Old Money

**Readers, I'll have a bonus post up this Friday. Make sure to come back and check it out! :)**

“Can't you just leave tomorrow?”

I pleaded as I held onto Kadie's legs. We were both sitting on the floor of her now empty room. It was Saturday morning and Kadie was planning on taking her last few boxes to her new apartment.

“Lynn” Kadie whispered in an apologetic tone. “You know I can't.”

“Why not? Who leaves on a Saturday anyway?” Kadie wasn't moving far, in fact it was a short train ride over. I just didn't want to let her go.

“Adam wants to spend at least one weekend day together at our apartment. He has work to do on Sunday, so today would be our only day.”

“Fine” I sighed loudly and laid my head on Kadie's shoulder. “I'm going to miss this.”

Kadie rested her head on mine and squeezed my hand, “You know you're always going to be at my place.”

We both looked up at each other and smiled, “True”

Just then, there was a knock at the door. “That's Adam!” Kadie jumped up and ran.

I walked into the living room and greeted him. The three of us sat down for a cup of coffee and one last breakfast together. Once we were finished Adam grabbed Kadie's boxes and a few teary eyed sessions later, they were gone.

I jumped into the corner of my L-shaped sofa with a blanket and snuggled between the pillows. This was the first Saturday since Kadie moved to New York that we hadn't spent together. It felt weird. Almost like I didn't know what to do with myself.

I felt myself drifting off into a slumber when the vibrations from my phone jolted me back to life. It was Sarah. I answered the phone with a groggy voice.

“Lynn? Are you sleeping? You know it's noon, right?” Sarah was an early bird. It never made sense to her how anyone could sleep past 9am.

“This is a normal time for normal people to wake up on a Saturday, S. Plus I was up all morning helping Kadie pack up to leave.” I threw my blanket off of myself and began stretching. I guess Sarah had a point. I couldn't waste my day sleeping.

“Oh dear, she left didn't she? Poppy, Henry, and I are about to go shopping. You should join in. It'll make you feel better.”

I sat quietly for a moment. I hadn't seen Poppy or Henry since the incident at the restaurant. As much as I didn't agree with Poppy's lifestyle and influences, I wasn't going to spend my day cooped up in my apartment.

“Sure, why not”

“Great! Poppy's still getting ready. She always takes forever. Why don't you just come here?”

As soon as we'd hung up the phone I realized I'd never been to Sarah's place before. I knew she lived with her parents. And that Henry's family lived in the same building. But I'd never known more than that.

I rolled off the sofa and into the shower. After getting dressed I quickly Google mapped Sarah's address and headed over.

I found myself once again on the fancy streets of the Upper East Side. What seemed like an entire block of apartments was actually Sarah's residence. The building was laid with massive cream colored bricks and smaller black bricks framing every window and door way. There was an intricate black iron gate surrounding the building. The architecture was stunningly beautiful and very European. I walked around the building looking for a way inside. I was startled by a loud buzzing noise. I turned around to see a gate opening. I looked in my surroundings to make sure this was real life.

Once I made my way up the steps to the front door a butler greeted me. “Welcome to the Wintrop residence. Please follow me” He turned around and began to wobble down the hallway.

Wintrop? As in... I whispered to myself. My thoughts were distracted by life size oil paintings of different men that ran down the entire length of the hallway. The butler abruptly stopped and gestured for me to take a seat in an open formal living area.

“Miss Sarah will be with you shortly.” He turned back around and wobbled out of the room.

Sarah is a Wintrop? How did I not know this? I always assumed Sarah's last name was Darlington because of her mother. Wintrop was the family name behind the number one health care and pharmaceutical company worldwide.

It was obvious from the first day I met Sarah that her family came from money. But, it wasn't evident from her humble personality. Rather from her obnoxious cousin, Henry, and because she'd let it slip that she'd never known who her father was (metaphorically speaking) until she was older. It seemed like Sarah didn't want to talk too much about her family so I never really asked. Instead, I just pretended she was like the rest of us.

I closely examined everything in the living room before Sarah came prancing down a dark wooden stair case that spiraled around the perimeter of the room.

I stood silently. I had no idea what to say. I couldn't believe I was standing in front of the heiress to some of Europe's oldest money.

Sarah caught my drift and dropped her shoulders down. She looked at me disappointed. “I don't invite many of my friends over because they treat me the same way. My forefathers are the rich ones. Not me.”

I felt embarrassed for the way I acted and quickly apologized. “Sarah, I don't mean to be like this, the last name was just a bit of a shock that's all. You're still the same Sarah.” I told her while trying to act like it wasn't a big deal that my hand was resting on a mantle that may or may not have been lined in 24 carat gold.

“You thought it was Darlington, didn't you?” She smirked.

I nodded my head “Well, yeah...”

“It's my mother's maiden name. She already established her company before she married my father.” Sarah took my hand and lead me to a maroon and mahogany Victorian love seat. We both sat down as she continued talking. “You know, that's why Poppy is so popular. Everyone knew her as an heiress. She was always a ham for the camera. When my mum's company went global she started riding on her coattails until” She side smiled and sprawled out her hands.

“But you, you're not like that.” I was fascinated at how modest Sarah was.

