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“I guess I could,” Lola said, sounding uncertain Sitting on the edge of the pool at Soho House, she dipped her toe into the warm, murky water She wanted the job but didn’t want to appear too eager After all, even though Philip would technically be her e with men, it was always important to keep the upper hand “Hoo o’clock?”

“Perfect,” Philip said, relieved, and hung up the phone

Back at Soho House, the waiter approached Lola and warned her that cell phones were not allowed in the club, even on the roof Lola gave hiood news Then she slathered herself with more sunscreen and lay down on a chaise She closed her eyes, fantasizing about Philip Oakland and One Fifth Maybe Philip would fall in love with her and marry her, and then she’d live there, too

“It’s beautiful,” Annalisa said, stepping into the foyer of Mrs Houghton’s apartment

Billy clutched his heart “It’s a hton lived here”

“I did see it,” Mindy said “It was very old-lady”

The aparts, and silk draperies; as left were dust bunnies and faded wallpaper Atthe chipped paint and scuffed parquet floors The ser foyer with a sunburst inlaid in the rand staircase ascended Three sets of tall wooden doors opened to a living roo room, and library Billy, lost inrooth of the front of the apart Fifth Avenue Two pairs of French doors led to a ten-foot-wide terrace “Oh, the parties she had here,” he said, gesturing around the room “She had it set up like a European salon, with couches and settees and conversational clusters You could fit a hundred people in this roo room “She had everyone to dinner I remember one dinner in particular Princess Grace She was so beautiful No one had any idea that a month later, she’d be dead”

“People rarely do,” Mindy said dryly

Billy ignored this “There was one long table for forty I do think a long table is so ant than those round tables for ten that everyone does these days But I suppose there’s no choice No one has a large dining roohton always said one never wanted more than forty people at a sit-down dinner It was all about roup”

“Where’s the kitchen?” Mindy asked Although she’d been in the apartment once before, it had been only a cursory tour, and now she felt envious and intirandly, but the grand living appeared to have taken place before Mindy and Ja doors, Billy pointed out the butler’s pantry and, farther on, the kitchen itself, which was surprisingly crude, with a linoleum floor and Formica countertops “She never came in here, of course,” Billy explained “No one did except the staff It was considered a form of respect”

“What if she wanted a glass of water?” Annalisa asked

“She would call on the phone There were phones in every room, and each room had its own line It was considered very hties”

Annalisa looked at Mindy, caught her eye, and smiled Until then Mindy hadn’t knohat to ed to appear self-contained and confident, without revealing a peep of information about herself Perhaps Annalisa Rice had a sense of humor after all

They went up to the second floor, exae bathroo room, where, Billy noted, he and Louise had spent many pleasant hours They peeked into the three bedrooms down the hall and then went up to the third floor “And here,” Billy said, throwing open two paneled doors, “is the pièce de résistance The ballroom”

Annalisa walked across the black-and-white-checkerboardin the do and the fireplace and the French s The rooined that such a roo in New York City Manhattan was full of wonderful secrets and surprises Gazing around, Annalisa thought that she had never desired anything in her life as much as this apartment