The Art of Love and Lust

Connection

As soon as I got home I was bombarded with questions from a very curious Rylie and Logan.

"Jeez Kens we were beginning to think you weren't ever coming back!"

"I didn't think I'd get to leave either!" I laugh, "they kept me busy for sure but they were super nice for the most part." I kick off my shoes and set my bag down on the floor. I don't have the energy to climb the stairs so I throw myself on the couch and cover up with a blanket.

Rylie sits on the other end up the couch by my feet and Logan sits on the coffee table right in front of me. "Uh hello? details?" They're not going to leave me alone.

"It was good, I was mostly with Sabrina. I got to know her better and she's super sweet. And then her dad, he was so nice but like also I feel like you would not want to get on his bad side. The mom Jen, also very nice, she made us lunch and I could tell she liked me. Oh yeah and her brother, who was definitely hot but a major asshole." I tell them about how I got to see more of the gorgeous house, and about the party we got invited to. Suddenly that was all they cared about even though I insisted it probably wasn't a real invite, just a nice gesture.

"We have to go! Are you kidding?" They shout excitedly.

"Okay, okay, whatever. Just let me take a nap and I'll tell you more about it." I say hoping to get them off my back. At this point it's almost 4p.m. and my eyes are too heavy to stay awake any longer. After a restless night and a busy morning I need this, and it doesn't take long before I'm fast asleep.

~~~~~~~~~

I'm startled awake by the sound of my phone hitting the floor. It takes my eyes a few seconds to adjust to the mostly dark room, with the only light coming from the light above the stove in the kitchen. I squint my eyes to read the clock- 4:14a.m. This is really gonna fuck up my sleep schedule. I force myself off the couch and grab a glass of water and bag of chips before getting my backpack and head up to my room.

I turn on the desk lamp for some soft lighting and change into a tshirt before climbing into bed. I plug my phone in, which is very much dead, and open up my laptop. I groan at the thought of having to go through all of the work I did, but my mood quickly changes when I remember that check. I plug the memory card in and wait for the hundreds of images to load.

I definitely don't have the energy to do any actual editing, so I'm just clicking through everything, deleting anything with blurs, closed eyes, duplicates, just any thing I can't use. When I get to the first family portrait I stare at it for a while. I study their faces and begin to wonder more about them. Before I realize it, I'm searching them up.

The first thing to pop up is a website to 'The Styer Foundation.' I click on it and theres a picture of Jen and Henry with some older people and there's a small description underneath. It goes on about a man who emigrated from Russia and started an importing business. Over the years they expanded into real estate and are now worth almost 5 billion dollars. Holy shit. I keep reading, trying to find some more details about them. There's some more pictures, and information about the charities they fund and the buildings they've bought.

I aimlessly click on more links, going down a rabbit hole on this family. It's odd that I've been looking for so long now and I've hardly seen anything about Sabrina, and literally nothing on Harrison.

I find Sabrina's instagram and see a bunch of photos of her on beaches, on planes, wearing designer clothing posing places all across the world. It's crazy to think I've found myself involved with a bunch of people that live a lifestyle so opposite of mine. Everything I own I've gotten second hand and I've had to do some weird things just to make sure I can pay rent.