Lola went inside. Spencer passed his bike over to Scarlett and went over to the car and leaned over the door. Scarlett couldn’t hear what he was saying, but clearly he wasn’t mocking Chip. Chip put up no resistance. The driver got back into the car, and the Mercedes pulled off.

“I don’t believe it,” Spencer said. “She finally did it. She actually dumped him. I think…I think I feel bad for him. That’s annoying. But also, how great is this?”

As he went toward Trash Can Alley to lock up his bike, a glowing cigarette butt came sailing down next to Scarlett, striking itself out on the pavement on impact. She looked up, and was not surprised to see a thin trail of smoke and a shadow above.

“Interesting night, O’Hara?” a voice asked. “I have a feeling they’re only about to get more so. See you in the morning.”

LOLA SEES A DINOSAUR

Lola was in the Orchid Suite, stripping off her dress when Scarlett opened the door.

“Here,” she said, as Scarlett came in. “This is for you. I think it looks nicer on you, anyway. I’m not sure I can really wear black. Not everyone can. It’s a myth. I’m too pale.”

Scarlett accepted the dress and watched as Lola pulled on a pair of pink shortie pajamas and then set to work dumping out the contents of her underwear drawer onto her bed. She began refolding her panties into perfect little squares, which was something she usually did to relax herself in times of stress.

“Do you want anything?” Scarlett offered quietly. “Tea, or water, or something?”

“I’m fine. Thank you.”

Scarlett put the dress on her bureau and sat down on her bed opposite. She waited until Lola had folded everything to her satisfaction and sat down, squishing the pile of panties between her hands, like a delicate pastel accordion.

“We were at a benefit at the Natural History Museum tonight,” she said. “Some friend of theirs rented out the lobby for something—I don’t even know what—and everybody paid about a thousand bucks to be there. There was a girl named Boonz there. I’ve seen her at a few things. She dates this other guy from Durban. She walked right up to me, like she wanted to make small talk, because there’s nothing else to do at these things. And do you know what she said to me?”

Scarlett could have come out with a few amusing possible answers that Spencer would have loved, but this was definitely not the time.

“She said, ‘Don’t you have a second dress?’ I kept waiting for her to laugh, to show that it was some kind of weird joke. But she didn’t. She said, ‘You’ve worn that every time I’ve ever seen you.’ And she smirked and walked away.”

Scarlett felt a flush coming to her cheeks. There was no reason for someone to cut Lola down. Lola, who could be one of those snotty and horrible people, but who never, ever was.