#7: Insufficient Funds

Ava:

Amelia drove us to a clothing store where we spent over three hours picking out everyday outfits for me to wear. I was generally impressed by how much progress we’d made. Unlike Belle, Amelia actually wanted me to look like an appealing human being when I dressed up, so the outfits we picked out were quite gorgeous.

She also got herself new outfits even though I was sure she had over a million clothes at home. At Amelia’s insistence we decided to go to an exclusive boutique afterwards to shop for the specific outfit we were going to wear to her friend’s party that night.

It turned out the friend’s ’party’ wasn’t just a party after all. It was a ball, one of many that Amelia, whose family was heavily connected always got invited to.

Amelia forbade me from paying for my outfits. She insisted it was her treat, as taking me shopping had been her dream since I’d gotten married, and now I’d basically fulfilled that dream. I let her, thanked her, before we left the shopping center.

Once we stepped into our next stop, the boutique, I was hit with a wave of bittersweet nostalgia. I vividly remembered shopping at places like this, buying thousands of dollars worth of dresses I didn’t need. Back in high school and a short period during college, I used to have so much more money than I needed, all courtesy of my dad’s thriving business.

The memories came crashing at the same time. My dad had been one of the most popular names for his wealth, doing business with, and hanging out with the likes of Amelia’s father which in turn meant Amelia and I became friends even though we weren’t at the same private high school.

Everything had happened so fast; from being spoiled as an only child to wealthy parents, to going bankrupt within a matter of months. I hadn’t seen it coming, so it had hit me like a freight train. It had gone public, my father, the most trustworthy finance titan, whose wealth came from the finance company, hedge funds, and private equity firms, including managing the finances of other companies, had suddenly lost all his money in some silly Ponzi scheme that still didn’t make sense to me.

Because he’d also invested most of the money that belonged to his ‘business partners’, many of them had sued him heavily and this caused him to end up in jail as a result of not being able to pay them back. To make matters worse, everyone still looked at my family in anger because they believed the Ponzi scheme had been my dad’s idea, so even if they couldn’t trace the money, everyone believed he had outsmarted everyone else and still had it somewhere.

I’d lost so many of my friends then, except Amelia, who for some reason made up her mind to stick with me no matter what. Belle suddenly started to come close then, the affectionate friend who was drawn to my suffering, asking me sensitive questions about my father’s dire case and making me feel better whenever she could.

It had been nice to have friends then, especially when my mother became a shell of herself, not talking to me, and my father had desperately begged her and even the court not to let me see him in jail.

The pain of everything made me realize my talent in writing. The few times I didn’t have Amelia or Belle with me, I would cry while writing my heart out in a piece of paper, or the laptop I was allowed to have. One day, Amelia and Belle read one of my works and sent it to a contest without telling me, which I won. From there, I joined writing groups and began to write more, although independently.

As a result of these, it had been quite easy to term me a gold digger when after a drunken night with Belle to take the edge off had ended with me waking up in Scott’s bed, who I’d had a public crush on.

How could they call me a gold digger when Scott had basically taken all my ‘gold’ and left me with nothing?

I had been so lost in thought that I almost didn’t notice that the cashier had only welcomed Amelia and not me. I didn’t blame her. She must have taken on look at my plain old black dress that was beginning to rip out at the seams and concluded that I didn’t belong there. I used to be aloof like that once; silently classing everyone I met into those who were worth my time and those who weren’t, until my father’s bankruptcy hit me, and I realized how dangerous that belief system was.

“Oh my god. That dress looks so good on you!” Amelia squealed when I tried on a silver dress.

I totally agreed with her. My eyes almost watered as I studied my reflection in the mirror, realizing I hadn’t seen myself this beautifully dressed in years. The dress flowed elegantly, leaving gleaming jewels in its wake. The bold but fitting material clung to my supple body, making my skin glow. I could already imagine how I’d be after I got my hair done.

“So you’re getting that, no questions asked. Let’s find a few more for you…” she rambled, already sorting through the bulk of other beautiful dresses in the store closet. By the time we were done, we had so many dresses, shoes and jewelry, I wondered how we were going to cart them out of the store in one go.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to pay for these,” I murmured.

Amelia gave me an irritated look. “Who’s asking you to pay love? I got this, bitch.”

I rolled my eyes. Only Amelia could call me love and bitch in one go.

“Okay, okay, but at least let me pay for one dress. It’ll make me feel good to spend my own money. I haven’t done that in a while.” I looked away when I said this. She clearly knew why I hadn’t done that.

Fortunately, she agreed and didn’t push it.

While she was still sorting and gathering the rest of the outfits with a saleswoman to have them noted down and packed, I went with the silver dress to the cashier’s corner to pay for it.

“Is that what you’ll be taking?” She asked, eyeing me from head to toe.

“Yes,” I answered sharply, not in the mood for a banter with some cashier who was being unnecessarily rude. I stretched my credit card out to her, but she didn’t take it.

“That is real silver in case you’re not aware. I could direct you to the less expensive section. Get you something you can actually afford,” she said dryly, while typing on her computer, completely dismissing me.

I took a deep breath, resolving in my mind not to make a scene. The old me wouldn’t have been here, not to talk of having this issue. After my father’s disgrace, I wanted to say away from the world, so each time Scott told me he was protecting me by making me stay home, I’d believed him. This situation was bringing back old memories I didn’t want to visit.

“I wasn’t blind when I picked out this outfit. I didn’t ask for your input. Just run my card before you start making baseless accusations,” I said in a calm voice.

The cashier gave me a very long and demeaning look that let me know she would have probably insulted me if we’d met under different circumstances. She practically snatched my card from me, ran it through the card reader, looked at it before dumping my card back on the counter with a triumphant smile and proudly showing me the machine.

“It says insufficient funds,” she said, her voice laced with mockery. “Our way less expensive dresses are over there at the back, or you can even go to our second hand store if that’s more your speed.”