Elly twisted and turned in front of the mirror. The flirty black dress was a perfect fit. The price tag wasn't, but that's why God invented credit cards. Besides, in a few months, her money worries would be over. She'd officially be Brandon's wife. He wasn't making a surgeon's salary just yet, but that would change. In the meantime, he had his family's money to fall back on.

After one last look, Elly switched back into her designer suit. She'd learned early on that wearing it prevented the usual hassles shopping on Fifth Avenue. With her petite frame and pixie face, she was far too often mistaken for a preteen running up her mom's charge card. She no longer took perverse pleasure in showing up patronizing clerks. At close to thirty, she preferred to altogether avoid the suspicious questioning followed by embarrassed apologies.

Elly stopped in the shoe department on her way to the checkout. She already owned strappy black sandals to pair with her new dress and wasn't needing any other shoes. But there's no harm in looking at the Christmas clearance sales. She examined a pair of plaid-colored wedges before spotting navy pumps. Prada. Her eyes widened with excitement. She tossed the wedges back on the table and snatched up the pump, holding it against her power suit. An exact color match. How long had she searched for this? Four years? Five? She checked the price. An amazing discount. Kismet.

They were a half-size too small and pinched her toes. She took a few uncomfortable steps before taking them off.

But they match so perfectly! And that price is unbeatable. Maybe they'll loosen up after I wear them a few times.

She carried them to the checkout.

***

Elly swallowed the last bit of champagne in her second glass. The alcohol hadn't settled her nerves as she had hoped. Instead, the butterflies in her stomach now bubbled and fizzed, and her limbs felt like jangly noodles. She wished Brandon had proposed earlier, when the two had been alone. He'd had plenty of opportunity the last couple days. While they relaxed in the sauna. While they nibbled cheese and sipped wine in the patio's crisp air, warming their hands by the outdoor fireplace. While they strolled past the empty pool and stood under the gazebo's white fairy lights. Several times he had seemed on the verge of asking, his forehead crinkling in serious reflection. He'd taken her hands in his, but for whatever reason had been unable to say the words.

In exasperation, Elly had brought up the topic herself. Brandon had only changed the subject.

Until earlier tonight. Just before the guests had arrived for the party, he'd said with a wink, "Don't wander off tonight. I've got an important announcement."

So now she stood amidst the chatting party-goers, practicing smiles in her mind. She rehearsed her expression of surprise and sincere joy. Oh, Brandon! I had no idea! Yes! I'll marry you. I love you so much. She would then show off her huge diamond ring to his family and friends, accepting their congratulations with modest thanks.

He remembered to buy a ring, didn't he?

Elly inched closer to the foyer, keeping an eye on the patio doors, waiting for Brandon to come back inside. She wished the thermostat would be kicked up a notch or four. Cold drafts hit her bare legs everywhere she stood. If she'd known the Sellaires would extend their party outdoors she would have brought a shawl. Or a wool sweater. 

Goosebumps covered her limbs. Worse, her lacy bra and dress's fabric didn't hide the evidence of her chill. She considered retrieving her wool coat from the hall closet, but no one else had done so. The wealthy were impervious to cold. Or, more likely, their fashion trumped practicality.

She needed her hands free. Brandon would take them in his when he proposed. She set her glass on the tray of a passing server, then rubbed her damp palms together. How she could be sweating in this freezing mansion she had no idea. Now her hands had nothing to do. She let them hang at her sides. She lay them across her forearms. She clasped them in front. She clasped them behind her back.

This is ridiculous.

When the server passed by again, Elly picked up another glass.

She found refuge in an armchair, eyeing the gaggle of bleached blondes babbling by the patio doors. She'd attended enough of the Sellaire's parties to know who welcomed her and who didn't. Brandon's older sister and her cohorts dripped condescension from every inch of their tall, slender bodies. Elly's only ally was Brandon's widowed sister-in-law, Lauren, who mingled among those outside braving the cold.

Elly had sipped half her champagne when a commotion brought her attention once again to the patio doors. Finally. The outside guests were filing in, with Brandon taking up the rear.

"I've got an announcement," Brandon said to those who had remained inside. He caught Elly's eye and beckoned her forward.

Elly stood too fast. Her head swirled and her vision blackened. She grabbed the chair to steady herself and took a couple deep breaths. Then she smiled and wove her way through the gathering crowd.

Elly tried to stand next to Brandon, but he steered her away, placing her at the front of those gathered around him.

"As you all know," he said in a teasing tone, loud enough to quiet those still talking, "I've been slaving away these past few years, waiting for the day I'll make the big bucks."

His family and friends tittered, and one of the men replied, "And when you do, it'll all go toward your student loans."

Elly joined in the laughter this comment elicited, but her heart sank. She didn't want to think about Brandon's debt. She had enough of her own.

"True, Steve, true," Brandon said, grinning. "But I'll be delaying those payments an extra two years. I gathered you all here to announce I've been awarded the Newton Aldrich Fellowship."

Elly's mouth opened in surprise. Brandon had faced tough competition for that fellowship. When had he learned he got it? Why hadn't he told her first? She didn't know how she felt about the news. The fellowship offered a stipend twice his current salary, but still far short of his expected income in private practice or on staff at a hospital. Another two years of sacrifice. Another two years of waiting. Elly's heart sank.

The group clapped and called out their congratulations. "Well done, son," Peter said, shaking Brandon's hand and patting him on the shoulder. Barbara hugged him.

"Thanks, Mom," Brandon said after she released him. To the guests, he said, "This fellowship will allow me to continue researching cerebrovascular diseases." He looked at Lauren and her two teenage children. "It's been my passion, my goal, to find the causes of aneurysms ever since Kenny's death."

Lauren smiled in grateful appreciation.

"I'll also learn the latest surgical techniques and hopefully have a hand in developing some of my own." Brandon smirked. "No pun intended." As the crowd chuckled, he smacked his palms together. "But now there's someone who deserves special thanks. Someone who's stuck with me on this long journey and who I hope will continue to walk this path with me. She's borne my grouchiness, my frustrations, never complaining about the toll the long hours have taken." He winked. "Well, almost never."

As the guests laughed, Elly held her champagne glass in both hands, gazing at Brandon, her heart now soaring. He had never told her these things before. Never expressed his appreciation for her long-suffering patience. Tears formed in her eyes. This was worth waiting for. The gazebo under the moonlight might have been more romantic, but acknowledgment of her fortitude in front of his family was far more gratifying.

"She's my dear friend, my partner in crime, my twelve-cup-of-coffee a day drinking partner—"

Elly took a slight step forward but Brandon stretched out his arm in the opposite direction.

"—Penny Vanderhouse." 

With an abashed smile, the willowy blonde he'd called out shook her head. "He's only saying these things because he beat me out of the fellowship." Penny joined him at the front of the group, punching him playfully on the arm.

Elly stood frozen in place, her grip on the champagne glass tightening.

"It was hard won," Brandon replied, grinning at Penny. "But she's agreed to still help with my research while she can."

"But I have student loans to pay off, too, so I'm going after the big bucks, ASAP." Penny gave a sly glance toward the guests before refocusing her attention on Brandon. The two shared a brief smile. A smile that blocked out everything and everyone around them. It lasted only a split second before the guests pressed in with congratulations and hugs.

But Elly had seen it.

She had seen it, and she knew what it meant.

The crowd's movements became a blur and their voices muddled. Elly remained rooted to her spot.

None of this was real. These people weren't real. This mansion wasn't real. This love wasn't real.

Only one thing was real: The chilly glass of champagne in her hands. She stared at the amber liquid, the bubbles floating to the top and clinging to the side of the glass. She took another sip.