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But hold on, Jaht He had o, his agent had informed him that if the sales of his book continued at the same rate—and there was no reason to think they wouldn’t—he would earn at least twonehen James returned to New York and his daily routine, he saw that his circu as Ja his odd little life in his odd little apart this teek break fro to do

Ja out onto the lowest of the Rices’ three terraces He leaned over the edge, looking up and down Fifth Avenue It, too, was exactly the sa into the bottolass, felt e over his head; he had nothing to co his head And yet he didn’t feel content Stepping back through the French doors, he looked at the crowd and wished he were still in the Meith Lola

The next afternoon, Jaton Park Deter to find Lola an apartment Mindy would have been shocked at his industriousness, he thought wryly, but Mindy never needed his help, and Lola did Afterseveral calls, Redht be available in her building on Eighteenth Street and Tenth Avenue The rent was fourteen hundred dollars adown the owner, who had not only heard of his book but had read it and loved it, Jaeone to the bank and, feeling like a cri toward the park, he found Lola already waiting She hadand hadn’t bothered to wash it away “Are you all right?” he asked

“What do you think?” she said bitterly “I feel like a ho me a hundred and fifty a month I have no place to sleep And the bathroo I’ out?”

“I brought you so that should really make you happy” He paused for effect, then said proudly, “I think I may have found you an apartment”

“Oh, James,” she exclaimed

“It’s only fourteen hundred a month If you like it, we can use the cash to pay your first month’s rent and a deposit”

“Where is it?” she asked cautiously When he told her, she looked disappointed “It’s so far west,” she said “It’s practically on the river”

“It’s within walking distance of One Fifth,” James assured her “So we can visit each other all the time”

Nevertheless, Lola insisted on taking a taxi The cab pulled up to a siven the location, had probably once been a flophouse On the street level was an Irish bar He and Lola walked up a narrow staircase to a short hallith a linoleu the handle, James found the door open and he and Lola went in It was a tiny space, no bigger than three hundred square feet—a room, really, in a normal person’s house—with a tiny closet, a tiny bathroom with a shower, and two cupboard doors that opened to reveal a ht and located on a corner, so it had ts

“Not bad,” James said

Lola’s heart sank Had she really fallen so low in the short nine months she’d been in New York?

The landlady was a salt-of-the-earth type with a pile of bleached hair and a New York accent Her faest requirement, after an ability to pay, was “nice” people Was Lola perhaps Jahter? No, Jah time with an ex-boyfriend who’d dumped her The perfidy of men was one of the landlady’s favorite topics; she was always happy to help out a fellow feement a done deal The apartment, he declared, reminded him of his first apartment in Manhattan and how thrilled he’d been to have his own space and to be ood old days,” he said to the landlady, peeling off three thousand dollars in hundreds The extra two hundred would be used to cover Lola’s utilities

“Now all you need is a bed,” Jaet you a foldout couch? There’s a Door Store on Sixth Avenue” Walking east, Jalum expression “What’s the matter?” he asked “You don’t look happy Aren’t you relieved to have your own apartment?”

Lola was in a panic She hadn’t planned on getting an apart little place She’d meant to take the money from Philip and James—thirty thousand in total—and install herself in Soho House, from where she would relaunch herself into New York society in style How had her plan gone awry so quickly? And now three thousand dollars were gone “I didn’t expect it to happen this suddenly,” she said