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Music is melodic trip-hop on the level where Jareen couch below aus everywhere, a giant digital clock face glows in the dark, projected yards above us on the ceiling, and we’re doing mellow coke Ja blender froe slushy tequila punches and soed into black Jil Sander, and unimportant paparazzi try to snap so a little too wired to be ca, "Hey, she needs her privacy Jesus-we’re just people," and so up their interest, and I watch, a little disappointed, as the paparazzi follow, leaving us behind Shadows are being taken aside and whispered to We light each other’s cigarettes

"Thank you, Victor," Ja "You didn’t need to be that, u so protective

"Everyone’s so thin and gorgeous, baby," I’h me "And their teeth are, like, white It’s not exactly how I remember London, baby"

"Well, since most of the people here are Americans I wouldn’t worry about your

"I thought you’d be ihs

"What do you think of this place?" I ask, reen couch

"Well," she says, looking around, "I think it looks a little too much like a new Philippe Starck hotel"

"Too , confused "I think it’s multi-useful, but baby, I don’t want to talk about interior design, baby"

"Well, what do you want to talk about?" she says "Besides yourself

"No, baby, I wanna talk about you" Pause "Well, you and me"

Another pause "But let’s start with you Can I have the coke?"

She slips the vial into uys whose ex-girlfriends never get over theht?"

I turn to the wall, do a few quick blasts and offerit’s fine, then I slip the vial back to her while she waves over to so to Oliver Payton The guy in the suit waves back so pythons