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She walked through the party unescorted, and immediately felt overwhelmed by the sheer volume of attendees standing about. Conversations seemed stale and rehearsed, and no one seemed to notice her at all. The other guests all seemed to be bathed in money, just like Maureen and her husband.
Finally, she skirted th
rough into the sea of people enough to find her sister and husband talking casually to another couple. Alice didn’t want to be rude, so she stood off to the side somewhat and waited to be noticed.
Maureen looked over casually, and blinked as she did a double take. “Why Alice! Why on earth did you not say something?” she asked, astonished as she excused herself from the group. She embraced her sister in a half-hearted hug, and then proceeded to kiss her on each cheek.
This gesture was a bit lost on Alice, but she went along nonetheless and smiled.
“It’s good to see you again Maureen,” she said politely. It was almost like she was talking to a stranger, rather than the sister she had grown up with.
“Of course! So much has happened since you’ve been in the big city,” Maureen said with a giggle that Alice thought sounded completely insincere. “Why don’t you come with me? I’ll introduce you around. I have some people you might be interested in meeting.”
They walked on towards a small table where three well-dressed women sat talking idly and eating the hors d’oeuvres sparingly. Maureen cleared her throat, and all of them looked up at her as if on cue.
“Ladies, I’d like for you to meet my sister, Alice.”
The women smiled at her, and for some reason Alice felt like they were being condescending without saying a word. It was like how an adult would smile at a child who had done something wrong, but because of their innocence, was not scolded. By default, being a working woman was her downfall anyway.
“Well let me say it is a pleasure to meet you, Alice,” a soft-spoken red headed woman said with a perfect smile. “I’m Darlene, and my husband is the strapping young man you see over there. He manages hedge funds for a living.”
When Alice looked over, she was greeted with the exact opposite of what Darlene had described. The “young man” she referred to looked to be at least thirty years older than her, and was wearing a toupee that looked like a squirrel that had crawled on his head to die. When he caught his wife looking her held up his drink and blew her a kiss.
“We’ve been married for 30 years now,” Darlene said proudly. “My, how time does fly.”
A second woman at the table gave Alice a smile. She said, “I’m Vanessa. Maureen and I go way back. Our husbands work together.” She was darker skinned than the others, with thick, but luminous jet black hair that was pulled back into a sleek and well tamed ponytail. Alice figured her to be Columbian from her accent. She talked like the sexy woman on that TV show Modern Family.
The last one to greet her only offered her a smile and nodded, “I’m Candice. I’m recently divorced, but my play thing is back home…” she said winking. The women giggled at that comment, as if they shared a secret.
Candice was similar to Maureen in appearance, though she had a freckled face and had to be wearing contacts because her eyes were aqua. All the women were drop dead gorgeous. Singularly, and as a group, they made Alice aware of every flaw she had, even those too small to see.
“Have a seat? We’ve wanted to hear so much about you! Maureen always speaks so highly of you,” Candice said as she pulled out a chair for her.
Alice nodded and sat down next to Maureen at the table.
“So, how is work?” Maureen asked.
“It’s going fine.” Alice answered simply as she reached for a cocktail prawn from a platter at the center of the table. “Things are busy as usual, and the firm is expanding soon so we might be getting a bit of a raise.”
Maureen gave her arm a pat. “That’s wonderful, dear.” She addressed the group. “Alice is a staff accountant at a large firm in the city.” She turned back to Alice. “How big of a raise will it be?”
“Well, as far as I know, um…” Alice trailed off. She didn’t want to say the exact amount. To her it wasn’t meager, but to Maureen and her troop of high society friends, it would be nothing. She sighed, “It’s about a hundred dollars more a week.” She said in a somewhat defeated manner.
The women made a few faces, and quietly sipped their drinks or fiddled with the food on their plates, obviously embarrassed for the poor girl.
“Oh...” Maureen said looking off. “Well, I’m sure it will be put to good use.” She quickly shifted gears. “So, how’s your love life? I know there are a ton of gorgeous men running around Manhattan. Have you started seeing anyone yet?”
Alice shook her head. “No, ’m not really interested in seeing anybody.” She was lying, of course, but she wouldn’t give Maureen the satisfaction of knowing her sister couldn’t get laid in a Russian sex house.
“Alice, you’re nearly thirty years old now. There’s no reason for this nonsense,” Maureen said, sounding like their mother. “At some point, you have to start thinking about settling down.”
The other women at the table quickly agreed. Their heads bobbed like a table full of bobble heads.
Bailey chimed in. “She’s right, dear. The old biological clock’s ticking.”
“My biological clock is just fine,” Alice challenged, feeling a bit insulted.
“I’ve told her this several times that she’s really waited for too long,” Maureen said with a sigh. “Honestly, I don’t know how someone with such good looks isn’t already with someone. For petesake, Alice, you’re not gay are you?”
