Katie offered a watery smile, eyes going to the roast lamb, bread, and custard. They left, and she sat and ate leisurely. When she finished, she crossed to the balcony.
She'd never left the country and couldn't help but stare in wonder at the romantically lit Arc de Triomphe. The street below was narrower than it appeared on TV and packed with cars and elegantly dressed men and women walking to a gathering across the street --probably the soiree Andre had mentioned.
In the distance was a dark swath of park leading up to the lit-up Eiffel Tower, which was larger than she'd imagined. The air was chilly, but she left the window open to the street sounds and the cold, wanting to feel normal.
Wiggling her toes in the plushest carpet she'd ever felt, she leaned against the window sill, exhausted yet wired. Andre was the only gentleman in this outfit and the only to take pity on her.
Her headache was gone, her stomach full, and another glass of whiskey in her hand. By the end of this ordeal, she'd be an alcoholic.
If it ever ended. Andre and Kris seemed to think she was there for the long haul. Her chest tightened again, and she sipped more of the warming liquid. She wondered if this was what immortality felt like, watching humanity progress down a road unable to join them in soirees or understand how precious every second of life was. Did humans understand both their universal significance and their individual insignificance?
She shook the thoughts away, suspecting they weren't hers. Whenever Andre tried his shit, her head felt foggy, and right now, she was foggy.
"Stop it!" she hissed at him, suspecting he'd hear her, even if he was one of those in attendance at the soiree.
The sense eased. She slumped against the sill, hot from the inside out while the late fall breeze chilled her skin. Her eyes fell to the entryway in front of the elegant building in which she stayed, then to the street further down, where several forms moved from beneath a canopy, trailed by a shadow darker than night. She saw Kris and squeezed her glass to keep from hurling it at him. Andre was with him, the beautiful woman, the dark man Jade. All trailed by Gabriel, who paused to look up and wave at her.
She waved back, wondering how the most damning of them all was also the only who seemed anywhere able to feel sympathy. Gabriel disappeared. She imagined he went to her apartment to check on Toby and was struck by her longing to return to the tiny, cluttered mess of a life that was hers. She closed her eyes, desperately wishing the whiskey'd take effect and knock her out.