Strena walked in, glowing, carrying an armload of flowers, which she began distributing to her staff. “Thank you, everyone. The success of the show is yours as much as mine. I couldn’t have done it without you. You were all brilliant.”

Of course, we clapped, half-blind as if we’d stared into the sun too long.

“Are you all right?” She checked on me.

“Thank you for allowing me to be part of this. It’s…” My throat burned. “I feel reborn.”

“Thank you for trusting me.”

A long moment passed between us before I glanced down my body. The ornamentation had been removed, and suddenly, I noticed my nakedness again. “Is there a shower?”

“My only request that the museum couldn’t accommodate. There are plenty of wet wipes.”

I could see the other models who were already using them.

“I don’t think I’m comfortable with spending another ten minutes naked. Mind if I take a robe?”

She picked the silk up from the floor where I had dropped it prior to the performance. “All yours.”

I wrapped the robe around myself. If I put my shirt on over that, I’d look as if I were wearing a shirt over a wrap dress. “Thank you. Again. I’m going to miss you when the house sells and we have to move out.”

She tilted her head. “You could assume Violet’s mortgage.”

“Me and what millionaire friend?” I considered her. “How would you feel about renting the fourth-floor studio long-term?”

“I’m going to be doing larger works next. I already rented a warehouse.”

So there went that.

“I wouldn’t mind renting the two gallery floors,” she said then. “I hate a gallery closing. Especially Violet’s. I’m part owner of a place in Harlem, but it’d be nice establishing a toehold in the Village. Let’s talk about this later. Right now, I’m supposed to be giving interviews.” She stepped away. “The rest of the team are going out to eat. I’m sure you’d be more than welcome. Why don’t you go with them?”

“I need to go home and take a shower.” Everybody was great, but I wasn’t part of the team. I was a last-second addition. I didn’t want to intrude. And I didn’t want noise and crowds. I wanted a minute to process what had just happened, that I’d done this thing I wouldn’t have thought I could do in a million years.

“I’ll walk out with you.” Strena helped me with my shirt. “The press is in the lobby. It’ll be faster for me to walk around the building than to walk through.”

A minute later, we were marching down the hallway.