When We Were Young

Lies

"So Albert says you're an editor," Moira gushed. "That sounds very exciting."

We were seated at the dining room table, the very large oak dining room table. Brandt had set out the formal dining place settings and silverware that I was sure that my mother had suggested to impress Skylar. If she was impressed, it didn't show.

Her hair was piled on top of her head, her skin dewy and refreshed after taking a shower, and her post-sex glow, and she seemed completely relaxed.

She smiled sweetly at my mother and glanced slightly at me. I squeezed her knee under the table.

"It is when I'm editing a great book. But when it's dull, the work is torture. It is nice that I can work from my home," Skylar grinned and took more salad onto her plate.

"And how are your studies going?" Harry said.

The pit in my stomach deepened. How could I possibly steer the conversation away from this topic? I should have been more prepared, I realized, but to what end? The conversation was bound to come up; I just hoped it would have been in private.

I opened my mouth to speak but Skylar spoke up first.

"He is always studying," she chirped, her eyes full of excitement. "Sometimes I have to wave the plate of food under his nose just so he'll eat."

Everyone laughed and I thought I was safe.

"Well, you need to eat. But law school is hard. Your firm should have you working on case studies? They should be paying you for those, so make sure," Harry continued, taking a sip of his water with a grin.

My body froze, the tension creating a wall between me and Skylar. My eyes flashed to hers and she blinked a few times, her smile faded only slightly. She looked down at her plate, glancing only to look at me out of the corner of her eyes but never really making eye contact.

"Yes, sir. I'll make sure," I mumbled.

"It gets better once you've been working on real case studies. You'll get hands on practice. Then maybe you'll come back to London and finish up here," Harry laughed, a little hope dashing in his eyes.

"Oh Harold," Moira playfully slapped her husband's arm. "It's obvious that Albert is very happy in New York."

I cracked a smile, noticing that Skylar was staring blankly at everyone. "So Albert never told us how you guys met," Moira beamed.

Brandt was walking around filling everyone's glasses with water. His eyes flashed to mine and widened slightly. He knew that I was being dragged into conversations I was uncomfortable having and Skylar was not excited about either.

"Oh, we met at a bar," Skylar suddenly said.

I hung my head. Things were about to go terribly wrong.

"Well, actually we met at the Cancer fundraiser. Remember?" I put my hand on her knee under the table but she quickly smacked it away.

"Yes, but we really met at a bar. He came over to my table and me and my friend teased him about how young he was," Skylar laughed in dramatic fashion. "And when I told him how old I was, I thought he would pass out," she giggled.

"Skylar, please," I whispered squeezing her leg again but she pushed my hand away again.

"Well, you don't look that much older than Albert," Moira said. Her eyes were filling with uneasiness as Harry just looked on. Brandt stood in the corner as if waiting for a bomb to fall. "Harold is seven..."

Skylar blurted out, leaning forward. "Didn't Albert tell you? I'm going to be 39 this summer."

"Oh," Moira mumbled under her breath looking shell-shocked.