The next evening, she arrived with a stack of glistening stopboxes containing sushi, sashimi, oysters in their shells, and Terran vegetables fresh plucked from their hydroponic beds. Wondering about the reason for her extravagance, I asked how work had gone that day. "Emil came in. He's taking Dream's End." "Emil?" "You've no memory left, old one. Emil Malaquez." You did that to test my affections." "What?" "Calling him by his first name. I did that in a comedy once.'Nights with Karl and Groucho.' It was before your time." "The critics liked it." "I'm glad." A moment later: "That's not why I called him 'Emil'." "No. We lunched together. He's nice." 
Who is wondering about the extravagance and what did think was being tested?
Dream's End