Morning all. This week is just sailing by isn’t it? I think without all of the extra holiday things adding to the schedule I always feel like I suddenly have loads of free time once we are past new years. The feeling won’t last but I am going to enjoy it as long as I can. Let’s use up a bit of our time with the morning prompt. Timers set for fifteen and off we go.
I like this. Not sure where it is going, but the set up is interesting. It is an interesting set up to play with consumerism, beauty, friendship, and even letting things go. Depending on how it is plotted out. But as a concept I think I will keep this one.
Wednesday, January 7th: There was a growing distance between them.
There was a growing distance between them Emily could feel it. Ever since Sabrina decided that luxury was the only way to go, the distance seemed to grow wider. Emily remembered trying makeup hairstyles and clothing with her friend. It was fun and there were always new things to try. She liked finding new things. But at some point, Sabrina turned a corner.
Ordinary items were out. At first that meant the lower end of the drug store. Then if it was available at a drugstore than that makeup and skin care item was out. Only specialty beauty stores like Sephora or Ulta would do. While Emily didn’t mind either, Sabrina’s allegiance to those stores didn’t last. Soon if it was available there then it was ‘common’ and simply not good enough. Only the high end was worth bothering about. The products sold only by elite companies or specialty spa boutiques.
The same began holding true for fashion and even salon visits. Suddenly their local salon and it’s staff were no longer good enough and Sabrina had to leave town to find something better even when she just wanted a trim.
Emily began opting out of Sabrina’s buying trips, seeing no reason to stock up on such exclusive and expensive items when she had products at home that worked perfectly well for her. ‘Besides, I don’t have her allowance.’
While they were out of school and settling into their adult lives, Sabrina still received a substantial allowance each month. Emily’s family was just as well off and she knew if she needed something she could call. She could also see the disappointment on their faces so she never did. Her family put a lot of stock by independence. She was expected to make her own way. While no one ever really came out and said it, reliance on family money was considered a weakness.
Family money was an indulgence. You were expected to make your own way for what you deemed necessary.
Still, Emily was paid well and could join Sabrina in some of her shopping sprees, but more often than not, she found the joy of them paling. What was fun once in a while quickly grew old with repetition. Emily kept her shopping sprees to twice a year, once before summer started and once before the weather turned cold. She found limiting them made them more special and granted her greater enjoyment than Sabrina’s once a week shopping excursions seemed to gain her.
Sabrina made new friends to go on those trips with her and Emily felt the distance growing on the few times she joined them. She still considered it fun to be pampered in a salon or to find the perfect new outfit, but she had other interests. Things outside the realm of beauty were as if not more enjoyable. Sabrina and her new friends seemed to stop there. The love of beauty was all consuming.
Emily often wondered what they did with it all. After all, how much moisturizer can one person go through in a month?
Ten til Midnight 