Gilded Obsession

Chapter 5

Clarke walks to the subway station a little more energetic and chipper than when she'd walked to the fundraiser a few hours ago, regardless of the late hour and her now permanent state of sleep deprivation. She hadn't lied to Ms. Alexandria Evergreen when she told her she'd enjoyed herself much more than she had initially expected. Be it, she really only started enjoying herself when the host of the party herself had joined her at the cocktail table. Which was after her overbearing boss had finally left her alone to get drunk. Even though the work hadn't been done at that point. But whatever.

She didn't like the work she'd had to do tonight. Not the socializing, that part was fine even though it wasn't with the kinds of people she'd usually choose to socialize with. Rather, the manipulation piece of it all. Gathering dirt, almost coercing them into choosing JP Law for their legal matters? It was an... educational experience, but not one she'd care to repeat if it were up to her. Which it wasn't. She was but a lowly intern who was expendable and also desperate to keep her position at the company. No matter how low.

Earlier this week, Mr. Pilling had given her a list. That list contained the names of most of the guests that would be attending. He told her to gather as much information on every person on that list as possible so that she'd be able to charm them and impress them more easily. Because if she knew what these people were interested in, conversations would flow. And she'd had to do this outside of 'normal' business hours or whatever passed as such at her internship.

Most of the information that she'd been able to find online had been fairly accurate. Not the things she had found out about tonight's lovely host Alexandria Evergreen though. That information made her out to be a trust fund baby who only held her high position at the company because of her father. And while she may have gotten her job because of him, it had become clear that the other woman was more than capable. She wasn't just some airhead with an inflated ego. She had depths to her that none of the articles about her had told Clarke about. And the pictures used in any of those articles did not do Ms. Evergreen justice. In real life, she was even more alluring. It almost caught Clarke by surprise because she hadn't thought it possible for a real person to look the way Alexandria Evergreen did.

And that black, satin dress she wore was something else too... It was perfect for Alexandria. It dipped where it needed to dip, and it flowed where it needed to flow while clinging to her body like a second skin in other places.

It had almost made Clarke feel envious. It had certainly made her feel lesser than and it had fueled her comment where she asked Alexandria if she would rather talk to someone – anyone else because Clarke was no one.

That black dress the brunette wore was obviously expensive, probably designer, potentially custom made. Meanwhile, Clarke's dress was a borrowed number. She had been lucky Octavia had it hanging in her closet from when she used to date a sugar daddy for a little while, but her and her roommate weren't quite the same size anywhere. So, while the dress was of decent quality, she'd had to make due.

At least she knew she'd looked like she fit in at a glance. However, upon further inspection, it was easy to see the dress wasn't made for her. It wasn't even hers.

While it seemed that most people were perfectly content assuming she belonged, she had seen a few of the older ladies look at her disdainfully, scrutinizing her dress and pulling up their noses at it when they thought she wasn't looking, whispering at each other.

They were subtle. Somewhat. Saving face was everything in these circles so they couldn't be caught by broader circles gossiping about who they assumed to be one of their own. However, the small group of women who were clearly intimately familiar with one another didn't mind the gossip amongst them. They seemed to thrive on it.