She walked into the bathroom and made herself throw up. It was easy, because her stomach turned as much from all the crud in her system as from the memory of Arthur walking back out of the building without her, and the scene with Roberta. The word “slut” hit the sides of her head like a moth against a light bulb that awful, hungover morning. What was a slut, anyway? Why was it so terrible for a woman to want to have unadulterated, boundless fun? All anyone seemed to think about anyway was pleasure, so what was it with all the puritanism? She was free to do what she wanted. She was independent! Liberated! It wasn’t lost on her that she wrestled with these thoughts while showering in Hugh Hefner’s bathroom, in the very place where he’d stood naked. But did he ever feel such poisonous shame?

Before she left, she kissed Mitch on his lips. Who knew someone so handsome could have such sour breath? “See you later?” she whispered.

“No. I’ve got to head back today.”

“Today?” She couldn’t believe it. “To California?”

“Yeah, where else?”

“But I’ll come visit you?”

“Sure, sure. That’d be great. We’ll have a grand time.” He gave her half a hug. “Thanks for the show.” He pointed at Gregg Allman, asleep on the round bed. “I mean, look at that. Just look! It’s great here, Sher. You’re great. A ton of fun.”

She stumbled, still drunk and a little coked-up, out the door, creeping down the carpeted back stairs all the way to the basement locker room. It was surprisingly empty. She took forever to get dressed. Just turning her black tights right side out felt like a Herculean task. She’d lost so much weight that she could get her uniform zipped without much effort, although her hands were so shaky that she wished someone were in the locker room to help her. She sank onto the bench and closed her eyes. What she wouldn’t give for some sleep.

Gloria emerged from her office, took one look at her, and frowned. “Well. Look what the cat coughed up.”

“Thanks a lot,” Sherri said. She couldn’t argue. She did look like shit. She opened her locker and pulled out her makeup bag.

Gloria shook two aspirin out of the bottle and handed the tablets to her. “You can’t go out on the floor like that.”

“I just need some coffee.”

“No. What you need is to slow down.”

Sherri tried to line her lips. A three-year-old could have done a better job. She needed another bump, that was what she needed. Every cell in her body cried out for cocaine. “I just had a long night, OK? I couldn’t sleep with Val snoring.”

Gloria put her hands on her hips. “Look in the mirror, sweetheart.” Did Gloria just call her “sweetheart”? “Look at yourself!”