What Money Can't Buy

Hello Readers! I hope you enjoy this story. There is a lot of exposition in this chapter, and less sex than usual. Don't worry, there is still some good stuff in the last 1/3^rd. However, this is due to my plan to write several more chapters in this series, so hopefully the exposition helps make the story better! Please, please comment your thoughts, criticisms, ideas for future chapters, etc.

I grew up in a happy family; at least it started out that way. I was raised in Saltburn-by-the-Sea, a small town about 5 hours outside of London along the coast of England. It was just me, my father Irv, my mother Patricia, and my younger sister Rose. According to my parents, the town used to be quaint and community oriented, but just before I was born, a billionaire business mogul and Duke 30^th in line for the throne moved in and bought up a huge portion of the businesses and properties in town. Mr. Aldus Hagadone- Hagadone the Terrible, as much of the town called him- saw potential in our tiny town as a resort for the rich and fabulous. Within a decade, he had control of nearly the entire town and had built a golf course, a large resort hotel and spa, ultimately changing the entire idea of what our town was. My mother and father had owned and worked at a small hardware store in a building on Main Street, and we had always gotten by just fine. However, Hagadone bought the building, increased the rent exponentially with no warning and forced my parents out. We couldn't afford rent on another space, and things deteriorated quickly.

While my parents were trying to figure out how to keep the house, my mom got sick. Really sick. Lacking good insurance, the treatments sank us deeper and deeper into debt. My mom eventually passed when I was 15, and Irv took it extremely hard. He gave up caring for us completely and took to drinking to drown his sorrows. Irv blamed Hagadone for everything that had gone wrong in his life, and honestly, so did I. But I refused to wallow like he did- I had to figure something out. I worked while going to school and did what I could to be a parent to my sister, who was 11 at the time. If it hadn't been for my Aunt Wilma, we would never have made it. Two years ago, when I turned 20, I decided I had to get out- my father disgusted me, and I was drowning in the memories of my mother that were ingrained in our life in Saltburn-by-the-Sea. I was just tired. Wilma agreed to have Rose move in with her while she finished school, and I headed off to culinary school in London. My mother used to praise my cooking; she would take a bite of the dinner I prepared, sigh, and say, "Francesca, you have more talent in your little finger than most have in their entire body". When I was cooking, I could feel her with me, but only my favorite memories of her.

It was hard to leave Rose behind, but I hadn't felt as free as I do now in a long time. I got a good scholarship for school, but I was still working to afford my living expenses. It was tough, but I have been looking forward to this year since I left. Rose finished her studies, and she was moving out here to live with me. She is an incredibly talented artist, and she wants to live in a vibrant city where she can be inspired. I imagine it had something to do with her wanting to get out, same as I did, but either way I was ecstatic that she was coming. Gathering the money for her train ticket had been tough, but I saved for a while and was even able to take the week off to spend with her and show her around the city. I'd set up a position for her at the restaurant I work where she could start when I got back, and we can easily share the small space in my flat. Things finally seemed like they were turning around for us.

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"Franny!" Rose shrieked as she ran across Heathrow's arrivals area before dropping her bags and hugging me aggressively. I hadn't seen her outside of video chat since I left two years before, and I was shocked by how much she had grown. I was petite like my mother, 1.6 meters and strawberry-blonde, but Rose always took after our father. She towered over me, at least 1.75 meters with dark black hair. Her tall frame was thin with minimal curves, whereas I had more of an hourglass figure. From a distance, no one would have guessed we were sisters. However, we shared a deep olive skin and green eyes, and our facial features and voices were very similar.

"Rose, I am so glad you're here!" I exclaimed, hugging her back. "I really missed you".

We both began tearing up as we pulled away. "Oh, come on, let's get my bags" Rose said, brushing it off and bringing a huge smile to her face. I don't know if it is because I tried desperately to shield Rose from our difficult reality or if she is just that resilient, but she has always managed be happy, cheery, and god-damn charismatic. Something we did not have in common- I am untrusting and rarely smile, except when I'm with Rose. Since life fell apart, I became a serious person who hates being vulnerable, except for with Rose. My face already was hurting from how much I had been smiling in the few minutes since she had arrived.

