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looks beautiful, Josh. Could I have one without the red meat, though?”
    Josh managed not to roll his eyes and graciously made a plate of focaccia crisps and dressing for Naomi. Eliot appeared, looking more bug-eyed and frizzy-haired as the evening kicked into gear.
    “Guess what? Randolph Schmitt, who’s the organizer of this entire event, is going to give a toast here sometime tonight! I’ve heard he’s going to do three or four toasts at different galleries tonight, but this will be his first stop.” Eliot looked as if he intended to jump up and clap his feet together in a celebratory jig, but he just reached out and clutched Naomi’s hands in his, evidently because she was the only one who appeared as excited as he was.
    I’d invited my parents, together with my sister, Heather, and her husband, Ben, and spotted them in the big front room of the gallery. Heather and Ben looked relaxed and relieved to have a night out without their two children. I stood on tiptoe to wave to them. I caught Heather’s eye, and she waved back excitedly as she pointed next to her.
    What has she done?
    My ex-boyfriend, Sean Blackett, was standing right beside my sister.
    I am going to kill her! First, I am going to take back the expensive sweater from Ann Taylor Loft that I gave her for Christmas, and then I am going to kill her! What in God’s name was Sean doing here? As far as I knew, he had no interest in art. I looked around in the hope of seeing that he’d come with friends but saw him surrounded only by my family members.
    Mental note: Add to Naomi’s list.

    6. Having ex-boyfriend (brought by dumb sister) appear at new boyfriend’s event.

    “Crap, crap, crap,” I muttered.
    “What?” Josh asked.
    Oh, God. Josh. There was no way I could avoid some dreadful introduction here. I mean, the gallery was only so big, and Sean might actually want to eat something at a food event, meaning that he’d end up right in front of Josh and me.
    “It appears that my lunatic sister has unearthed my ex, Sean, and now we are all squashed together in this fricking art gallery celebrating the holidays together!” I was, perhaps, going to have some sort of anxiety attack.
    “Well, let’s get a look at the ex then, shall we?” Josh teased, standing on his toes to get a good view.
    “Argh! This is a nightmare. I better go say hello and get this over with. I’ll be right back.” I walked toward Sean and my family and tried to think of polite things to say.
    Sean had been a great boyfriend, but he just wasn’t someone I’d wanted to spend the rest of my life with. Heather, on the other hand, thought Sean and I should’ve run off into a picturesque sunset and had forty babies together. And she knew damn well that when I’d broken up with Sean I’d been left with monster-sized guilt over dumping an altogether nice guy.
    To top it off, Sean didn’t look particularly good tonight. His whole body had thinned out. Not that he’d been heavy when we were dating, but now he looked sort of gaunt and pitiful. And he’d started wearing glasses. Look what I’d done to him! Maybe I’d upset him so badly that he’d barely eaten in the past few years? And I’d caused his eyesight to fail? I had zero interest in facing someone whose heart I’d crushed, but I forced an enthusiastic smile.
    “Sean! What a surprise! It’s great to see you,” I lied. I gave him a brief hug and gave my sister the finger behind his back.
    “God, Chloe. It’s been a long time,” Sean said. “I hope you don’t mind I’m here. Heather called me and invited me to come out with everybody tonight. I thought it’d be good to see you again.”
    “No, of course I don’t mind.” But I did mind.
    I hugged my brother-in-law, Ben, who whispered in my ear, “I cannot begin to apologize enough for this. I swear I had nothing to do with it.” I loved Ben. He was always clean-cut and well-groomed, but tonight he looked especially put together. I could tell he’d