Prosperity

1.

I scowled at my mother, distraught as I caught sight of myself in the floor-length mirror hung on the back of the guest bedroom door behind her.
"I look absolutely ridiculous!" I cried, holding out the blue frilly hem of my dress in dismay.
"You look wonderful! Jamie will be in awe." said Mom, clapping her hands and grinning proudly at me, her nineteen year old daughter who had never worn a dress a day in her life and felt like an absolute fool.
"I don't feel wonderful," I sighed, vigorously scratching my blonde curls, "This hairspray is disgusting. Is it supposed to itch like this?"
"Leave it alone, dear!" my Mom snapped, and she walked out of the room and back downstairs to the dinner party.
"Oh lighten up, it isn't that bad! I'd give anything to wear something so beautiful!" my Moms friend Liz reassured me, admiring the dress from every angle.
"You wear it then!" I snapped back, growing more and more impatient the longer I was kept waiting.
Mom came running back into the room, a Cheshire cat smile spread across her face.
"He's here," she hissed excitedly, and she led me downstairs to the party, leaving Liz upstairs to tidy away the mess that I had left.
A sea of women in light-coloured dresses and men in black and white suits waved across the room, the sounds of laughter and cheerful conversation piercing my ears. Barely anybody looked up from what they were doing. Barely anybody recognised my Mom and I. Thank God!

I knew who "he" was. He was Jamie Horner, the son of Harry Horner who owned the company Mom had worked for for the past seventeen years.
I also knew that meeting Him meant a great deal to her, which is the one and only reason why I bit my tongue and agreed to do as she said.
I recognised Harry Horner right away, because Mom had described him to me enough times that I felt as if I already knew him, so it was only right for me to assume that the younger man stood beside him was his son, Jamie.
I knew from the get-go that I did not like Harry one bit.
You may be wondering how I came to this conclusion, having never met him in person before, but when a person has such a high level of self involvement that they believe the world owes them a living, it is hard to imagine yourself taking a liking to them, so the moment I caught sight of Harry, I decided that I disliked his son too. 
Mom nudged me forwards, and called out his name. He looked up from his conversation with his son and waved, a big cheesy grin on his face.
"Joan! Hello hello!" He cried out cheerfully, embracing my Mom and kissing her cheek.
"Harry, this is my daughter Eva. Eva, darling, come and say hello to my boss!" Mom said, introducing me to Harry as if I didn't already know everything there was to know about him.
I knew that his favourite colour was brown, he liked to paint and watch cricket during his spare time, he was forty-three years old, he had a dog called Rover and he had been divorced four times, but I put out my hand and pretended as if I had no idea.

Smiling, he shook my hand, "Hello there, Eva. My, what a beautiful dress!"
"Hello, Mr Horner. It's lovely to finally meet the man who pays for my food!" I laughed lightly, but nobody laughed with me, which felt extremely awkward.
"Pays for your food?" he repeated, looking up at my Mom in confusion, who shrugged and glared at me.
"Yeah, you pay my Moms wages, and those wages get spent on our food... never mind." I said, deciding to just shut my mouth and smile instead.
Jamie was looking me up and down, nodding slightly. I narrowed my eyes. As if I needed any kind of approval from him. As if I should appreciate it.
Almost immediately, Mom and Harry began discussing business ventures, completely ignoring me and Jamie as we stood dithering at their sides.
Although it was never directly implied, I took my Mom's ignorance as a hint.
A hint for me to get as close as I could to Jamie Horner.