"Donald is my family's accountant," Alicia reminded me again.
I shook her arm off mine. "What do bank accounts have to do with being a good couple?"
She gave me an icy smile. "You can't be serious, Penn. Donald could point out dozens of marriages on the rocks in this very room due to financial strain. If one partner has all the money, there is never any peace in the relationship. Am I right, Donald?"
Donald took a hearty sip of his wine. "Not that you two would have to worry about that. Smooth sailing for you two. And, such a good-looking couple."
"So, that's it?" I snapped. "That's the secret to a happy relationship-even bank accounts and good looks?"
"Or one partner has all the looks and the other one all the money. Right?" Donald laughed at his own joke.
"Really, Penn," Alicia said quietly to me. "Can you even imagine if you continued seeing that girl? Now she knows how much money you have, and she's going to start wanting things, things that you have to buy for her."
I shook my head. Corsica was determined to make her own way. It's part of what I loved most about her.
As if she read my thoughts, Alicia continued. "But, what she really wants is to be on equal footing, and that's never going to happen. Best to let her find someone on even ground."
"Maybe you're right," I ground out. "Corsica would never be happy knowing that I had everything she wanted. Everything would always be a competition, and let's face it, she's never going to win."
Alicia's smile turned catty and I turned around to see Corsica's blue eyes blink slowly. She drew herself up and straightened her shoulders.
"I was coming to see if you'd like to dance," Corsica said. Her tone was even, elegant, and cool. "I thought perhaps we had some things to discuss, but it seems you two have already sorted everything out."
She had sought me out. I stood for a second in awe of Corsica's poise and her willingness to face hard conversations. Then, I realized that she was slipping through the crowd, and this time, I knew she was leaving for good. I moved to follow her, but Alicia tangled around my arm again.
"See?" she asked. "She'll never be on equal footing with people like us."
"I'm nothing like you," I spat at her. I unwound her claws from my arm and pushed my way through the fancy crowd.
Corsica wove gracefully through the press of tuxedoes and ball gowns and was almost to the front door. This time, my parents were not there to stop her, though I saw my mother furiously gesturing from across the ballroom.
They had just found out I fabricated the entire relationship, and yet both my parents wanted Corsica to stay. Were they seeing something I did not?
"Corsica, please, wait!" I called out too loudly and there was a dip in polite conversation. It spread out like the ripples on a pond as she turned around and pretended as if nothing was wrong.
"Oh, there you are," she said with a smile.
The buzz of conversation started up around us again, but I could hardly hear it over the pounding of my heart. "I thought you said you weren't leaving. Weren't you going to prove that you don't need anyone?"
As soon as the words left my mouth, I tensed waiting for them to land. It was a harsh blow, and one I didn't mean. I just didn't know how to get her to stay.
Relief flooded my system when Corsica did not look hurt. She was furious. Despite her polite smile, she sailed straight up to me and stabbed a finger in my chest. "I don't have anything to prove to you, Penn. I'm not the one that's been lying."
"No, you're just the one that's running away." I wondered if my mouth was permanently disconnected from my brain.
Corsica raised her chin, her upswept hair accentuating the regal disdain of the motion. "There's nothing for me here. Your mother has her health, your parents have each other, and you have an heiress. Go stand on equal footing with her. I'm gone."
She slipped through the crowd so quickly all I could see was the sweeping train of her midnight gown. I elbowed my way through, but didn't catch her this time until she was almost to the far gate of the formal gardens.
"Please, Corsica, it's not what you think," I called.
A small knot of men smoking cigars snickered. Corsica gave all of us a disgusted look and kept going.
"Poor sucker," one of the men puffed.
His friend shook his head. "I don't know, I'd tell a hundred lies a day to be with someone like her."
I glared at them and broke into a jog. Corsica dodged through the topiary, but I caught hold of her elbow just past the giraffe.
"Let go of me. I refuse to let you make me into a scene," she hissed.
"Oh, so you're back to the ice princess who first ran into me on the steps? I'm not going to fall for it. I know who you are, Corsica."
"You don't know anything about me." She wrenched her arm free and crossed her arms tightly over her waist. "You don't want to know anything about me. And, more to the point, you don't want me to really know you. Oh, and the only reason we had anything to do with each other, your insane little lie about us, is over. We're done."
I reached out for her hands, but she refused. "We both know it was more than that. And it was more than you feeling empathy for me and my family. There's something else. I'm sorry for all the rest of it, but I'm not sorry for that."
"You're not sorry that you slept with me just to get me out of your system?" She snorted and started off down the path to the beach gate.
"You really think that's all it was?"
She stopped, but did not turn around. "Then what was it?"
I didn't know how to say it. It felt like it buzzed in the air, louder than a cicada in August, but I couldn't get the words to form in my mouth.
Corsica half-turned and gave a sad, little sigh. "It doesn't matter. You'd always think I was just a gold-digger; you'd always be suspicious of me."
"I don't care about the money. I don't care about 'equal footing' or whatever that nonsense was." My voice was raspy.
"But I care where I stand."
Something crumpled in my chest, and I couldn't stand it anymore. "Fine. You want to try to keep your high ground by maintaining this drama, then go ahead. I'll call a car to take you back to Santa Cruz, and I'll cut you a check for your summer rent. You're right, our deal is done, and we should be, too."
Corsica looked at me, her blue eyes as shadowed as the midnight folds of her ball gown. I held my breath, hoping her next words wouldn't hurt. My lungs burned and my chest ached, but she didn't say a word. Instead, she turned and slipped through the beach gate, down the steep dunes to the ocean.
I stood there for what felt like century until a voice startled me. "Did I just miss Corsica? Is the whole show over?" Phillip strolled up and handed me a double whiskey.
"The whole thing was a lie. We were never engaged. It was just a one-night stand that turned into a weekend getaway that turned into the biggest mess I've ever made."
Phillip clinked his glass against mine. "You love her. Of course things got messy. They always do when one person has nothing and the other person has, what should we call it? Your father's touch?"