by Claire Adams
“Call me,” she said to Levi.
He had almost finished eating. He set his fork down. “I will,” he said. He watched her walk away and then he looked over at Sophie. “You just chased one of my oldest friends off.”
“Maybe you should go with her.”
He and Sophie stared at each other for several long seconds, and then he burst out laughing.
“All right,” he said. “Look. I’m not trying to ruin anyone’s day, okay? Isla, I’ll give you a call later. I’ll let you two finish your meal in peace. And hey, Isla, I really am sorry about the whole purse thing. You’ll have to let me make it up to you.”
He stood up, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket. He rifled through it and extracted a hundred dollar bill and a fifty, which he placed down on the table.
“My treat, okay?”
“You don’t have to go—” I started to say, but Sophie shot me a look. She’d keep up with the endless onslaught of giving him shit if he stayed.
“You’re going to have to meet up with Cal at some point,” Levi said. “I’ve got to give him a call soon, too. Why I don’t I plan on seeing you there? Down at the office?”
“Sure,” I said.
He smiled and winked at me, and then strolled off. In the opposite direction that Ella had gone.
Sophie rolled her eyes. “Did that just really happen?” she asked. “God, what pretentious assholes! Both of them!”
“They weren’t being that bad,” I said.
“You better not become one of them. I know you won’t, Isla, but still, you better not.”
“I can’t believe you said that to Ella.”
“Seriously? She’s coming over here, acting all fake nice to you. You couldn’t see through that?”
“I don’t know. I guess I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. And Levi wasn’t doing anything wrong.”
“Considering he managed to not puke on anything, yeah, I guess so far he’s having a pretty good day.” She glanced over her shoulder in the direction he’d walked off in. “He does look good,” she finally said grudgingly. “But who the fuck cares what he looks like? He’s still a douche.”
“He did really seem sorry. Don’t you think?”
“I guess so, but it’s probably just because he’s embarrassed.”
“He doesn’t really strike me as the type to get embarrassed. I don’t think he was.”
Sophie shrugged. “He is clearly interested in trying to get on your good side. Which, of course, you can totally use to your advantage.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean I still think you still need to put him in his place. Teach him a lesson.”
“Really?” I asked, raising my eyebrows. “Didn’t I just try to do that and it ended with me getting puked on?”
“Your purse got puked on and he probably doesn’t even remember anything from it. Yeah, I know to the outside observer it might sound like it’s juvenile, but as someone who was there and talked to you like every night on the phone about all the awful things he said to you, you are more than justified in doing something to hurt him. And the beautiful thing is, it will totally work. Because I saw the way he was looking at you. And I also saw the way Ella was looking at him. She still wants him, he wants you, so that puts you in control. It’s a beautiful thing. You have more power than you realize.”
I laughed. “You sound crazy.”
“Except I’m not! I can’t stand people like him, who think they can get away with whatever it is they want just because they’re good-looking, wealthy, or in his case, both. Well, guess what, Isla? Now you’re also good-looking and wealthy, and I hope that’s not going to turn you into some condescending, entitled asshole. I know it won’t, because I’ve known you basically our whole lives. But seriously, are you forgetting the horrible thing he’d say to you in front of his friends? How shitty you felt about it? What a fucking dickhead he was?”
I sat there for a minute, thinking about what she was saying. There was no way I’d ever be able to forget about those things; they were as indelible on my psyche as scars. Hell, the whole reason that I now looked the way I did was because I never wanted to have someone make fun of me the way he had. It’s not even that the things he said were particularly cruel or clever; rather, it was that feeling of other people looking at me, thinking I’m glad I’m not that girl.
“Listen,” Sophie said, “you know I’m not one to dwell on the past. I’m glad you’re not just sitting around, thinking about all the shitty things that Levi has said to you. But you’re in a great position now to do something to get back at him, something that will maybe make him think twice the next time he’s about to treat someone like they’re completely dispensable and only there for the amusement of him and his friends.”
And I could, all of a sudden, remember exactly how it felt to hear him make some wisecrack about my weight, and the way his friends would burst out laughing. The way I felt the first time I’d seen Ella. They were going out, but she’d come over first, and they were all in the living room, and Alex was talking to her about skiing in Davos. I stopped short when I saw Ella, because up until that point, I’d never seen anyone so beautiful in person before. And it wasn’t just that she was physically attractive: I could just tell by the way she was sitting there, the way she could hold her own in a conversation, how confident she was.
Alex had asked me to join them in the living room, and I did, only because I couldn’t think of an excuse not to. It was summer, so it wasn’t like I could say that I needed to get back to my homework. So I sat there on the couch, feeling my waist pushing against the elastic of the pants that I was wearing. I was wearing yoga pants back before they were a trend, not because I was interested in doing yoga, but because pants like jeans that required you to button them were too uncomfortable. Even with the elastic waist, I could remember exactly how my fat bulged over the top, despite my trying to further disguise it with a loose-fitting top.
