Page 48 of The Plus-One List

She whistles. “Look at you, Short King,” she says, giving me an approving nod. I tried to tame my hair, but it’s as unruly as ever. “Nice kicks,” she adds, taking in my brown suede creepers. “How’s our girl doing?”

“She tried to cancel.”

“Not surprised.”

“She said she had the plague.”

Miriam lets out a big belly laugh. “I’ll give her points for creativity. Let me know how it goes.”

“I will,” I promise.

When I get to Eloise’s apartment, I can’t help but laugh myself. The door is on the latch and there’s a Post-it stuck to it with one word in block print: HELP.

I open the door quietly and hear voices drifting down the hall.

“This is a great lipliner.” I recognize Sanvi’s smooth, even tone. “Rachel’s makeup line is legit.”

“You look amazing!” That’s Kate.

I close the door and turn to see Charleston scampering toward me, followed closely by Pip. “Hola chicos,” I say, scooping Pip up in my arms. I carry him down the hall. The three women are in the bathroom—Eloise is perched on one of the stools from the breakfast bar while Sanvi circles around her and Kate leans in the doorframe. I can’t see Eloise’s face clearly, but I catch her eyes in the mirror for a moment, and she sends me a clear plea for help.

“Evening ladies,” I say.

Sanvi looks up. “Agustín, hi! We’re almost done.” Hazelnut trots around her feet, anxious to be the center of attention.

“Oh, and we left a sample pack of our protein powders in the kitchen for you,” Kate adds, her high ponytail swinging back and forth as she turns around. They’re always trying to push various powders or supplements on me, and I haven’t had the heart to tell them I don’t work out. I keep fit—I like to run in Prospect Park on the weekends—but I’m not a gym bro.

“Okay, okay, I’m done,” Eloise says, hopping down off the stool, still half hidden by the two other women.

“Just one last spritz,” Sanvi singsongs, covering Eloise in a cloud of spray. Eloise coughs and swats the air. As Kate moves aside, and Sanvi packs up the makeup littered across the sink, Eloise steps out of the bathroom.

“Ta da!” Kate says, doing jazz hands. “Doesn’t she look gorgeous? Sanvi’s great. I suck at makeup. I never wear it, except when we’re filming one of our workout videos, because this pasty skin does not love the camera …”

But Kate’s voice fades as I feel an odd swooping sensation in my stomach, and my neck goes suddenly hot.

“How bad is it?” Eloise asks me quietly.

Her eyes are lined in black so they seem bigger than normal with a subtle gold sparkle on her lids. Her lips are painted a deep blushing pink, and the makeup accentuates her cheekbones, giving them just the right amount of color. Her curls are thick and lustrous, framing her face. She wears a midnight blue, knee length dress with tiny white dots like stars patterning it, along with a pair of dark blue espadrilles that gives her a little added height.

I can’t stop staring. My heart is doing strange things inside my chest.

“Oh god,” she says, taking my silence for a negative. “Is it bad? It’s bad, right? Oh my god …”

“No,” I say quickly before she talks herself into washing it off. “No, no, you … you look beautiful. I mean, you always look beautiful but tonight … you’ll stop traffic.”

Her cheeks turn a darker shade of pink. My own cheeks are feeling much warmer than usual.

“Are you sure?”

I nod. A lot. Lots of nodding here.

“I feel like an idiot,” she admits, glancing down at her shoes. “What if I fall over?”

“I’ll catch you.” The words spill out before I can consider them. Eloise’s eyes widen. My mouth goes dry.

“You guys look so cute together,” Kate gushes, coming over to give me a hug.

“So cute,” Sanvi echoes, kissing my cheek. We’ve told all the neighbors multiple times that we are not together, just friends, but they always seem to ignore us. “Do you need anything else?”