“All right guys, Valentine’s Day is coming up, and we have to out-do last year,” Josh said. He raised his glass. Steve, Will, and Joe followed suit. “To four lawyers raising the bar on romance.” He said. The beer glasses clanked.
“I know Emily and Tamika have high expectations. Will and I refuse to disappoint them. They’ve probably told Joan and Cassandra all about last year,” he continued.
“Joan’s excited for our first Valentine’s Day together,” Steve said.
“Joe, Cassandra isn’t going to give us any trouble is she? I mean we love the girl, but she can be a real wet blanket. It’s almost embarrassing how she wants to scale everything back. Like she’s never been around money before. Did she grow up in a trailer park or something?” Josh asked.
Will and Steve laughed.
Joe sucked in his lower lip considering how to respond. He, Josh, Will, and Steve had been friends since their prep school days. They partied and studied together. They went to the same Ivy League schools and passed the Bar together. Josh and Will came from old money. Steve’s dad had a successful law practice, and Joe’s parents were doctors. Money was never an issue until he started dating Cass.
She was beautiful, intelligent, and frustrating as hell. She volunteered at a soup kitchen two nights a week, and couldn’t walk past a homeless person without speaking to them and slipping them a few bucks. Otherwise, Cass was careful with money. Not just her own money, but his money as well. She didn’t like accepting expensive gifts or going to the over-priced trendy hot spots frequented by him and his friends.
“Very funny, Josh,” Joe said. “I’ll talk to Cass and tell her to lighten up.”
“Good man, Joseph. Now, let’s get those credit cards out and make some magic.”
***
“Whatever you’re planning for Valentine’s Day, don’t.” Cassandra said. “I mean it Joe. Just don’t. I don’t need ‘over the top’ gestures. I’d rather have a candlelight dinner at my place, and watch a movie.”
She saw the wounded look on her boyfriend’s face.
“I know you and your buddies have some kind of competition to out-do what you did the year before, but I didn’t even know you then. Does everything have to be some expensive group activity?”
“C’mon Cass. The world won’t end if you let me do something nice for you. Emily and Tamika expect Will and Josh to top last year. Joan is excited for her first Valentine’s Day with Steve and all of us. It’s not just about you. Besides, we’ll be alone in our hotel room.”
“Joe, honey, at some point this has to stop. Emily and Tamika might be okay with more is better, but I’m not. I’m dating you, not your friends, and not your wallet. There are better ways to show me you love me.”
Cassandra put her arms around him and kissed his neck.
Joe groaned and moved away slowly.
“No fair, Cass. We need to talk about this. I told the guys you’d come around.”
“It’s always the guys. What did they say about me this time, Joe?”
Joe hesitated.
“It’s not important. Maybe it’s not just them, Cass. Maybe I don’t appreciate you worrying about how I spend my money. Do you have any idea how offensive it is when you offer to pay half? It’s like you think I don’t make enough money or something. I think you just don’t like my friends or spending time with them. We’ve always done things as a group. It’s more fun.”
Cassandra took a deep breath. She didn’t dislike Josh, Will, and Steve or their girlfriends, Emily, Tamika, and Joan. Maybe she wasn’t crazy about Emily and Tamika, but Joan was nice. She and Joan were the latest in the ever-changing assortment of girlfriends. When one of the guys broke up with their girlfriend, it was like she ceased to exist. A replacement seamlessly filled the vacancy. That bothered her. How long would it take Joe to find her replacement?
Was she deluding herself when she claimed it was about their constant push to always top the last thing they did?
Joe behaved differently when he was with his friends. It was a side of him she didn’t recognize, and it was getting harder to excuse that sense of entitlement.
She and Joe were rock solid without the group. They could have fun together without putting a price tag on it. Spending the afternoon taking Joe’s dog to the park to play frisbee and have a picnic was enough. Making chili and watching the game on TV was enough.
An occasional weekend away or fancy dinner and a show would be great, but two or three nights a week and almost every weekend was exhausting and wasteful. Too much of a good thing spoiled its specialness.
Each time she explained this to him, Joe became more defensive. She knew his friends didn’t appreciate her lack of enthusiasm for their outings.
This time she couldn’t let it go.
“Tell me what your friends think of me. It might not be important to you, but it’s important to me,” she said.
Joe shook his head.
“That bad, huh?”
Cass locked eyes with him.
Joe looked away first.
“They think you’re intimidated by money because your parents were poor or something,” he mumbled.
She inhaled sharply.
“Cass, It’s okay if they are… you know… poor or something. You’re not your parents. You don’t have to pinch pennies anymore. I’ve got you.”
Cassandra burst out laughing.
“So, your friends think I’m ‘pinching pennies’ because I’m from some impoverished family. Not wasting money is different from ‘pinching pennies.’ I know millionaires and a few billionaires who are notorious ‘penny pinchers.’”
After that comment, Joe worried that she was losing it.
“I guess it would have come out eventually. I’m telling you now, but please don’t tell anyone else. I petitioned the courts to change my last name to Nelson. It was my maternal grandmother’s maiden name.” she said. “Before that, my name was Cassandra Bevison. My father is Carl Bevison.”
