There was a note of attachment in Ted’s voice, a gentleness that Zanne hadn’t registered before and perhaps would never have registered if Gaby weren’t silently listening in. Gaby sat in the chair—head cocked, chewing her cuticles, studying her in return. Zanne picked up the handset.

“Happy to help. The producers are ready for you. Do you want me to take notes?”

“No,” Ted said. “As long as Marty’s there, I’ll be fine.”

“He is. I’ll connect you now.”

Zanne joined the call to the conference bridge and hung up.

“Sorry about that,” she said again to Gaby, shaking off the adrenaline she felt whenever she emerged unscathed from an exchange with Ted.

“He likes you.”

“What?” Gaby dropped her thumb from her teeth, but kept her head cocked. Her squint melted into a smolder.

“No, Zanne. Not you.” Gaby had dropped her voice, like she was Barry White. The implication—that Ted was smooth, seductive, had his eyes on Zanne; that he gave a damn—was comically off base.

“Oh, that. That was nothing.”

“And you like him.”

“He’s just feeling sentimental because Flynn’s leaving and Zoe’s gone. Trust me, it didn’t have anything to do with me.”

“If you say so.”

“Enough about me. How’d it go with you?”

“Fine, I think,” Gaby said, inspecting her thumbnails again, pushing the cuticles of one back with the other.

“What did you guys talk about?”

“Uh, my résumé?”

“What else? Peru?”

“Yeah.”

Gaby wasn’t dishing.

“That’s good,” Zanne said. “If he took an interest in your fieldwork, it means he thinks you’re interesting. And that’s half the battle.”

“What a relief,” Gaby said. She stood up. “I should get out of your way for a while, shouldn’t I?”

“I’m just saying. It seems like it went really well.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Gaby said, but her face was so deadpan that Zanne felt foolish for caring. “Do they let you take a lunch? I could wait until you’re ready. Maybe we could go into town for a burrito. Do they have burritos in the Palisades, or only health bowls?” she asked, putting air-quotes around her words.

“I know a spot.”

“Cool. I’ll go hang out by the pool. Come find me when you’re ready.”

Zanne didn’t understand. All that careful strategizing she’d done to get Gaby the interview, all their late-night pillow talk about Zanne’s famous boss and what it was like to work for someone that eccentric—and then nothing. Gaby didn’t seem angry or upset, just...uninterested. Most people who met Ted were dying to talk about him afterward. Zanne watched Gaby step out into the sunshine and disappear, like in a movie when someone went to heaven. Maybe she was in a better place now.