Pretty Things

One day earlier, Nina returns to their arrival and first impressions of Vanessa: Her highlights, puffy eyes, and sharp hip bones contrast with the perfect influencer they expected. Vanessa’s energetic greetings make Ashley cringe—Vanessa is a fake.

Nina says the inside of Stonehaven is the same. She comments on how the castle-like structure taught her the difference between her and the wealthy. It also made her appreciate beauty and prompted her to study art history. She compares the cluttered, claustrophobic space to the modern mansions where minimalism reigns.

The trio discusses Lachlan’s family castle, and Vanessa admits that she is lonely, but, hopefully, Nina and Lachlan (Ashley and Michael) will fix that. They have tea, and Nina thinks that Vanessa is deranged. Vanessa asks Nina if she has been to Tahoe. Nina replies: Never. Lachlan says that they came for the quiet. He is on sabbatical and plans to work on an experimental novel and drops the name of the Chilean author Roberto Bolaño. Nina told Lachlan about Bolaño, but in front of Vanessa, she has to pretend she does not know who he is.

The caretaker’s cottage, where Nina and Lachlan stay, is filled with antiques, and Nina sees something sincere in the messy assemblage of objects. The furniture reminds her of Benny. She wonders what Benny would think of her now.

Nina and Lachlan have a plan: They will plant tiny cameras throughout the house, watch the feeds on their laptop, pinpoint the safe in Stonehaven, take the money (and whatever else is in the safe), and then lay low nearby. Once Vanessa leaves, they will return and take everything.

As Nina stares at the bed that she and Benny had sex in, Lachlan tells her that he lost his virginity at 13 to his 18-year-old babysitter. Nina calls it abuse, and Lachlan says maybe, but, at the time, it did not feel like it.

Lachlan is 10 years older than Nina. He came to pick up Lily from a poker game and found her passed out in the bathroom. He called Nina and told her that Lily had cancer. Nina was living in Queens, scraping by as a third assistant for an interior designer who redecorated opulent vacation properties in the Hamptons. Sometimes, Nina pretended that the homes were hers. After Lachlan’s call, she came back to Los Angeles. Lachlan picked her up from the airport. He thought she looked just like her mom. Nina replied that they are nothing alike.

Nina struggles to be Ashley and to do yoga exercises early in the morning. Last night, Nina could not sleep. She dreamed about a beastly figure and thought about her mom. Vanessa offers her coffee, and they head to the library, where a picture of the Lieblings arrests her. Vanessa tells Nina about her family, and Nina recalls reading about Judith’s death online. She felt no sympathy.

As Vanessa confides in her, Nina realizes that her life is not perfect. Maybe Nina is a bad person for taking advantage of Vanessa. When Vanessa says that her dad died of cancer, Nina panics; she does not want to identify with Vanessa or understand what she is experiencing. When Vanessa asks Nina how her dad died, she lies—heart attack, and says they had a close relationship.

In the hall, Nina lies and says that she forgot her yoga mat. She runs into the library and hides a camera on the bookshelf. Returning with her yoga mat, Vanessa hugs her, and Nina feels her fluid identity: She is Nina, then Ashley, then Nina again. As Ashley she tells Vanessa that they are friends, but as Nina she still detests Vanessa.

Back in the cottage, the couple wonders if there are any weak points in their scam, and they watch Vanessa through the camera; Vanessa is on her phone. Nina is sad: Vanessa’s life is a screen. Nina wonders if they should stop the scam.

Nina remembers the hospital and confronting her mom about cancer—why did she not get treatment sooner or tell her? Lily says it does not seem bad, and she hates doctors. Lachlan is present and says he could use someone who knows about antiques. Lily tells Lachlan to lay off, and Nina is ambivalent, but when she sees the five-figure hospital bill, she calls Lachlan.

The first grift Nina pulls with Lachlan involves a predatory movie producer with a set of $120,000 Pierre Jeanneret chairs. Afterward, Nina feels sick, yet she agrees to do another job. Lachlan calls Nina a natural con.

The next morning at Stonehaven, Nina does yoga again. On the laptop, she watches Vanessa wandering around with her phone. Lachlan calls her useless, and Nina thinks that Vanessa is depressed. Nina reads Victorian novels (George Eliot is up first), and Lachlan watches true-crime shows on his laptop (he keeps some papers and books close by in case Vanessa comes).

Nina goes grocery shopping. While she was gone, Lachlan took a walk and ran into Vanessa, and they flirted. The next afternoon, Vanessa drops by and invites them on a hike to Vista Point. Lachlan shows off his toned stomach and says he could take a break from his writing.

On the drive, they pass the estate where filming occurred for the Mafia epic, The Godfather Part II (1974). Britney Spears is on the radio. Lachlan groans, and Nina wonders what kind of music Ashley should like. Lachlan says that he likes classical and jazz, and Vanessa says that she knows nothing about jazz. Lachlan tells Vanessa that she strikes him as artistic, and Vanessa blushes.

