It was another frosty New York winter but inside the Duplantis' high rise apartment in Manhattan's Upper East Side was cozy warm and decorated for the holidays. Ari was on Winter Break and certainly glad to be at home...kind of. He'd graduated early and was a freshman at Pratt studying fashion design. One benefit of being on the collegiate schedule was that while other students his age were nose deep in their school books, he could go shopping as he pleased and run his freelance image consulting business. Ok, he could if the parents were home and that usually meant evenings and weekends. This is why he was only somewhat happy to still live at home.

For all Ari's maturity and intellect, his parents still treated him like a child. They were incredibly protective. During the semester they would talk to him over his cell's speaker phone in his car on the way to school, text him during class breaks, and talk again over speakerphone on his way home. He actually found it funny that a powerful attorney and a banking executive could kick ass with confidence on Wall Street but be such fussy, worry wart parents at home. Whenever they were not home the same time Ari was, whether it be for work or an event a babysitter would be called. That's right. A babysitter. Now would be no different.

The artsy beautiful blonde pumped one of his favorite songs over the speakers in his bedroom while getting ready for an evening of winter shopping. He'd already gotten Christmas presents for the parents so now all he needed were some presents for himself. Sephora was having a sale on three of his favorite things: eyeshadow, eyeliner, and nail polish. He wasn't missing that for anything. Maybe that cute sales girl with the long black hair would let him take her to dinner...Who cared if she was seventeen? It wasn't like they'd be compared to Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher if they started dating. Hopefully she'd remember his name this time. Yes, this time for sure!

Suddenly a knock interrupted his daydreaming. "Bo-Dee honey, are you decent?" Like his Louisiana raised mother, Ari had a Southern twang. "Yes ma'am. Come on." He replied as he finished styling his tousled locks. A long time ago his parents had panicked when they realized he preferred typically feminine fashions but eventually they got used to it. So seeing her son in grey skinny jeans, an oversized red sweater with a black skull on it, and a black scarf wrapped around his neck didn't phase her in the least. What bothered her was his painted nails. She wouldn't get on him about it, there were more important issues to discuss.

When he saw his mother dressed up and in a fur coat, Ari knew what was coming. "I'm sorry baby. Your father and I are going to have to postpone your shopping trip. We're going to my boss's holiday party in Long Island and we won't be back until late tonight." How could they not tell him earlier at least? Oh wait. The magic words were coming along with a plea to behave himself this time. "This is very important. We aren't allowed to bring our children since there's going to be people drinking. I went ahead and called a babysitter. Bo-Dee please behave yourself this time, it's not nice to terrorize the people kind enough to watch you." Well that killed Ari's mood immediately. A few moments later the doorbell rang and his parents went to answer it, leaving him to stew in his room. What irritated him more was that he could hear them since his door was open.

"Nice to meet you Ella! Thank you for coming on such short notice. We have to scoot but Aristide is in his room. You can go on and say hi. He's a bit fussy at first but will warm right up once he gets to know you. Bye now and we'll be back by midnight!"

It was over. His fun was over before it even began. Maybe if it was another old lady, he could sneak out after she fell asleep and call the house to see if she would be awake. Ari wanted his way and he was determined to get it.