“What? You’re telling me your father was the CEO of Radnor International? Cass, that sounds a little crazy.”
“Growing up, I had the best of everything. Money flowed like water from a faucet. When I was a freshman in college, my father made some questionable moves to increase profitability including cuts to employee benefits and layoffs right before Christmas. The severance packages were horrible. My parents went skiing in Switzerland while everyone else dealt with the fallout. The shareholders made money. He left the company with his ‘golden parachute’ intact soon after. He ruined people’s lives so he could retire with more money.
“It was business, Cass. He had a responsibility to his shareholders. I’m sure your father did nothing wrong.” Joe said.
“I found proof he did, and he refused to make it right. He actually thanked me for finding something his lawyers missed. Then, he had them make it disappear. It would have been my word against his. I decided I couldn’t be part of a family like that. I dropped out of school for a year and went to work for a non-profit. I took out student loans to finish my undergrad and get my master’s degree. My dad went behind my back and paid them off thinking it would fix everything. It didn’t.”
“Punishing yourself is stupid Cass, It doesn’t change anything.” He said.
“Is that what you think I’m doing? Walking away from that life was the best decision I ever made. When I turned twenty-five, I used half of my trust fund from my grandfather to anonymously help the families my dad screwed over. The other half is invested. The interest helps keep the soup kitchen and food pantry going. My job might not be glamorous, but I have healthcare, a pension plan, and it pays the bills. What else do I need?”
“But you could have so much more.” Joe said. “Think about the good you could do with all that money.”
“When you have that kind of money, people with money line up to keep most of it from actually getting to the people who need it. The rich don’t need to get richer,” she answered.
He shook his head trying to understand the woman he thought he knew.
“You know I’ve always been ambitious, Cass. It’s why I get along so well with Josh, Steve, and Will. We push each other. You don’t seem to appreciate that. We also value loyalty. You turned your back on your own family. I know you thought your reasons were justified, but they’re your family. If I do something you don’t like, are you going to turn your back on me?”
“Really Joe? That’s your take on what I told you? I’m a bad daughter because I didn’t go along with ruining people’s lives? Which bothers you more, me walking away from my family or the money?”
“That’s a bit dramatic. Don’t you think?” he said.
“It’s a valid question. I can’t be Cassandra Bevison. Eventually she’d turned into her father. If Cassandra Nelson isn’t who you want, you should start looking for my replacement before you mess up the plans for Valentine’s Day. I think maybe we should call it a night. Whatever you decide, I understand.”
***
The volunteers started arriving for the breakfast shift. Usually they served a continental style breakfast of hot oatmeal or cold cereal, fruit, and coffee, but today was Valentine’s Day. On special days, they served scrambled eggs, pancakes, bacon, orange juice, and coffee. She left the kitchen volunteers in Chef Rocco’s capable hands and went out to make sure the napkins, trays, silverware, cups, and mugs were in place.
While she was starting the coffee, a florist’s truck arrived with centerpieces for the tables.
“They’re beautiful, but I didn’t order these, “ she said to the delivery person.
“We did, “ said a voice behind her.
Cass turned around. Joe was standing with Will, Josh, Steve, Joan, and two women she didn’t recognize. They weren’t dressed to the nines like Tamika and Emily would have been.
“Thank you, but what are you doing here? Don’t you all have plans?”
“Change of plans,” Joe answered. “This is Sally; she’s with Josh, and Veronica is with Will.”
“We decided maybe you had a point. Most of us anyway,” Josh said. “Taking it back a notch doesn’t mean we’re going to stop going to nice places and living large, but maybe giving back can be fun, too. Joe told us about this place and what you do here. We’re here to volunteer.”
“I don’t know what to say.” Cassandra answered.
“Tell us where you want us,” Will said.
***
“Joe, I owe you and your friends an apology. They were great today. I misjudged them. And I misjudged you. I’m sorry.”
She and Joe were in her apartment waiting for a pizza to be delivered.
“No, you don’t. But, I hope someday soon, you’ll think of them as our friends. Joan felt the same way you did about our little competition. She didn’t say anything because of Emily and Tamika. Emily’s and Tamika’s reactions to the idea of scaling back were pretty ugly. They called us cheap bastards. Can you imagine how Josh and Will handled it?”
“It looks like they landed on their feet, and found suitable replacements,” she countered.
“Sally and Veronica are great. They jumped at the chance to come help out. Josh and Will are taking them to the Grand Concourse for dinner, so It’s a win, win. Steve and Joan went to her place. Apparently, she has a roast in the crock pot. This is the first Valentine’s Day in almost fifteen years that Josh, Will, Steve, and I haven’t done the big dinner thing with our girlfriends.”
“Do you miss it?”
“I missed being with you, more. I’m sorry it took me so long to figure it out. For the record, I missed Cassandra Nelson, and I don’t ever want to feel like that again. Happy Valentine’s Day.” Joe said as he pulled her in for a kiss.