It was an unseasonably warm day in January when Elise set out to leave her apartment on Bedford Street and move into the dorms at Parsons School of Design. She had been sharing an apartment with Madison who had moved out back in October. Elise was seventeen and her parents had rented the apartment along with Madison’s parents. Elise’s parents felt she really shouldn’t continue living alone. Madison had had her share of troubles – often talking to a couple of therapists who were actually a couple of psychiatrists who were married and took turns advising her. Madison had been a student at Tulane and had dropped out due to being very homesick and practically failing all her courses. Madison, now a student at NYU, was failing again and her parents had taken her out of the city to live with them back in New Jersey while she got herself together. It was never clear what exactly was wrong with Madison.
Elise was happy to move into the dorm. The last couple of months had been pretty lonely. She had decided to live in an apartment with Madison because she had only made plans to go to Parsons late this past summer. She had originally thought she’d go to Rutgers as an English Major and this had all been arranged, but after painting all summer in the summer art program off 5th Avenue, she wanted to stay on for the fall. Once her parents discovered this plan, they said no. That school offered no degree and Elisa’s parents were adamant that she get a degree. Late in the summer, she applied and got into Parsons and they agreed that she would be a painting major immediately, but it was too late to get a dorm room. Madison was three years older and she didn’t want to live in the dorms at NYU and since Elise’s parents knew Madison’s parents they arranged the apartment.
Elise had a terrible crush on Tom whom she had met at the summer program and although he had come to visit once, few other people had come by. And when Tom had come to visit, he exclaimed, “Wow this apartment looks like a dorm room!”
Elise was completely embarrassed, as she had told Tom that she lived in a beautiful apartment downtown and then she wasn’t too sure of anything.
Her cousin Ricky came by on occasion but really apart from her parents – no one visited.
Elise was the first one to move into her suite in the dorm building at Union Square. Her parents and she moved in clothing, toiletries, towels and her entire record collection, her easel and paints. Once moved in, Elise sat on the bed in her room and waited. She had wished her parents good-bye an hour before. She stared out the window. Then she heard someone come in.
Victoria Lynn was a slight women in her early forties. She wore lots of makeup which was a contrast to her fair complexion and whitish blond hair. A dark haired man who looked like he was in his fifties carried her belongings into the suite. She chose the room Elise had picked out to move into. Victoria Lynn said good bye to this dark haired stranger after he lugged in a trunk with her final possessions. Victoria Lynn, in her high southern drawl asked Else her name. Elise said, “Elise.”
Victoria Lynn put out her hand out to Elise: “I am Victoria Lynn Wellington.”[i] Victoria Lynn sat down on the floor and said, “Elise, you come sit down too.”
Elise sat on the floor facing her.
“What’s your last name?”
“Schwartz.”
“Oh my heavens,” she said with a thick southern accent, “My heavens, you’re Jewish!”
“Yes,” Elise said cautiously.
“Why, you don’t even have horns!” Victoria Lynn stared at Elise. “Now I know most Jewish people don’t have horns,” she laughed. “Why Mark, the gentlemen who helped me move in is Jewish. I even dated him for a little bit.”
“Oh?” Elisa was not used to people commenting that she was Jewish. She had grown up in a New Jersey suburb where just about everyone she knew was Jewish. Now she felt she was in unchartered territory.
“How old are you?” Victoria Lynn asked.
“I’m seventeen,” Elise said looking hard at Victoria Lynn and thinking she looked ancient.
“You’re a baby!” Victoria Lynn laughed.
“How old are you?” Elise asked feeling bold that she was asking.
“Why, me? I’m just 29,” Victoria Lynn lied. “You see I was married for a brief spell – but we got divorced. And now, I’ve decided to return to school and pursue my dream of becoming an artist.”
“Okay,” Elise said.
“So,” Victoria Lynn stood up, “I must see to my unpacking.”
The door to the suite opened. In walked a young woman with long, curly blond hair cascading down her long back wearing a black coat with silver buttons. She was very tall and very beautiful .She carried a suitcase. “Hello!” she said.
Victoria Lynn came out of the room she was sharing with Elise and said, “Hello!”
Elise said. “Hello!”
Victoria Lynn put out her hand and said, “So what is your name and is that all your luggage?”
“Olivia,” said the tall woman, “And yes, that’s everything.”
Olivia walked to the back bedroom. Victoria Lynn followed behind her. “So, where are you from?”
“I’m from Idaho. And yes, I’ve had my fill of potatoes,” she let out a light laugh.
“I’m from Mississippi,” Victoria Lynn volunteered. “And Elise is from around here. Isn’t that true Elise?” Victoria Lynn called to the front bedroom. Elisa stood in the doorway of Olivia’s room and said, “Yes, I am from Tenafly, New Jersey – about half an hour from the city.”
