I stand staring at Sydney, my mouth hanging open and somehow unable to form words.
"I um..." I begin, but Sydney laughs and cuts me off.
"Zach is such a man-whore," she says, walking over to the couch. She sits down and leans back against the cushions.
"Was it any good?" she asks, raising an eyebrow. Zach reappears from the bathroom and brushes past me.
"Psh, its the best she ever had, right Rachel?" he says, taking a seat on the couch next to his sister. Now they're both staring at me waiting for my response.
"Robin," I say awkwardly. "My name is Robin. And yeah it was great."
They both look at each other and laugh and I stand there once again wishing to be swallowed by the floor. Was this normal brother and sister behavior? Talking about each others' sex lives and playing twenty questions with their partners?
"Well what a perfect way to end the night then. A perfect party and perfect sex," Sydney announces.
"Yeah it was a lot of fun," I say, twisting my hands together. I perch on the edge of a comfy chair next to the couch and look at Zach and Sydney. She is leaned back on the couch staring at her phone and Zach is sitting longways with his feet on her lap.
"Uh but I should probably get back home and rest. I have to keep looking for jobs tomorrow."
"Jobs?" Sydney says wrinkling her nose like I just said something disgusting.
"Yes. Gotta pay the rent somehow," I say with a little chuckle. Sydney studies me for a second, then smiles.
"Alright I have a job for you. Be my companion this week. I have shopping with the girls on Monday and then a couple days at our house in the Hamptons. I'll pay you three thousand if you stay till Friday night."
My eyes widen and I think my heart stops for a minute.
"Three thousand dollars to go shopping with you and stay at a vacation house?"
"Is that not enough?" Sydney asks, frowning.
"No, no that's plenty," I blurt out before she starts to rethink the whole thing. Part of me feels uncomfortable with the idea of accepting pay for such an easy task but I'm not really in a position to turn down money.
"Yeah alright. That sounds great," I say agreeably, not able to hide my excited smile. Sydney nods and pulls out her phone, points the front camera at her face and grins from ear to ear.
"Alright, besties. My new little gal pal Robin has agree to be my companion all week while I do some spring clothing shopping and visit my house in the Hamptons. We had a great time at the party tonight and Robin even got very familiar with my brother Zach," she says, quickly turning the phone to face her brother. He sticks out his tongue and makes a peace sign at the camera, then goes back to his own phone.
"That's all for now, friends. Have a fan-fucking-tastic weekend."
Sydney puts her phone away and I sit there trying to determine if she just implied to thousands of people that I had sex with her brother.
The rest of the weekend goes by in a blur. Sydney insists I stay with her in her apartment and borrow her clothes which she makes sure I know she is now too small to fit into. We lay around and drink, show each other reels on our phones and watch way too many movies.
Before I know it, Monday has arrived and it is time to go shopping for Sydney's spring clothes. I can tell this is a big deal by the fact that she spends two solid hours in the bathroom getting ready. It starts to feel like we are going to a ball to meet princes and not to Saks Fifth Avenue.
As we walk into the store, Sydney turns and gives me a serious look.
"Your job while we are here is to be honest about everything I try on. If it looks ugly you have to tell me. Obviously I will look beautiful the entire time," she says, gesturing to herself as if I don't already see the ridiculous amount of make-up she's wearing and the multi-thousand dollar suit.
"But some of the clothes may not compliment me and it's your job to let me know," she says firmly. I nod, willing to actually do a little bit of work for my pay.
I begin to regret this decision after the third hour of sitting on chairs outside of fitting rooms waiting for Sydney to appear and ask me yet how again exactly how perfect she looks. I try to remember all the synonyms I can for "good" so I have some variety in my responses but Sydney seems happy with any word of praise. Finally just when I think I can't take another minute, she declares that we are done and it's time to go back to her place and pack for our excursion to the Hamptons.
"Is it just me, you and Zach going?" I ask. Sydney giggles and shakes her head.
"No, when we go to the Hamptons we go big. A bunch of my girl friends will be there and I think Zach is bringing some buddies too. Maybe you get lucky again," she says with a wink, giving me an up and down.
"And now that I have all new spring clothes, feel free to go through my closet and pick out whatever you want in the section with the yellow hangers and keep it. The rest we can donate."