"So, I took this week off to get you settled, there should be plenty of room in the apartment for your things and I got an extra bed on-" I began explaining until Rose cut me off.

"Fran, enough about all the details. You said you were taking some time off- what are we going to do? I want to explore! Plus, Amelia Murphy has a new piece that she is supposed to be unveiling in London this Friday and I HAVE to see it!"

I forgot how care-free and easy-going she was, which occasionally meant she was wasn't exactly conscientious. Another difference between the two of us- I liked to plan, it was how I managed to get into culinary school and make my life work. I had a hard time letting go and was conscientious to a fault. I was constantly doing things to please others rather than considering what I needed, above all for Rose. "Sure, of course we are going to have fun! I have an itinerary planned for my time off so we can maximize everyday with sight-seeing and fun! I didn't know about Murphy's showcase, but I included a trip to the National Gallery in our plans! I'm sure they have some of her stuff there?" I replied enthusiastically.

"Come on Fran! Why the schedules? Why can't we just go with the flow?" she whined, "Also, there are no Amelia Murphy works in the National Gallery, she is up and coming, and I have never gotten to see her stuff in real life! So, basically, we have to go to her showcase. It is a matter of life and death." She dramatically announced with a smile. I rolled my eyes; always willing to go to the extreme to get what she wants.

"We can see what happens," I conceded, "but let's at least look over my plans and decide, okay?"

"As long as we get to that show this weekend." She grabbed her bags and we headed to the tube to get to my flat.

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Rose started making a mess almost immediately at our place, but she was so charming it didn't matter. She had a way of making you instantly forgive her, and I loved having that presence back in my life- a happy force. Of course, she was allowed nowhere near my kitchen in any real sense- all I would let her make was cereal and tea. Since she arrived, we spent hours exploring the city, drinking and catching up. I found out that Rose had recently dated and broken up with her long-time high school crush Beatrix. Rose came out when she was 15 and had spent the remainder of her time in school wearing down Beatrix because she was the hottest girl in school. But, Rose was a free-lover and didn't intend on settling down with anyone, so I wasn't surprised to hear she had dropped her without any sadness or heartbreak.

We were sitting down for breakfast Friday morning when Rose reminded me of the showcase happening that evening. I had hoped she had forgotten, since I had looked into it and knew it was a private party. "So, Fran, I did my research. Murphy is showing her new piece for the first time at the Mandarin Oriental near Hyde Park for a group of fancy big wigs and executives. It's a black-tie affair and it's invitation only," she said matter-of-factly.

"That's too bad- I guess we will have to wait until it is open for public viewing," I replied, sprinkling powdered sugar over the crepes I just finished preparing.

"Haha, you haven't been around me for a while, have you? There is no way I am not getting in to see it. I have a plan to sneak in," She winked at me.

"You haven't been around me in a while either, sis. There is no way that I will be sneaking into any party that I was uninvited to!" I said, stupidly shocked by her persistence.

"Ahh, mon Cherie, you underestimate my powers of persuasion." I shook my head at her, but she had that look in her eye that let me know I was better off not fighting her, because I wouldn't win. She recognized my look of reluctant acceptance and giggled gleefully. "Okay, so, here is what we are going to do..."

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Rose's plan was insane, not well thought out, and I had no idea how she talked me into it. She was certain that if we could look the part, no one would question whether we had tickets. I wasn't so sure, but Rose said she had done something like this before- I wasn't sure whether I should believe her. I recommended we try and dress like the wait staff, but Rose wanted to wear fancy clothes and not have to be the help for a change. When I asked her where we would get the clothes, she just winked and dragged me through the city to a random flat.

"My friend Shawna moved here a year ago. She has a job making costumes for theater productions and I happen to know that she just worked on The Moulin Rouge! She will definitely have something we can wear," Rose explained just as Shawna buzzed us in. I was not happy- The Moulin Rouge is a story about high-priced sex workers. I imagined whatever we found would be quite scandalous, something Rose may be comfortable with, but I was not. I was definitely a more conservative dresser than she was.

