Maude answered the door in a floor-sweeping, purple tie-dyed T-shirt dress. Her feet were bare, she had a cup of coffee in one hand, and she looked dewy. Blaise suspected she’d just moisturized.
Maude nodded, a sleepy half-smile curving her mouth. “Good morning.”
“Good morning to you,” Blaise said, entering as Maude stepped back. “Thanks for letting me come over.”
“No problem. You want some coffee? Or water? Or a diet Snapple?”
“Water would be great, thanks.”
“Grab a seat and I’ll be right with you.” Maude gestured toward the living room, which was exactly like Blaise’s, since they seemed to have the same floor plan. But the focus of Maude’s living room seemed to be a large-screen television and a big recliner that was clearly Maude’s usual spot.
Blaise took a seat on the couch as Maude went to the kitchen, which was really part of the same room.
Maude brought Blaise a tall glass of ice water, then sat in the recliner. “So what can I do for you?”
Blaise exhaled. “I need a website.”
“You’ve come to the right person then. What kind of website? Are you starting a business?”
“I guess you could say that.” Blaise took a drink, then set the glass on the coffee table. There were no coasters. “Maybe I should start a little further back. You know I’ve had some financial difficulties.”
Maude nodded, sympathy clear in her eyes.
“I have enough to live on, but my budget doesn’t allow for much in the way of extras. Not saying I need fancy things. I don’t. I have plenty of nice things, but my life would be a little easier and my son wouldn’t…worryso much about me if I was able to build up some savings.”
“Sure,” Maude said.
“The only way I can think of to do that is to get a book deal. I talked to Cece about it?—”
“Smart.”
“And she seems to think it’s possible. I’ve started working on a letter to send out to some publishers, but as I was researching the idea, I realized most people have their own websites. I don’t. I barely have social media. I’ve kind of avoided publicity for the last couple of decades of my life. Now, I guess, I need to get back out there.”
Maude was nodding. “I think that’s a great idea.” She paused, then narrowed her eyes. “You know, if you wanted to really make a splash, you could put yourself out there for speaking engagements, promotional work, and more modeling gigs.”
“I…” Blaise shook her head. “I’ve never done speaking engagements.”
“Could you?”
“I don’t know. Maybe?”
“Blaise, you could command a pretty decent speaker fee. I don’t know how much discretionary income you’re looking for,but one or two speaking engagements a year might be all you need.”
That was news to her. “You really think so?”
“Hang on.” Maude got up, returning with her laptop. She typed away, blinking at the screen through her computer glasses. “Cynthia Senate makes a minimum of twenty-five thousand plus expenses.”
Blaise’s jaw unhinged. “I know Cynthia. We walked in a few shows together. Todd Oldham, Vivienne Westwood—anyway, we were friends, once upon a time. She makes that much? What on earth does she talk about?”
“I guess whatever the topic at hand is.”
Blaise shook her head as she realized something. “But Cynthia stayed in the public eye. I haven’t. Her daughter models now so I suppose she had a reason to, but I’m not sure that’s a fair comparison.”
Maude looked up from the laptop. “Okay. Who do you think might be a better equivalent?”
Blaise thought, scrolling through her mental files and thinking about the women she’d seen in those videos on TikTok. “Maybe…Leigh Bishop. She disappeared before I did. She married some European prince, and it ended badly. I’m not sure where she even is these days.”
Maude’s fingers flew across the keyboard. A minute later, she said, “She’s in L.A., working as a wellness coach, and she charges ten grand for a forty-five-minute talk.”
