...This was a game she'd played before. With herself and with others. Deflection; deception; denial. Horner was better at it than nearly -- nearly -- anyone else she'd met. But then again, the handful of people who did populate that same class were all...special cases. Individuals she found herself eager to meet. Speak with. And spin gloriously gratuitous smoke-screens via co-conspiratorial coping.

So: "Lemme guess, she also never stumbled in her impractically high heels."

If you can't beat the dreary out of them, join them in their fantasy.