Shawna was very friendly and happy to help. Rose quickly chose a skin tight gold-sequined dress. It had a wrap style with a deep v-neck and a high slit. She found matching shoes and a small clutch as well- she looked absolutely amazing. She would not only fit in with the crowd of a black-tie gala, she would stand out. I was starting to think our plan may work, until I saw what she chose for me.

"No way in hell am I wearing that," I said firmly as she held up two tiny pieces of shiny silver cloth. One was a tube-top style crop top and a very small mini skirt. "Not only will I never put something that scandalous on, I don't think the people running this fancy evening would happily allow a call girl through the door," I snipped at her.

Rose began to protest, but realized it was a lost cause and sighed in defeat. I was about to call the whole thing off when Shawna interjected. "Hang on- I have been working for Anastasia and just finished her opera dress, but they want it in a green instead of the blue I used, so I'm re-working it anyway. It might be perfect." She went to another room and came back with a gorgeous dress. It was made with a translucent dark navy-blue fabric that was layered several times over itself. The fabric had a slight shine to it, so when it caught the light it shone like a starry night sky. It was full length with a slit in the side, strapless and had a straight across neckline. The corset fit me perfectly, and I felt so confident. Maybe we had a chance with this plan after all. "Wow, that looks incredible on you! It just needs a quick hem. You should keep it- it would never fit me, and I have no use for it anymore. You should have it" Shawna exclaimed.

"Shawna, that is too much- I could never accept it!" I replied, but Shawna and Rose insisted that I should keep it. "Can I pay you for it?" I asked, and Shawna agreed to accept 30 quid for a dress that was worth 15 times that. We invited Shawna to join us, but she declined, stating she had a lot of work to finish this weekend. We got ready at her place, thanked her again, and headed to the hotel.

"How are we going to do this, Rose?" I asked as we travelled on the Underground towards Hyde Park.

"It's simple, really," she said confidently, "we just need to pinpoint a group of important people and befriend them outside of the hotel. Then, we walk in with them and no one will ask for our invitation since they know the people we are with. I did my research, like I said, and I found the name of a group of people attending. They are the ones who connected Murphy to the event- multimillionaires," she told me, leaning over to show me photos of the group on some business website. "I say we cozy up to them; that's why we are heading to the hotel early. We will have to catch them and engage the target."

I laughed, "What, do you work with interpol now?" I replied jokingly. The only solace I had was that we likely would not see these people coming up to the hotel, and maybe Rose would give up and we could avoid sneaking into the party at all.

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We sat on the steps of a building across the street from the hotel sharing a side of chips while we watched and waited. We were laughing at some horrible joke Rose told when she jumped to her feet. "Fran, shut up!" she yelled, grabbing me by the arm and yanking me up, "That's them! Come on, get yourself ready!" She snagged the chips from my hand, threw them in a nearby bin, and smoothed my dress with her hands. "Let's go!"

"Wait, what are we going to do?! Just walk up to them and start talking to them? You are seriously bonkers..." I said as she dragged me to across a busy street, dodging a few cars along the way.

"I have a better idea," she stated calmly, smoothing her hair down after landing us within a few meters of the group she had pointed out to me. "Just try and act natural" she put her hand to her forehead, let out a gasp, and fell backwards against me in a fake fainting spell.

I stumbled for a moment, trying to grab her and gather my bearings at the same time. However, my instincts kicked in and I knew what to do. "Please! Help! My sister, she fainted! Please, Sir!" I cried, tugging on the jacket of the man Rose had pushed me backwards towards. I continued babbling on as their group circled around us. A woman to my left began consoling me while a man grabbed Rose from my arms and attempted to revive her. She fluttered her eyes opened and focused them on the middle-aged man now holding her above the ground. A smile spread across her face- I was shocked by how great of an actress she was.

"Oh goodness! Thank you! I must have forgotten to eat today- I'm terribly sorry for causing such a fuss, love," she said as she brought a hand up to the strangers face.

