Lili & Daphne
The messages haven’t let up. Now they come in waves, morning to night. A relentless stream of vague accusations and veiled threats, taunting her constantly.
She lives in wait now. Every vibration spikes her pulse. Every notification sets her on edge. And the only thing worse than not knowing who… is not knowing why.
She keeps scrolling, as if she stares long enough, she’ll spot the clue she missed. She tells herself to stop. To put the phone down. But she doesn’t.
Once a cheater, always a cheater. Better watch your back. He doesn’t love you. I know everything.
For a second, she almost throws the phone. Imagines it smashing against the wall, the screen shattering on impact.
Then, a knock from down the hall. She startles. Jerks upright from the couch. Barefoot, she crosses the floor, phone still clutched in her hand. Peeks through the peephole. What the fuck. What does she want?
“Hey, stranger,” Daphne says, as soon as the door swings open. Behind her, the pool glints in the sun.
Lili squints into the light. “Daph. Hi.” For a moment, she doesn’t move. She hadn’t been expecting company—certainly not this.
Daphne waits, glossed lips spreading cherry-red. “God, remember when we used to hang every day? I miss you, babes.”
Lili steps aside. “Yeah. Things have been… busy.”
“Busy?” Daphne breezes past her through the doorway. “That’s all I get?”
Lili swings around. She shuts the door too hard. “I’ve been buried in the new collection,” she lies. “Trying to push it somewhere new. I haven’t had time for much else.”
“Then let’s fix that.”
“What do you mean?”
A spark lights in Daphne’s eyes. “So, my mom’s friend, Arlene Sassoon, has this place in Big Sur. A villa. Empty all weekend. She’s practically begging someone to use it. You know how these old hags operate, always trying to curry favor with my cunt mom.”
Lili’s smile thins. She’s always hated that word. Especially when Daphne says it.
“No stress. No obligations. Just wine, the view, the ocean.” Daphne’s grin widens, too pleased with herself, as usual. “Come with me.”
Lili almost laughs. “You’re kidding.”
“I’m not.”
But they haven’t done anything like that since… before COVID. They barely talk anymore, in fact. Plus, the idea of a weekend alone with Daphne feels… risky.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Lili says, testing the words out loud, as if waiting to hear if they sound like a lie.
“Why the hell not?”
There are plenty of reasons to turn her down—Casey, work, the messages, the fact that it’s Daphne, of all people, who’s inviting her.
“It’s just… not a great time.”
“Exactly. That’s why you go.”
It shouldn’t even be a question, she tells herself, turning toward the kitchen, where the light spills too bright across the counter.
Then again... Big Sur. The cliffs. The quiet. The idea of not checking her phone every five minutes. Of being somewhere the messages might not reach.
“That does sound nice,” she admits. “But I can’t just disappear for a weekend.”
“We could leave in an hour.”
Lili exhales, a small, disbelieving breath. “I should check with Casey.”
“Why? Does he check with you? When’s the last time he asked your permission for anything?”
“Honestly, I don’t even know if I want to go.”
“You don’t have to know. You just have to get out of here. Let the decision make itself.”
Lili doesn’t answer. Just looks down at the phone still clutched in her hand. The black screen stares back at her. She sighs, then slides it into her pocket.
She hesitates, but she’s already imagining it. Driving up the coast. No signal. No notifications. No noise. Just the endless ocean, the clean coastal air…
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She shouldn’t say yes.
“You know what?” she says, surprising herself. “What the hell. You’re right. I don’t need anyone’s permission. Just my own.”
Two hours later, the Pacific sprawls beside them, deep, restless, and infinite. Daphne drums the wheel to a Kim Petras beat, sunlight flashing off her sunglasses.
“You remember the first time we met?”
Lili lets out a real laugh. For the first time in days, despite everything, she’s not worrying. “Of course. I recognized you the second I saw you in the courtyard. You had that style blog. What was it called again?”
“Ugh, don’t remind me. But the best part? You didn’t just recognize me! You recognized my skirt.”
“Because I designed it!” Lili gasps. “You emailed me out of the blue, begged to feature it, and then never gave it back!”
“I thought it was a gift!”
“You stripped it off in public and handed it back. Fastest undressing I’ve ever seen.”
“The start of a beautiful friendship!” Daphne sighs theatrically. “Things changed, sure. But I’ve always been glad you’re my friend.”
“Me too,” Lili says, and for a second, she almost believes it.
The road coils along the cliffs, each turn peeling the world away and leaving only the sea. The coastline blurs, a smear of wildflowers, jagged rocks, the endless blue, too beautiful to feel real. When the villa appears, it’s like a mirage carved into the cliffside. Floor-to-ceiling windows open to the ocean, the air heavy with eucalyptus and orchids. Dozens of them, spilling from every corner of the back deck like offerings, their petals bruised pink and ghost-white, trembling in the wind.
“Welcome to paradise!” Daphne sings, spinning in the driveway, her laughter carried off by the salt air. “Tell me this wasn’t the best idea ever.”
“It’s definitely up there,” Lili says, and a smile catches her by surprise.
