Ch 474 - Housewarming

At eight o'clock that evening, Alex was on his way to Joe's villa in the suburbs of Baltimore.

As he walked the streets of the luxurious neighborhood, Alex reminisced about his old college roommate. He had always known that Joe was relative well-off financially, but he had never gotten a clear picture of just how wealthy his family was. If he was the first of them to buy his own house, and in such a fancy area no less, he must be doing well.

There were certainly more expensive neighborhoods, but this one was beautiful, clean, and far enough from the city center that it almost felt like being out in the country. Joe had said the house was worth twelve million dollars, and he had sounded very eager to show it off to his old friends. However much he had actually paid, it had probably been worth it.

The strangest thing to Alex was that Joe seemed to have decided to settle in Baltimore, and that he had called all his old roommates for a meet-up in the city where Alex now lived. It seemed a strange coincidence, but Alex didn't think there was anything sinister behind it. He had no reason to mistrust Joe.

When Alex arrived at Joe's house, he wasn't very impressed. Compared to Clifton Manor and Dominic Mitchell's mansion, the villa wasn't very impressive. Still, he was happy for Joe's sake, and he was sure that it would make a lovely home. Joe had told him that Suzan would be there as well. Apparently, he had bought it as a birthday gift to her. They were engaged to be married.

Alex went in through the main entrance, and Joe met him with a smile and a warm embrace. Ben and Max, Alex's other roommates at Preston, were also there. They were all excited to see each other again, and all of them wanted to know everything that had happened to the others since they lived together.

But the four roommates weren't the only ones who had been invited to the party. In fact, Joe had filled his new house with guests. As he stood in the hallway with his old friends and inspected the crowd of people further inside, Alex realized that he knew almost none of them. But the atmosphere was relaxed, and everyone seemed to be happy.

When they stepped out of the hallway and into the reception room, the entire crowd of people turned to look at them. The conversation and the laughter stopped immediately. The happy faces disappeared and were replaced by looks of hostility and revulsion.

Everyone looked at them as if they were intruders, as if they didn't belong. Alex immediately knew the reason. Because he had only expected to meet his old college friends, he had not dressed up. His friends hadn't either, and they all stood out like sore thumbs in the crowd of well-dressed socialites. 

Alex looked particularly out of place. Since he had gone for a quick visit to Oak Ridge that day, and then thought he was only visiting his friend, he hadn't even changed his clothes from the previous day. His clothes weren't just plain. They were crumpled and dusty, as well.

As he stood and watched the sea of inhospitable faces, he heard a friendly voice call out to him. "Alex?" it said. "You're here?"

A girl with a bright smile came up to him and stood next to Joe. It was Suzan.  She looked happier and more radiant than he had ever seen her, and she and Joe looked made for each other.

She hugged him and then glanced around with a searching look. "Didn't you bring a date?" she asked. Then her radiant smile returned, and she met his eyes again. "My God, Alex, you're even handsomer than I remember. What kind of stuff are you taking?"

"That's kind of you to say," Alex replied. He didn't mention Debbie. He didn't want to have to answer questions about her right then and there.

Suzan already knew a lot about Alex, but she had always been confused about his real identity. She had heard that he was actually very rich, but she wasn't the kind of person who believed in gossip and rumors. Except for his good looks, he had always seemed very ordinary to her. Given how he looked as he stood in her house just now, she concluded that the rumors were probably nonsense.

"I was afraid you wouldn't come," she said with a smile.

"Of course I came," he said and laughed. "It's your birthday, after all, and you're moving into your new home. Which reminds me."

He raised his hand to her and gave her his birthday gift. He had almost forgotten to get one. He had been so excited about seeing his old friend. It was only when he was already on his way that he had remembered, and by then his options were severely limited. He had managed to find something and thrown it into a plastic bag, and this was how he presented it to Suzan.

"Happy birthday," he said with a smile. On the way, he had imagined that the whole thing would be very funny, but that was before he knew he would be presenting his gift in front of a large audience.

Suzan took the plastic bag and didn't inspect it too closely. She could feel that it wasn't heavy. "Thank you, Alex," she said sweetly.

Ben and Max had also bought gifts, and they both stepped forward to end the uncomfortable situation. Their gifts were also rather plain, though nowhere near as tawdry as Alex's, and Suzan accepted them gracefully before putting them away on a table with the rest of her gifts.

"Listen," she said when she came back. "We have to mingle with the other guests, but I can show you around quickly. The house isn't very big, but it's nice. We looked at a few properties before we settled on this one, and this was the best we could afford."

She looked around and lowered her voice. "It cost us twelve million dollars," she continued. "Both Joe's and my parents had to pitch in. I don't even know if they have any money left."

Alex laughed. Suzan wasn't hiding anything from them. It was clear that she saw them as old friends.

"Of course, we had to take out a huge mortgage, as well," she said with a smile. "We're pretty much prisoners here now. Whatever you do, don't make our mistake."

"If it makes you feel any better," Max said in a playful tone. "I doubt any of us will ever be able to afford a house like this. I hope that's some comfort, at least."

Suzan laughed. "Thanks, Max. That does cheer me up!"

Joe left them to greet some other guests, and Suzan took them on a quick tour of the house. As she led them through the hallways and into the various rooms, pointing things out as they went, Alex nodded along and did his best to seem interested.

Suzan was very pleased. When they had gone through most of the rooms in the house, she readied herself to go and receive other guests. But just as she turned to walk away from her friends, a small group of women came walking up to them. They wore brightly colored dresses, had shawls draped over their shoulders, and had fixed their hair in elaborate hairstyles.

"Suzan, I didn't want to say anything, but you have a standard to maintain now," one of them said, and blocked Suzan's passage through the hallway. She glared at Alex and Ben. "If you invite this sort of people into your house, you'll make a fool of yourself. And worse, the value of your house could fall."

The other women snickered and nodded along. "Yes," one of them said. "Are they your relatives? Friends of yours? Doesn't matter. You should ditch them. They'll be a bad influence."

Ben grew angry, but Max put his hand on his shoulder to hold him back. If they made a scene at the party, they would only make it worse for themselves and their hosts.

Alex stood and watched the women. He was quite calm. Their get-ups were as luxurious as they were impeccable, but their snobby attitudes made it all feel tawdry and cheap. It's really sad, he thought. Some of these women from rich families. They think that no matter how badly they act, they can just put on fancy dresses and make-up to become angels. He decided that he would prove them wrong if he could.