It’s Sadie. “Hey, stranger,” I answer.
“Your fault. I’ve left you a million messages. How’s the sex-a-thon going?”
I exhale a shaky laugh. “I can’t even.”
I hear the smile in Sadie’s voice. “You go, girl. I’m happy for you. So, are we on for tonight? Come shopping with me. Can you meet me in Bryant Park, like, soon?” I bring up the mapwhile I’m talking. It’s almost a straight line south from where I am.
“Um. Well, I need to take a shower. And I told Dallas I’d wait for him. He had to go in to work for a couple of hours.”
“It’s not going to take you a couple of hours to take a shower. Come hang out with me. I’ve got so much to tell you. The auditions have been insane.”
“Have you had any offers?”
“I’ve made it to the final round of auditions at Dance Utopia. They’re going to be deciding next week. There are no guarantees but it’s looking really promising.”
“Sadie, that’s amazing.”
“I’ve had some other bites too. I’ll give you the entire lowdown when I see you. Come now, pretty please?”
“I sort of … well, Dallas wanted me to wait until he got back and I told him I would.”
“Amelie Thibodeaux takingorders? Who are you and what have you done to my best friend?”
“It’s not like that.” Even though maybe it is. “We can catch up over dinner. He’s going to take us out.”
This lets me off the hook by a single degree, but I can tell she’s disappointed. “Wined and dined by the billionaire. Sounds fun.”
I hate letting her down. But I keep my voice upbeat. “I’m so excited for you, Sade. And I’ll see you tonight.”
“Just let me know where and I’ll meet you guys there.”
“I’m sure we could pick you up.” Dallas’s driver will no doubt be taking us.
“I’ll just meet you. I’m already out. I’m looking for a newoutfit for my final audition. Are yousureyou can’t come help me find one?”
“I would love to but I’m, like, …” I almost saya mess, but that would just be adding wood chips to an open flame. “This is the first chance I’ve had to decompress,” I say, more honestly than I meant to. “I think I need a long hot shower. Do you want to come over?”
“This shopping isn’t going to do itself. But I’ll definitely take a raincheck.”
“All right. I’ll text you. Good luck with the shopping.”
After we end the call, I go into Dallas’s massive space-age bathroom. The massaging rain-shower feels so good I end up staying in there for a while.
I dry myself off with one of Dallas’s super-soft towels and go into his—my—walk-in closet, which showcases all my new clothes under their own spotlights, as though it’s a very upmarket boutique. I choose a soft-suede mini dress that fits me like a dream. I put on my fleur-de-lis necklace. I put on some mascara and pink lip gloss. We’re going out in New York tonight, so why not. And it’s my birthday tomorrow, I realize, so we might as well celebrate. I haven’t been paying attention to time for almost a month now, which is kind of insane. Usually, I don’t wear makeup. When I’m working, getting noticed is never something I’m seeking out, since I already get noticed and mostly by people I wishweren’tnoticing me.
Then I grab a brush and start easing it through the tangles. Lila was kind enough to send her new line of cosmetics and beauty products with the delivery, which included several hairbrushes. My hair is long and wavy, with ringlet curls at the veryends, which hang just past my waist, so I was glad she thought of that detail.
As I’m brushing my hair, I notice a particularly beautiful ray of afternoon light and follow it down a hallway. I’ve actually only seen less than half of Dallas’s apartment, which takes up the top three floors of the building. Which heowns,he told me. The entire skyscraper. I couldn’t believe that.
I’m sure he wouldn’t mind me taking a look around.
The hallway has windows on one side and smooth, burnished wood on the other. At the end of it, an open door leads into an office with a huge window framing the Empire State Building. I go in to get a better look, standing in front of it.
The thought of the sheerexpenseof this kind of view is a hard thing to get used to.
There’s a massive mahogany desk and built-in shelving, decorated in a sparse, masculine style with upmarket knick-knacks, leather-bound books, and some framed photos of his family. I wander over to take a look.
There’s one of Dallas graduating from Harvard. He looks so young. So handsome. But not particularly happy.
