Holly’s hand comes down upon her alarm as it buzzes angrily.  She rolls over in bed and scratches her head with both of her hands, tossing her long black hair about as she yawns. Today, August fifteenth is a special day for Holly, not only is it her birthday, but it is her eighteenth birthday.  Birds chirp outside her sunkissed windows as she sits up in her king sized bed.  Holly’s bedroom is larger than most people’s living rooms, her furnishings costing more than a lot of them would make in a year.  Everything about the room screams luxury, from her silk sheets, to her walk in closet, to her enormous gold trimmed armoire filled to capacity with the most expensive clothing.

Living in the Hamptons is no big deal for Holly Bryant, it is her birthright, she is better than everyone else and goes out of her way to let anyone who serves her, anywhere, know that.

She is a princess living in a fairytale, and has pretty much stopped applying herself academically, spending her time with her rich, and snobby friends instead of going to class.  With school out Holly has done nothing but lounge by the Bryant’s olympic sized swimming pool and tan by day, and then go out and party at night.

Her perfectly manicured feet hit the lush carpet as she springs from the bed.  She leaves the room and walks through a huge ornamented hallway, past a picasso hanging on a wall to her left, and down a huge winding flight of stairs.  

“Happy Birthday Holly!” A familiar voice calls from the top of the landing, causing Holly to look up.  

“Thank you Elizabeth.” Holly replies curtly to a middle aged woman, with long dirty blond hair, in a maid’s outfit.  

Holly steps into the lobby area of the house, her pink Pajama top and bottom moving slightly on her body as she saunters down another large, and equally ornate hallway.  She walks into a huge dining area, where her mother, Julia is seated at the end of a long table, sipping a small cup of tea and reading something on a tablet.

Julia, a middle aged woman, with much the same features as her daughter, looks up as Holly walks into the room, her long black hair swaying a bit as her brown eyes lock on the younger woman.  

“Good morning.” Julia says, her voice deceivingly gentle despite her dignified appearance.

“Good morning mother...” Holly says, as if reading from a script.  She walks over to her casually dressed mother and bends down, kissing the woman on the cheek, before taking a seat beside her.  

Holly looks at her mother for a long time, as the woman simply looks back down at her tablet, scrolling her finger across the device.

“Ahem.” Holly clears her throat as she narrows her eyes.

“Yes dear?” Julia looks up from the device.

“Happy Birthday? You know? Like what you say to someone on their birthday.” Holly says sarcastically.

“Oh is that today?” Julia says nonchalantly as she looks down at her tablet again. “Should I order you a clown and a ball pit?” Julia qips leaving Holly to sit there in disbelief, her jaw slightly open.

“Mother! What is wrong with you?” Holly asks as a middle aged man emerges from the kitchen with a glass of orange juice, setting it in front of Holly and turning to walk away.

“Stay Bruce...” Julia grabs the man by his arm.

“Mrs. Bryant?” The man asks in a confused tone, looking down at his employer.

“Thank him, dear...” Julia says as she looks towards her daughter.

“What? What for?!” Holly asks as she narrows her eyes.

“This man...Has made you breakfast, lunch, and dinner for most of your life.” Julia snaps, a bit of anger creeping into her tone.

“That’s really not necessary-” Bruce begins, only to be cut off by Julia.

“I think it is...” Julia snaps.

Holly looks up at Bruce, and then back down at her mother, narrowing her eyes and scoffing.

The young, entitled woman shrugs her shoulders and laughs a little bit.  “That is what father pays him to do! It is his job!” Holly snaps back.

“Thank you Bruce.” Julia says gently, dismissing the man.

“O...K...” Bruce says, rolling his eyes and walking back into the kitchen.

“And what is your job?” Julia asks sarcastically.

“My job? Since when do I need to work? Where is this coming from mother? And why today?” Holly asks, calming her voice down a little bit.

“You know, when me and your father met, we lived in a one bedroom apartment...” Julia says, her tone lowering as well as she leans back in her chair, taking another sip of her tea.

“Oh not this again!” Holly moans in mock agony as she slams her elbows onto the table and rests her head in her hands.  “Seriously mother, spare me, I know!” Holly whines.

