Rich Kids

No More Cavier

Lauren didn't speak to her parents until morning. Last night she had gotten a taxi ride home, hit the elevator button hard and sobbed at the shaft flew up the skyscraper. 

Once the elevator dinged, signalling the elevator's arrival at the penthouse, Lauren marched through the spacious rooms until she got to hers, and slammed the door. 

She had flung her shopping bags away, and pushed herself onto her bed, disappearing underneath the Egyptian cotton sheets. 

No one had bothered to check in on her, except for Anna, the family maid, who asked if Lauren would like some Greek salad to eat for dinner. Maybe Anna would've asked if Lauren was alright, but Elizabeth had drilled it into everyone's head that Anna was a maid, and not a friend. 

Truthfully, sometimes Lauren hated her mother's elitist ways. But that wasn't to say Lauren was any different herself. 

The only other person who'd checked up on her was her little sister, Victoria, who was 13, 4 years younger than Lauren. 

She'd knocked at the bedroom door, saying "Lauren, don't be a drama queen. Mum and Dad want for dinner SO HURRY UP." 

It wasn't exactly comforting. 

Lauren had to keep herself back from screaming back a reply that included their family's current financial situation and many swear words. 

The thing that sucked was that her credit card worked only 30 minutes before being used at Chanel. If only it was cancelled seconds later, the look of humiliation upon her friends' faces wouldn't have been there. 

But that didn't cancel the fact that the Fitzgerald family was broke. Bankrupt. Poor. 

Lauren wasn't too knowledgeable about business and economics, but her father was a real state developer, who bought unused blocks of land in the city, and turned them into tall luxury apartments. She didn't understand how this could've happened. 

During the night, Lauren pondered the endings of this situation. If everything went south, there would be no more dinners at the Langham. No more vacations in Hawaii or going yachting in Williamstown. No more Jimmy Choo shopping sprees. 

Another part kept her awake though. It disgusted her- how could she be so materialistic? Now, with out her credit card- or without any money at all- she felt like she couldn't breathe. Like there was no more oxygen in the world. She felt so shallow.

This morning however, Lauren got up determined. She was still wearing her Marc Jacobs skirt from yesterday, and the material was creased and crinkled. She changed into a Versace dressing gown, and strode down the hallways, looking like a man on a mission. 

Victoria was chattering excitedly, sitting at the dining table, surrounded by Elizabeth and Phillip. The modern table was right by the floor-to-ceiling windows that looked down on the people below. The morning sun's rays flew in, making Elizabeth's ruby earrings twinkle. 

"I hope you got over your little fit, Lauren." Her father said, reading The Age. As usual, he was reading the economics section. 

Lauren's teeth clenched in annoyance. She hated it how her parents always acted like her troubles were so small. 

"I'm not." Lauren said as she took a seat. "Because my credit cards are cancelled." 

At this, everyone went quiet, except for Anna who was placing a croissant in front of Lauren. 

Elizabeth turned quickly to Phillip, who was on the other side of the table. "You cancelled her cards?" She mouthed. 

Phillip sighed, folding the newspaper. "It must have been George. He works at the bank and I told him to cut off anything unnecessary."