“Because of you.” Kimmie had intended her words to be a compliment, but upon hearing them, she worried her tone sounded more like an accusation.
“Not really,” Anna demurred. “She loves him, like, really loves him. She told me so last night. And I told Lolly only she had the power to decide Steven’s fate.”
“How so?” Kimmie asked, surprised at being taken into this older girl’s confidence in such an intimate way. “I mean, you think she should stay with him? I know he’s your brother but…” She trailed off, remembering all that her sister had texted her. She shuddered with revulsion.
“I think Steven’s behavior was repulsive and reprehensible. I don’t want to be so cavalier as to say ‘boys will be boys,’ but I told your sister the only way they could stay together is if she could truly forgive him. Otherwise it would never work.”
“I’m not sure I could do it,” Kimmie said. “In fact, I know I couldn’t. It seems impossible to forgive my boyfriend for cheating on me like that. Not that I’ve ever had one.”
“So you’ve never had a boyfriend?” Anna inquired very gently.
“Does that matter?” Kimmie’s voice rose defensively.
“Of course not. I was just curious because I’ve had a boyfriend for so long that it’s hard to remember what my opinions were when I didn’t. Though I’m pretty sure I would have said the same thing as you.”
“So having a boyfriend gives you different opinions?” Kimmie asked, now intrigued.
“Not exactly. I know it sounds like I’m making excuses for their thoughtless stupidity, but I’m not. I’m just saying boys and girls couldn’t be more different in their wants and behaviors. And when you throw in raging hormones and mix it up with emotions, it’s a wonder we don’t all go mad.” As Anna heard her own words out loud, she wondered if she was expressing her thoughts for Kimmie’s benefit or for her own. From the first moment she had opened her eyes that morning, Anna had been thinking about Vronsky. This wouldn’t have concerned her, if it weren’t for the fact that he had been the last thing she had thought about before falling asleep as well.
“So the takeaway is that boys are stupid?” Kimmie asked, only half joking.
“Yes,” Anna said, laughing. “My work here is done!”
Kimmie looked up to see Marta carrying a silver tray. She placed a teacup and saucer filled with steaming hot chocolate in front of Kimmie, along with a heart-shaped crystal candy dish with several large marshmallows. She placed half a pink grapefruit in front of Anna along with a grapefruit spoon, the kind Kimmie had first seen at the Mandarin Oriental hotel when she traveled with her mother to London. She remembered being so fascinated with the beautiful tiny jagged-edged spoon she slipped it into her purse at the end of the meal.
“If you were in Lolly’s situation, would you forgive him?” Kimmie asked. “You know, if he wasn’t your brother and all.”
“You mean, if my boyfriend cheated on me could I forgive him?” Anna asked. She had wondered the same thing herself last night when she was counseling Lolly.
“I’m sorry, was that rude? I didn’t mean to make you feel weird.”
“It wasn’t rude at all,” Anna said, thoughtfully. “I have to be honest and say I don’t know. Luckily, I’ve never been in that situation. I suppose it depends.”
“But is there ever a situation when cheating is okay?” Kimmie asked.
“Probably not. But I’m hardly an expert on the matter. I’ve only ever had one boyfriend myself. But relationships are complicated, Steven is my brother, and I’ll support whatever Lolly decides to do.”
“Me, too,” Kimmie said. She desperately wished for Anna to like her and had no problem changing her tune. “I know my sister loves Steven. She says it all the time. Maybe—” She paused. “—maybe this will make their relationship better? Stronger, I mean?” All this talk of love brought Dustin to Kimmie’s mind, but she dismissed the thought of him quickly, assuming he’d popped into her head because of the hot chocolate. Her thoughts then jumped to Vronsky. Since meeting him at New Year’s, she had seen him at least once a week, first for tea at the Plaza, then a walk through the park, and twice more in the evening for coffee.
Anna noticed Kimmie’s smile and asked her who was on her mind.
“How did you know it was a who I was thinking about?” Kimmie asked, blushing with embarrassment, but happy for the opening to discuss what she really wanted to talk about. She assumed Anna knew Vronsky and was eager to get her opinion. Kimmie knew Anna was the girlfriend of the Greenwich OG, which basically made her royalty, like America’s own version of William and Kate. Perhaps Vronsky and I could be Harry and Meghan.
“Just a feeling,” Anna said, happy to have Kimmie here to gossip with. Anna was still wrestling with thoughts of Vronsky and she wasn’t happy about it. She wasn’t single like Kimmie, so she knew it was trouble to start daydreaming of boys that weren’t her boyfriend.
Kimmie sipped her hot chocolate. “I met him at your brother’s New Year’s Eve party, and I’ve only seen him a few times since then.”
“Oh, is this Dustin? Steven’s old friend?” Anna asked innocently. “Your sister mentioned something about him last night. I hear MIT practically begged him to go there.”
Kimmie frowned at the mention of Dustin’s name and shook her head. “Not him. I mean, Dustin’s sweet and may have a crush on me. But I like someone else, though I’m not sure he likes me back.”
Anna found Kimmie’s sudden shyness quite darling. “Of course he likes you back! Any guy would. Tell me! Who’s this mystery man?”
“His name is Alex. Alex Vronsky, though you may have heard of him by his silly nickname Count Vronsky.”
Anna’s eyes went wide, but she quickly checked herself. “How odd, I met him for the first time last night. I rode the train in with his mother and he was there to pick her up at Grand Central.”
Kimmie was thrilled. Vronsky didn’t come visit her at the rink last night because he was with his mother, not because he was losing interest like she feared. She was so happy to hear the news she didn’t notice that Anna’s mood had changed slightly. “What was his mother like? Alex hasn’t told me much, but I can tell they’re close.” Kimmie was thrilled to finally have a girl she could talk to about Vronsky. Lolly was always so judgy when it came to boys and kept warning her Vronsky was famous for being a huge flirt and a total playboy.
“She’s incredible, so beautiful and elegant. She mainly spoke of her two sons. Alexia is clearly her favorite.” Anna hoped Kimmie didn’t catch her slip of the tongue calling Alexia by his mother’s pet name, and continued, “She seems very involved in his life.”
Kimmie was interested in Vronsky’s mom of course, but she most wanted to hear Anna’s opinion of Alex himself. “Don’t you find him crazy hot? He’s, like, movie star good-looking.”
“He is handsome.” Anna nodded, knowing it’d be strange for her to deny such an obvious truth. “You two would make such a good-looking couple.” She knew Kimmie would love to hear about Vronsky’s heroic actions with the homeless man’s dog, but she purposefully withheld it. Vronsky rushing off to find the second dog was somehow tied to her, though she hadn’t spent any time yet contemplating why.