I freeze for a second while I contemplate what she just said. I can have her old cast-off clothes that are only one year old for completely free. I wonder if this is how members of Oprah's audience felt the time she gave everyone a car.
We spend the rest of the day packing way too many clothes for a four day trip but Sydney insists we need at least three outfits for every day.
"Morning clothes, a swimsuit and cover-up for afternoon pool time and a nice dress for dinner and drinks."
I go along with it assuming she knows best.
In the morning, Simon shows up at the building and helps us load up all the suitcases. We get in the car and I see Zach sitting there with a guy I don't recognize.
"Hey ladies," he says as we get in the car. "This is Seth. Seth, you know Sydney. This is Rachel," he says gesturing to me.
"Hi," I say, shaking Zach's hand. "It's Robin actually."
Seth smirks and turns to look at Zach.
"Damn, bro. You hit it and then forget her name?"
My face instantly blushes scarlet and I lean back against the car seat. Do rich people just tell all their friends about every one night stand they have? I give an awkward smile while Zach brushes off his friend's comments.
"Are we ready to par-tay?" Sydney exclaims, and for once I'm grateful for her vapid nonsense.
"It's gonna be lit. I heard Brent is showing up with some uh-" Seth pauses and gives me a sideways look like he is unsure if he should continue.
"Oh she's cool. I'm paying her to be my party companion this week so she has no complaints. Right, girlie?" she says sounding cheery but also like there's a hint of a threat behind it. I nod.
"Totally cool," I confirm.
"Bet. Well Brent is bringing some party favors and maybe even the good stuff." Sydney and Zach both seem excited about this detail and I sit debating for the rest of the ride which drug exactly is "the good stuff."
Once we reach the house, I follow Sydney and Zach inside. He takes Zach one direction to find their rooms and Sydney goes upstairs. The house is beautiful and huge with white walls and blue and yellow accent pieces scattered throughout. The furniture and floors are pristine so obviously someone got here before us and cleaned everything.
I follow Sydney into a large bedroom with a king sized bed covered in a black and silver bedspread.
"This is my room, yours is down the hall, the last door on the right," Sydney says, curtly. My brow wrinkles slightly at her suddenly business-like tone but I turn to head to the room.
"Before you go, do you mind hanging up my clothes while I shower? I'm so gross from that car ride."
We had been in the car for only a few hours but I shrug and start taking clothes out of the suitcases and hanging them in the huge walk-in closet.
By the time Sydney comes out of the bathroom, I'm done and she picks an outfit without a word of thanks. I shrug it off, grab my own suitcase and head down the hall to my bedroom. I wonder what kind of furnishings it will have. Excited, I turn the door knob and push the door open. My smile disappears instantly when I look around and see the room is barely bigger than my bedroom in my apartment. The bed is a full sized bed with a worn out blue comforter on it. The only other furniture is a small dresser with only two drawers, a bedside table with a lamp that doesn't work and a trash can. It becomes obvious that she had put me in the room where the maid stays.
I shove my suitcase into the corner not bothering to unpack as less than half of what I brought would fit into the dresser. I lay down on top of the bed and it creaks under my weight. Sydney said her friends would be showing up soon to get in the pool so I slip on one of the swimsuits I inherited, a plain black one piece with a bow across the back, put a cover-up on and walk back downstairs and outside.
Sydney is laying in a beach chair with a floral bikini on and a huge hat shading her face. Two girls are sitting on the chairs on either side of her wearing string bikinis and their own large hats and sunglasses. They are laughing about something and one of them points at me as I walk over.
"That's the girl from your live stream on Friday," the other one says.
"That's Robin. She is jobless right now, poor thing. I paid her three grand to be my companion this week and help me out."
"Is that the one Zach..." the first girl says, but lets the sentence trail off. Does everyone in every part of New York know about me and Zach now?
"Alice that's so rude," says the other girl.
"Yeah, Alice. Kindly shut up," I think to myself. But outwardly I just smile and shrug.
"What can I say? He's a hottie," I say, choking a little bit on the last word.
"Yeah he is," the other girl says. She looks over at Zach who is across the pool talking to Seth and a new guy. She picks up a drink sitting on the table next to her chair and I notice a ring on her finger with a large emerald on it. I can't help but stare for a few seconds. She notices me noticing and turns the ring inward so the gem is in her palm. I look away as if I wasn't just staring.