Later, golden light spills through the windows, pooling across the stone floor. Lili cradles her wine glass, watching the liquid catch the amber glow. Maybe it’s the view. Maybe it’s Daphne—something in the ease between them, their old rhythm sliding back into place like nothing ever changed. Either way, something gives.
“I don’t even know who I am in my marriage anymore,” she says, her voice soft, wistful in the stillness. “Casey’s distant one minute, lashing out the next. Therapy feels like just another battlefield.”
Across the room, Daphne listens. Her eyes follow the horizon, where the Pacific shimmers beneath the dimming sky, the last rays of sun bleeding purple.
“He’s gaslighting you,” she says, quiet but certain. “Looking for a way out.”
“No, that’s not it. Maybe I’m the problem. Maybe I just need to try harder.” A pause. Then, softer: “Does that sound pathetic?”
Daphne drains her glass. “Please. When’s the last time a man sat around wondering if he should try harder or if he sounds pathetic?”
Lili exhales a shaky laugh. “If I walked away… would he come after me? Or just let me go?”
“Maybe it’s time you find out,” Daphne says, turning abruptly from the window to meet her gaze.
“Wait—what?” Did she really just say that?
“Relax, Lili. It’s a joke.”
Silence. The room feels smaller now. Closer. Daphne crosses the open floor and sets the empty glass down on the counter, harder than she needs to.
“God. This is doing nothing for me.”
“I don’t think the wine’s the problem.”
“I just have a higher tolerance than you. For a lot of things.” Then she reaches for her bag, rustling through it like there’s something urgent inside—something safer than this conversation.
“Daph.” Lili catches her wrist.
“What? I need to reapply my lipstick.”
“You’ve been ‘applying lipstick’ all day. I’m not an idiot.”
Daphne yanks her hand back. “Chill out, Lili. It’s a girls’ weekend, not a twelve-step retreat.”
Then her gaze slides to the window, softening as if nothing just happened, the shift in her voice almost childlike. “We should go swimming.”
“Swimming? At night? We’ll drown.”
“God, what happened to the old Lili?” Daphne rolls her eyes, grabbing the nearly empty wine bottle. “You used to be fun. Where’d that girl go?”
The night unspools, wine flowing faster than conversation, the Pink Moon rising over the hills. Daphne’s on her second bottle before Lili’s even unpacked the groceries, drifting in and out of the kitchen, vanishing to smoke, blasting music. She helps in fragments, while Lili shoulders the rest, seasoning the bird, roasting it, pretending not to see the white dust streaked across the Noguchi. By the time dinner’s ready, Daphne’s barefoot, glass in hand, shouting along to Dua Lipa.
Lili’s elbow-deep in cabinets, hunting for a platter, when it hits her: she isn’t even hungry. Without a word, she retreats to the bedroom.
Sleep drags her under like a tide, cold, dark, and dreamless. When Lili wakes, it’s well past noon. The sky outside is whitewashed, the light too bright.
“Welp. There goes the morning,” she mutters, rubbing her temples, willing the hangover to die. All the plans they’d talked about so excitedly—the breakfast, the farmer’s market, the hike—already forgotten. She hesitates outside Daphne’s door. Then pushes it open.
Inside, Daphne’s awake. Crouched at the coffee table, still in yesterday’s dress, hair tangled, mascara bleeding into shadows beneath her eyes. With fragile grace, she leans forward and inhales the line. Lili stares, frozen, as Daphne’s head snaps up.
“What?” she says, bloodshot eyes locking on Lili. “We’ve got a big day ahead, don’t we?”
A half hour later, they’re on the trail, sun blazing overhead. The cliffside path winds too close to the edge, nothing but the dizzying drop and ocean rage below. Daphne charges ahead, a reckless blur against the endless blue. Lili lags behind, sweat stinging her eyes.
Then: that voice in her head. The warning. Turn back.
But she doesn’t. She keeps walking. “Slow down!” she calls.
“We came all this way,” Daphne snaps over her shoulder, “and now you want to quit?”
“I’m just saying, maybe take it easy. You’re—”
The words vanish. Gravel shifts. The world tilts.
Lili’s foot slips. She stumbles. Fingers grasp at air, then dirt, then stone.
The cliff opens beneath her. A free fall.
She lunges—
Catches a jagged root. Clings hard, breathless, heart pounding. She looks up, and freezes. Daphne stands above her, haloed in sun. Not moving. Just… watching. A slow smile lifts her mouth, lazy, almost pleased.
Lili’s arms shake. Her grip burns. Skin breaks. Say something. Help me. “Daphne—!!”
At last, Daphne crouches. Grabs her wrists. Hauls her back onto the trail. Lili collapses, trembling, as Daphne dusts off her thighs, completely unfazed.
“Jesus, Lili. You should really be more careful.”
Lili stares up at her. Sees the flicker in her gaze. Calm, almost calculating. She swallows the gasp, realizing: it’s not the fall that’s left her shaking; it’s the pause. The way, for one second too long, Daphne chose to wait.