I back away slightly. I’ve ruined it. “I apologize,” I say. “That was a poor choice of words.”
Evelyn doesn’t say anything.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Hugo. This is all a bit surreal for me.”
“You can call me Evelyn,” she says.
“OK, Evelyn, what’s the next step here? What, precisely, are we going to do together?” I take the coffee cup and put it up to my lips, sipping just the littlest bit.
“We’re not doing a Vivant cover story,” she says.
“OK, that much I got,” I say, putting the cup down.
“We’re writing a book.”
“We are?”
Evelyn nods. “You and I,” she says. “I’ve read your work. I like the way you communicate clearly and succinctly. Your writing has a no-nonsense quality to it that I admire and that I think my book could use.”
“You’re asking me to ghostwrite your autobiography?” This is fantastic. This is absolutely, positively fantastic. This is a good reason to stay in New York. A great reason. Things like this don’t happen in San Francisco.
Evelyn shakes her head again. “I’m giving you my life story, Monique. I’m going to tell you the whole truth. And you are going to write a book about it.”
“And we’ll package it with your name on it and tell everyone you wrote it. That’s ghostwriting.” I pick up my cup again.
“My name won’t be on it. I’ll be dead.”
I choke on my coffee and in doing so stain the white carpet with flecks of umber.
“Oh, my God,” I say, perhaps a bit too loudly, as I put down the cup. “I spilled coffee on your carpet.”
Evelyn waves this off, but Grace knocks on the door and opens it just a crack, poking her head in.
“Everything OK?”
“I spilled, I’m afraid,” I say.
Grace opens the door fully and comes in, taking a look.
“I’m really sorry. I just got a bit shocked is all.”
I catch Evelyn’s eye, and I don’t know her very well, but what I do know is that she’s telling me to be quiet.
“It’s not a problem,” Grace says. “I’ll take care of it.”
“Are you hungry, Monique?” Evelyn says, standing up.
“I’m sorry?”
“I know a place just down the street that makes really great salads. My treat.”
It’s barely noon, and when I’m anxious, the first thing to go is my appetite, but I say yes anyway, because I get the distinct impression that it’s not really a question.
“Great,” Evelyn says. “Grace, will you call ahead to Trambino’s?”
Evelyn takes me by the shoulder, and less than ten minutes later, we’re walking down the manicured sidewalks of the Upper East Side.
The sharp chill in the air surprises me, and I notice Evelyn grab her coat tightly around her tiny waist.