as we’re friends, I think I can live with that.”
“I’ll e-mail you. You let me know when I can call you.”
“Mornings,” she replied hastily. “After I’ve dropped the children at school. I’ll be at my desk, trying to think of a happy ending.”
When she hung up, she retreated to her bedroom and closed the door behind her. With a groan she flopped onto the bed and cried into the pillow. She knew it was ridiculous to cry over a man she barely knew, but it was as if his departure had sucked the air out of the city. There was nothing left to breathe.
14
It is only with darkness that one can appreciate light.
In Search of the Perfect Happiness
Angelica drove to the West End with three vases of roses in the back of her car. She parked in Albemarle Street and made her way down to the Wolseley, situated in the magnificent old motorcar showroom on Piccadilly. With its high ceilings, chiseled arches, and elegant stairway, the restaurant echoed the grandeur of Renaissance Italy.
It was already buzzing with London’s most fashionable. Their chatter echoed off the pretty yellow walls and black-and-white checkerboard floor. Angelica looked around for the girls, recognizing a few friends in the sea of faces. Jason at the front desk put down the telephone and greeted her by name, but Angelica had already spotted Candace waving her bejeweled fingers from a round table in the center of the room.
“There you are!” she said as Angelica joined them.
“You look like I feel,” said Kate, taking in her drawn features and shadowy eyes.
“You’d better feel fabulous, or I’m walking straight out of here,” Angelica joked.
“Let’s face it, we all feel pretty rough,” Candace conceded.
“But don’t ever say I look it!” Kate drained her Bellini. “Hair of the dog.” She raised her empty glass to the waiter. “Another one for me and one for my friend.”
“That baby’s going to be break-dancing by dessert!” said Candace.
“It’s mostly peach juice,” Kate defended herself. “Besides, I read somewhere that champagne is actually really good for a baby.”
“Like, what, a Jordan interview in Hello! magazine?”
“No, something far more highbrow, like Vogue.”
Letizia applauded her. “It’s amazing what little gems one picks up in that magazine. Most of them mine, of course. Not that one, I hasten to add!”
“Oh, give me a break,” said Candace, rolling her eyes. “If champagne is good for your baby I’ll eat my Birkin.”
“The lizard one that’s particularly chewy?” asked Kate.
“I’d even go as far as to suggest the croc—not only outrageously expensive, but totally indigestible.”
“Imagine that coming out during a colonic?” Kate suggested.
“I’m sure they’ve seen a lot worse,” said Angelica.
“Like the salami you ate at your twenty-first birthday party,” Letizia cut in.
“Oh, please. I’m looking at the menu!” exclaimed Candace, fanning her face.
“Darling, last night was amazing,” said Letizia. “I never thought I’d get into karaoke, but actually, I got quite competitive.”
“You were the dark horse, Letizia. Your rendition of ‘Stand by Your Man’ with that husky Italian accent made me want to cry,” said Kate.
“Tears of pain?” interjected Candace.
“No, I thought, That’s me. I could have kicked Pete out, but I chose to win him back. I stood by him. I am that song.”
“And you deserve a medal after that emotional battle!” Candace smirked cynically.
“I think we all deserve medals,” said Angelica. “As much as I love my husband, he can be very demanding.”
“There’s no one more demanding than Olivier,” Candace agreed.
“But he’s so handsome,” Kate gushed. “I wouldn’t mind waking up to him every morning.”