She gave herself one last look
in the mirror before grabbing her purse and her jacket. Jackie caressed her cat
Milo before heading out into the night, where she would have to get into a cab
and then wait inside before arriving and the Thanksgiving dinner she had been
invited to only some days earlier. Paul had been kind enough to invite her and
she knew they didn’t knew each other that well yet, so his gesture was all the
more difficult to understand but welcomed. After all, she was very far from her
own family.
Jackie’s new job as an assistant editor had forced her to move out of
her small city to a bigger one, where she would have many more opportunities to
grow. At first, she had been very reluctant to leave her home but it was her
own parents that almost forced her to take that big new step in her life. They
had never had the opportunity to do something like that and they wanted her to
have everything they hadn’t been able to have in their respective youths. They
were going to miss her deeply but it was necessary for her to leave.
Starting somewhere else she had
never being to was difficult the first few months but the amount of work had
numbed her response to anything happening around her. Thanksgiving was the
first time she was leaving her small rented apartment in order to actually have
fun. She would leave everyday really early for work and then head back at night
to sleep there. She would cook something as soon as she arrived and pack it for
the next day. That was her routine and she was grateful for it because it
didn’t require thinking.
That party, however, did require
a lot of it. She had to buy a proper dress, something she didn’t have in her
wardrobe, and accessorize it with nice things and, of course, a great hairdo.
She bought some fashion magazines to give her a good idea of what girls from
the city liked to wear but she felt none of those styles actually fitted her.
She was more the kind of staying at home and enjoy a new TV show, rather than
going out to a club dancing or something like that. She had to go to several
stores before finding a dress she liked.
The woman that helped her was the
one who advised her on which earrings and shoes she should wear with it.
Thankfully, some of her own stuff was perfect for it, saving her a big amount
of money she wouldn’t have being able to spend, unless she went in debt or
something and that was something her parents had warned her against. She also
borrowed a neighbor’s jacket, a girl named Olivia who had become her best
friend in the city. That was something to say because they didn’t really know
each other that well but Olivia had seen Jackie with her dress bag and sad
expression and just knew she needed help.
When she arrived at the venue, a
very impressive restaurant on the twentieth floor of a very old and majestic
building, Jackie felt she was entering some sort of book. The people tending to
the guests were dressed like those butlers that you see on period dramas or
something like that. She even smiled when one of them offered her a glass of
champagne, which she accepted trying to fit in. She suddenly felt a little bit
out of her element and tried to look for her friend all around. But the place
was fairly big.
The venue was like a palace
inserted into a building. There were long and luxurious stairs that separated
two floors, both of which had different rooms were people could stand up or sit
down, have a drink or dance around if they wanted. No loud music thought. There
was a live band playing some modern songs but in such a way it seemed the whole
place had been transported magically back to the 1950’s. It was a very nice
atmosphere but also a bit uncomfortable for Jackie, who wasn’t used to
something like that.
Her friend Leslie appeared from
behind. He was a tall, very white and lanky man, who worked in the technical
area of the magazine. He was the one who made it possible for the editor to
make a digital edition to be on display for all of those women, and some men,
who paid for the magazine online. He was one of the first people that invited
Jackie to have lunch with him when she arrived, stating that he had always been
the lonely kid in school and would have never wanted to have someone feel like
that if he could do something about it.
They laughed for a while before
talking about the food and drinks and how fantastic the place was. Leslie
explained that the place was owned by a very old club, which had been created
by his grandmother many years ago. He didn’t say a word, but it was obvious his
family was very wealthy. He tried to make it all seem like if it was something
everyone could experience but Jackie soon realized that wasn’t the case at all.
Elitist was maybe a very strong word but it would be appropriate for the
situation.
Leslie took her by the arm and
carried hair up the stairs, to a room all decorated in gold and some red
elements. There, she was presented to his family. Leslie’s mother Corinne was a
very nice lady that was obviously not used to such luxury either. The young
woman soon deduced it was her husband who had been born into wealth and not
her. It was not only the way she spoke and moved but also the things that she
didn’t do. Jackie liked her from the first moment and so did Corinne, who had
never really liked any of her son’s friends because of their way of behaving in
public.
Helen, Leslie’s grandmother, was
someone very different. She sat on a big chair and didn’t move too much. It
wasn’t like she couldn’t walk or something like that. It was obvious that she
wanted everyone to be around her and to be, to an extent, the center of
everyone’s attention during her time in the event, which was actually short for
being such a matriarch. The moment dinner was served in a very large table, she
disappeared. Jackie asked about her whereabouts but no one answered. It was her
thing.
It wasn’t until much later in the
evening when Jackie met Leslie’s father. He had just arrived from a very long
flight, claiming he had taken a limousine straight from the airport to be able
to share some time with his family. His wife was happy to see him but Leslie
had a very different response. Jackie could tell he just stopped himself from
joking around as he usually did and he became this stiff man that couldn’t
almost speak a word. It was a very unsettling thing to see.
And George, his father, was not
at all an intimidating man. He was actually very charming; enchanting everyone
present with some stories about his trip to Asia and the people he met there.
He also told some jokes but many of them did not find an audience with Jackie.
Maybe she was too oblivious or the content just went over her head. But the
most likely reason was she was trying to make Leslie speak, with little to no
success. He really seemed to have become a human icicle.
Then, out of nowhere, a member of
the staff came in rushing into the dining room, straight for Leslie’s father.
He spoke in a very low register and fast enough no one could really understand
what he was saying, not even Jackie who was fairly close. Whatever he was
talking about, it was very serious because George’s expression went from utter
joy to a very grim expression that drained all color from his face. The staff
member left and George’s father stood up, trying to make people calm down.
He announced, in a very deep
voice, that his mother had just passed away in her apartment “upstairs”. He
apologized for ending the evening, but the circumstances were very unique.
Everyone stood up and headed to the lobby, to pick up their belongings.
Leslie was still like a stone but
he seemed to move his eyes, which was an improvement. Jackie wanted to stay
with him but Corrine personally put Jackie’s neighbor’s jacket on her back and
joined her outside where a cab was already waiting. She didn’t even have a
moment to talk or think.