I sat there, mostly, silent, while Alex and Ella talked; from what I could gather, Ella’s dad owned a house in Davos, which I later looked up and found out was in Switzerland. I snuck a glance or two over at Levi, who was sprawled on the other couch, flipping through the TV stations, looking bored. Finally, he turned the TV off, tossed the remote down, and asked Ella if she was ready to go. She stood up and stretched, exposing her perfectly flat, tanned belly.
“Why don’t you take Isla with you?” Alex asked, giving me a smile.
I could remember that perfectly the way he smiled, as though he couldn’t believe no one else had thought of the idea first. Alex was one of the smartest guys that I knew; shouldn’t he have been able to tell that someone like me was not going to be going out with people like Levi and Isla?
I also remembered the look of disgust that flashed across both of their faces. It was gone in a second, but it had been there.
“Sure,” Ella had said. “We’re going to—”
“No, that’s all right.” There was a part of me that wanted to go with them, that wanted to see what they did, that also just wanted to be seen with them, but I already knew how I wouldn’t fit in. “I’ve kind of got a headache.”
Levi and Ella both looked visibly relieved. “Hey, I’ll bring some food back for you,” Levi said. “Whatever you want.”
Then they both stood there, waiting, and I realized he wanted me to tell him what I wanted to eat. It looked like he was trying his hardest not to laugh.
“That’s all right,” I had said. “I’m not that hungry.”
Now, I looked back to Sophie, the memory of that day still as fresh in my mind as if it had just happened.
“You’re right,” I said. “They’re both the type of person who thinks they can do whatever they want and get away with it.”
Sophie grinned. “And now you can actually do something about it.”
Sophie and I spent the rest of the day wandering around the city, poking into stores when we felt like it, stopping to get
coffee when we needed a pick-me-up. Then, Sophie wanted to go to a spa, so we went and sat in a steam room, got massages, and then got facial masks just for the fun of it. We went and saw a movie, had dinner at a fancy bistro, and then got a few drinks before going back to the hotel room and falling asleep.
Sophie left after breakfast the next morning, making me promise to keep her posted on Project Revenge, as she had termed it.
“I will,” I said, giving her a hug. “And thanks again for coming up here. I’ll be coming back to Bel Air soon, so I’ll let you know when I’m in town, okay?”
“Sounds good, sweetie.”
After she was gone, I called Cal, who had left a few messages for me yesterday. I was supposed to go to down the BCM offices and meet with him.
“Are you available this afternoon?” he asked. “Could you swing by the office then? It shouldn’t take too much of your time.”
“Sure,” I said.
“How does one-thirty sound? I’ve got a lunch meeting, but that should be wrapped up by one and that’ll give me time to get back there.”
“One-thirty is fine,” I said. “I’ll see you then.”
Bassett Capital Management was in the Financial District, in a skyscraper, surrounded by other skyscrapers, with people bustling in and out, talking on their phones, looking like they were in a rush, late to get somewhere very important.
I took the elevator up and told the receptionist who I was there to see.
“Of course. Cal will be with you in just a moment. Make yourself comfortable,” she said, gesturing to the waiting area, which was furnished with a leather couch and two matching chairs.
I went over and sat down, tugging on my skirt. My feet hurt; I wasn’t used to wearing heels and having to walk long distances, and these shoes were a little tight. My best pair of high heels I’d left over at Brian’s house.
“Well hello there.”
I looked up. It wasn’t Cal, but Levi.
“Oh,” I said. “Hi. I didn’t realize you’d be here.”
“Levi requested that he be present,” Cal said, walking up behind him. “I hope you don’t mind. He will be taking over his father’s businesses; I don’t know if he told you that or not.”
“No,” I said. “He didn’t.”
Levi smiled and winked at me.
“Why don’t we all go into my office, then,” Cal said.
As we walked past the people sitting at their desks, I could feel their eyes on me. I wondered if they knew. I tried to keep my eyes ahead and watch where I was going so I didn’t end up tripping and falling. Levi strolled next to me.
We stepped into Cal’s office and he closed the door behind us. “Have a seat, Isla,” he said. I sat in one of the plush chairs positioned in front of his desk.
“I had no idea that Alex was going to leave me anything,” I said. “It really came as quite a shock.”
Cal smiled and pushed his wire-rimmed glasses up the bridge of his nose. “I can imagine it was. But Alex was always very fond of you. Once we initiate the transfer of funds, the money is yours, of course, but I know he felt that you would use it to do something with yourself.” He shot a quick glance at Levi. “The reason that Levi is here is because he’s going to be taking a more active role here at BCM. Seeing as he has virtually no experience in the financial industry, I thought it might be good to start him off here.”
“Sure,” I said. “That’s fine by me.”
“Very good,” Cal said. “There’s a few things we’ll need to go over.”
I slid forward on the chair and rested my forearms on the desk. He had a sheaf of papers that he was shuffling around. I tried to listen to what he was saying, but I was acutely aware of Levi sitting there, his gaze on me, that magnetic pull of his strong as ever. Was he even aware that he had it?
“Now, Daniel mentioned that he recommended you getting a financial advisor. Is that something you’ve done?”
“Huh?” I said. “Sorry, what was that?”
