When she comes back, she has two wineglasses filled with what smells like gin and tonic, mostly gin, a wedge of lime floating in each glass like a congealing body part. “I like Joanie. Her husband started that FinTech company all the celebrities use. He’s met Jay-Z and Beyoncé. Joanie said they had dinner with them in the Hamptons.” I’d researched all the women at the book club party’s partners. Clarissa’s husband works for the investment firm that backs SNAPea, and Shirley’s wife recently sold her company to SNAPea. It all seems so incestuous.

I lay out Page’s clothes for this evening, all nude colors, The Row slacks and a knit top that shows a sliver of her stomach, Suzanne Rae mules for her feet. She takes a long sip of her gin and tonic before setting it down and getting dressed. “Did you actually sleep with that person’s husband like that Twitter thread said?”

The question startles me so much that I almost drop my glass. I hadn’t thought about that Twitter thread in a while, blissfully blocking it from my mind after spending too much time reading and rereading it, trapped by my own shame.

I pause for a moment before I answer, trying to decide how honest I should be. “It only happened once. I didn’t make a habit of it.” This was true. It had been a sole one-night stand that I regretted deeply with an anonymous man whom I met at a bar, without a ring on his left hand, if I want to strip myself of the guilt; one night when I had gone out alone, longing for the rush of sex with a stranger. The evening had ended abruptly when I saw his wife’s name flash on the screen of his phone as we lay in a hotel room postcoital. If I wanted to drown myself in guilt, the hotel room would have been clue number one. “And I swear. I didn’t know Odilie was still with Tom.”

Page waves her hand. “Oh, I don’t care about that anymore. I was wondering more how you reel them in. Men, I mean. You seem good at it.”

I take a long sip of my drink, gin glazing my throat, almost making me gag. “Exude confidence.” I shrug. “You’re the hottest bitch in the room. Harness your power. But don’t be too intimidating. Men don’t like that. Smile, approach them.” All stupid clichés but they work.

Page nods like she’s mentally taking notes. “Easier for you, though, since you’re gorgeous.” I don’t disagree with her.