Chiara [PUBLISHED] ✔️

Twenty-eight

Moet slipped down my throat. More as a compensation for feeling awkward than anything else. Laughter and conversation burst to life everywhere around me. The good vibe didn't reach me.

I stared at the black platter, now empty in Arlo's hands, while he desperately tried to snort the remains of white.

Chiara was between Mikael and Reina, laughing at something Mikael said. I sat on the opposite side, in the velvet armchair. I felt shrivelled and weak and out of place. The armchair ate me up.

Mikael's hand was on the small of Chiara's back. Something she didn't seem to notice, but I did. And it hurt inexplicably. Perhaps because I knew something had already happened between them.

What bothered me most was the fact Josh was talking to them, too. His hand trailing down Reina's waist, his finger gently grazing up and down, from her hip to the side of her boob.

"You put all the money in the Vanguard S&P 500 and just take it out in forty years." Mikael said, his eyes wide and his leg shaking. He downed the champagne, the Patek watch jiggling on his wrist.

Chiara leaned towards me, over the table, her boobs almost spilling out and her hair almost ending up in her champagne glass. Almost.

"Hey, are you okay?" She asked, her eyes wide and focused.

"Yeah." I sighed, having nothing to back that claim up with. "It's just-"

But Josh and Mikael began to talk louder, muffling my voice and attracting Chiara's attention.

"Yeah, and where did you get the five million investment to begin with?" Josh seemed to talk over me on purpose; confidence I didn't expect rolling off him. Perhaps it was due to cocaine.

"Can't you just store money on PayPal?" Chiara answered; her eyes leaving mine, the conversation enveloping her. "It's untraceable, right?"

She seemed focused and on the edge at the same time. Her jitters made me anxious. She should have prepared me for this. The inadequacy and uncertainty got shoved away by slight anger.

"Nobody will ask anything in forty years!" Mikael insisted. "The government is only going to thank you."

"Let's say you put in a million bucks," Josh talked like a savvy businessman, "and every month you put in 100000$, the estimated rate of return is 7%, you're going to have-"

"Hey," Chiara's attention shifted back to me, "if you want to get out for a moment, just-"

"280 million in forty years!" Josh shouted, shushing her. He waved with his phone, probably showing his calculation.

"You're going to invest around 50 million. The rest is clear profit." Mikael nodded.

Chiara rolled her eyes, her attention drifting away again: "Yeah, except for the part you're going to give to the government, which is what, like 20%, 25%?" Chiara asked, staring at the numbers on the screen.

They did it on purpose. They tried to cut her off from me. They didn't think I belonged to their world. And why? Because I didn't have enough money? Or because I spent all my life letting them bully me?

The conversation went on without me. Something about stocks and bonds and money laundering and avoiding taxes. Those were not the subjects I was familiar with. And the large amounts of money just made me feel shitty even in that expensive dress.

Josh brushed Reina's hair off her face and planted a small kiss on her neck. The girl giggled, her hand brushing against Josh's. Did all of these people sleep with each other? Probably.

I felt nauseous, but I kept drinking my champagne. The world closed in on me; the room turned smaller and claustrophobic. Josh's eyes met mine briefly as his lips closed on Reina's neck and she slapped him away, but she was beaming.