F. Scott must have had days like this. Noted oenophile and novelist Jay McInerney had to be at his most creative recently when confronted by two suspicious girlfriends at the same time. McInerney had been dating Jeanine Pepler, an executive at First Look Artists, for two years when he began seeing 30-year-old Indian beauty Gitu Ramani, who works in the fashion world (she's credited with being a pashmina-craze catalyst), a fact that was noted on "Page Six." But when Pepler received an e-mail from Jay about dinner -- sent from Ramani's AOL account -- she'd had enough. She messaged Ramani, and the two began an e-mail relationship.

Finally, the dual girlfriends joined forces. They met at Ramani's apartment. Pepler called McInerney, with Ramani listening in, and confronted him. McInerney suavely told her he had no feelings for Ramani and that he loved only her. Minutes later, McInerney received a call from Ramani (with, of course, Jeanine listening in); he told her she was the only one.

Both women told him off, though Jeanine scooped him up again. And for a time, McInerney seemed haunted by love gone sour. First, a message appeared on his Website, giving his home number and encouraging readers to call him about his work; McInerney had to change his number. And Sonny Mehta was sent e-mail from "Jay" saying that he was ripping up his contract and giving up writing.

Ramani insists she played no role in either incident. "Every day, someone puts something nasty on his e," she says. "Jay and Jeanine are both nice people. I hope they're happy together."

"At least no one can accuse me of being a smooth operator" is all McInerney will say.

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• Archive: “Gotham: Life in the New City”
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