Rich People Problems-Kwan 2017 (WWT)

“Surely it can’t be Delphine? I give up!” Araminta whipped around and saw a patricianlooking
Chinese man in a three-piece suit and small round tortoiseshell glasses grinning
back at her.
“Oliver T’sien, you rascal! You had me fooled with that ridiculous accent.” Araminta
giggled. “Oliver, have you met the chatelaine of this…er…magnificent estate, Kitty Bing?”
“I was hoping you’d introduce me,” Oliver purred.
“Kitty, this is Oliver T’sien. He’s an old friend from Singapore…and…aren’t we
somehow related now through Colin? Oliver is related to practically everyone who’s
anyone in Asia, and he’s also the consultant at large for Christie’s.”
Kitty shook his hand politely. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. You work for Christie’s, the
auction house?”
“Indeed I do.”
“Oliver is one of the top specialists in Asian art and antiquities,” Araminta continued.
“Hmm…there’s a little horse sculpture in the library I would love to show you. My
husband is convinced it’s from the Tang dynasty, but I think it’s a fake. His ex-wife
bought it,” Kitty said derisively.
“I am at your service, madame,” Oliver said, extending an arm. They walked into the
library, and Kitty led him to a magnificent Macassar and Gabon Boulle armoire in one
corner. She pressed against the tortoiseshell-and-gilt-bronze marquetry doors, which
opened to reveal a hidden entryway into Jack Bing’s private cigar lounge.
“Well, this is quite splendid!” Oliver exclaimed, looking around the decadently
upholstered room.
As soon as the doors closed behind them, Kitty sank into one of the tasseled velvet
Louis-Napoléon smoking chairs and breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m so glad we’re finally
alone! How do you think it’s going?”
Unbeknownst to any of her guests, and especially to friends like Araminta, Kitty knew
Oliver rather well—he had been secretly advising her for the past couple of years and had
been instrumental in helping her acquire The Palace of Eighteen Perfections, a set of
prized Chinese scrolls that had broken auction records two years ago to become the most
expensive Chinese artwork ever sold.
“You have nothing to worry about. Everyone is most impressed. Did you notice that
Anna actually took her sunglasses off for a moment to scrutinize your Qianlong dragon
vessel?”
“No, I missed that!” Kitty said excitedly.
“It happened so quickly, but it happened. I also spoke to Karl and—fingers crossed—I
think you’re getting front row at next season’s show in Paris.”
“Oliver, you’re a miracle worker! You’d think spending nine million dollars a year at
Chanel would be enough to get you a front-row seat at the damn fashion show.”
“You’ll be front row dead center next season! See? You have nothing to worry about.
We should head back to the party before anyone suspects anything. We’ve been gone too