A stunning socialite humiliates an old college friend she meets up at a clothing store and ends up learning a valuable life lesson.

Martha Levinson was beautiful, and she’d used her beauty to smooth her journey through life. What she didn’t realize was that beauty just isn’t enough. After all, sooner or later beauty fades away.

Arrogant and vain, Martha went out of her way to humble an old acquaintance, but Karma quickly turned the tables and taught the stunning socialite a lesson in humility and true friendship.

Martha was having lunch with her wealthy fiancée, John Kersnic when he received an urgent business call and had to leave. Martha finished her lobster salad and decided to browse through some nearby boutiques.

One of the shops had a particularly attractive display and so Martha went in. To her surprise, the woman who walked towards her smiling pleasantly was an old acquaintance from college, Trishs. Trisha asked politely: ” May I help you?”

Martha remembered Trisha as a quiet, brainy girl who used to stay in and study for exams while she and her friends went partying, and yet here she was! A shop girl! Martha flashed her brightest smile: “Trisha! Fancy seeing you here! Don’t tell me this is where you work?”

“Hello, Martha! Yes, it is…”

Martha giggled. “Gosh… Who’d have believed it! Magna Cum Laude, and here you are…a shop-girl.”

“Well,” Trisha smiled, “I suppose that’s how the world works.”

“I mean…Look at ME!” And Martha gestured at her own splendid body and breathtaking face, “I’m just…amazing!”

Trisha somehow kept smiling. “Yes, you are, Martha! You always were a beauty.”

“Hun, the secret is not to rest on your laurels! I admit I had a little work done, and I won’t hesitate to do more if I need it.” She peered at Trisha’s face. “I must say you look as if a little tuck would do wonders…”

Trisha forced yet another smile. “And so what do you do?”

“Do? I AM! I’m engaged to John Kersnic, the real estate mogul, and I travel with him all over the world. He can’t do without me… In fact, we’re off to Bali tomorrow!”

“That’s wonderful, Martha.”

“If you want to continue to be engaged, to have this wonderful life I give you, you’ll forget about this.”

“Yes…Isn’t it? I wouldn’t wear any of these rags you have here — I only shop in Paris — but I do need a hat!”

Trisha called her assistant and asked him to take Martha upstairs to see the hats. She couldn’t help shaking her head with distress over her old friend’s attitude. She was sure that Martha was headed for a fall.

Martha was trying on the summer hats upstairs, finding fault with each one, when a handsome man walked into the shop with a pretty blond girl on his arm. “Darling,” he crooned, “You just pick whatever you want, nothing is too good for my baby!”

Martha heard the familiar voice and walked to the balcony. She couldn’t believe her eyes. It was John, with a much younger woman! “John!” she cried, running down the stairs, “Who is this woman? What are you doing here?”

John was stunned to see her but recovered quickly. “What are YOU doing here! I thought you were going home to pack for Bali.”

Martha was shaking. “No…I was looking for a hat…Who is this girl?”

John’s patience snapped. “None of your business, Martha! Butt out”

“But John, we’re engaged!”

John laughed. “Yes, Martha, we are, and if you want to continue to be engaged, to have this wonderful life I give you, you’ll forget about this. Here, do some more shopping.” And John pressed a gold credit card into Martha’s hands and walked out with the girl.

Martha couldn’t help it. She started crying. Then she felt a kind arm around her shoulders and a gentle voice comforting her. “It’s ok, Martha, you are going to be OK.”

“No, I’m not…I can’t leave him…How would I earn a living…”

Trisha said: “You don’t need this man, and you don’t need to allow him to treat you this way.”

“But…I don’t have a job, I never built a career like you…I couldn’t even get work as a shop girl like you…”

Trisha laughed. “I’m not a shopgirl, Martha, I own this store and two more.”

Martha was blushing with embarrassment. “I’m so ashamed…”

“Listen,” said Trisha, “I’m opening another store, and I need to train someone as a buyer — someone like you, with a great fashion sense, and who is used to traveling to Paris and Milan…”

Martha couldn’t believe her ears. “Are you serious? That would be a dream job!”

Trisha said, “it’s yours if you want it, but there is one condition…” Trisha handed Martha a pair of scissors and watched as she careful cut up every single one of John Kersnic’s credit cards.

What can we learn from Martha’s story?

1. Beauty isn’t everything. We can’t rely on our looks to make our way in the world — looks fade, the character doesn’t.

2. Be independent. Martha traded in her independence and her self-esteem for a lavish lifestyle, and in the end the price was too high.

3. There’s always a way. No one is ever stuck in a situation, however desperate it may seem. There’s always a way out, and help often comes from where you least expect it.

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Any resemblance in this story to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.