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"But the rush shipping is over eight hundred dollars."
Carol bit her lip. "Maybe just forget it. No one can see it while I'm carrying it anyway."
Harvey leaned down and pinched her cheek.
"You deserve the best. Eight hundred is nothing."
"Even if the shipping were eighty thousand, if it's worth buying, we buy it."
I gripped the strap of my canvas bag, the fabric long since washed pale and fraying.
I'd bought this bag off a street stall my sophomore year. Fifteen dollars. It had been with me for seven years.
"How much was the bag?"
I heard myself ask.
Carol blinked. "Why do you want to know that?"
"Just asking."
"Twenty-five thousand," Harvey said, his tone flat and offhand. "Limited edition. Only three of them in the whole country."
Twenty-five thousand.
Enough for two of my father's heart stent surgeries.
Enough to replace all my mother's old appliances that were always breaking down.
Enough, even, for the engagement gift money Harvey owed my parents.
He'd saved for six years and still couldn't scrape together the twenty-five thousand, and he was always saying I was too expensive, that my parents were selling off their daughter.
And now he'd spent that same money on a bag for his childhood sweetheart without a second thought.
Bought three of them, just like that.
I nodded. I couldn't name what I felt, only forced back the tears and turned away in a hurry.
"I'm going up."
I turned toward the stairs.
"Hold on."
Harvey stopped me. "Carol's staying here tonight. Change the sheets in the guest room. Don't use the silk set in the cabinet, she left that one here last time."
My steps halted. "The guest room sheets were just changed last week."
"Last week's have been slept on."
Carol said softly, "I want them to smell nice…"
She pulled a bottle of perfume out of her bag. "Can I spray this on the sheets, Gloria?"
A pink bottle. I'd seen the brand in subway ads. One bottle cost as much as three months of my "allowance."
"Do whatever you want," I said.
"Also," Harvey's voice came again from behind me, "Carol's going to an art show tomorrow. Take her to pick out a dress, and remember to get the receipt."
I whipped around. "Tomorrow's Wednesday. I have work."
"Take the day off."
"The attendance bonus is five hundred."
Harvey finally looked at me straight on, his eyes full of appraisal and distaste.
"All you think about is money."
"It's five hundred dollars. Is five hundred more important, or is Carol more important?"
Carol sneezed right on cue and rubbed her nose.
"If it's too much trouble for you, Gloria, don't worry about it. I can go by myself. It's just that the gallery's out in the suburbs, and an Uber there costs over two hundred…"
Any other time, I'd have agreed without hesitation.
Because I had to save money.
As long as it saved money, I could shortchange myself in every possible way.
But this time I didn't give in.
"Suit yourselves."
I turned and went upstairs, Carol muttering under her breath behind me.
"Harvey, why is your girlfriend so stuck-up? What's she got to be so smug about?"
"That dress she's wearing is practically falling apart. My dog wouldn't wear it."
Harvey chuckled.
"That's just her taste. How could she compare to you?"
"I'll make you caviar tonight, the premium kind I brought back from the Harborview District."
"Yay! You're the best, Harvey!"
My hand paused on the guest room door.
Caviar.
He'd told me that was a business gift, off-limits. I'd never even dared to smell it.
Last time I opened the fridge for eggs, my finger just brushed the packaging box, and he was in my face yelling.
"Gloria Finch, can you stop scheming about that caviar?"
"I already told you it's for a client."
"If you touch it, how am I supposed to explain that to the client?"
Only now did I understand.
His childhood sweetheart Carol was the biggest "client" his heart had ever known.
Back in my room, my mother's video call came through at exactly that moment.
She was all smiles on the other end.
"Glory, your dad and I made it back to the hometown. Don't worry, and don't fight with Harvey over our business. You two just live your lives well."
"And this time it was our own fault, us two old fools eating something bad. We forgot to ask, too."
My mother rubbed her hands together, trying to cover her nerves.
"When are you two… planning to get married?"
My father sat beside her, looking just as uneasy.
"Don't ask so bluntly. You'll upset Glory."
I held back the sting in my nose and shook my head.
"Mom, Dad, I'm not getting married."
"Tomorrow I'm quitting my job. I'll pack up and come home, settle down there."
