Going For Broke Read Online Free Page B

she had wanted - she’d have to make sure to nurse the second one.  She looked at her vintage Phillipe Patek gold watch - Trip had given it to her on their second anniversary and she had worn it almost every day since - and got a knot in her stomach when she realized that Trip was over 20 minutes late.  No client, either.  Were they meeting at the St. Regis instead?  She checked her Blackberry.  No, Bemelman’s, 6pm.  The waiter hovered over the table, not wanting to upset Mrs. Vernon. 
                  Suddenly the second drink didn’t appeal at all.  Victoria handed the waiter her credit card without waiting for the check.  Normally Victoria never felt awkward sitting at a table by herself.  She didn’t feel the need to bring a newspaper like some people, or read a book.  Tonight she wished that she had something to distract her.  After what seemed like half an hour, the waiter returned with an embarrassed look on his face.
                  “Mrs. Vernon, I’m sorry, but your card...”  He handed the card back to her.
                  Declined?  It was an American Express Black Card.  There was no limit. 
                  “There must be some mistake,” she opened her wallet and extracted another card.  “I’m sorry Raphael.  Try this one.” She felt like a welfare mother looking for food stamps. 
                  Moments later, Raphael returned empty-handed.  “I’m sorry, Mrs. Vernon, we were told to destroy the card.”
                  Victoria willed herself through this awkward situation.  She grabbed a handful of cash and laid it on the table.  “No worries, I’m sure there’s a logical explanation.”
                                                                                          ###
                  The elevator door opened into her freshly renovated foyer and Victoria walked into her apartment without a backwards glance at the elevator man.  She forced herself to at as normally as possible,  did a cursory flip through the day’s mail as usual and was taking off her coat when she was met with squeals of joy from her children.
                  “Mommy!  You’re home!” Her daughter Posey was just 6, in kindergarten at The Chapin School.  Victoria was worried that Chapin wouldn’t accept her last fall, even though Parker had been at St. Bernard’s, their brother school, for the past five years. Posey had a slight lisp and although Victoria had scheduled twice-weekly appointments with the city’s top speech therapist, the lisp refused to budge.  Trip told her not to worry about it.  He thought it was cute, and besides, he said, she’d grow out of it.  Perhaps, still not soon enough for the admissions committee at Chapin. 
                  Her heart melted just a little bit at the sight of her daughter, freshly bathed, in her Belgian lace nightgown.  She had just lost her first tooth (did Lumi remember to put the tooth fairy money under her pillow?), which at least  for now seemed to explain the lisp.  She had curly auburn hair and freckles, just like Trip’s sister Eleanor.  This concerned Victoria greatly, as Eleanor epitomized the look that only a girl from Wisconsin with a great love of horses and a great deal of money could achieve.  
                  She bent down to give Posey a kiss.  The children knew that they could really only air kiss their mother.  She was always on her way somewhere and knew that they couldn’t mess the makeup.  Posey was a little surprised, then, when Victoria gave her a hug. 
                  “Hey, where’s Dad?” Parker asked as he met them, Nintendo DS in hand. 
                  Good question, Victoria thought.  “He’s working late.” This was nothing new to the Vernon children, so they took it