A Legendary Love

Chapter Two

The next few weeks passed in a blur as Jen grew accustomed to her new role (in between large glasses of wine and tequila shots, Becca had convinced Jen that it would be foolish not to take the promotion opportunity). It was a lot to learn, but Jen was a quick study.

As she walked out her office building door at 5:15pm, her phone rang. As she fished it out of her bag, she continued to make her way down the street to Tower Hill underground station; she had a leftover portion of Chinese takeout waiting for her in the fridge that she'd been dreaming about since lunch. She was so distracted by the thought of her dinner, she forgot to check caller ID before answering the phone.

"Hello?"

"Good – I thought you were never going to answer your phone!" her mother snapped. Jen sighed and cursed herself for not being more careful; she'd managed to successfully dodge her mother's calls for the past 3 months!

"Hello, mother," she politely replied. "How are you?"

"I'll be a lot better once you've confirmed your attendance at tomorrow's fundraiser."

Shoot, Jen had forgotten all about the fundraiser. It was quite possibly the biggest date in the diary for the residents of SW3, and of course, Jen's mother considered it an opportunity to put her match-maker skills to good use.

"You know, I would," Jen started, "but I haven't been able to find a dress for the occasion, and I don't really have any suitable dresses lying around. Sorry, Mum, maybe next year." Jen was impressed with how quickly the lie fell out of her mouth.

"I thought you might say that," Elizabeth remarked. "Luckily, I was in the Mayfair area – I had to swing by Chanel to pick up my own gown for the event – and I noticed the most gorgeous dress in the window of Dior, and I simply knew I had to get it for you!"

Jen was taken aback by the sweet sentiment – she knew she gave her mother a hard time and they hadn't been as close in recent years as she'd have liked them to be. She had thought that perhaps her father's death would have given the family the opportunity to come together and bond again, taking the sudden death of the head of the family as a sign that life is short, and that family is precious. However, instead it cemented Elizabeth's desperation to ensure that the family lineage continued, and the children would be well looked after once she had passed on herself. Elizabeth had always been brought up to strive for the life of a housewife and mother, and couldn't fathom the concept of her daughters being able to provide for themselves and have incredibly successful careers.

However, maybe this was a stepping stone into a closer relationship – starting with a dress, and blossoming into who knows what!

"I hope you've lost all that post-break-up weight," Elizabeth added. "You were beginning to look like Mr Blobby!"

* * *

Jen woke up the next morning filled with dread. She really didn't want to attend this fundraiser. She didn't even know what it was fundraising for! As a matter of fact, she didn't know if anyone knew what it was in aid of. It seemed to be an excuse for the high-flying women of the Chelsea and Kensington borough to get together and judge their counterparts after a summer apart from each other. Who had the best tan? How many wives had caught their husbands cheating in months they had been apart? Which embarrassed mother had raised a simpleton who couldn't even get the grades required to attend Wolverhampton University?

It was all about status, and Jen couldn't comprehend it. It made no sense to her – why do people care who has the most expensive house, better car, flashiest wardrobe, most efficient cleaner, cleverest children, well behaved cat. Surely it only brought people down – all the petty squabbles in friendship groups to one-up each other. These were meant to be grown adults, teaching their offspring how to behave in polite society – it was no wonder that the country had fallen into chaos if the people leading it were raised by privileged narcissists.