"So Robin, tell us about yourself," she says, acting curious but also looking me up and down like she doesn't know what to think of me or if she trusts me.
"She's poor and jobless. What else do you need to know?" Sydney cuts in before I can even say a word.
"She really is like a robin. A lost little robin that I picked up and saved."
Sydney's friends simultaneously bring a hand to their chest and say "aaaww" as if it was the most precious thing they'd ever heard. Sydney gives me a sharp look as if asking for confirmation of what she just said and I nod fervently.
"Yes she really is great. She let me have her old spring clothes."
"Ah. That explains the last season swimsuit," the girl who isn't Alice says.
"Jamie, be nice," Sydney scolds, gently slapping Jamie's thigh. "Not everyone is blessed like us."
The girls all nod self righteously at each other as if acknowledging their respective blessings. I look away and roll my eyes. Maybe I would get more stimulating conversation with the guys.
I excuse myself and walk over to Zach and Seth and the new guy. They're all standing in the shallow end of the pool so I sit on the edge and let my legs dangle in the water.
"Hey Reba, meet my friend, Harry," Zach says, gesturing to the new guy.
"Dude, her name is Robin," Seth corrects, giving Zach a friendly shove. "What's wrong with you, bro?"
"Sorry, Robin," Zach says, glancing briefly at me and then immediately turning back to Seth.
"I'm like neck deep in pussy this year, dude. Can't remember everyone's name."
I sigh and take my cover-up off, slip into the water and push away from the wall. The guys do not notice or question my absence, I can still hear their conversation.
"My dad says I can have his Maybach when he gets his new Ferrari," Harry tells Seth and Zach.
"You're not going to pull any girls driving that around," Zach says, taking a sip of his beer.
"I will when they see it go from zero to sixty in five seconds," Harry says sounding slightly defensive.
"Well when you do pull, try to remember their names, yeah? Otherwise you look like a douche," Seth advises.
I swim a lap around the pool thinking to myself that Zach and his friends don't just look like douches.
The night drags on, more friends show up and true to Sydney's word they definitely "par-tay." Around ten I find myself in a circle of new girls, none of whom take the time to introduce themselves to me but all seem to recognize me as either Sydney's companion or Zach's recent conquest.
"You're so sweet for being charitable to her," I hear one of them say.
"Sydney is a saint, you know that," another one agrees. And I wonder to myself exactly how much of their time together is spent kissing up to Sydney. They discuss the latest styles in clothes, the content creators they follow online and whatever boy toy they are currently into. None of them ask me a single question or seek to include me in the conversation so I sit on a pool chair sipping on a hard lemonade and listening to the gossip.
"It wasn't even a real diamond necklace so I dumped him," a girl in a red swimsuit with hair tied up in a bun says.
"What a loser," her friend in a blue and green bikini says. "You did the right thing," she assures her friend.
By eleven I have decided I can not listen to any more vapid pointless conversations so I gulp down the rest of my lemonade, grab my cover-up and head towards the house. Sydney is coming from the house and waves at me smiling sweetly.
"Where ya going, chica?" she asks, as if she hasn't ignored me the entire night.
"I'm pretty tired so I'm just going to get some rest," I tell her, leaving out the fact that I'm bored out of my mind and no one seems to know or care that I exist.
"Oh ok, if that's what you want," Sydney says, with a tone that implies I am making the wrong choice.
"I know things are a little wild but that's just how it is when we are out here," she explains. She puts a reassuring hand on my shoulder.
"Tomorrow will be better. I'll introduce you to everyone and all us ladies will go into town and have coffee and chat," she tells me with a big smile, and for a moment I forget how awful the evening was.
"Yeah that sounds great," I say.
Sydney lets the hand on my shoulder trail down my arm and lets her smile linger as she walks away from me and back to her friends. Within seconds she is lost in their storm of gossip and I continue to the house.
I change into sensible pajamas from last season and settle into my tiny creaking bed under the faded blanket. I sigh as I look up at the ceiling. Maybe this whole thing was a mistake. But I don't want to get discouraged after just a few hours.
I roll onto my side, close my eyes and convince myself that things, as Sydney promised, will get better tomorrow.
