“Oh my God,” I whispered to myself. To the left of the sink taps I spied the holy grail of skin products, a giant tub of Crème de la Mer, the one that cost over a thousand bucks. I picked it up gravely and carefully, as if I were handling a Fabergé egg. Feeling the weight of the jar in my hands, my heart hammering in my chest, I carefully unscrewed the top. I’d never been able to afford Crème de la Mer. I dipped my fingers lightly into the cream and warmed the dollop between my hands, the way I had read about in Vogue. I patted my face with the cream and stared hard at my reflection in the mirror. I guess I was expecting immediate results, but I saw nothing except a shiny face.

My fingers were greasy and the big tub slipped in my hand as I carefully glided it back to its home on the sink. It would be bad to drop it on the floor of the bathroom. From the weight of the jar I knew the crash would be huge, and I would look very guilty—not with egg but Crème de la Mer all over my face.

This place wasn’t right for Dave and me; it was set too close to the street and I wouldn’t have wanted to deal with the work on the bathroom. Suddenly I couldn’t get out of there soon enough.

Starting my car, I worried that maybe they had security cameras and had seen me using the face cream. Maybe the actress who lived there would scan through the footage later and recognize me. Maybe she worked on the same lot where we shot Flesh and Bone. I had visions of a wanted poster of me distributed to real estate offices across Beverly Hills. Maybe I should lie low and give the open house thing a rest for a while.

FOUR

FOUR

I didn’t go back to Dave’s after my open house adventure. I went home. Being in my own space was a relief. Lucy was waiting at the front door for me and had no problem letting me know how mad she was; I could hear her plaintive meow as I fumbled with the keys. I’d been at work all day yesterday and had made a pit stop after the baseball game only to pick up my car; I’d poured her a double bowl of kibble so she wouldn’t starve, but she knew she’d been neglected somewhat for twenty-four hours.