"I think she needs some water- we were just heading into the party, we'll be out of your hair," I spoke, thinking quickly on my feet. Rose gave me a small smile in the corner of her mouth, and I knew that I was playing it exactly as she intended. I guess siblings have a bit of telepathy between them after all.

"We are heading in as well, why don't you lovely ladies join us and we will get your... friend..." the man began.

"Sister," I replied quickly.

"Sister, I see. We will get you all sorted out once we get inside. Let me help you up," he finished.

"Thank you so much, you are such a dear!" Rose exclaimed as he helped her up. "I'm Rose, this is Francesca, my older sister," she introduced us to the group, and we learned the names of the man as well as the other members in the group, all of whom Rose had briefed me on before we arrived. Due to Rose's charm or blind luck, they walked us right into the party, just like she said they would. They found us some seats and brought Rose food and drink before moving on with their evening.

"You ARE good," I complimented Rose as we toasted with the complimentary champagne. "When do they reveal the Amelia Murphy piece?" I asked, already hoping this night would be an early one- the deception was exhausting.

"Midnight! To add to the drama and suspense," Rose gestured toward a roughly 5 X 2.5 meter painting that was covered by a large black sheet in the back of the room. I inwardly sighed but noted how happy Rose seemed- she thrived in social situations like this, while I became more uncomfortable by the minute. We wandered around the party for a while; Rose joined several conversations and floated through the party like a beauty queen. At one point, she motioned across the room to a group that looked around our age, some of the few younger people at the party. I told her I needed to go to the loo and would meet her over there. When I walked out of the loo, I spotted Rose from across the room. She was twirling another woman's hair around her finger- I could see a look of lust in her eyes. By the time I made my way across the room, the two were locked in a passionate kiss. I backed off to give them space and leaned against the wall, checking my phone for the time. I wanted Rose to enjoy herself and not have her buzzkill sister interfere.

As I sat there pondering how I would stay awake for another two hours before the painting was revealed, I saw something that instantly woke me up. A man had stormed up to Rose and the other woman and roughly separated them. I rushed over and heard the old man loudly reprimanding the couple; "That is not appropriate behavior..." he looked between the two of them, "ladies. We... we don't condone this type of thing in this hotel," he uncomfortably stuttered.

"Excuse me!" Rose started, lifting a finger in the man's face and getting ready to go off on him. I was about to join her in chewing his ignorant ass out when two larger men with security written across their chests came up behind the bigot. "What're you going to do, kick us out?" Rose questioned, shrugging at the two larger men.

"You can't just kick her out, sir, my sister did nothing wrong!" I shouted too loudly, getting in the small man's face, "just back off."

The man looked between the three of us and seemed like he was about to back away when Rose jumped in again. "This hotel is disgraceful! You can't treat us like this and expect to get away with it! Shame on you!" she was shouting now and really drawing the attention of other party-goers.

Fury rose in his eyes and he motioned for the security guards to come forward. "Escort these two ladies out for causing a disturbance," he directed, pointing toward Rose and me. The men grabbed us by the arms and walked us to the door, Rose and I both shouting the whole way out.

Getting out into the night air did not calm Rose down. She was shouting expletives to passing folks "Those fucking cunts! It's 2019! I CAN FUCKING SHAG WHOMEVER I WANT!"

"I should have done something, Rose, I'm so sorry." I said, ashamed of myself and worried for her.

Rose wiped a tear from her eye. "You were amazing, Franny- can't believe you yelled at that wanker," she said, trying to brush the evening off.

"Let's just go," I grabbed her arm to try and direct her back to the Underground.

"Hey, wait up!" we heard from the door we were just thrown out of. We turned to look back and saw the woman Rose was kissing and the group of young people following behind her. "What a fucking twat. Never staying there again. Are you okay, sexy?" she asked as she ran her hand down Rose's face and her group approached us. This girl was a goddess incarnate- tall and thin, with a large bust that was attempting to burst through her dress (which was revealing in a similar manner to Rose's). She had deep auburn hair that hung long down her back and deep brown eyes that hadn't left my sister since we turned to meet her.