ACT II

Rose lives in a Park Avenue apartment and hosts a drinks party every Saturday night, but like everyone in New York is scraping to get by. Her family owned oil leases in Louisiana that were cancelled. When she finds out that Andy is the inventor of Roxy, she makes him her prey. She introduces him to New Enterprise Associates (NEA), a venture capital firm which offers to invest $30 million for 50% of the company’s equity. Andy is the CEO, Arthur is the Chief Marketing Officer, and Christopher is the Chief Technology Officer. They design a Roxy logo and hire staff. Rose hosts a backer’s audition with investment bankers to promote Roxy, and Andy turns her living room into a virtual concert hall. But Andy needs a government license to operate the business, and Rose conspires with Brett Somerset, Andy’s cousin, behind his back. Brett Somerset is a businessman in New York with a "fixer" in Washington who has the right contact at the Federal Trade Commission. Andy falls unwittingly into their trap. Rose seduces Andy to close the deal, and inserts a sensor into his neck while he is sleeping. The launch of Roxy is wildly successful. The crowd in the concert hall is ecstatic. But the company’s value craters when the license is denied. Andy discovers the conspiracy while hiding behind a curtain in Rose’s bedroom. His sense of betrayal is doubled when he learns that Rose loves women, not men. He tumbles out the window in the middle of the night, and wakes up in the alley the next day penniless and suicidal. Brett buys a controlling interest in Roxy for pennies, gives Andy’s founder’s equity to Rose, and re-names the company "Fiesta.” Andy walks the streets alone and is about to throw himself into the Hudson River when a horse-and-carriage appears. The carriage takes him to the Curiosity Shop. There, the Dealer shows Andy the Skin. The inscription on the back describes the devil’s bargain: Andy can have anything he wants, everything he desires, but the Skin will grow smaller as each desire is fulfilled. Andy, with nothing left to lose, takes the Skin and wishes for a banquet. He mocks the Dealer when it doesn't immediately materialize. "My wish for you is to fall in love with a younger woman,” he tells him. As Andy leaves the shop, he bumps into Arthur and Christopher on the sidewalk; and they whisk him off to the closing dinner for Fiesta. The dinner is in Brett's penthouse apartment in Steinway Tower, which he has purchased with his IPO proceeds. When Andy confronts Brett, Brett admits to the conspiracy but says, “Rose is the person who betrayed you. For me, it was just business.” Courtesans serve coffee and after-dinner drinks in the drawing room. Later that night, Andy confides to Christopher that he has put a Trojan Horse in the code for Roxy that will cause Fiesta to crash in a year's time. Before he goes to sleep, he traces the Skin's outline on a napkin and makes a wish: “I want to be wealthy!” When the Guests assemble for breakfast the next morning, Andy learns that a distant relative has died and left him a fortune. He doubles over in pain. His wish has come true. He places the Skin on the napkin and sees that it has shrunk. "Can I get you something?" a Guest asks. "I want nothing!" Andy thunders in reply.