"No, I actually don’t know him well. But the chair of the luxe division, Barry, the one I’d asked to delay his flight back here, is a good friend of William’s.  So I went to the after-party in Barry’s place.  I thought it would be rude to William if I’d sent a deputy, even if I very much loathe glitz events, anything where there’d be press, or schmooze parties in general."

 

Tina raised her eyebrows, "Really?" She smiled her thanks at the waiter, who had brought another glass of her drink over.  "So why the huge spread in French Vogue?," she asked as she took a long drink. They’d reduced the gin in this one, she smiled to herself.

 

Marissa laughed lightly,"Surprised you know that one. I thought that wouldn’t come stateside. Hmmm… that’s what they assured me, at least," she frowned slightly.

 

She finished her drink, as her order arrived.  Tina looked at the plate they’d brought for Marissa curiously.  Meanwhile, Marissa ordered a glass of Dom Perignon, looking at Tina to ask if she wanted one also.  Tina raised her eyebrows, " I didn’t think they served that by the glass."

 

Marissa shrugged, "Do you want to join me?"

 

Tina nodded, and Marissa looked at the waiter, who nodded as he took Marissa’s goblet.

 

Another waiter came with Tina’s Cobb salad. As he ground some fresh pepper on her salad, Tina looked around him and nodded at Marissa’s order, "I didn’t know they had lobster in the menu."

 

Marissa shook her head, and answered, "No they don’t, at least not this season. But I had some brought over the other night, from Maine.  I had dinner here with Wendy, and there was one that we didn’t have cooked. So they kept it alive for me, and just cooked it now."

 

Tina shook her head slightly, with a bemused smile, thinking to herself, "Must be nice to have one of New York’s most exclusive dining clubs do your every bidding."

 

The waiter was bringing Tina’s champagne flute as Marissa continued, "Anyway, to answer your question — basically I lost a bet with the chairman of Airbus, and the choices I had to settle things with him were to either spend a weekend with him and his family in the French Riviera this coming summer, along with my significant other, or do something like that magazine spread, " she laughed lightly again. Shaking her head at the memory, because he’d been sure that he would finally get to meet the mysterious lover Marissa was rumored to have, knowing that Marissa would never agree to something like a magazine spread, given her extreme aversion to publicity or the press.