“Do you like my handbag?” I did a little spin as I showed off my handbag to Emily and Anabel the next day.
“Is that Chanel?” Anabel’s jaw dropped as I grinned. “Charlotte, how can you afford a Chanel handbag? Did you get your job back?”
“No, I didn’t get my job back.” I made a face. “In fact, the office space is up for sale.” I gave her a pointed look. “Turns out Max Parker had no intentions in even keeping the business open. He just wanted the property.” I shook my head. “He’s an even bigger asshole than I thought.”
“So how did you get the bag?” Anabel pressed on, looking at me with a small frown.
“Oh, does it matter?” I shrugged and looked at Emily. “Isn’t it beautiful?”
“It’s gorgeous.” She nodded and reached out to touch it. “I can’t believe you have a Chanel. It looks vintage.”
“It is vintage.” I grinned. “I got it in the Village. And I only had to pay a hundred dollars.”
“How did you get it for a hundred dollars?” Anabel looked suspicious.
I smiled, a little guiltily. “Okay, so I might have started talking about my boyfriend and how he was looking to invest in some boutiques.”
“What boyfriend?” Anabel prodded, always the lawyer.
“You know.” I made a face and licked my lips nervously.
“You didn’t say Max Parker was your boyfriend again, did you?” She shook her head disapprovingly. “Charlotte, you cannot go around town telling people that Max Parker is your boyfriend. You don’t even know him.”
“Who cares?” I shrugged. “No one is ever going to find out.”
“It’s a lie, Charlotte.” Anabel sighed. “Lies always catch up to people.”
“Fine, I won’t do it again.” I pouted. “I mean, honestly, it’s not hurting anyone, and really, Max Parker owes me a lot more than a free lunch and a Chanel bag.” I looked at Emily for support. “What do you think, Em?”
“I agree.” She nodded. “What can it hurt?” She smiled at me. “He’d be lucky to be dating you.”
“Yeah, I mean, an asshole like him wishes he could be with someone like me.”
“Uh-huh.” Anabel rolled her eyes and then took a seat on my small couch. “You’re going to get yourself into trouble if you keep lying.”
“I wasn’t lying lying.” I made a face. “But fine. So, are we all going out tonight?” I looked at my two friends. “Let’s see if we can meet three hotties and have some fun.”
“I’m down,” Emily said with a grin. “We deserve to have some fun.”
Anabel looked reluctant. “I’m supposed to work tonight.”
“Oh, Anabel. You’re always working.” I gave her a pleading look. “Let’s just go out tonight and have fun.”
“Oh, Charlotte.” She grinned at me and shook her head. “Fine, but you two are bad influences on me.”
“What? Why me?” Emily laughed as she sipped from the glass of wine I’d given her. “I’m a good girl.”
“Uh-huh.” Anabel sat down on the couch next to her and laughed. “You’re an even bigger trouble maker than Charlotte.”
“Hey.” I stuck my tongue out at her and sat down on the oversized beanbag across from them. “I’ll have you know that I’m very mature and responsible.”
“So where are we going to go tonight?” Emily looked excited. “I can’t tell you the last time I went out.”
“That’s because you’re in a relationship with Netflix.” I laughed.
“So are you!” Emily shot back at me.
“How is it that we are three hot girls that are all single?” I asked and took a huge sip of wine. “We need to find men.”
“I don’t need a man.” Anabel made a face. “I have my job.”
“I have pizza and my vibrator.” Emily giggled. “Both make me feel very satisfied.”
“Well, I need more than a vibrator.” I played with my ponytail. “I want a man that can have me screaming his name all night long while he tugs on my hair.”
“Have you been reading those romance books again?” Emily stared at me. “When have you ever had sex with a man that had you screaming his name even once?”
“I’ve screamed before.” I laughed. “Well, maybe not screamed, but gotten loud.”
“I can’t remember the last time I’ve screamed.” Emily sipped on her wine again. “To be honest, a man has never made me scream. Shit, I don’t even know if I’ve had a real orgasm yet.”
“That’s because you haven’t had sex with a real man.” Anabel’s voice was almost dreamily. “Trust me, when you have an orgasm, you’ll know it.”
“She’s talking about her long lost-love again.” Emily rolled her eyes and gave me a look. “He who shall not be named.”
“More like he who has never been named,” I said. Anabel blushed. “Are you ever going to tell us about this mysterious lover of yours?”
“No.” She shook her head. “He’s not important.”
“Well, he must be somewhat important if memories of sex with him are your best sexual memories.”
“That’s all it was.” She shrugged and jumped up. “So what are you guys going to wear tonight?”
