Infidelity Among the Rich!

In the December post entitled New Year's Greetings I reported that all the framed photos of my employer's new girlfriend had been removed from the house - and we were obviously speculating she was on the way out.

I'm not sure if I ever explained, but during this three-year relationship she only came out to the Hampton's on the weekends, Friday through Sunday. The affair seemed solid and enduring to all of us and we were growing accustomed to her. But then after a while, during week days when she wasn't here, there were other women (plural!) starting to show up. This gave us all a shock at first! We just weren't quite sure how to react or relate to any of them.

I try to mind my own business around here and never go over to the house in the evenings unless specifically requested for an event or cocktail party. So I really don't know what goes on around here in the evenings. But frequently during the week Ester the upstairs maid would report finding lipstick on a wine glass from the evening before, and we could easily trace our employer and his mysterious new guest's movements throughout the house from the tell-tale evidence left behind.

But then one day Ester reported that for the last few weeks the lipstick on the wine glasses was always the same shade, and the lingering perfume throughout the house was always the same as well. So we naturally assumed the old man was settling in on one new competitor to the weekend lady. Then when the pictures disappeared we thought we had a conclusive answer as to what might be coming next.

We couldn't have been more wrong. This morning Ester called me early and said the pictures were back up. It seems the new girlfriend has spent the last month with her family in Europe during all the holidays, but now she's back. Where this leaves the new weekday lady, we haven't a clue. But once again, as before the last divorce, our job now is to play musical sheets and try to neutralize perfume odors in the house and cars, in between visits.

As unseemly as this all may sound, my experience has been that rich people make up their own rules and do whatever they wish is this life. Fidelity is one of those clumsy things that seemingly and easily gets tossed aside in their world, as long as the money keeps flowing to everyone involved. Who am I to judge that with my middle class values?

Not all rich behave this way, of course. I'm just reporting my own observations over the years, and we're all familiar with the salacious stories coming out of Hollywood and Washington DC. By comparison, I suppose what goes on in this house doesn't seem all that irregular - as things go in their world.

So the new girlfriend's back. I guess we need to adjust our thinking and start calling her the Weekend Girlfriend - to allow room for others. Who knows?

Thanks for dropping in this evening. Hope your winter is moving right along, with the happy prospect of spring just ahead.

Andrew