At that moment The air in the room was filled with soft laughter and scattered clinks of glasses, but Avery's eyes kept drifting to the two empty seats. Her perfectly painted nails tapped slowly against her wine glass.
"I mean, how long are we supposed to wait?" Avery finally said, her voice loud enough for everyone at the table to hear. "Valentina is always late. Always."
Then a few heads turned. Some of the other guests exchanged looks, the tension creeping in slowly like a stain on clean fabric. No one said anything outright, but the murmurs began.
"She acts like we have all the time in the world," Avery continued, louder now, letting her irritation bloom.
"Do they think they're so special that we should all just sit and wait around for them?"
At that moment Sha looked up calmly from her seat, her expression unreadable. She took a small sip of water before setting the glass back down gently.
