Chapter 7: Living Beyond One’s Means
995 Words
Taking a cab was undeniably more comfortable than squeezing onto a crowded bus. With music playing and the air conditioning on, Aaron arrived at the office in just over ten minutes.
The mobile gaming company where Aaron worked was nestled in Midtown, New York—a district crowded with office buildings of varying heights. Here, towering landmarks like the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, and the Rockefeller Center stood alongside older, more modest structures. The area was a microcosm of extremes: executives pulling in millions, even tens of millions, in annual salaries coexisted with countless junior employees barely scraping by on three or four thousand a month.
Aaron’s company occupied a dilapidated old office building. According to veteran colleagues, New York’s No. 1 gaming player had once been a force to reckon with. A few years prior, annual revenue had soared to fifty or sixty million, with net profits nearing twenty million. Back then, the company had leased an entire floor in the Chrysler Building, lavishing it with opulent decor.
But the market had grown fiercely competitive, and the company’s over-expansion had taken its toll. Revenue had been halved, and profits had dwindled to a pitiful few hundred thousand. The boss often lamented that outsiders, seeing the company’s scale, assumed he was raking in fortunes. In reality, after a year of relentless work, he might not even take home as much as one of his executives.
…
The office was on the fifth floor, and Aaron headed for the elevator. In such an antiquated building, the elevator was far from sophisticated—essentially just a spacious freight lift. It crept along at a glacial pace, accompanied by ominous clanging noises that would unsettle anyone riding it for the first time.
Unfortunately, even this rickety contraption was out of service today—broken, yet again. Left with no choice, Aaron resigned himself to the stairs.
Climbing five flights in this heat was no small feat. By the time he reached the office entrance, panting and drenched in sweat, his T-shirt clung to his skin.
“Well, well, if it wasn’t our dashing Aaron! "What’s this—already ‘recovered’ from your illness?” The moment he stepped inside, the mocking voice of his colleague Abigail greeted him.
She stood by the reception desk, her plump figure swaying as she chatted with the receptionist. Spotting Aaron, she couldn’t resist a jab.
There was no real animosity between them—at least, not on Aaron’s side. If anything, her disdain likely stemmed from unrequited feelings.
“Ah, good afternoon, Amanda. "By the way, has my package arrived?” Aaron ignored Abigail’s taunt, offering the receptionist a warm smile instead.
With the system now in his possession, his spirits were high. He was destined to become a financial titan—why stoop to petty squabbles with someone like Abigail?
The receptionist had always liked Aaron. He was handsome, after all, and unfailingly polite. In fact, most of the female colleagues held him in high regard—except Abigail, whose bitterness was an outlier.
“Good afternoon, Aaron! "Your package has just arrived. "The courier mentioned it was something valuable and asked me to handle it carefully. The receptionist handed him a tightly wrapped small box, curiosity gleaming in her eyes. “What did you get?”
“Oh, just a new phone,” Aaron replied casually, accepting the package.
At the mention of the phone, Abigail’s eyebrow twitched. She pulled out her iPhone and pretended to fiddle with it. “About time you replaced that relic! Let me guess—upgraded from BLU to Nokia? Heard those are the go-to for budget-conscious folks. Fits your profile perfectly.” She snickered, covering her mouth as if her own joke were too clever to bear.
Aaron and the receptionist exchanged a glance, baffled by her misplaced amusement.
“Not a Nokia,” Aaron said mildly. “Since you’re always raving about iPhones, I thought I’d try one myself.”
Abigail’s daughter died abruptly. She stared at him, disbelief etched across her face. “You—you bought an iPhone? The cheapest new model starts at over five grand! How could you afford that on your salary?”
“Oh, it’s just a phone. "How expensive could it really be? "I went for the 256GB iPhone X. Only about ten grand—no big deal.” Aaron picked up a pair of scissors from the reception desk and began slicing open the box.
“You’re lying! The 256GB version? "You couldn’t save ten grand in a year if you tried!” Abigail scoffed, convinced he was bluffing.
Salaries were an open secret in the office. Though company policy forbade discussing pay, everyone knew each other’s rough figures. In the customer service department, Aaron’s earnings were at the bottom rung—just over four thousand a month after taxes. Abigail, more senior, made an extra thousand, yet even she had scrimped for half a year to afford her iPhone—a base-model iPhone 8 with 64GB, costing 5,888.
If she had struggled to buy hers, how could Aaron possibly afford a ten-thousand-dollar phone?
Everyone knew he was an out-of-towner with modest means—his lifestyle made that clear. Between rent, food, and New York’s exorbitant prices, he’d be lucky to save a thousand a month.
“Here, see for yourself. "It’s just a phone—no need to act like you’ve never seen one before.” Aaron pulled out a sleek white box and held it out to Abigail, his smile unruffled.
Both Abigail and the receptionist gaped at the unmistakable packaging: the pristine white box, minimalist yet elegant, adorned with the distinctive notch of the iPhone X’s display.
No words were needed—the design alone confirmed it was Apple’s flagship model from the previous year.
Abigail was speechless. Aaron—the guy she’d always looked down on— splurged on a phone like this?
Was he…
**living beyond his means?**
- Writer
