"Only the poor associate with the poor," -C.T

"Again, why am I here?"

I rolled my eyes, seeing a piece of lint on my pair of brand new Armani jeans, cringing in disgust. I still had a lot to deal with on my plate and a lot to come to terms with, and being out with two hoodlums in public was not helping the cause.

"Aren't you supposed to be having one on one time with Tomas?" I pointed to the said man who shrugged in response as Vivi pouted up at me. "There is literally no need for me to be here. None!" I sighed in exasperation, feeling itchy and prickly from the air. The air had to have been different from the one in Palo Alto Hills because I could not get comfortable.

Not that I wanted to.

"What? We aren't good enough for you?" A part of me died when I heard that annoying, unusually deep raspy voice pipe up. "Is that even a real question, poor boy?" I scowled, knowing full well that the answer to that was no. "Just making observations, rich boy," The shit-eating smirk was in full effect on the lips of one Joaquin van Zante. I wanted to slap that smirk off of him, remind him of his place, but I wasn't going to waste time nor energy on someone who wasn't worth it. 

Tomas tapped Joaquin on the arm in a manner to get him to stop with his behavior, but it was okay because I had no attention to give this fool. He wanted my attention so badly, but I wasn't going to give it to him.

Especially when it brought no benefit to me.

"Next time, we can bring you somewhere Chez and I frequent," Vivi giggled with her usual bubbly attitude and I rolled my eyes. The day that I stepped foot in one of my most popular places with these people in tow, that would be the day that I bow down and let Sterling take control over me.

A cold day in Hell.

"That would be nice. It would let me see how you guys live," Tomas smiled with fondness in his eyes as he gazed upon my best friend. At least he was well aware of the differences between us and he was trying to make up for it. Hm, maybe he would survive the scrutiny of Cordelia and Phillippe Baudelaire.

Or maybe not.

"That would be entirely up to Vivi," I threw out. "She would have to start small because the world of the rich is nothing like you would imagine," My throat was dry from lack of drink, but I wasn't going to order anything because I was not going to make myself susceptible to any germs. At home, I at least knew that all of our dishes were used once and steam-cleaned for 48 hours before reuse. Even then, Davina hated using things more than once.

"Hm, you don't think we can handle the world you live in, Cheyenne?" Tomas took my words with ease, laughing lightheartedly and I looked at him, wondering when I granted him permission to use my name so freely. We weren't friends, not by a longshot, and to hear him addressing me so casually made me want to hurl. Or worse, throw myself out of the window.

I just clicked my teeth and looked at my fingernails, hoping that it would help the time pass me by. 

I had to think about when I was going to use my jet to go fly to the Riviera this weekend. I needed some time away to fully think about what I was doing. Here I was, 24 years old and hiding my love and my career from my father like I cared what he thought. A part of me did because while he talked all the talk about being my father, I knew he wouldn't hesitate to destroy me if I didn't comply with his wishes.

And now with everything that Tara confided in me, which I had no idea why she was telling me of all people, I had to think strategically. 

God, sometimes it sucked being rich.

I ignored Joaquin, Vivi, and Tomas's chatter as I looked out of the window, wondering why they wanted to come to a restaurant. They should've known that if they wanted me to feel like I was included, a restaurant shouldn't be on the list of things to do. I barely went out to eat as I had a personal chef who did all that for me.

I turned my gaze to study the poor boy's plain face. It was just so unusual to see someone so...plain. If I had to look through a crowd of people for him, I wouldn't find him because he'd just blend in with everyone else. 

Not that I would ever want to lay my eyes on him. It bothered me because if he was such an odd and plain character, why did I keep painting him? No, that probably wasn't him, but someone who shared a similar silhouette. "You're so dull," I blurted out, enticing his head to turn to face me. He raised a brow as if he was bored and I continued, studying his features. "The only thing remotely interesting about you is that smoker's voice of yours. It's too deep and it sounds like you smoke a pack a day," I threw out and Tomas looked at him, shaking his head as if he was telling him to ignore me.

Joaquin just stared at me, not finding me funny. It was okay because I found myself funny. "Oh, that's a cute couple," Tomas grinned in glee and we all turned our heads around to see two men walking together, holding each other's hands.

"They are cute," Joaquin commented and I turned around with a deep-rooted scowl, vehement disgust rolling off of me like beads of sweat. I kept my comments to myself because I promised Vivi that I wouldn't do anything to deter Tomas away from her, like I mattered to him or something. 

"What? Is the rich boy homophobic?" The poor boy gleamed at me and I shrugged, not having anything to say. It was just extremely odd to see people of the same sex so into each other. You didn't see too much of that in Palo Alto and it was for the better, considering that most of the population found those types of people to be displeasing to the eye.

This was just a reminder of how different we were. It was just absolutely mind-boggling how Vivi found herself entangled in the enamor of Tomas Dixon. I was the only sensible one who had the common sense to point out what was wrong with this picture. 

