The Muse's Undoing

“Yeah. Why?”

“I temped here.”

“At night?” I grin. “And you had no idea?”

“I remember thinking there were a lot of parties in the penthouse and that it was weird for a building to only have one penthouse.”

“You’re adorable. Did you know that?”

“Fuck you. I’m not the one who sings Moana songs in the shower.”

“Coco. I sing the Coco songs.”

“Whichever. You’re not half as cool as you think you are. That’s all I’m saying.”

I laugh. “I thought I was a badass reporter.”

“That was before I saw you eating colored Goldfish from a bowl last week.”

“I’m a complex person.”

“You’re about a summer away from making dad jokes and flirting with the moms in the pickup line.”

I show the Gramercy doorman my membership card, and he badges Matthew and me into the Penthouse elevator. “Dad jokes, huh? Is that how you see me?”

“Mostly I see you as uptight. Sort of nerdy and…guarded.”

“And you’re not?”

“We’re not talking about me,” he says.

“I’m not nerdy,” I say, heavily resenting that descriptor the most. Uptight—fine. Whatever. He’ll see in about thirty seconds I’m the exact opposite of uptight. “Is this because I wear reading glasses?”

“No. I like the glasses. I’m talking about all those articles you write and the shit you read.”

“It’s not shit?—”

“You know what I mean. It’s not fun either.”

“Fun is relative. What do you read?” I ask.

“Haha,” Matthew says as the elevator doors slide open into the dark lobby with today’s corseted hostess. “Make fun of the ADHD kid. How original.”

I smirk, putting a hand on his lower back. “Ladies first,” I tell him.

He steps into the foyer, and I follow. “Emilia, this is my brother, Matthew. He’s my guest tonight.”

The tall, platinum-haired sex worker checks her list with a penlight. Tonight she’s wearing glitter eye-shadow, and her straight hair is in a tight ponytail. The severity of her features is reminiscent of Lady Gaga.

“We’re not blood related,” Matthew says to her. “He’s adopted.”

I glare at him. “Should I get that tattooed on my hand?”

“Just saying…”

“Welcome, gentlemen. Anything I can get for you?”

“We’ll let you know,” I say before Matthew asks for something ridiculous.