“I’ve come to think of these weekends as a rebirth.” She said, holding her champagne flute in that delicate way–pinky lifted just so–that had come to be associated with class and wealth. Paolo couldn’t help but think that this woman–he had to remember she was his wife now–was all too arrogant and far too drunk. The two made for a dangerous combination. After all, wasn’t it that very same cocktail that found him in the situation he was now?
Paolo smiled nevertheless. He ran a hand through his thick black hair, knowing the gesture brought a smile to her face and a drink to her lips. Indeed she sipped again and he smiled. She said, “Don’t you love it here?”
He said, “Olivia, love, this place is backdrop to what brings me joy.”
Nearby a couple watched them flirt. It was an older couple–the man at least twenty years his elder. The woman was approaching Olivia’s forty years. He put her as a second wife. There were never first wives at a party like this. In the case of Paolo he was the only second husband. It should’ve made him feel like an outcast; a plaything like all the other younger spouses. Just the other day he’d been leaving the gym and saw a woman exiting her Mercedes SUV, a younger blonder version of herself stitched to each arm, all three dolled up in Lulu Lemon, their bright hair cascading down their backs. The oldest of the two children was no more than 12 but already on her way to being a version of her mother. It was the license that drew his attention. TRFYWYF. He’d gasped a laugh, thinking at first, at least she knows what she is and then wondering if the spelling meant that other women had already beaten her to the plate.
Some Thoughts:
- Before the clock runs dry I wanted to point out that the last bit in this vignette is real. It happened to my partner. She saw said plate and mom and girls at the gym and I knew I had to put it together in something. The rest just felt like the proper wrapping for that little gift.
- The title Binge and Purge is reflective of where the story was heading. He binges on wealthy women and sex but found himself trapped in this situation where he realizes that he is the one being used and is dismissed for a younger model.