Two people with a net worth above 46 million were sitting at a table made out of the cheapest wood at hand, with two other people who dressed like they were born in the slums, a disheveled and unruly appearance falling upon them.

Though, I could say that Tomas put in the effort where he could. 

I was just saying, they probably did middle-class things like pay their taxes. Hmph, it seemed like they lived a hard life. "Oh, Chez!" Vivi latched onto my arm, her big blue eyes widening in excitement. "I have an idea of what we could do. Is there one of your father's hotels that he doesn't frequent?" I nodded in reply and she sighed in relief. "Do you think we could go there and show them how the country club works with all of its amenities?" 

I didn't know about this 'we' business, considering I knew all of my father's employees across the map. I wasn't going to show up with these two in tow and be the talk of the Earth. "That sounds like something you should handle without me," I had told her I would play nice, but she was asking me to risk my reputation for two people I didn't care about. She was asking me to go out of my way and for what?

Why would I do that?

I looked around the restaurant, taking in the gaudy smiles of the individuals, seeing the chatter of the waitresses as they sought for that large tip to support them financially, watching the civilians act as if they had no worries in the world. That was untrue because we all had worries, some more than most. 

I just wanted to leave before I had to resort to my thoughts to cope with things that I hadn't dealt with in forever. I just wanted to leave before I was reminded of how higher up I sat among these people, or how much better than them I was. It was really hard to when everywhere you looked, it was constantly looking at you, making you think about it. 

I looked at Vivi who was engrossed in the conversation between Tomas and Joaquin and I couldn't help but admit that part of me was curious about how they met. The rest of me just wanted to know why Vivi was so hellbent on ruining her life by continuously meeting with this individual. She was my best friend, my sister, but even I couldn't save her should her parents scorn her.

"Maybe one day you two will find a love like that," The poor boy shrugged and I knocked myself out of my thoughts, seeing Vivi and Tomas give each other googly eyes. How disgusting that was; I scorned the idea of love. Maybe as a kid, I wanted the love my parents had but as I got older, I realized that love was indeed a delusion.

"Oh?" I bemused with a chuckle, catching Joaquin's attention as I stared at his left hand. "That's funny," I shook my head and he frowned in confusion. "What're you talking about, rich boy?" He folded his arms and I leaned forward, shaking my head. "I think it's funny how you're married," I pointed to the silver band around his left ring finger that caught my eye out of the blue. "Some unfortunate soul actually wanted to be bound to you till death did you part," I snorted and he narrowed his eyes, a dangerous and angry emotion emitting from those plain orbs. 

I could see him clenching his fists, gauging me. "Just what do you think you're saying to me, Cheyenne?" I raised a brow at the sound of my name coming out of his mouth for the first time as I watched his normally calm demeanor slowly change and morph, his nostrils flaring as his eyes slit and stared directly at me as if he planned to kill me.

"All I'm saying is that that poor woman could do so much better than you," I smirked, hearing simultaneous gasps from Vivi and Tomas as they slowly whirled their head around to look at me, fear and terror written all over their faces. I went to speak, but a loud hand slamming to the table stopped me.

"YOU DON'T KNOW SHIT ABOUT ME!" 

I was fully taken aback by the rage in his voice as he abruptly rose up, his brown eyes glaring daggers into my soul as he gritted his teeth. "You are exactly the entitled and pretentious prick everyone says you are," His voice was dripping with venom as he seethed through every word, his hands shaking as he moved. "You are exactly like your father, Cheyenne Thorn," He spat coldly before brushing past us to leave the building.

If I wasn't stunned into shock, I would've made his life extreme hell for that comment about my father. 

The hushed whispers among the common citizens were nothing compared to the dead silence that roamed our table. I blinked in an absolute stupor as Vivi and Tomas shared a heated look.

"Cheyenne," I felt a tug on my wrist and I turned to see Tomas giving me a serious look. "What?" I groaned in annoyance as Vivi let out a heavy sigh. "Look, I know that you may be entitled since we both come from different lives and Vivi wants you and me to become acquainted," Tomas frowned and I grimaced at the thought of being friends with him. I grimaced at the way he felt he could touch me with ease as I snatched my arm away.

"But I need you to stop with the insults and jabs to Quino." He gave me a glare and I almost wanted to laugh because I wasn't taking him seriously. "You have no idea what he's been through in his life and he doesn't need someone like you coming into his life and making things worse and harder to deal with," He snapped before standing up and storming out of the place, probably to go after Joaquin. 

The aura around us was thick was tension and I could feel the gears turning in Vivi's head as she registered what just happened. "I—" 

"Just don't, Cheyenne," I heard Vivi snarl as she stood up with a slam of her chair to the table while she collected her things. "I can't do this with you right now." She didn't bear me any glances as she charged out of the restaurant, smoke in tow. She was really mad, that was evident and I sighed to myself, wondering what was going to happen next. I ignored the curious stares of the poor people around me as I pulled out my phone.

"Well, what to do now?"