watching him make a fool of himself and did not try to discourage him. He told Kristen that if she hung out with him during the week, maybe she could meet the President. Kristen cringed when he said that because she knew that William definitely had no plans to introduce her to him.
The other men kept a few steps away, but well within earshot. After a while, it was obvious the agent was being overly friendly and a bit obnoxious, so his comrades convinced him it was time to leave. He insisted on Kristen’s phone number and she gave him a fake one. After he left, she wished she had given him the correct number. She thought “The White House. The Lincoln Bedroom. Now that’s a goal to pursue!”
William had a business trip to New York the following week and decided to take Kristen with him. Kristen was surprised at the invitation, because lately she felt she would soon be losing William. She really liked him and was excited for the opportunity to be alone with him with no outside interference. This is exactly what they needed to rekindle their relationship.
They flew first-class to JFK, where a limousine awaited them, and were driven to the Four Seasons Hotel where William reserved one of their finest suites. Kristen was finally reaping the benefits of dating him. It made her forget about the parts that weren’t so good.
For their first night, William took her out for a classy meal and a Broadway show. After it let out, they took a long and romantic stroll through the city. When they finished, they took a cab back to the hotel and shared a passionate night. Kristen finally felt like she belonged with him.
The next day he had a luncheon to attend with two friends who were Senators. Kristen pleaded “Can’t I come with? I don’t want to be by myself.” William was now in his business mode. “No, I am sorry Kristen, it wouldn’t be appropriate, they know my wife.” Kristen replied “That has never bothered you before? Why now?” William said “Please, don’t argue about this, it just isn’t right. I’ve got to go.” He thought for a moment and opened his wallet. “Here, take one of my credit cards. Buy anything you want. Seriously. Anything.”
Kristen happily agreed with this compromise. She decided to first get a massage and skin treatments at the hotel’s fantastic spa, and then would hit the stores later.
She was feeling very refreshed by the time she took the car service over to Saks. Although she had given in, she still felt that William needed to be punished for not including her, and she did not hold back. She had the car wait for her in front as she bought three outfits totaling fourteen thousand dollars. She then decided to go over to a few of the designer boutiques and look for shoes to go with them.
As she was gathering her items at the counter, she looked across at another station and saw a familiar figure. It was Liz! What was she doing here? Before she could see her, Kristen hurriedly grabbed her garment bags and fled.
Kristen sat in the car and fumed. She knew that William paid the ticket for Liz to come to New York too. She wondered how long she had already been there. At least she wasn’t on the same plane. Or, maybe she was and had been hidden back in Coach. William was such a sneak! She also bet that Liz was there on her own shopping spree with one of his other cards! Or, even worse, she probably had several cards in her own name that William always paid the bills for.
Kristen’s anger took over and she went right back into the store and bought five pairs of shoes. They cost over eight thousand. That would teach him to give her a credit card after screwing around with her!
When she returned to the hotel, William was sitting in a chair dressed for dinner. He had grown tired of waiting for her and looked angrily at all her parcels “Why were you gone so long? How much did you just spend? What is going on?”
Kristen nastily replied “Where are you hiding Liz?” William looked like a cat who had just snuck milk “Uhh, What about Liz?” Kristen yelled “You know exactly what I am talking about. You brought Liz here too! Why would you do that to me? Aren’t I enough? Who are you? Rasputin?”
“Calm down, calm down” he looked very annoyed. “I needed Liz here for some of my business meetings.” Kristen dropped one of her shoe boxes and screamed “What? You lied to me? You took her to that lunch today with the Senators! How appropriate was that?” William defiantly answered “Liz knows how to work a crowd. You’re too young for that.” Kristen said “Yeah, but not too young to have sex with, right?”
She grabbed all her bags and stormed out. She still had his credit card and she took a cab to another hotel to stay at. She didn’t care that she left her own suitcase behind. She would send for it as soon as she checked into her new room.
Kristen stayed in New York for another three days. William left her several phone messages, but she refused to listen to them. She feared he might try to cancel his credit card, but he never did.
She bought another first-class ticket and finally went home. She eventually talked to him after a while. He never apologized and she never gave him his card back.
Over the next month, he saw her only a few times for dinner or at Cabaret. They didn’t have sex anymore and Kristen wondered if he was stepping things up again with Liz. She thought about the old bag. She knew that Liz mostly resented Kristen because she was young. Maybe she saw a shadow of her earlier self. William’s tastes were changing. As he grew older, he went down another age level for his choices. Luckily, the next level below Kristen was jail bait, so she was safe, for now.
Kristen knew that Liz had been through a lot of William’s dalliances and she had survived every one. Liz was an expert at getting what she wanted out of him and kept him flattened under her thumb. Kristen wished she had that kind of nerve. The only thing Liz couldn’t get him to do was to divorce his wife. Kristen was aware that if she and Liz actually loved William, they would both be thinking differently. They obviously enjoyed his status and the rest was all pretend. He probably knew it and didn’t care because he used them right back.
Another week went by with no calls from William. Kristen made sure she now partied away from Cabaret. Chicago had a lot of other choices to offer, but it seemed like too small of a town whenever Kristen saw Liz at the other venues. And lately, she noticed that Liz wasn’t sulking.
Kristen knew something was up when she ran into an off-duty Cabaret waitress who told her that Liz had convinced William to buy her a million plus vacation condo in Fort Lauderdale. She had insisted the deed had to be in her name, not his, not his company’s.
Kristen had been right about everything. She went to Cabaret the next evening and confronted William. He was sitting at the bar flirting with his door hostess. She walked up to him and said angrily “How can you say you are putting Liz out to pasture when you went and bought her a condo?”
William was annoyed at the question. “Whoa, go easy on her, will you? I have been with her for years. She deserved it.” Kristen retorted “I have been putting out for you for a few months now and all you have been doing is stringing me along.” William said “You knew about me and Liz from the start and you were alright with it.” Kristen yelled “Well, I’m not now. I can get any man I want. I don’t need to compete with that dog for you!”
William enjoyed her berating him. He did seem to have a submissive streak. It was probably why Liz could control him so easily. Kristen tested this theory and really dug into him. She felt so wronged by him that she could not help blurting out “You know I could use a condo too. I need money too! I am running out of it. I really need 10,000 dollars and if you want me to stay with you, that is what it’s going to take. I know for sure that any of the men that I have met in Palm Beach would be happy to help me.”
William was surprised and looked at her with great arrogance. “Well, I am not going to give you any money. You don’t mean that much to me. It is very strange that ever since that ball you have been very moody and lately you seem overly obsessed with being a Gold Digger. You went crazy with my credit card in New York. When I met you, you were different than the othe
r women. That is what attracted me to you. Chicago is a very small pond. You belong with the other sharks in Palm Beach. You are always talking about it. Why don’t you go back there and leave me alone?”
Kristen screamed at him “You are so cheap. We’re through!” William made another nasty comment about his credit card. She threw her drink at him and ran out of Cabaret.
Arriving home, she thought about how he had treated her during their time together. He had never given her anything of real value except some clothes, here and there. He had never taken her to Europe or anywhere interesting. They only went to parties and boring business dinners.
She was just the equivalent of an escort, except she never made any money. She was mad she didn’t flirt with more of the rich men at all those functions. She needed some more back-ups in Chicago. Good Riddance! She hoped that William’s wife would find out about Liz and shoot both of them.
Then Kristen thought back on what she was thinking. William was right, she had started acting very shallow and materialistic, and it first started during her last visit to Palm Beach and then became increasingly stronger after meeting Karl. It wasn’t in her nature and she couldn’t explain it.
5 DARK