Tom Buchanan is hosting a party in his apartment in New York City for his affair, Nick, and a few of his other friends. The use of these parenthesis displays the quick shift in Mrs. Wilson’s comfort zone while talking to Nick, who was a stranger to her just hours before. Fitzgerald uses this particular device to pinpoint the way the wealthy upper class prefer to spend their time of leisure; as long as they receive alcohol to their point of satisfaction, it doesn’t really matter to them who they drink with.