There was a big commotion in the hallway. In walked a brown haired girl with tight leggings she seemed to be stuffed into. “Hiya, I’m Gloria – but call me Glory!” She called out to everyone in the suite.
“So, Gloria,” Olivia said, “I guess you’ll be rooming with me. Where are you from?”
“De Bronx,” Gloria said with a low, thick New York accent and threw her suitcase onto the spare bed. “That thing weighs a fuckin’ ton!”
“Take a load off.” Olivia smiled.
***
As the semester was shaping up, Victoria Lynn, Olivia and Gloria were in the foundation classes. This was the curriculum for first year students. The three of them were having a January start. Elise, on the other hand, had had a semester as a Painting major. At registration this January, Elise signed up for Illustration as her major making a rapid judgement that she would enjoy this more and there would be a bigger pool of talented artists. She had been in and seen the work of the painting department and it was in her opinion absolutely dismal. On the other hand, the work of the Illustration department was amazing – in her opinion.
Actually, Connor, Jason, Bill and Leo shared a suite one floor up in the dorms. The guys had been around their floor and had stopped by to say hello. Connor, a rather effeminate guy wearing loud patterns and bright neon green Doc Martens with a tattoo sleeve on his right arm, had taken a liking to Elise right away and loved to hang out with Olivia. He had asked Elise and Olivia to join him at a jazz club. Jason was nearby when he heard Connor invite them (in the front lobby of the dorm) and had asked, “Hey, can I come too?”
“Sure,” Connor said.
“I’m not sure we’ve met?” Jason looked closely at Elise and smiled.
“Nice to meet you,” Elise mumbled feeling rather self-conscious suddenly.
“You’re in Illustration,” Jason said, “I’ve seen you around. You’re really good. I’ve noticed.”
Elsie found her face getting hot, “You’re in Illustration too. You’re really good,” she laughed nervously.
“Anyway,” Olivia took Connor’s arm and led him into the elevator,
Connor smiled at Elise and winked at Jason. ”We’ll meet you guys at 7:30 sharp in the lobby.”
***
There were a few incidents that semester. Olivia was asked to pose for a painter who posted his need for a model on the community board online. He worked from photos for his surreal realistic paintings. She came home with a picture on her phone of her sitting topless with her right hand over her left breast. Gloria was indignant and appalled. Elise thought she looked beautiful and Victoria Lynn said that with behavior like that she would never find a husband. The thing was that Olivia was poor. Her parents had scraped together just enough money for her to come to Parsons and live in the dorm – but day to day money was something she didn’t have. She worked part time at Old Navy selling on the women’s floor and often manning the cash register. Additionally, she modelled for the painter. She had enough money to buy herself big salads (her favorites) for dinner which she would bite into and say; “F F O!!”
“What?” Elise had asked.
“Fucking Food Orgasm!” Olivia would smile slyly.
***
The other big incident was, one night when Elise was with her cousin Ricky, she came back to the dorm to find her entire record collection gone. She asked Victoria Lynn about it and she said, “I know nothing about that.” Then she asked Olivia, but she was on her way out on a date with a new guy: “I have no idea-- sorry kiddo.”
Then she asked Gloria. Gloria said, “Those were yours?”
“Yes,” Elise said.
“My brother stopped by and he asked me whose records they were and I told him I don’t know—“
“It had my name on the carton – they were very rare… I don’t even know many people who have records-“
“That’s what he said! He said these are so rare, Look here’s one of the Rolling Stones! And- and since they don’t belong to anyone, I have my truck here and I can drive them back to my place in the Bronx.”
“What?”
“I said sure – look, I had no idea they were yours.”
Elise left the room and left the apartment.
She went out to the hallway to the Resident Assistant– a bland looking guy in his late twenties who appeared to always be stoned. She knocked on the door. He let her in. The room smelled of incense and pot. He wore a tie-dyed shirt with jeans and brown Birkenstock sandals even though the temperature outside was below zero. It was warm in his room, though.
“What can I do you for?” He asked through half closed eyes.
“It’s my record collection – Gloria’s brother took it!”
“I didn’t even know someone like you would have records – so retro.”
“Yes, well I’ve been collecting them since I was a kid and some were my parents--’”
“Well do you have proof that he took them? Did you see him take them?”
“No, no – but Gloria said she didn’t know they were mine and, and that her brother took them to the Bronx!”
“Slow down. Slow down. Chill. There’s really nothing I can do – you have no proof. But listen here. He’ll have bad karma if he did take them. That,” He waved his arm, “Will be his supreme punishment.”
Elise left his room and walked into the elevator and out to the street. She realized she hadn’t even taken her coat off. She was cold outside and feeling terrible. So, so cold. She wandered back into the lobby.
