The Family Upstairs

Libby, Lucy, and Henry decide to sell the mansion. After struggling to find a buyer, they finally sell it to a cash buyer in South Africa. Now, on Libby’s 26th birthday, Libby waits for the earnings to hit her bank account. Libby has also learned that it is “her real twenty-sixth birthday. Not June 19 after all, but June 14. So she’s five days older than she thought,” but Libby reflects, “Five days is a small price to pay for seven million pounds, a mother, an uncle, and two half siblings” (325). It is also Libby’s last day at work. Libby asks Dido if she wants to get lunch, and jokes, “‘Depending on whether this payment comes through by then or not, it’ll be either sandwiches and Coke, or lobster and champagne” (326).

Libby thinks of Lucy and Henry. Lucy, her children, and her dog are temporarily staying at Henry’s apartment, but it is not going well. Libby had offered to let Lucy and Henry each take the majority of the earnings from the house sale, but Lucy and Henry insisted they split it three ways.

At lunch, Libby asks Dido why she still works for the luxury kitchen design company, since Dido inherited plenty of money from her parents.