Business Class

Chapter 1: High Society

There was never a need for men in Artemis' life, as after witnessing the brutal divorce of her parents at the tender age of ten, Artemis understood how the world of men operated.

Men saw women as shiny objects, especially the rich ones; they loved to own whatever was new and shiny, and after using it up until it was old and dull, they would throw it away and hunt for their next shiny object. She knew it was a bad thought, especially as a reformed Christian, however the idea of thinking of men as any different than what she thought of them made her laugh, it was not funny though. Beside her strong dislike of men, Artemis disliked only two other things, the squishy onion rings that the restaurant around the corner from her flat sold, and competition, she hated competition.

"So honey, when will you bring over Felix again, you know he was such a lovely fellow, I actually saw-".

Artemis did not care much for her mother either, as in the divorce her mother got visitation rights to her twice a week, but only happened to visit twice a year, after her round-the-world trips, bringing with her Chanel purses, diamonds from Tiffany and Co, and fancy scarfs from Brazil, none of which ever appealed to Artemis.

She had gotten so accustomed to pretending that she did not have a mother, that when time came for their monthly breakfast meetings, as she liked to call them, Artemis had trained her mind to zone out, and nod at everything her mother had said. Forcing a smile sometimes, when a gift was presented or if her mother passed her a scone or biscuit. The truth was, her mother didn't really understand her, or tired to. Rather, she thought of Artemis as a normal woman who should hurry to get married, when in fact she wasn't normal, nothing about her was normal at all. Artemis had learned to disappear in her mind, she would only reappear when the meetings were nearly over so she could leave.

"Felix has moved to the west coast mother, I told you I helped him moved last month, weren't you paying attention?" She asked, half smirking behind her cup of lavender tea, she knew it would shut her mother up long enough for her to indefinitely excuse herself, she had looked at her watch five minutes ago and realized she would not be early for her meeting with her firm's senior partners today at the Vilvo Hotel, she would be exactly on time if she left now, though she'd rathered to be the first one there.

"It was nice seeing you again," she smiled, slowly reaching over her mother for the small bag placed beside her. She had her clothes in the car and would use the cafe's bathroom to change into her outfit that her friend Michelle had chosen.

"Don't forget tomorrow is your father's retirement party, please be at the villa by six, your brother and I want to surprise him!" her mother giggled, as she picked up her Prada purse and scurried away, before Artemis had gotten a chance to respond.

It had been months since her mother had mentioned her brother Arthur. He was a distant and murky memory for Artemis, as when her father had taken custody of her at ten, Arthur was already twenty and attending his last year at Yale, and after that he had moved to Switzerland, where he was a Marine Biologist. She'd seen him once after that, at her fifteen birthday party her father insisted she'd have because he wanted to introduce her to his new wife, Myrtle. Arthur had swooped in when Myrtle had tried to scold her for not smiling in her pictures, and took her away to an ice cream shop, telling her to choose her favorite.

He did not know Artemis was a vegan, or that she had never had ice cream in her life, but Artemis did not want to hurt his feelings, so she lied and said she'd loved peanut, and after he had told her it was his favorite she had loved peanut ice cream ever since. After her fifteen birthday Arthur never came back to America, making excuses year after year and sending her different types of peanut infused snacks, each greater than the other, until she was seventeen.