Chapter 60

I hardly slept that night, thinking about how I had lied to Lily and Barnett. By the time my alarm went off the next morning, I had only gotten a collective three hours of sleep, if that. Fortunately, I was able to cover up my lack of sleep with makeup.

I walked through the door to Arthur’s office just in the nick of time.

“Cutting it close, my little fan girl,” Arthur teased as I approached him.

I rolled my eyes but smiled.

“I had a rough night.”

“I bet. After the first time I did Chuck’s show, I couldn’t sleep for a week. All I could do was think about everything I did wrong.”

“You, the wonderful Arthur Stardust, did something wrong?”

“Oh, trust me, I did a lot wrong. My outfit was only the beginning.”

I laughed as I set out Arthur’s makeup for the day.

“Remind me to look that clip up.”

Arthur groaned and covered his face dramatically.

“Please, don’t. That first episode was nearly career-ending.”

“You got to see my shame.”

“Hey, I’m the boss here. It’s my right to see your televised embarrassment. You don’t need to see mine.”

I merely shook my head.

“So, I was thinking shades of blue and bronze for the makeup. It should go nicely with your navy-blue three-piece suit and loafers. Of course, sticking with a messy quiff would probably be best for your hair…”

“That all sounds wonderful, Anna. You know that I trust your judgment.”

I paused midway through applying concealer on Arthur’s minor blemishes. Something about Arthur’s tone didn’t sound right—distracted, almost.

“Is everything all right?” I asked.

“Yeah, everything is fine.” Arthur wouldn’t look me in the eye. “I just wanted to talk to you about something that Lily told me about last night.”

I tried to resume applying concealer, but I knew where this was going.

“What exactly did she tell you?”

“Well, she mentioned that you weren’t entirely truthful about something on The Chuck Thaddeus Show yesterday.”

I decided to wait for him to continue, instead of supplying him with anything he might not have already known accidentally.

“She said that she…and Barnett—” his tone briefly turned bitter at the mention of Barnett’s name— “think that you might be having more health problems than you let on during the interview.”

I finished applying the concealer and began with the foundation.

“And Lily thinks that you could somehow get the truth out of me?”

“As your boss and your friend, yes.”

I pursed my lips, both from uncertainty and from concentration.

“And are you going to try?”

“I had considered it. In fact, I had come in here this morning with every intention of confronting you about the matter.”

I sighed and set the makeup aside. I pulled one of the chairs out and took a seat, preparing myself for the worst. This would be my third confrontation with someone close to me in less than 24 hours; I was already exhausted just thinking about it.

“Okay, let’s get this over with,” I said.

Arthur tilted his head to the side, like a curious puppy.

“Get what over with?”

“Your little planned confrontation. I just want to get it done so that we can get on with our day.”

His lips broke out into a grin, and he laughed whole-heartedly. When he was done laughing, Arthur grabbed my hand in both of his.

“Anna, do you really want me to read you some sort of riot act about how you shouldn’t keep secrets about your health from your loved ones or how your loved ones would want to know if something is wrong, before it’s too late?”

I shrunk down in my seat, wishing I was anywhere but there.

“No, I would rather not.”

“And chances are that if you didn’t tell your best friend what’s going on with you, you aren’t going to tell me, no matter how much I argue with you. Am I right?”

I nodded.

“Then what’s the point in even trying? If I’m understanding everything correctly, you have already had this argument twice. It seems that it would only cause us unnecessary conflict, and I don’t want to see our relationship—our friendship tainted by that.”

I sat up in my seat, encouraged by Arthur’s words. Maybe he did understand what I was going through in a way that Lily and Barnett did not, and I did not have to worry about him trying to force the truth out of me.

“So, you wouldn’t mind if I told you that I’m fine? You’ll take me at my word?”

Arthur shook his head.

“No, I know that you’re lying, but I’m not going to push you on it. You’ll tell me if and when you want to. You have your reasons for keeping things to yourself, and I’m not going force you past your comfort zone on that.”

I leaned forward and hugged Arthur gently.

“Thank you, Arthur. That means so much to me.”

“No problem, Anna.” We pulled away. “Come on, let’s get back to work.”

“Of course.”

I picked up the foundation and started applying it again. After a few minutes of silent work, an idea struck me.

“Arthur, would you like to go to dinner with me tonight? As a way to say ‘thank you’ for being such a good friend.”

I could hear the smile in Arthur’s tone as he spoke.

“I would love to.”

•* *

Even though I didn’t want to mislead Arthur about the nature of our relationship, I wanted to treat him to somewhere nice, so I took him to a five-star Spanish restaurant called Esmeralda’s. It had a Spanish colonial aesthetic, complete with white brick, colorful outdoor tile, Juliette balconies, and a fireplace at the center of the restaurant. Authentic flamenco music played in the background.

Arthur, looking dashing as usual, had changed into a brown three-piece suit with loafers and a fedora and natural makeup. I wore a burgundy sleeveless dress that ran just past my knees with matching heels, and my hair was slightly curled. I didn’t go over-the-top on the makeup, only enough to cover up my lack of sleep with a bit of burgundy eyeshadow and lipstick to complement my outfit.

He offered me his arm at the door to the restaurant, and despite my better judgment, I took it. The hostess led us to our table, and our waiter soon arrived with our menus. I squirmed as I realized how much like a date this felt, and I wished that I had chosen a more casual restaurant.

“Thank you for taking me here tonight,” Arthur said as he perused the menu. “I’m not used to other people paying for me.”

“Well, anything for a friend.”

I looked at Arthur over my menu and saw him cringe when I said the word “friend.” In a way, I knew that I shouldn’t open that wound any further, but I couldn’t risk him thinking that this was anything more than it was, two friends who happened to be enjoying an expensive dinner together.

“Yes,” he said, “anything for a friend.”

Uncomfortable silence fell upon us. A part of me wished that I could take back what I said, but the rest of me knew that I had to say what I said, even if it did mean making things awkward with the one friend willing to give me some distance on my health issues.

Just as I was about ready to order, Arthur lifted his head and looked over my shoulder, a quizzical look on his face.

“Is that Barnett over there?” he asked. “With Julia?”

“What?”

I twisted in my seat to see what he was looking at.

There, a couple tables away from ours, were Barnett and Julia, sharing a plate of Tarta de Santiago.