And then there was Jason.
Yes, standing in the lobby was Jason in profile. His slim silhouette and his straight black hair shimmying around his shoulders with his sparkling blue eyes taking in every word this short, fat girl seemed to be spewing at him. He looked over at Elise. “Hey,” he said, “I’ve gotta speak to Elise. Can I catch you later, Sam?” He turned from the girl, “Elise you look awfully cold. Want to come up and have a cup of tea?”
“Okay.”
***
The night, when they had all gone to the Jazz club, Jason had paid a lot of attention to Elise. Connor noticed and so did Olivia. But the main event of the evening was a guy who looked to be in his thirties who approached Oliva and asked for her number. He bought her drink after drink after drink and she just laughed and laughed all night. Blond curls cascading and bouncing down her back and her big broad fire engine red lipstick smile. She couldn’t get enough…
Months later this guy, Charles would offer Olivia somewhere to stay in his apartment when everyone had to move out of the dorm for the summer and most likely the following year. Olivia had nowhere to go and no money to pay for it anyway.
Gloria was appalled.
Victoria Lyn clucked her tongue and said, “Now, there’s no way she’ll ever find a husband.”
Elise though, had moved in with Connor (platonic roommates) and they were sharing an apartment in the East Village. She was working for the summer at Janovic Plaza, a hardware and home store on the Upper East Side. She worked on the floor in the bath department. One day when she was taking lunch, she saw someone familiar. It was Olivia with no makeup on in a faded t-shirt and shorts with holes in them and what looked like old, grey flip flops walking very quickly down the street.
“Olivia?”
“Oh, uh, hi,” she looked down and didn’t make eye contact, but Elise could tell her face was dirty.
“Olivia? Are you alright?”
‘I’m fine,” she said in a little girlish voice and then she started walking very fast, “Elise - Charles is waiting—“ her voice trailed off,” I have to get back—“ she started walking fast away.
Elise decided then that she wouldn’t tell Connor about seeing Olivia even though he had been wondering what had happened to her.
***
The night that Jason had invited her for tea, Elise had broken down in tears over the stolen record collection and how the Resident Assistant had done nothing about it. Jason was furious, he called the police and two nice officers had come to Jason’s suite and filed a report with Elise. The two officers left and went down to Elise’s suite to talk with Gloria, but Elise never knew what happened because she spent the night wrapped in Jason’s arms sleeping soundly. They had kissed later that evening and he had told her how much he admired her; she said she felt the same.
When Elise returned to her room that morning, Victoria Lynn clucked her tongue and said, “We were worried sick about you. Where were you last night?”
In a small voice, Elise said, “With Jason.”
“Why you’re nothing more than a common whore – aren’t you?” Victoria Lynn smiled cruelly.
Gloria came out of the back room wiping the sleep from her eyes, “You slept with him?”
Elise walked past Gloria and found herself facing Olivia, “I’m happy for you, kiddo.” She smiled broadly.
Elise said nothing more, dressed quickly into fresh clothes and headed out the door with her charcoal and pens ready to draw in an Illustration class.
***
The next semester started up and Elise really never saw Victoria Lynn or Gloria at all. No loss she thought. Later she would find out that Victoria Lynn had stated a small, very preppy children’s clothing company – Connor kept up with her since they were both Fashion Design majors. She never knew for sure what happened to Gloria. Connor said he heard from someone that she dropped out and was cleaning houses. Elise had never seen her record collection again and she never knew what Gloria had told the police. She was grateful, however, that Jason had called the police. She did see Connor a lot (her roommate) and also Jason whom she was now dating seriously. She didn’t see Olivia since that one time on the street and sometimes wondered what happened to her.
***
During the following three years Elise was dating Jason very seriously. They had planned to move in together after senior year. Elise had sold her drawings to the New Yorker and Jason had painted covers for Time Magazine.
One March day in her senior year, Elise was in her doctor’s office waiting for an appointment for a physical and flipping through magazines. She opened a Vogue Magazine and got to a page with a close up of three blond women in a full page ad. The headline read: The Most Beautiful Women in the World Wear Cover-Girl. Elise examined the women’s faces. One with long, curls cascading down past her shoulders caught her eye and then she realized, looking closely, could it be? Yes, yes it was… it was Olivia.
Elise ripped the page from the magazine and stuffed it into her knapsack. When she got home that afternoon she showed it to Connor and later that evening she showed it to Jason.
Ellen Rosenbloom lives in New York City with her new husband, Adam. (They got married via Zoom in June 2020!) She has an MFA from The New School in Fiction and Poetry. Her stories and poems have appeared in many websites and magazines. She has self-published a novel and novella.