Now, flipping through the Open House section, I skipped past the houses I’d already toured. None of them were perfect for Dave and me, and besides it was a seller’s market now, not really a great time to buy. I was hungry to find the “just on the market” place that no one had toured yet.

One advertised house on Chiselhurst in Los Feliz had just been redone for three million; I’d toured the house a few weeks before and it still reeked of kimchi from the previous owners. When I wrinkled my nose and asked the Realtor about it, she acted blasé. “Just get some candles,” was her advice.

I continued my listing-scan and came across an interesting new house for sale up on Outpost. I knew that street well—tons of celebrities lived “in Outpost” as people called it: Will Ferrell, Matthew Perry. Celebrities were good for your resale value. One of the writers from the show, Jimmy, got up early to hike the steep street every morning, risking the busy cars whizzing past him during morning rush hour, so he could ogle Charlize Theron. I guess she read the paper on her porch naked, and even with her property surrounded with heavy foliage, he had a spot he used to peek through. Somehow I had a feeling he may have ripped out a few handfuls of leaves to aid his spying. Guys are pathetic.

Jumping in the shower, I let the water pound my face and I swore to myself that I wouldn’t think about Amy Robbins. I did a quick cleanse, mostly washing off the Dodger game from the night before. I didn’t have to wash off any sex; it had been eight days. I saw that I’d started gnawing my fingernails this morning. My fingertips were sore and red.

The open house on Outpost was close to Dave’s log cabin bungalow, and I had time to grab a coffee and doughnut on the way. I balanced the cup between my thighs and convinced myself that eating a doughnut in the car somehow took away some of the Weight Watchers points. My fingers sticky on the steering wheel, I carefully wound my way up Outpost. I didn’t have to check the address in the paper; the Porsches and Mercedeses were double-parked in front of the neighboring driveways. This was a hot house.