The daytime soiree was held in the gardens of the grand Shangri-La Hotel Paris. There were Parisian stone columns, well-groomed shrubbery, and a manicured green lawn. It wasn’t the most glamorous garden Lucy had seen, but it was definitely a pricey one. The guests were dressed to the nines, either speaking Chinese, French, English, or Singlish and Malay. Some of the Singaporean guests were talking in Tamil and Hindi too, but they were the minority in a sea of mostly Chinese faces. Lucy was sitting at the edge of the party while Ryan made the rounds like a good younger brother and son, greeting guests, making small talk before moving on and thanking and greeting in an endless cycle. He would occasionally look for her, finding her eventually in the sea of people, and then he would send a smile her way, his eyes crinkling in the process. She’d wave back, but every time, he would just turn away too fast and quickly, dealing with another guest.

“What a party,” a soft, bored voice said. Lucy turned to the feminine voice and stared for a bit. The woman had a very pretty face. Her eyes were dark, wide, and expressive while her bottom lip was full and plump with a mole near her lips. Her long hair was perfectly made into symmetrical waves.  She was wearing a dark wine colored body-hugging dress, showing off her killer curves and long legs. “Are you Ryan’s guest?”

Lucy felt slightly intimidated by the pretty woman’s presence, and she meekly nodded. Her eyes never left the woman’s gaze though as she sat down at the table next to her, rubbing the heels of her feet.

“God, my feet hurts,” she said gruffly. She then turned over to Lucy and gave her an easy smile. She held out her hand, and said, “I’m Nina. One of Ryan’s cousins.”

“Oh!” exclaimed Lucy. “I’m Lucy.”

She was unable to hide her surprise, and her meekness disappeared upon realizing that this was a family member, and not an ex-girlfriend. “I love your dress.”

“Thanks,” Nina said, winking at the other woman as she took a graceful sip of her cocktail. “I wanted to show off my WIP.”

“WIP?” asked Lucy, looking at the confident woman curiously.

“My body is a work in progress,” explained Nina, showing Lucy a picture of herself a year ago. She laughed upon hearing Lucy’s loud gasp.

“Wow, you look really good! Nice work, girl!”

“Haha, thanks,” she said. “I’ve always been the ‘Big Girl’ of the family so my aunts and cousins have always made fun of me for being bigger. Societal norms, I suppose.”

“I’m sorry.”

Nina raised her brow, and replied, “Why are you sorry? It’s not you, it’s my family. Well, I suppose you’ll be one of us soon.”

“I don’t think so.”

“We’ll see,” Nina said. “I’m usually not wrong.”

“What’s your work out like?” Lucy changed the subject.

“I hired myself an Accountability Coach so I just do whatever he recommends.”

“What’s an Accountability Coach?”

“Well,” Nina explained. “I made that job specifically for me. I posted an ad for a live-in Personal Trainer-House Keeper. I basically pay him $150,000 a year to keep me healthy, motivated, and to clean my house, cook for me, and do chores I don’t have time to do.”

The woman then began pointing at a cluster of people who was who, how they were related, and where they’re from. She pointed to Ryan, and the people standing next to him. “I don’t know if Ryan has introduced you yet to the family with all of this craziness, but the one on the right is his older brother, Eddy Wong. He’s the groom. His parents are to his left – Theresa and Andrew Wong. The one to the right of Eddy is Jasmine. She’s the baby of the family. The Wongs are the nice cousins. I like them.”

“That’s the bride,” Nina continued, shifting her attention to a woman with bright grey eyes, a tall bridge, and dusky, smooth skin. She was wearing a bright pink sari and next to her were her parents. “Julia Koh. They’re the Singaporean side of this event. Her father – apparently at the time – had made a huge scandal for marrying her mother. She’s an heiress and an only child.”

“Over there in the middle are the Li’s, Fong’s, Chen’s and Zhao’s – they’re the ones from Hong Kong. And then the Liu’s and Wu’s are from Mainland. They say that they’re different, but to me, they’re just the same bunch of mean people. They think I’m still too fat at five foot nine, and a hundred and forty-five.” Nina rolled her eyes, but Lucy could tell that what they thought really affected her.

“So where are you from?” asked Lucy.

“Ah, I’m ABC. SoCal,” explained Nina. “Are you also from Cali?”

“Yes,” she replied. “San Francisco. Originally from Central Valley though.”

“Cool, cool,” Nina said, turning in her chair to get a better look at Lucy. “I take a monthly trip to SF for business. I’ll stop by next time I’m there.”

“You definitely should!” Lucy earnestly said. “Did you and the Wongs grow up together?”

“Oh, Ryan’s not ABC,” Nina said, picking at her plain garden salad. “He’s CBC.”

“What’s CBC?”

“Canadian-born Chinese.”

In that moment, it dawned on Lucy that it was true. She didn’t know Ryan very well at all despite their five-years of friendship. 

He probably didn't know her well either then.

Lucy shifted in her seat and took a sip from her champagne glass. She was gonna need another glass of bubbly soon at the rate that she was going. A familiar figure was sauntering over, and he brought his entourage with him. The mother was dressed in pink and white, the father was in a nice navy suit, the older brother looked nice in his grey suit, and the younger sister was very pretty. Ryan, of course, was handsome as always in his own tan suit with the nice blue shirt underneath. She was staring, but Lucy didn't care one bit as she chugged the rest of the chilled liquid down.

There was that smile again. Lucy frowned, feeling her heart twist and race faster than what should have been allowed. The drumming in her ears poisoned her. It was so scary, so so scary to know that just a smile could blur everything else. That her traitorous heart yearned for the impossible - after all , fairy tales were just stories for a reason. Her eyes watered at the sight of the glamorous clothes, decadence, luxury, and his family. 

"Hey are you okay?" Nina said, looking concerned as tears rolled down her cheeks.

And it was all coming back - her backwater origins in a town known for drugs and homelessness and dead ends. People talking and ridiculing her. Her nonexistent family. 

She sniffled, choking a bit as she wiped away her tears. Out the corner of her eye, she saw Ryan rushing over. Just as he was about to speak, Lucy turned her head downward to the side, facing away him as her hands held him at bay. 

"Sorry," she said, wiping away the tears as covertly as possible without raising his alarm.  "Something got into my eye."

She knew that he'd accept whatever she'd say. That he wouldn't press her here or ever. Taking a deep breath, Lucy calmed herself. She practiced her smile a bit before finally turning to him with the most professional smile she could muster.

"See?" she said, smiling so wide that it hurt. "I'm okay. Just something in my eye."

Nina looked at her with wide eyes, but she didn't say anything.

Lucy then got up from her seat, and turned to Ryan's family. 

"I'm Lucy. Thank you so much for having me. I'm Ryan's friend," Lucy said, holding out her hand.

"Ryan is always talking about you," his mother said. "We need to get to know each other. You're so much prettier than he described."