Emily and I both made a face at each other. We’d all been best friends since our freshmen year at Columbia, yet Anabel had never once told us about the man who had been her first lover and first love.
“Let’s get all dressed up and have some fun. We can get drunk and flirt and who knows maybe one of us will get lucky.” I bounced around in the beanbag. “Tonight we can have some fun, and then tomorrow I’ll start looking for a new job.”
“Ooh, we can go to this swanky new club in the Village.” Emily looked excited. “I heard it’s full of actors and stuff.” She looked at me. “Maybe you can meet someone who will give you an audition?”
“I’ll audition, all right.” I giggled and danced around waving my hands back and forth in the air. “Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thy bed?”
“Ha ha.” Emily started laughing. “Juliet, I compare thee to a summer’s day, now get on your knees and service me.”
“You two are so ridiculous. You know that, right?” Anabel laughed as well. “This is why we’re single.”
“Because we’re fabulous?” I jumped up. “Let me show you the dress I was thinking of wearing tonight.” I walked over to my closet and searched for the red dress I’d gotten a couple of years previously but had never gotten to wear. I pulled it out of the closet and held it up.
“Where’s the dress?” Emily grinned at me. “That looks sexy as hell.”
“It’s totally slutty.” I grinned back. “Slutty enough for sex in a club with some tall, dark stranger.”
“Yeah, right.” Anabel rolled her eyes. “Charlotte, you’re all talk. You wouldn’t even bump and grind with a stranger, let alone have sex.”
“You never know.” I laughed, though she was correct. I was way too shy to actually do anything that crazy, but I loved to talk about some sort of exciting dalliance. Emily was just the same. The way she went on you’d think she was a sex addict, but she spent more time in front of the TV than she did going out on dates. “If I wear this, you both have to dress up as well.”
“Okay.” Anabel smiled. “I’m in, but Em and I should go home now so we can start getting ready.”
“Meet us downtown at eight?” Emily smiled at me. “I’ll text you the address.”
“Sounds good. I can’t wait.”
They both downed the rest of their wine and made their way to the door. I gave them a little wave, and when the door closed, I sank onto the couch and grabbed my handbag again. It really was beautiful, all shiny soft black quilted lambskin leather with chunky gold straps. I stared at the signature Chanel C’s and smiled as I held the handbag to me. I couldn’t believe I’d gotten it for a hundred dollars. It had been a steal. And even though I shouldn’t even have spent a hundred dollars, how could I walk away?
I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the slight racing of my heart that told me that I was a shopaholic and a liar. I could still picture the owner’s face in the boutique, as I’d gone on and on about my boyfriend, Max Parker, who’d asked me to find some good boutiques to invest in. I’d totally played it up, a lot more than I’d admitted to Anabel. I mean, was it my fault that I was such a good actress? Though I knew my success had more to do with me dropping Max’s name than with my acting skills.
I put the handbag back down on the couch and grabbed my phone to see if I had any new texts or emails from Sally about a new job. She felt bad for the five of us who had been let go so suddenly and had said she’d see if she could find us new jobs, but I knew that was unlikely. How many graphics teams needed a graphic designer with very few design skills? I couldn’t even really find my way around Adobe without watching YouTube videos, though Sally hadn’t minded. I’d been hired because she’d liked the way I got really animated during presentations and she felt like my energy was positive and helped us land jobs, but I knew no recruiter was going to be impressed by that fact. Why hadn’t I tried to learn a few more skills? My options with a history degree were very limited. I could try to become a teacher, but that would mean taking qualification tests, or I could try to work retail, though I didn’t know what retail job was going to pay me enough to cover my rent and bills.
I groaned and felt like crying. I was up a creek without a paddle and the next step would have to be calling my parents. And I knew what they would say: “Get your ass out of NYC and come back home.” Though my mom would never let my dad say “ass.”
I couldn’t let that happen. I didn’t want to leave my friends or my apartment or New York. If only I really had a rich boyfriend. Then he could pay for my apartment. I had contemplated becoming an escort for a couple of months. I was young, pretty enough, and Ivy League-educated; surely I’d be a hit—but then I thought about having to go on dates with gross old men, and I shuddered. I wasn’t whoring myself out to some old grandpas for a few bucks. Because let’s be real, no self-respecting hottie would be using an escort service. It was only in books and movies that the sexy hot man was somehow using the escort service by mistake or whatever. In real life, it was old, balding men with drooping balls that wanted to pay girls like me. No thanks. I’d rather be back home, looking through the Coupon Saver magazine each week for deals on groceries before we headed to Publix.
I shuddered at the thought of going back to that life. To memories of Brandon. I couldn’t do that to myself. I needed to get my act together.