It was in a very good mood that Eli Bennett went to the party the next day. He, his brothers, and Lillian knocked at the apartment door, and were welcomed in by Sofia the hostess. Already the house was full of the girls they had met at the mall the other day. Eli looked around for Genesis.
"Thank you so much for inviting me, again," said Lillian, as she entered. Sofia, who had never specifically invited Lillian, but rather the group of people she was with, was a bit surprised, but kept quiet. "I appreciate it so much. Really. And my goodness, you look lovely tonight. So beautiful. And look at this apartment. Oh wow. I love it. I love it! It's beautiful. The colours. The furniture. You should become a decorator! This looks almost like the foyer of my boss' house, Mr. Caleb Anderson. Yes, the Caleb Anderson. Have you heard of him?"
Lillian went on, but it seemed nobody wanted to listen. She quickly ended up in a chair in the corner eating chips and cola (she requested, as she disapproved of alcohol), as the more interesting women got all the attention in the room.
Eli found Genesis sitting on the couch, next to Michael.
"Come here a second, Mike," said Sofia. "I need to talk in the other room." Eli guessed by her expression that she was looking for an excuse to get away from Lillian. Eli quickly took Michael's place.
"It's nice to see you again," he said.
"Same. I was hoping we'd see each other again."
"So, do you live nearby?"
"Not quite. I'm sort of just staying with friends right now. It's a bit complicated."
"Right, you don't like to settle. I remember."
Eli looked at her serene smile, her classical features, those perfect green eyes. He did not often feel shy. The conversation carried on slowly, and she was always bright and attentive to him. Always at the back of his mind the question was lingering, though. What was the deal with her and Faith Diaz? He couldn't ask her that. Luckily, she brought it up herself.
"So," said Genesis. "You know Faith Diaz?"
"A bit, yes."
"And how long has she been here in Toronto?"
"About a month. It's just my brother is close with her best friend. I don't know really know much about her except she's some big shot from the U.S."
"Well, that's an understatement. She's rich. Very, very rich. Richer than you can imagine."
"Ah, follow her along in the tabloids, eh?"
"Not exactly. I know her a bit better than that."
"Oh?"
"I'm sure you noticed we, well, recognized each other yesterday?"
"I did. I didn't want to mention it, you know, if it was something personal…"
"Do you like Faith?"
"Not at all. She's annoying and stuck-up."
"I don't know if I can be a good judge of that. I probably know Faith too well to be biased on her. Do you really think that about her?"
"Everyone who's met her thinks that. Except maybe my brother Jacob. Ask anyone in this room even. None of them like Faith."
"I'm surprised at that. I can't really believe it. Around her, people get blinded by her money and her fame, or maybe intimidated by her daunting manners. I think people see her exactly the way she wants them to see her."
"Well, I can't stand her."
"Do you know how long she'll be in the country?"
"I can't say. Why? Is there a problem."
"No, not all. I won't let her think she can chase me away. If she doesn't want to see me, she'll have to go. I did nothing wrong. It's hard to be around her. Her mother was one of the best people I ever knew. It's crazy how different the two of them turned out. She's been really very cruel to me, but I still wish we could make it. You know, for the sake of her mother's memory."
Genesis dabbed her finger under her eye. Eli patted her shoulder. "We don't have to talk about it, if it's too hard on you."
"It's not that. It's just. I don't know. I'm happy here. I really am. I've been so many new friends. But I wonder how long I can stay here? Always having to move from place to place, never having the money to stay where I meet my friends. It's hard going through life, without any money. Not for material things, but the security."
"What do you mean?"
"Let me explain. Faith's mother was my godmother. Our mothers were very close. Mine worked for hers, she was the head housekeeper. We were raised in the same house. His mother was always so wonderful to me. She looked out for me and provided for me in so many ways that my mother couldn't afford. She even left behind a fund to pay for my education. But then she passed away, and her step-father let Faith get control of that."
"Oh no. What happened?"
"I told her I wanted, I needed a years rest. I would pay for myself, my travels, all of that, I just was going to have a breakdown if I stayed any longer in school. I told her I would finish school the next year. Faith refused. She told me if I didn't go back to school right away, that was it. I could never have another penny of the money her mother intended for me. So there I was left, penniless, no job, no education, alone in the world. I was told if I left I was never welcomed back. I guess I spoke my real opinion of her too often for her liking."
"That horrible! You should let people know about this! This is the news about her that should be making the magazines, let me tell you…"
"No, no, no," said Genesis. "I'm sure with time people will realize what she's really like, but it won't be from me. I couldn't go around talking bad to her, I just loved her mother too much to do that."
She incredible Eli had never met anyone like Genesis.
"But why would she do that to? It just seems so cruel."
"I can only guess it was jealousy. Jealous of all the attention her mother gave me, jealous of her mother always telling her she should be more like me. I guess childhood things get stuck in ways we don't quite understand. Oh well."
"That's insane. How could someone be so jealous of someone because their mother was nice to them? I mean, that is literally insane. What's wrong with her? I mean, I do remember her one time saying she never got over things, that she couldn't forgive anyone once they got on her bad side…"
"It's hard to really accept sometimes. We grew up together, we used to play together. And then to have someone like that just completely turn her back on me, and shut me out of my life. It hurts. But she was always spoiled and arrogant, and she just got worse after her mother died and wasn't there to control her anymore. She always had to be the centre of attention. She couldn't stand not beating everyone at everything."
"I just don't know how someone like that could be friends with someone like Chloe Brown She seems so sweet and innocent."
"Well, Faith was always a good little actress. She does a good job hiding what's she's really like to people she thinks are worth her while. You know, people worthy of being her friend. I'm sure she can act nicely enough around them, when she won't put out the effort in front of what she thinks 'average' people."
Eli sighed. He looked around the room and saw Lillian had joined in at a poker game, and was losing.
"Oh, don't worry about it, it's nothing, really," she said. "I lost a bit of money. It's just twenty dollars. That's not too bad. I earn quite a good salary at my job as assistant to Mr. Caleb Anderson. Yes, the Caleb Anderson…"
"Anderson?" repeated Genesis. "Does your friend there know the Andersons very well?"
"I can't say. She works for him, apparently. She's mentioned it once or twice."
"You do know who Caleb Anderson is, right?"
"Um, he was this close to making it on last years Forbes 400 richest peoples list?"
"No, I mean, you do know that Caleb Anderson was Anne Diaz's second husband? That he's Faith's step-father?"
"No, I had no idea. Wow, small world…"
"Yeah, they weren't married very long. Just a few years before the cancer got her."
"Well, apparently he's an amazing man."
"Well, Lillian has the right to her opinion. I maybe knew him a bit better than she did. I always found him to be tyrannical and rude."
"Hey, can't we talk about something more fun?"
The party went on into the night and Genesis was the light of it. She talked with everyone, and everyone laughed at her jokes. She was interesting, fun, smart, sweet and (for the men) gorgeous. Eli could not keep his eyes off her all night, and thought about her all the way home, and thought of everything she had told him. He hated Faith now more than ever.