He let me have the jab, turned his glass on the bar top, rattled the ice. “Let me cut to the chase. I have a job offer for you.”

I took a swig of club soda too fast and the bubbles rushed up my nose, but I was relieved, in a way, by the coughing fit that followed. It kept me from having to wonder what the hell Matthew was talking about, what he was up to. He thumped me once on the back, laughing.

“Please don’t touch me,” I said, though I could still feel the heat of his hand through my clothes. Could still remember the fever of being with him, of stumbling into the apartment, champagne drunk, grabbing at each other, Matthew’s hands up my skirt, reaching for my bra clasp, in my hair.

“All right, just trying to help …” He watched me, my eyes watering from coughing.

“What’s the job? Clean the apartment? Wash your sheets? I have some new skills you should know about. I’ve learned a lot about skincare. In fact, you are looking a little dry. You should exfoliate, then use a moisturizer with argan oil in it. A mask once a week.”

“I’d like you to represent me.”

I hadn’t expected that. “Why?” Philip Louis was the top, a superstar. It would be career suicide to leave.

“You were always so hungry, Lil. Philip Louis is getting a little complacent. He’s met a new boyfriend, this young Spanish photographer; all he wants to do is go back to the Mediterranean and drink rosé on someone’s boat.”

“He sure seemed to pull out all the stops for your last show.”

The bartender picked up my empty glass, brought it to the soda hose for a refill. Fuck it, I thought. “Make that a vodka soda, please?” I looked back to the spa. Empty, the lights turned out: Emily must have left to take the deposit up. I felt less watched already and soothed, knowing that a drink was on the way.

“You’re the woman for the job. It would be a great opportunity for you. Think about it: your own gallery. You would already have two clients—two clients who, if I may be as bold as to say it, have already stirred up quite a lot of attention.”

Did he mean Ramona? “You want me to represent her, too?”

“Well, I figured you’d want to. You were the one who discovered her. But we can talk about that later. The point is, you’d be in charge. You’d run things, and you could hire some Lily 2.0, some smart young thing to help you with the day-to-day stuff. Someone to do the accounting, social media, so on and so forth.”

“Matthew, is this some kind of joke?”

“Why would it be a joke?”