Saad, who was now looking at Alicia, said, “It’s only fair. Send the necessary papers to my assistant, and we’ll work out the details.”

“You bet. It was a pleasure doing business with you. Now, if you don’t mind, I think me and my girl are gonna get ourselves off your little speedboat here.” Spotting one of the stewards, she said, “Hey, Jeeves, wanna get our bags?” She then proceeded to spread out one of the cloth napkins and load it up with pastries. She folded it over and slipped it into the beach bag she’d set next to her chair.

“Thanks for the snacks,” she told Saad.

Nicole was still dumbfounded. She stood and followed her friend toward the helicopter. Behind her, the two men said their farewells, but she didn’t bother to acknowledge them.

Once their bags arrived and they were strapped into the helicopter, she turned to her friend. “What just happened there?”

Alicia beamed. “I just sold three thousand dollars’ worth of paint and cement for ten million—to that idiot!”

Nicole wasn’t sure if she should be excited or angry. “What about artist integrity? What about his being a sleazeball?”

Alicia took hold of Nicole’s face with both her hands and turned her head so they were looking directly into each other’s eyes. “Nicole, it’s ten million dollars! Heck, I’ll just paint another one. I’ll have Marilyn biting a pair of Dolce & Gabbanas this time. And the fruit bowl? Who knows? All I know is my life just changed forever.”

Nicole was laughing by now. She wrapped her arms around her friend, and they hugged.

“Congratulations, honey. I’m so happy for you.”

“And I’m so happy for you. Remember the finder’s fees? Ten percent for you and ten percent for that hunk-a-stud you have.” Once sales had taken off, Nir had renegotiated with Alicia so that Nicole would receive her own ten percent rather than sharing the fee with him. Nicole’s worry that her friend would now resent having to part with two million dollars was relieved when Alicia sighed and said, “Somehow, I guess I’ll just have to find a way to manage with eight million. What’s a girl to do?”

“And don’t forget the money from all your other sales. Pretty soon you’ll be able to buy your own mega yacht.”

When they landed at Singapore Changi Airport, a limousine picked them up at the hangar to take them to their terminal. Once there—after a quick stop in the women’s restroom, where Nicole unstrapped the Gerber knife, wiped it clean of fingerprints, and left it in a trash can—they were ushered through the VIP security doors. They said their goodbyes, and Alicia boarded her 21-hour ANA flight to Houston via Tokyo—but not before upgrading from business class to first. An hour later, Nicole boarded a flight to Frankfurt.