Out of the car and on the trail, Nina struggles—her muscles are sore, and she is out of breath. She wonders what Ashley would do. Ashley would meditate. Vanessa snaps a picture, and Nina grabs her phone and deletes it. She tells Vanessa that she is a private person.

Away from Vanessa, Lachlan calls Nina soft and reminds her not to let her emotions interfere. Lachlan tells her overtly sexual things, and they kiss when Vanessa stumbles upon them. Nina wonders if Vanessa is jealous. Nina says that she is cold, and Vanessa gives her a sweatshirt.

A storm arrives, and Nina would rather light a fire and read a book than go to Stonehaven for dinner, but she has to continue with the con. She and Lachlan fill their pockets with tiny cameras and are soaking wet as they run on the path from the cottage to Stonehaven.

Vanessa makes them cocktails then offers them some wine—Domaine Leroy—and Lachlan says that he had Domaine Leroy when he was at Holkham Hall with the Earl of Leicester. They toast to friendship, but Nina’s glass tastes like gasoline. She feels sick and throws up—maybe it was the tuna sub she ate earlier. Nina says that they should call off their plans for tonight, but Lachlan says that he can plant the cameras by himself.

Back in the cottage, Nina calls her mom and tells her about the food poisoning. The police came by once more, but Lily did not answer the door and she is not picking up the phone. Lily wonders if she should start the new treatment as she is not sure if they can afford it. Nina tells her mom to follow the doctor’s recommendations. She will get the money. Lily does not know how Nina will get the money, but she tells her to be careful.

Nina has a dream that she is at the bottom of Lake Tahoe and someone swims above her. She wakes up and goes to the computer: She sees 11 camera feeds, but she cannot see Lachlan and Vanessa. Lachlan returns and tells Nina he planted all the cameras. Unable to sleep, Nina watches Vanessa sleep on a feed. Nina compares herself to a vampire. She thinks that she sees Vanessa crying, but she is laughing.

Nina sees Vanessa and shows her a ring. Michael (Lachlan) proposed to Ashley (Nina) on the first night in Tahoe, and Nina claims that she wants to keep the fake $100,000 heirloom (Nina’s mom stole it from a drunk woman) in Vanessa’s safe. It is too big for her finger—they have to resize it—and Nina says that she feels she can trust Vanessa. In reality, Nina only wants to uncover the location of the safe.

Nina remembers Vanessa’s engagement with Victor, and Vanessa says that he dumped her two weeks after her dad died. He wanted to get into politics, and being with a social media star would hurt his image. Nina says that Victor does not deserve her, and Vanessa says that Victor is why she is back at Stonehaven.

Vanessa admits that her mom died by suicide, and Nina says that she had no idea. Vanessa understands. Due to social media, she feels like she cannot express suffering. Deviating from Ashley’s serene personality, Nina tells Vanessa to ditch social media and Stonehaven—start over. Vanessa thinks Nina is kidding, and Nina returns to being Ashley and offers Vanessa mindfulness exercises.

Vanessa puts the ring in the safe, and Lachlan, back at the cottage, watches Vanessa do it. They know where the safe is: behind a painting in the office.

An unnamed narrator returns for the first part of the chapter, and they turn the three characters into strangers. There’s a blond woman (Vanessa) and a couple (Nina/Ashley and Lachlan/Michael) in a mansion dining room (Stonehaven). The dark-haired woman (Nina) gets a fake phone call from her mom (there are apps for fake calls). The woman goes to the office and pulls off the oil painting of a British hunting scene. After a few tries, the woman unlocks the safe behind, but the safe is empty.

Nina returns as the narrator. She cannot believe that there is no money in the safe, but there is something: papers and files. She finds a 2006 letter in her mom’s handwriting. The letter’s addressee is William. Lily wants $500,000 or she will expose their affair. Nina is in shock, but she has to pull herself together: She is Ashley. Returning to Vanessa and Lachlan, Nina announces that her mom is in the hospital, so she has to go home.

Back in the cottage, Nina tells Lachlan that the safe is empty. Lachlan does not like her plan to go home, but Nina thinks that Lachlan can come up with another plan while she is gone.

Nina returns to her and her mom’s house in Los Angeles and scares her mom—she breaks a glass. Nina considers the medical bills and the consequences of the empty safe—it means they will have to be greedy and take a lot from Vanessa.

Nina tells Lily that she has been in Tahoe and wants to know what happened between her and William. Lily is silent, so Nina asks her if she was having an affair with William. Lily confirms the affair. She says she liked that he paid the bills and was working on a fake pregnancy con to get more money.

The plan fell apart. Lily was with William the day William caught Benny and Nina having sex. William became paranoid—he thought Lily and Nina were a team, so Lily could not go through with the pregnancy scam. Instead, she got $50,000 to leave. Back in Las Vegas, she wrote the letter, trying to blackmail him again. He did not answer. Once his wife died, Lily ditched the scheme.

Nina admits that she is a grifter and tells Lily about Stonehaven and the safe. Lily looks proud and asks if Nina plans to go back. Nina thinks that she will return and extract Lachlan and leave Vanessa alone—Vanessa has become a human to Nina. Before Nina can act on her new plan, the police arrive and take her away.