Pretty Mess by Erika Jayne

Author:Erika Jayne
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gallery Books

9

GIVING THE LAYMAN’S OPINION

Tom and I took our relationship public. Out at the country club or some other event, I would see some of the people I used to wait on at Chasen’s. It was just like, “Hey, remember me?” I always knew who was a cheap tipper, who was having an affair, who acted like an asshole, and who was actually a really cool person. But now, I was meeting these people as an equal rather than as a member of the staff. It was hilarious that I went from being the cocktail waitress in a gown to being a cocktail party guest in a much nicer gown. I was still asking the same people, “Hey, how’s it going, man? How are you?” I’m sure some of them were scared, because they knew exactly what I’d seen them up to.

At first, I didn’t always get a warm reception. I’m Tom’s third wife, and he is a very successful, well-known attorney. People were seeing this twenty-seven-year-old walk in with him. Immediately, everybody thought I was going to have a baby so I could lock down some of his money. They didn’t know that I already had a child to take care of and was focused on doing what was right for him. His future was most important to me, not having another child.

When I was first on the scene, plenty of the other wives weren’t especially friendly. We were socializing with lawyers and Tom’s other acquaintances, so many of them knew Tom’s previous wives. They weren’t hostile to my face, but I would overhear, “Oh, why is she wearing that?” or, “Why is her hair cut like that?” or, “What is her motive?” Quite honestly, I think they were looking at me like, “Holy shit, am I next to be replaced?”

There were a couple of really nice, powerful, wealthy older women who befriended me. It was the wealthiest women who were the nicest. Some of them were second or third wives like me, and they had been in the same position before. The great part about having older women friends is that they’ve been through every part of marriage: they’ve been sick, healthy, broke, and wealthy. They’ve disciplined bad kids and dealt with mistresses. You name it, they’ve done it.

I was visiting with one of these women recently. She’s very wealthy and well known. She said, “You’re still the same twenty-seven-year-old little girl I met many years ago. You’ve never changed. You’ve always been this way, and I’m very proud of you.” At hearing that compliment, I almost started to tear up at the table.

This woman is famous in Los Angeles for wearing millions of dollars in jewelry at all times, as many of the women I was socializing with did. Early on in our relationship, I went to Tiffany and bought myself a small silver chain with a heart on it. It wasn’t expensive. When Tom saw me wearing it, he got upset. “You don’t buy jewelry for yourself, that’s my privilege.

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