Boss Lady

Afterparty

"If I have to hear one more passive aggressive conversation between you and your rivals, I will promptly throw myself off the balcony.", Ethan said exasperated.

" Tsk. Tsk. Ethan! Play nice. This is verbal foreplay for the rest of the year."

"If this is foreplay, then I don't want to see the rest of it."

What was the saying? Keep your friends close and your frenemies closer....
The people present here were all my acquaintances, people I rubbed shoulders with some day Or the other and some of them I actually could call friends from the industry. But they were all business magnates too and would happily watch me lose my empire and then eat me up like friendly sharks. All good fun until one day the shark goes a little too hungry. But, I would do quite the same.

"Besides, I want you to meet the people I work with. You see, that man right there with salt and pepper hair. He is a defense magnate. Not all the people are connected to fashion. Some simply enjoy decadence. His wife is connected to Russian royalty, a patron of arts and one of our long time customers."

"That's Catherine Renard, married and divorced five times. She is an internationally renowned English ballet dancer, now retired. Gossip says she is into younger guys. Personally I think, she is a total badass and everyone is just jealous of her."

Ethan smirked at my descriptions.

"Then we have the Crazy Rich Asians here. Chloe Huang, spare to the Huang Group of Industries, pharmaceutical giants. Her estimated fortunes are more than Midas. Does a lot of
philanthropic work too.", I pointed out.

"Those are the social butterflies, aren't they? Wives of rich surgeons, engineers, diplomats, upstanding citizens, photographed at every single event.",

" How do you know that? ", I asked.

He gave me a funny look.

"Dr. Kevin, the head of Cosmetic Surgery at the hospital has patients who look exactly the same, the same faces, the same mannerisms and all they ever talk about are charity and galas and charity galas. It's voodoo. I swear they have more plastic in their tops and bottoms than a plastic factory uses in a day. , he trailed off.

"No wonder, Newton's law of gravitation does not apply to their breasts.A marvel of modern medical science really. ", I mused.

He struggled to hold back laughter.

And just then, somebody behind me said,

" Hello there, darling."

"Fuck me.", I muttered to myself but turned back to face Melinda Howard, aka Mrs. Venomous. She wore a form-fitting pale peach Valentino gown made of sheer organza and a ruffled bodice. It was a very watered down colour, not made for standing out. Though the craftsmanship on the dress was excellent, the pale colour ruined it for me.

"Melinda", I said my voice sugar, "how lovely to see you again!"

If Ethan sensed anything wrong with my tone, he didn't show it on his face.

"Beautiful dress, darling but I suppose the colour is a little too bold for my tastes. ", she bitched politely sipping her champagne.

"Red isn't everyone's colour. It takes a certain amount of confidence to pull it off.", I agreed with the same frosty politeness.

I could see the smug fire in her eyes dimming and from there it went on. Too long hair to be fashionable, too preppy nails, too much tall to wear heels, etc etc. She criticized every single characteristic of my appearance and I answered with equal stoicism. I wouldn't be dragged into a petty catfight with Melinda Howard. We had nothing against each other except for the fact that I was a self-made billionaire and she had inherited her millionaire status from the generational Howard family fortune. East Coast rich vs. West Coast rich. They considered us nouveau riche and refused to walk in same circles as us. A stickler for age-old patriarchy , white supremacy, and racism, Melinda Howard was everything I didn't aspire to be. Her money and status as one of the founding families could go and fuck itself.