Chapter 4

Summary

• The protagonist meets again with Evelyn in her foyer and agrees to see Evelyn in her office in 30 minutes.
• In the interim, the protagonist decides to call her colleague Frankie to update her on the situation. She feels the need to pretend that the project is going according to plan in order to maintain control of it.
• She pulls from the lessons her father taught her about dealing with discomfort and uncomfortable situations – to breathe and endure until the discomfort passes. She applies this to her current situation to deal with her anxious thoughts and decisions about Evelyn and Frankie.
• The protagonist tells Frankie that Evelyn is initially reticent to talk about anything other than the auction. She emphasizes the importance of gaining Evelyn's trust first before attempting to get more information out of her, implying that everything is going okay.
• The protagonist asks Grace, who works in the kitchen, where Evelyn's office is. The protagonist describes the office as having flat charcoal gray walls, a golden beige area rug, large windows with dark blue curtains, built-in bookcases, and a grey-blue couch.
• When Evelyn joins the protagonist, she starts sharing her life story, starting from when she was a 14-year-old girl. She mentions her mother encouraging her to dream big about Hollywood, and how she had to take drastic steps to avoid being taken advantage of by her father and to break free from her poverty. She tells the protagonist about Ernie Diaz, a friend's neighbour, through whom she got to Hollywood.
• Evelyn emphasizes the message that in order to change one's life, they must be prepared to do whatever it takes. The protagonist understands and agrees with this notion, and decides to get started on the biography of Evelyn.
• The protagonist starts off by asking Evelyn a big question: who was the love of her life? Evelyn considers Harry Cameron to be her greatest friend, but not the love of her life. When asked who that person is, she evades the question and instead decides to wrap up their meeting, planning to pick up again on Monday.
• The protagonist agrees to continue the conversation on Monday, even though she feels that she may have done something to offend Evelyn. She can't shake off the feeling of tension in the room.
• Finally alone, the protagonist continues contemplating who could be the love of Evelyn Hugo's life, leaving her marriage problems aside for the first time.