Corey took Gloria to the swankiest restaurant in town, Chez Justine. It was the place to dine for people who had either made it to the top or were aspiring to get there. It was the place to see and be seen. With its crystal chandeliers, massive gold-framed mirrors, luxuriant green carpets, immaculately white, starched tablecloths, vases filled with spring flowers on every table, dark wood paneling, and waiters in smart uniforms, Chez Justine could have been the opulent reconstructed movie set for a film unfolding in France’s Belle Époque at the turn of the 20th century.

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Gloria had always been close to her mother, Estelle, and this closeness was reinforced when her father passed away several years before. Gloria was never a rebellious adolescent. She never rejected her mother’s values just to assert her independence as so many of her contemporaries had done. Estelle took advantage of the trust and esteem her daughter showed her in order to impress upon Gloria the importance of leading a virtuous life. Estelle was smart enough to avoid depicting sex as something evil. She even told her daughter that sensual attractions could be very exciting. She emphasized, however, that a girl who allowed herself to be used as a fornicating apparatus was her own worst enemy. In the first place, the man who took advantage of her would never respect her. In the second place, once she had been used as an object, she would never respect herself either.

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Her high school classmates called her “The Ice Queen” when they were in a good mood. When they weren’t in a good mood, they would call her “Sexless”. It’s not that she was ugly. On the contrary, Gloria was without a doubt the most beautiful girl in her school, and wherever she went, people who didn’t know her were riveted by her physical presence. Gloria could have been the most popular girl in her school had she been more accommodating, sexually speaking. Every young man in her graduating class would have given anything to bed her, from the clumsiest oafs to the most adulated football players. She however, remained completely indifferent to their sensual longings or even their admiration.

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