The Fundamentals of the Wealthy

Pizza is Good Any Time of Day

Victoria left soon after for her hairstylist and for her runway appearance, so Ryan and I waited in her dressing room for her to return. I had no idea how to introduce the idea of Mr. Raleigh to her.

"How did you do that?" Ryan whisper-hissed, "If I had said that, she would have bitten my head off!"

"Mr. Raleigh has a younger sister who acts a lot like Victoria," I said, and combed my hair with my fingers, "Are you ready to meet him?"

He clipped his makeup box shut, "I have my magazine and it's ready for a signature."

"That was amazing!" Victoria interrupted, suddenly appeared in the doorway and pranced over to her vanity, "I had the best outfit out of everyone! Even that stupid Freya had nothing to say this time."

I pushed a silently protesting Ryan to the door, shoving him into the hallway before shutting it.

"Victoria..." I sidled to the chair at the opposite end of the vanity, "About your offer for tomorrow - I don't know if I can make it or not. My boss wants me to work."

That's not exactly a lie, because Mr. Raleigh always wants me to work. If he weren't legally obliged not to, he'd force everyone to work 168 hours a week.

Her darkly lashed eyes narrowed into her signature I'm-about-to-throw-a-tantrum expression, and she paused from admiring her face to turn to me.

"Well, tell him you have better things to do. Who's your boss? I will get my mother to contact him."

"He's a CEO..." I hinted slowly, waiting to draw out a reaction, "And he's really rich..."

Victoria just raised one eyebrow slightly, but said nothing.

"His name is Finnick Raleigh, if your mom wants to contact him."

"Finnick Raleigh?" She turned abruptly, "Like the one in the NYC Daily magazine?"

From several miles away, Mr. Raleigh just cringed into himself.

"That's the one." I tried hard to tiptoe around the subject, "Do you think you'd be interested in maybe...meeting him sometime? He's a pretty lonely bachelor."

"And he's a millionaire?" She inquired.

"Well, of course, money doesn't always matter.." I began, but the look she gave me made me stop, "Yes. He is."

"Well then, just set up a time and date and I'll be there," Victoria simpered, "I'm glad that I met you. Is that all?"

A sour feeling blossomed in my stomach, and I nodded, making my leave as quickly as possible. I opened the door, where Ryan was still standing.

"Hey, why did -" He began angrily, before I dragged him into the lobby and out the door. H struggled, breaking free on the sidewalk.

"What was going on?" Ryan asked.

"You do know Mr. Raleigh isn't gay, right?" I clarified, staring at him desperately.

He sighed, glancing around for a second before responding, "I suppose I had a feeling he wasn't. But I still want to meet him. What happened? Did he cancel?"

Even though I had just met this person less than 24 hours ago, I told him everything about Mr. Raleigh's plan, my bonus, my employment with his family. With every sentence, Ryan's brown eyes grew bigger and bigger, until they were the size of dinner plates.

"...and I just don't think Victoria's right for him," I finished, "I mean, who throws strawberries onto the ground? They cost like, four dollars a pack!"