“A financial advisor,” Cal repeated, shooting a dirty look at Levi. “Do you have one?”
“No, not yet.”
“Well, let me reiterate what Daniel told you—you should get one. This is a lot of money. We’d be more than happy to discuss your various options here, with us.” Cal smiled. “It would be appropriate, I think, Alex’s money being—”
“It’s Isla’s money now,” Levi interrupted. “And she should be able to do what she wants with it.”
“Yes, of course.” Cal looked beyond annoyed that Levi would interrupt him. “I’m not trying to influence you either way, Isla. But it is a lot of money, and it can be overwhelming if you’re not careful. You’ll have all sorts of people suddenly calling you up, once word of this gets out. And it will, whether you want it to or not. So it’s something to prepare yourself for.”
I nodded, even though I was thinking that I would never be able to spend that much money, not in this lifetime, no matter what I did.
When we had wrapped everything up, Cal walked me back out. I told him I needed some time to think about exactly what it was I wanted to do with all, or some of that money, and that I would get back to him.
I started to walk toward the elevator when I realized that Levi was next to me.
“You were just going to leave without saying goodbye?” he asked.
“Sorry.” I pressed the button for the ground floor. “This whole thing is a little overwhelming.”
“I’ll bet.” The elevator door opened, and he followed me in. “Got any plans right now?”
“Not really.”
“Okay, good. Me neither. We’re going to go shopping.”
“Shopping?”
“Yeah.” He nodded to my purse. “You at least need to get a new purse.”
He ended up taking me to Saks Fifth Avenue, which I’d walked by before, and peered in the windows, but had never gone in. The prices were astronomical. But that didn’t really matter now. But still:
I had never gone into a store and just spent whatever I wanted to.
Perhaps it was my mother’s influence, but I always checked price tags, looked for things that were on sale. I did not go without things during childhood, but we didn’t have a lot of extras and we certainly didn’t spend money on things that we didn’t need. That had carried over into adulthood, and I’d read the weekly circular to get the deals at the grocery store, or buy things when there was a promotion and you could get another one for free.
But now, I was supposed to be able to forget all that.
I could tell Levi was watching me. “So,” he said. “What is it you want? You can have anything, you know.”
Before I could respond, one of the sales people accosted us. “Mr. Bassett,” she said. She was a tall blonde woman, sleek and beautiful, with the sort of figure you’d expect to see walking down the catwalk at Fashion Week. “So nice to see you. I was very sorry to hear about the passing of your father. Are you looking for anything special, today?”
“I’m not, Rebecca,” Levi said, “but Isla here might be.” He gestured to me, and I forced a smile as Rebecca took notice of me for the first time.
“Hello there,” she said. “I don’t think we’ve met before?”
“Probably not. I’m Isla. And I, um . . . I’m actually not quite sure what I’m looking for. I guess I’m browsing.”
“Purses?” Levi said. “Could you steer us in the direction of purses, maybe?”
Rebecca smiled. “Of course,” she said. “Right this way.”
“I’m still not sure if I’m going to get another purse,” I whispered as we followed her through the store.
“You really want to use a purse that someone puked on?”
“I love this bag. And I cleaned it.”
He grinned. “Well, I’m glad to hear you at least cleaned it.”
When we got to the handbag section, Rebecca asked me what type of bag I was looking for.
“I’m not sure,” I said. “I think I’m just
going to browse.”
I expected her to leave then, but she lingered, talking with Levi, so I started to look at the bags on display, none of them really catching my eye as anything I’d want to actually use.
I looked at the price tag on the bag closest to me. The bag was a tiny thing, a black leather clutch with some gems on the outside. I gasped.
“What?” Levi said as he walked over next to me.
“This bag is almost two thousand dollars!” I hissed. The thing was literally the size of a large wallet. “It’s not even cute! It doesn’t feel any different than something I could get at TJ Maxx!”
“Where?”
I shook my head. “Never mind.”
There were some nice looking bags there, but every time I looked at the price tag, I felt a wave of anxiety wash over me. It was insane to think that anyone would pay that much money for a purse. Thousands and thousands of dollars. And there were so many choices that even if I wanted to pick something out, there was no way I’d be able to decide.
“I need to get out of here,” I said.
I ran out of the store before Levi could try to convince me to stay. I hurried away from the building, even though I could hear him behind me, calling my name. He caught up with me in a few strides.
“Hey,” he said. “What’s going on? Are you all right?”
“I just needed to get out of there. It was a little overwhelming.”
He smiled. “If you keep wanting to use a purse that someone puked on, that’s fine. It’s your choice. I just thought that you might like to get something different.”
I stopped walking and looked at him. “It’s not that I’m totally attached to this idea of having a purse that still smells vaguely like barf,” I said, “that’s actually not it at all. I just . . . I don’t think you can understand.”
“Try me.”
“There were too many choices in there. And those purses were all way too expensive anyway.”
“You know, you can afford it,” he said. “Would you rather I get it for you?”
“No! That’s not the point. That would be completely stupid, anyway. It’s not about the money, obviously.”
