Excelsior

Chapter 3: The housewives

The queens of the social scene were, without a doubt, Lexington's housewives. Always wearing a timeless fashion, and showing porcelain-doll-like looks, they were the responsible for polishing the image of their families in society  and did not reduce their role when it comes to compare it with the one of their husbands, and even, they considered it their full-time job.

Every morning, they gathered in the most prestigious cafés to start their day with the catching up ritual, commonly known as gossiping.

Even if they weren't the only customers in the cafes, they had to admit that the biggest customers in the morning were the housewives.

Mrs. Bainbridge got out of her limousine and went to Café Les Fleurs, the most prestigious in the city with French décor. They were hardly gold diggers to be found here. She greeted acquaintances as she entered and sat at a table with some of her friends.

"And did you hear what happened to Mrs. Doller?" She asked once their orders were served. She had waited since she saw them to say it.

"Susan or Caroline Doller?" Cecile, the youngest of them, asked with a shrug.

"Susan."

Mrs. Barrington shyly shook her head.

"She was admitted for rehab in New York."

"Poor woman," Mrs. Chelsea LeClercq denied as she moved her spoon. "She succumbed to drugs from depression after repeatedly discovering her husband having affairs. The last time she discovered it was in her own bed."

"I saw her last week," Cecile wailed. "What you say is hard to believe ... I want to go visit her." She shook his head. "I just refuse to believe it. He seemed to love her too much."

"They all do." Mrs. LeClercq said before taking a bite of her cake, "I will get Jean to stop doing business with Thomas Doller."

"It must be a shame what happened to her... and you, don't you both sometimes fear that... you know?"

"That they cheat on us?" Chelsea continued as she blinked arrogantly and Cecile shuddered.

The women denied with laughable faces the question:

"And if he does, I wouldn't mind," said Mrs. LeClercq. "I would replace him with a newer model."

"Has Julius given you reason to doubt?" Anna asked as he approached the table.

She nodded slowly, to which Chelsea and Anna exchanged glances.

"It's just that lately, Julius has been very distant. He's late home, he does not want to kiss me or hug me, and he's always busy on his phone." She felt her heart caught in her throat.

"Oh, my dear, don't be a fool."

"Julius is a busy businessman." Chelsea added, "If I get stressed about my work, I cannot imagine him."

"Do you think so?"

"Of course." Anne replied with a laugh. "Also, you are young, you have been married for a few years, and very beautiful. You haven't even had a child."

"If Julius decided to have an affair, he doesn't know what he is losing. You would get your dowry back, half of his assets, and we all would go on a trip to Europe to help you get a new husband, because there is no doubt that you would get one. I know some divorced gentlemen in France... You have excited me! Now I want you to get divorced."

"Okay, so, going back at what I said earlier, and knowing that Daphne will not come" Mrs. Bainbridge said, "don't you plan to have a child?"

The rest of the morning continued naturally, and Mrs. Bainbridge would have spent the entire morning with them if it weren't for a lunch guest. She wanted to make sure that her house was clean and in order, checking that the butler had everything under control. After a close inspection, she sat down to read a book in the living room as the long-awaited guest who had caused her to leave her friends arrived.

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Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed. English is not my native language, so any feedback, suggestion or advice to change the grammar would be really appreciated.