Page 61 of Slumming It

I was obviously missing something. "So you and the mayor are what? Friends?"

"No." She sank lower in the seat. "Actually, my car broke down along the way, and I was standing on the roadside whenhe happened to be driving by, heading to the same place I was going."

"And…?"

"And he stopped and offered me a ride."

I bet he did."Why?"

"Why'd he do it?" She eyed me like I'd just asked why sugar tastes better than shit. "Probably just to be nice."

Bullshit.More likely,shehad looked nice standing there on the roadside, and the douchebag had been looking for an easy in. "He couldn't have been too nice if he ditched you at the door."

"Yeah, well…" She looked down to study her lap. "It was his event. Hehadto go inside."

Not withouther, he didn't. "Why? Because he's a pussy?"

"No, because he's polite. He had like fifty other people waiting. And he was really sorry. He told me so himself, repeatedly."

"But…?"

"But I guess he had a choice – either rescind my invitation or tick off the Fairfaxes. And the mayor wasn't stupid."

The Fairfaxes. I knew the name well enough, but I was curious what Emily might say. "And the Fairfaxes are who?"

"Only the richest family in town. Trust me, Bob Norris wouldn't have been mayor for long if he tickedthemoff."

"So heisa pussy."

"No. He's practical. And he gave me the keys to wait in his car, so it wasn't as bad as it could've been."

The more she talked, the less I liked it. "Why didn't you call for a ride?"

"Aside from the embarrassment?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Well, mostly because my mom would've felt terrible. She was so excited when I got invited, and I didn't have the heart to tell her that I never made it in."

I recalled something Emily had said the first time we'd met. I repeated the gist of it now. "I thought everyone here knew everything."

"Sure, normally," she said. "But when they refused to let me inside, it was only me and the mayor."

"Plus the hostess," I reminded her.

"Yeah, butshewasn't gonna blab, not if she wanted to keep her job. And besides, she was a French student working here for the summer, so it's not like she knew anyone in town."

I was still thinking of Mayor Douchebag.He'd made her wait in the fucking car?The guy reallywasa pussy.

Emily was still talking. "So, anyway, other than you, nobody knows that I was, well,youknow…" She let the words trail off into silence.

I filled in the blank. "Ditched."

"I wouldn’t put itthatway," she said. "But hey, it happens, right? I mean, look at yesterday. You ditched me, too."

I was a lot of things, but I was no douchebag. And I sure as hell wasn't a pussy. "I didn't ditch you," I reminded her. "You left on your own. Big difference."

"It's notthatdifferent," she countered. "And I only left because you insulted my parents."