“We worked our way up, twelve hour days, seven days a week...We had to cook our own breakfast.” Julia says with a hint of sarcasm.  

“What does that have to do with me?” Holly asks, turning her head away from her mother has Bruce comes back into the room, carrying a small plate of assorted fruits, and setting it down in front of Holly.

“Thank the man.” Julia demands.

“No.” Holly snaps back, following Bruce with her head as he walks back into the kitchen.  

“You are insufferable!” Julia’s voice rises, a hint of shock and disdain permeating her agitated tone. Holly’s head snaps back to her mother while she plucks a fork from the table and skewers a piece of honeydew. Holly brings the fruit to her lips and slides it from the prong.

“We were going to take you to the dealership today, but now I don’t know.” Julia says, disgustedly as she looks back down to her tablet and angrily rolls her finger across it.   

“What?!” Holly shoots back in disbelief.

“You heard me, we were going to buy you a car, a nice one...But now you get nothing until you apologize to Bruce and thank him for his years of service.” Julia says coldly as she stands up and grabs her tablet, tucking it under her arm.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me...” Holly huffs as she looks down at her dish, and then back up at her mother.  

“He’s right in there.” Julia says in a sing song voice.

“Fine, after I eat I’ll go apologize.” Holly says, defeatedly as she watches her mother turn around.

“That’s a good girl, make sure you thank him too, and go get yourself cleaned up, chop chop.” Julia quips as she saunters from the room.   

Holly sits there and broods, trying to wrap her mind around approaching Bruce as an equal.  She had always seen him as an appliance really, like the fridge, or the stove, he was just part of the house, there for her convenience.  Holly finishes her meal in silence, the wheels in her head turning and turning as she plots her next move.  She stands up after emptying her glass of orange juice, looking at the kitchen door for a few seconds before shaking her head.

“There is no way I am doing that...” Holly mutters to herself as she turns and walks back the way she came.  She walks back through the long hallway, and then back up to her room.  She slips out of her pajamas tossing them onto her unmade bed and calmly walks into the bathroom.  She walks to the ornate sink and turns a golden cold water knob, allowing a stream of water to flow from the equally gold faucet. She grabs her toothbrush and brushes her teeth, before jumping into the shower and bathing for a good twenty minutes.  She pulls the curtain back and grabs a towel, stepping out of the shower stall and drying herself off.  

“I’ll just tell her I apologized, she takes him for granted as much as I do!” Holly huffs angrily as she plugs a hair dryer into the wall and blow dries her hair.  She sets the dryer down on the vanity and walks out of the bedroom, past her now made bed.  The pajamas she had carelessly discarded have disappeared as if by some kind of magic.   She walks over to her Armoire and pulls the doors open, selecting a pair of Gucci Genius jeans, and a plain black T Shirt.  She walks over to her walk in closet and comes out clad in white socks, a pair of red panties and a white bra.  She slips into her jeans and t-shirt, topping it off with a pair of fresh looking sneakers.  

Julia strolls into the room and smiles at her daughter.

“Ready my princess?” Julia asks sweetly.

“Yes.” Holly says Curtly, a hint of mistrust in her voice.

“Did you apologize to Bruce?” Julia asks, skeptically.

“Yes, I did.” Holly nods, walking towards the doorway and following her mother out of the room and down the hallway, towards the flight of stairs.

“Good.” Julia replies as they walk down the winding flight of stairs.  Samuel, their regular driver meets them at the front door, and hands Julia a set of keys.  Holly looks down, confused as Samuel walks away.

“What’s going on?” Holly asks, a bit nervously.

“What do you mean dear?” Julia inquires as she opens the double doors and walks outside, towards an awaiting white Bentley.  

“You’re going to drive? Since when?” Holly asks, following her mother down a huge driveway as Julia's red heels click against the blacktop.

“What? I can’t drive my daughter to get her first new car?” Julia asks as they both climb into the car. 

“You’re so weird mom...” Holly huffs as fastens her seat belt.  The young girl pushes the morning aside as sunlight streams onto her face, not the least bit excited or grateful that she is on her way to purchase a vehicle billions of people can only dream of owning.