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It was a busy morning, but most mornings were busy. At eight o’clock was the morning meeting, where Paul had to briefly, briefly summarize what was going on with the companies he covered. To talk about what had changed. (If all twelve people at the meeting got into the weeds, the meeting could go on forever.) He kept it crisp and dry. A few people kicked the tires, but that was okay. They all got paid on the whole portfolio’s performance, so everyone had a stake. It was a fast-moving meeting, and you had to pay attention.

After work, he met Rick and his wife, Mary Louise, for a drink at the Campbell Apartment in Grand Central Station. Rick had just gotten a promotion, to running his small nonprofit office, the Lamson Foundation. Instead of champagne, they toasted his promotion with glasses of Brooklyn Lager, which Rick was partial to.

Rick was also partial to WrestleMania, his secret vice, which he proceeded to talk about at length instead of his promotion.

“Oh, Lord, not this again,” Mary Louise said. She put her hands over her ears theatrically. She was thin to the point of skinny and had black hair with gray salted in, a button nose, and a generous mouth that was usually smiling. She crossed her eyes comically, a cute habit she had.

Rick said, “Tonight we’re also celebrating Mary Louise.”

“Why’s that?” Paul said.

“You know her podcast?” Mary Louise had a podcast about middle-class people who’d become fentanyl victims. “It just got picked up by Pushkin Industries.”

“That’s fantastic,” Paul said. He knew that Pushkin Industries was some kind of big podcasting enterprise.

Mary Louise shrugged, smiled modestly.

“Oh, and one more thing to toast,” Rick said. “Paul has a new girlfriend.”

“ Okay ,” Mary Louise said. The way she said it implied great skepticism. “How long have you been going out?”

“Couple months,” Paul said.

“Who is she, what does she do?” said Mary Louise. “Come on, let’s have the full debrief.”

Paul told them the story of how he and Tatyana had met. “She’s a really talented photographer,” he said. “Very smart and very emotionally intuitive.”

“Meaning nice boobs,” Rick said, ribbing his old friend.

Mary Louise smacked Rick’s shoulder, and Paul said, “I love spending time with her.”

“She must be beautiful,” Mary Louise said. “All the women you go out with are beautiful.”

Paul hesitated for a moment. “Well, I think so,” he said. “More important, she has a sense of humor, she’s empathic, she’s interesting.”

“Wow,” Mary Louise said. “What’s wrong with her?”

Paul shook his head: nothing .

“What do her parents do?” she asked.

“I have no idea,” Paul admitted. “I know they’re Russian, and they’re a close family.”

“I can see the stars in your eyes,” Mary Louise said. Putting her hand over her husband’s, she said, “He’s in love.” Then, turning back to Paul: “Does that mean you’re going to cancel your Tinder account?”

“Already have,” Paul said. “Anyway, I look forward to introducing you guys to her. She’s something special. I could marry her.”

“Oh, please,” Mary Louise said with the knowing smile of the long married. “Couple months? You hardly know her.”