Chapter 160

• Elizabeth was exhausted when she got back to her apartment. She’d managed to finish the piece on the celebrity make-up artist after the party was over, but it had been a good two hours after Almeric Cabral had departed that she’d ushered the last of Blossom’s guests out of the door. Blossom, herself, had left at least half an hour earlier, giggling with her bearded escort, fluttering fingers at Elizabeth and showing no remorse at leaving her friend to clear the place up.
• In consequence, when Elizabeth did get home that afternoon, she still had to face the debris of the previous night’s festivities. She had dumped the remains of the cold buffet into the sink-disposal before she’d gone to bed, but she’d been too tired then to start picking up the rest of the mess.
• The first thing she did now was open all the windows. The smell of stale cigarette smoke and spilled beer was disgusting, and she leaned on the sill for a moment, taking in deep breaths of cool air.