“No, I'm not. I didn't even know how much money we had until I was a teen. When I joined my private school here in the City, my teacher was so excited to have Henry and I in her class, which we thought was weird. Those kids would always tell us how rich we were. We had no idea!” She laughed. “We thought everyone lived like this” Sarah pointed around the room and my eyes followed. “I guess coming from old money and talking about it is taboo. So we just go along like everyone else. I guess, I can't say that for Henry though, he can be quiet a show off.” Sarah winked and we both continued to laugh.

“Hello, Lynn. So nice to see you again.” I heard a voice calling from above. It was Poppy. She was gracefully carrying her tiny body down the staircase. She took her round Chanel sunglasses off her head and wore them. “Henry, are you coming dear?” She called out as she looked over her shoulder.

As Poppy made her way down Sarah and I stood up, ready to leave. A few minutes past before Henry came running down the stairs. He looked to be in a much cheerful attitude than usual. I wasn't sure if it was because his favorite cousin was in town or because he was drugged up. I was hoping it wasn't the latter.

As soon as the four of us jumped into the black SUV parked out front, Poppy told the driver to take us to Alexander McQueen. “I'm in dire need of new clothes!” She cried. I felt a pit in my stomach. There was no way I would be able to buy anything on this shopping trip. So much for retail therapy!

Once we got into the boutique the sales team flooded towards Poppy. They whisked her away to a back fitting room where they'd already pulled out outfits for her. Sarah and I browsed around the front of the store as we waited.

“What do you think of this?” Henry pulled up a shirt to himself.

“I love it!” Sarah cheered.

“I don't know, should I get it in blue or black? Oh whatever, I'll just get both.” He handed it to a sales associate who took the shirts and stowed them away at the register.

Sarah continued to peruse through the clothes when I found a moment to myself. I turned around to find Henry on the opposite side of the store and made my way over to him.

“Henry!” I loudly whispered as I pulled his arm.

“Lynn, haven't you found anything?” He seemed surprised when he saw me empty handed.

“This place is insanely out of my price range.” I shook my head.

“Oh, don't bother. Just put it on my tab.” He went back to pulling through a rack of shirts.

“You have a tab here?” I furrowed my brows at the thought and continued before Henry could answer. “Never mind that. I saw you with Poppy on Thursday night.”

Henry let out a slight laugh and looked at me questioningly “Yeah, I know. I saw you too.”

“No, I saw you two...” I covered one nostril with my finger and inhaled through the other. I suddenly had Henry's full attention. He stared at me with his arms folded across his chest.

“Did you tell anyone?” He seemed more bothered by this than the fact that I'd seen him.

“Of course not. You know why? Because I think you're better than that. And I really want to give you the benefit of the doubt.”

“Lynn, you don't know me” He rolled his eyes as he walked away.

“Bullshit, Henry. I know you perfectly well.” I pulled his arm back towards me. “I know that you're an intelligent asshole who actually cares about people. You can't let your cousin ruin your future.” Henry was amongst the few people who'd received an academic scholarship to our school. Even Sarah, being as smart as she is, hadn't received it.

“Don't bring Poppy into this!” Henry angrily whispered back.

“Is everything okay?” Henry and I both turned around to see Sarah standing behind us.

“Yeah, we just can't decide which one looks better.” I pulled two random shirts off the rack and in front of Henry.

“Oh, that one's nice!” Sarah pointed. “I'm gonna go try these on” She lifted up a pile of clothes in her hand and proceed to the fitting rooms.

As soon as she was gone Henry pulled me in close. “No body can know about this. I can lose my inheritance over it.”

“If that's the case then why do you do it?” I was curious as to what lame excuse Henry was using to justify his actions.

“It's a thrill you wouldn't understand.” I cocked my head to the side and squinted my eyes at him. Henry sighed and covered his face with his hands. “I only do it when Poppy's around. It's not like I'm addicted, okay. So you can stop looking at me like that. I want the lifestyle she has, I just do it to keep up with her.”

I sarcastically laughed in Henry's face. “That has got to be the worst possible excuse ever. I don't care how much you're in love with her. She's a bad influence. You can't go into a field of helping others if you fall victim to your own actions.”

“Fine!” Henry angrily agreed. “I won't let Poppy control me.”

I waited a minute while Henry cooled off before I gave him a hug. “Did you really mean that intelligent thing?” He smiled from the corner of his mouth.

“Of course not” I playfully punched his arm. We walked over to the fitting room to watch Poppy and Sarah model their outfits.

We store hopped from one expensive place to the next for the rest of the afternoon. The only thing I walked away with was a cup of frozen yogurt, and I was okay with that.

Sarah, Henry, and Poppy had to go to a family dinner so I decided to make my way back home. I was exhausted from my day, but I knew I still needed company. Something to keep me distracted from my empty apartment. I called up Jaime to hang out. Turns out he was in New Jersey visiting his parents. I guess it was just going to be me and reruns of Modern Family tonight.

Crushed, I headed to my favorite Thai restaurant to order a meal to go. I went inside and waited at the bar. The restaurant was busy with people as it usually is on Saturday nights. I quietly sat in the corner and fiddled with my phone.

“Is this seat taken?” I shook my head as I turned around to see who it was.

“Connor!” I shrieked and jumped off the bar stool. “This is so awkward.” We both laughed as we remembered the last time we'd been here together was the night I left him hanging.