Lucie glared at Auden. “George? What does George have to do with any of this?”

“I’m sorry, I thought that you ended things with Cecil because—”

Lucie cut him off before he could finish. “Well, you thought wrong.”

Saying goodbye hastily, Lucie jogged off. What would possess Auden Beebe to think that she had any interest in George? She ran in a fury down to the Seventy-Ninth Street exit and headed straight back to the apartment, eager to scold Freddie. Entering the stately lobby of 999 Fifth Avenue, she barely nodded at the doormen and stewed in front of the slow elevator, jabbing the button repeatedly.

The left elevator door opened, and out stepped a woman with a perfect blond blowout accompanying a stylish Asian lady.

“Hi, Lucie!” the lady smiled warmly.

“Hello?” Lucie replied politely, not quite placing her.

“It’s me, Rosemary!”

Lucie’s eyes widened. Rosemary was unrecognizable. Her usual gigantic Elizabeth Taylor permfn1 was pulled into a discreet low bun, and she was impeccably dressed in a cream Carolina Herrera suit, a single strand of pearls, and barely a hint of makeup.

“Ha ha! You didn’t recognize me, did you?”

“I didn’t. You look … transformed, Mrs. Zao.”

“This is Dolly, my broker. We just came from the co-op board interview.”

“Interview?” Lucie was confused.

“Yes! Don’t you know? I put an offer on apartment 9A!”

A chill ran up Lucie’s spine. No, no, no, this can’t be happening.

“Ahem, knock on wood, Mrs. Zao,” Dolly said, as she rapped her knuckles against the wooden marquetry of the elevator door.

“Yes, yes, knock on wood. I just have to pass the co-op board interview, and they have to read all my letters of recommendation, but I think it went very well, didn’t it? Dolly advised me exactly how to dress and what to say.”

“They loved her. Especially your board president, Ms. Ferrer, who has notoriously high standards.”

“Really? Ms. Ferrer liked her?” Lucie said, getting even more alarmed.

“Yes! She told me how much she admired my father’s writings.”

“Your father?”

“Yes, he was a poet.”

“Come on, Mrs. Zao! She’s being so modest. Her father was one of the most revered poets in China. They teach a class on his works at Yale,” Dolly bragged to Lucie.

“Oooh, I just can’t wait for all of us to be neighbors!” Rosemary squealed, giving Lucie a little hug as she breezed along with her agent out of the lobby.

Lucie took the elevator up alone, feeling shell-shocked. When the elevator doors opened, the first person she saw was Charlotte, who was in the foyer misting the orchids with a plastic spritzer bottle.

“I think Mary’s gotten quite lazy. She doesn’t dust or spritz your orchids quite enough. This one here looks like it should be sent to palliative care.”

Lucie grabbed Charlotte firmly by the arm and forced her down the hallway into her bedroom.

“What’s the matter now?” Charlotte said in a hushed whisper, even though no one was about.

Lucie shut the door firmly behind her and gave Charlotte a look of frustration. “Did you know that Rosemary Zao’s attempting to buy an apartment in this building?”

“She is?”

“Yes! I just saw her in the lobby with her agent.”

“I wouldn’t worry too much about that. She’ll never get past the board, especially in one of her crazy caftans. Doesn’t that Ferrer lady on the third floor rule this building like Catherine the Great?”

“Mrs. Zao was stripped bare of makeup and dressed like a Scandinavian royal when I saw her in the lobby. And Ms. Ferrer is a huge fan of her father’s work. Apparently he’s some famous classical poet.”

“Why on earth is she choosing to move into this building? I would have thought she would want to buy in one of those ghastly glass skyscrapers along Fifty-Seventh, where all the other international gazillionaires live,” Charlotte wondered.

“Charlotte, get a clue! Now that I’ve broken things off with Cecil, she’s trying to force George on me, and she obviously thinks her moving into this building is going to help! From the very beginning in Capri, she’s been trying to get us together.”

Charlotte almost cracked a smile. “Well, my dear, she can’t force you to do anything. We all know that. But you know, I’ve come to see that she’s really not that bad. She’s awfully generous with your mother and me. She treated us to that lovely Korean spa night.”

“I didn’t realize you were that easy to buy off.”

“That’s not it. She’s actually quite amusing. She was telling us the most hilarious stories about her dating days in Hong Kong. She certainly is an authentic soul, that’s for sure.”

Lucie stood by her window, staring out onto Central Park pensively. “Why does everyone seem to think that I’ve broken up with Cecil because of George? First Auden Beebe accosts me in the park about it, and then Mrs. Zao actually has the audacity to try to invade my home! God knows what everyone will think when the news truly gets out that I’ve broken things off with Cecil, if it hasn’t already—Freddie’s been gossiping up and down Madison Avenue. I’m sure even the three guys at 3 Guys Restaurant know by now.”fn2

“Lucie, don’t you think you’re overreacting a little?”

“Absolutely not! You know what? I think I should go away. The Ortiz sisters are going to Mongolia to visit the reindeer people on horseback, and then they’re going to drive the Silk Road all the way from China to Italy, tracing the route of Marco Polo. I’m sure they’d love another driver. I can even call it a work trip. I mean, you never know what emerging artists I might discover along the way.”

“I really don’t think escaping to Mongolia is going to solve anything,” Charlotte gently suggested, worried by how worked up Lucie seemed to be getting.

Lucie paced her room. “Actually, it’s going to solve everything. Don’t you see I must go away for a long while until this all blows over?”

“I don’t understand. Why is this such a secret? Why are you acting like it’s the nineteenth century and you’re some cad who’s going to ruin a girl’s life by breaking off your engagement? You dumped Cecil. And I’m sure there’s going to be a thousand girls swarming around trying to land him the minute the news gets out.”

“I don’t want to give George or his mother any ideas. And I certainly don’t want our family to ever think that I’m interested in George Zao!”

“But what would it matter if you did?”

Lucie stared at her incredulously. “I can’t believe I need to spell things out for you. Don’t you see? It was already bad enough when I was engaged to Cecil. Can you imagine what would happen if I brought someone like George home? I can already hear the snide comments coming out of Teddy’s and Cacky’s mouths.”

“Oh my goodness, who cares about them?”

“Charlotte, you of all people were against my fraternizing with George when we first met him in Capri, or don’t you remember?”

Charlotte paused for a moment, trying to find the most delicate way to answer Lucie without spooking her. “You know, Capri seems like another lifetime. I hope you realize I have nothing against George. I mean, when you were nineteen and there was a risk of a drone sex video going viral, I had my concerns, but nothing about George concerns me anymore.”