Old Money

1. Chanel No. 5

MIA

A frown forms on my lips as I scan over the envelopes I'd pulled from the mailbox downstairs. As I swing open the door to the apartment I share with my roommate, Lucy, I can feel my anxiety rise.

"Lu!" I call out, kicking the door shut behind me. "Lu, did you pay the electric bill last week like you said you were going to?" I continue to flip through the envelopes with angry red writing on them.

Past due, late, notice of disconnection, late.. and so on.

"I'm back here!" I hear my redheaded best friend call out from the back of the two bedroom apartment, if you can really call it that. The rooms are more the size of a generous closet and we only have one bathroom to share between the two of us. I toss the stack of paper down on the counter top before setting my purse on the floor and heading back to where I'd heard her voice come from.

"The electric bill, Lucy. Did you pay it?" She rolls her eyes and me turns to look at me before perusing the shoe options lined against the wall under the window. Her makeup is done over the top, her eyes dark and lips a bright painted red.

"I'm taking care of it." Her tone is so nonchalant, like it's not all that big of deal, but to me it is.

"You can't try to seduce the guy at the electric company again." She scoffs dramatically while slipping a pair of stiletto heeled booties onto her feet.

My best friend is beautiful, if not almost annoyingly so. Her red hair, slim build, and bubbly personality are traits I envy. She was gifted with an impressive chest and she uses that to get her way especially when it comes to sweet talking her way out of trouble. It's rare for any man to say no to her and she's been doing just that since the moment she hit puberty.

"Really, where are you going?" I plop down on her twin sized bed and lay on my side, my head resting in my hand as I wait for her to step out of the closet.

"There's a party downtown. A bunch of wealthy business tycoons are suppose to be there. I thought I'd make an appearance, make a little cash, you know."

By "make a little cash," Lucy means sell some cocaine, maybe a little heroin if the crowd is right for it. She knows I don't approve and I don't want it in our apartment, but she usually keeps up on her half of the bills so I don't mention it much, anymore.

"You wana come?" She steps out of the closet and I'm blown away by how beautiful she looks.

The long sleeve cocktail dress shimmers in the light from the closet. The top layer is sheer with silver lace embroidered all over, the underside is nude. It's tight fitting and hugs her curves in all the right places.

"I wish I could, but I have to work in a few hours." I let out a sigh as I sit on the bed. "Looks expensive." I motion towards the dress while she looks herself over in the full length mirror.

"Don't worry, it's a knockoff." Lucy fluffs her curled red hair and puckers her lips at her own reflection. "Perfect." She spins around to face me. "Sure you don't want to blow off work? We would make more as a team tonight, anyway."

"I can't or I would." I stand from the bed and look at my own more plain reflection in the mirror in comparison to the knockout redhead standing beside me. With the heels on her feet she's easily four inches taller than me, so we look funny side by side. "Keep your eyes peeled for a hot millionaire for me," I tease while giving her hand a squeeze.

"We're going to be just fine, Mia. I'll make sure of it. No millionaires needed, unless he's hot of course." She giggles.

My mind travels to a scary place where we don't have enough money to keep ourselves afloat and we lose this apartment which is really the only thing we have going for us these days. Lucy is more carefree, so when she sees all of the late notices she thinks positive. They'll get paid, Mia. Everything will work itself out. I can hear her say.