Rouge: A Novel

Mira wakes up the morning after her free treatment disoriented. She finds Chaz and Tad in the living room but is slow to realize who they are. Chaz tells her that her mother’s debts have all been mysteriously cleared. She jokes that she cleared the debts with money from black pearls she found in the lagoon as “[a] pretty way to stay, Stop asking me ugly money questions on this lovely morning, please” (171). She notices all the mirrors’ cracks have disappeared, and she is glowing.

Mira continues to experience the mental fog and blanks. Her reflection begins to take on a life of its own, wandering away from her. Her boss from the Montreal dress shop, Persephone, calls her. Although she is still in LA, she tells her boss that she will be back at work in the next few minutes. She goes to Belle of the Ball and begins to assist a customer. She ignores Persephone’s repeated calls and tells Sylvia she works here, in LA. The customer asks for her opinion. She struggles, intending to tell her the lies she wants to hear, while the mirror version of her wants to tell the customer the truth.