CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
ISLA
February.
She flew to the West Coast for a commission presentation — three days in Los Angeles, a residential project for a client referred directly from the Hudson Yards press coverage.
She called him from the hotel on the first night.
Not because she was lonely. Because it was the thing she did now — she told him things as they happened, the way she’d always believed a real relationship required.
“The presentation went well,” she said.
“I know,” he said. “You told me three times while you were preparing.”
“I was processing out loud.”
“I know,” he said. “I like it when you process out loud.”
She lay on the hotel bed and looked at the Los Angeles ceiling.
“It’s strange to be away,” she said.
“You’ve been away before.”
“I know.” She paused. “It’s different now.”
“Different how?”
“I miss the apartment,” she said. “The West Village apartment. Mine and—” She stopped. “Mine, where you’re sometimes. The specific quality of that space.”
He was quiet for a moment.
“I miss it too,” he said. “I went there tonight. Your keys were on the hook. I sat in your studio for an hour.” A pause. “I hope that’s all right.”
She thought about him sitting in her studio.
“Yes,” she said. “That’s all right.”
“What are you looking at right now?” he said.
“A Los Angeles ceiling.”
“Describe it.”
She looked at the ceiling.
“It’s white,” she said. “Textured, which is wrong — texture in ceilings is a 1980s decision that nobody has revisited. There’s a crown moulding that starts well and ends badly.
The proportions are—” She paused. “The proportions suggest a ceiling height that was decided by minimum clearance requirements rather than the experience of the room.” She paused.
“The room doesn’t know it’s supposed to feel luxurious. It’s trying.”
He laughed.
She lay on the bed and listened to him laugh.
She thought: yes. That. That’s the thing.
“Come back,” he said.
“Two more days,” she said.
“I know,” he said. “Come back.”
She smiled at the Los Angeles ceiling.
“Yes,” she said. “I’m coming back.”
She meant the hotel room.
She meant New York.
She meant more than either of those.