and no social status; she wasn’t in Ben’s league at all. As soon as one of the other secretaries had told her the information Ben was spreading she had gone to let him know that there had been a misunderstanding but she had walked in on him telling the senior partner of the firm that they were very happy together. She was scared that she would lose her job if she had tried to tell people that they weren’t together, so she had decided to give it a shot and date him for a bit.
That’s why she hadn’t slept with him. In fact, he thought she was a prude, something which made her laugh. But she just couldn’t bring herself to sleep with him. She no longer found him attractive and everything he said annoyed her. Frankly, she was ready to dump after the movie tonight but she supposed she could wait until after this weekend.
***
Louise packed a small suitcase with a variety of clothes. She had no idea what to pack. She knew that the Beekman’s were rich but did they dress formally for dinner? Would they expect her to wear a silk nightgown to work? She just had no clue what to expect in a world of money. She had grown up in a small city in Florida called Palm Bay, and going to Orlando to visit Disney was considered a big treat. Shoots, going to Applebee’s on a Friday night meant that your family had money. Louise wasn’t sure what to expect with one of the blue-blooded families of New York.
“Jackie, what should I take with me?” She wailed to her best friend on the phone. “I don’t even think I own the type of clothes they expect me to wear.”
“Louise, don’t even worry about it. You know you’re going to be done with that nitwit Ben by the end of the weekend. I say wear whatever you want, the scrubbier the better. Shock em, why don’t ya?” Jackie laughed down the phone. She was originally from England and so more familiar with the higher classes. “Look luv, I gotta go back to work now but call me when you arrive at the palace okay?”
“Yes Jackie, have fun.” Louise laughed.
“Yeah right. Seeya.” Jackie hung up and went back to her job of selling shoes to the rich wives of Wall Street brokers. The women in the store always looked down on Jackie but none of them knew that she actually had a Masters from Princeton University and her Uncle was a Lord back in England. She wanted to be a writer and so was working in the shoe store to research the i ndustry. Louise thought Jackie was fabulous. They’d been best friends ever since they had worked together at a call center. They had bonded over their hatred of the job.
Ding-dong . Louise sighed as he heard her doorbell ringing. She was sure it was Ben and she wasn’t even fully packed. “Fuck it, I’ll take whatever.” Louise mumbled to herself as she flung a handful of clothes into the case.
“Hey.” She said breathlessly as she opened the door.
“I was wondering where you were. We need to go now before traffic gets bad.” Ben kissed her on the cheek and Louise nodded. They walked down to the car and Louise gasped at the sight of the limousine and chauffeur.
Ben grinned, ”Richard sent the limo up to pick up me and David. So we get to drive to The Hamptons in style.”
“David?” Louise looked at him confused. “Who is David?”
“My younger brother.” Ben looked at her bemused. “I guess I never mentioned him before huh? He’s a mess. He is trying to become an actor and so basically does nothing.”
“Oh, I see.” And she did. Obviously David had no hold on the family company and so Ben didn’t see him as a threat. “Is he a lot younger than you?”
“No, actually he is your age.”
“He’s 25?”
“Yeah. And hoping to be the next Brad Pitt.” He laughed.
“How old is Richard?”
“35, though you would think he was 50, the way he acts.” Ben looked out of the window as he spoke but she could see the stony look on his face. She
Aziz Ansari, Eric Klinenberg