"Elena, you've got to go!"
Elena sighed deeply. "I never told you what happened to me when I was in California."
"I didn't know you'd ever even been there?"
"God, I don't want to think about it, but I guess I have to try tell you..." Elena moved to the window. "You know how much I love you, I'd do anything for you but what happened there...it's why I'm going to a Shrink." Her voice was soft. "It was the most traumatic moment in my life."
"Elena, you don't have to tell me." Except for that morning in the ladies room, Marian had never seen Elena so upset.
"Couldn't Ferris go with you?" Elena was looking out at the dark sky. "I
know
Ferris is the reason why you don't want to make the trip."
"You know?" ...Could Elena have found out about Ferris and the girl...? "You know what?" Marian asked, trying to keep her voice under control.
"You and Ferris just can't bear to be apart for more than a day. Don't you ever get bored? You could you wheedle him — sometimes men are such babies. I can wrap Dennis around my little finger without even trying. Have I told you about Chang? She's a gourmet cook who fell in love with me — a food freak even more than Dennis — so I introduced them and now we all get together on weekends."
It wasn't like Elena to go on about her lovers, in the middle of a serious discussion. "Why don't we talk about this tomorrow when we're not so tired," Marian said brightly.
Elena turned around abruptly.
"Mr. Robert Wexler is going to be at the board meeting, Mari."
"So?"
There was something about Elena's manner that struck Marian as very strange.
"Wexler thinks we should be fund-raising for him, exclusively. He's going to try and convince the board to that effect."
"He must be joking!"
Marian was stunned. She knew from the look on her assistant's face that it was not a joke.
"Wexler likes me, Mari. Maybe I should use my feminine wiles?" Elena smiled. "Of course, I wouldn't want to do anything without your permission, Mari. But I think it's worth a try?"
Marian nodded.
"Why don't I phone Wexy and invite him out for a quiet lunch?"
"Elena, I don't know what I'd do without you!"
++++++++++
Chapter 30
Wendy didn't know what to do. It was an important meeting — three lawyers, the handsome Mr. Bennett and Mr. Brinkerhoff. And Ferris had said there were to be no interruptions. She shook her head. "I'm sorry Mrs. Peterson, he's still tied up, I'll give Mr. Cooper your message as soon as he's finished."
"That's what you said an hour ago, hon. Tell him Myra Peterson's on the line!!" The woman yelled, "
I've got to speak to him now!
"
"As soon as he's finished, I'll give him your number."
"With whom am I speaking? "
"I'm the secretary — Wendy Corman. They should be finished soon."
"Wendy, if you like your job, put this call through. I assure you Mr. Cooper is going to be very angry if you don't. Very
very
upset."
"Well..."
"This is a personal matter of the utmost importance to Ferris!"
Wendy buzzed.
Charles picked up.
"I don't know what to do, there's a Mrs. Myra Peterson on the other line insisting on talking to Ferris," Wendy whispered. "She's really upset!"
"I can't interrupt now, he's talking money," Charles said quietly.
Wendy could hear the men's voices in the background. "Mrs. Peterson's already phoned three times, Charles!"
"Mrs. Peterson — she's called here before as I recall. Put her on hold, Wendy. I'll come out and see if I can't soothe her."
When Wendy returned from the lavatory with fresh lipstick and combed curls, Charles had hung up the phone. The lawyers were shaking hands in the outer office. Ferris was folding a check, putting it into his jacket pocket, saying, "We'll be working on the title, O.A., and I'll certainly read your book tonight!."
"South Carolina is beautiful this time of year", the handsome Mr. Bennett said, as Wendy slid around him to get to her desk chair. "Bring along your pretty secretary, there's always room for a pretty girl on a horse farm."
Wendy knew she was supposed to act as if she were a permanent part of the staff, so she rolled paper into her typewriter, started writing a letter to a college friend. Then, she had to keep on typing because as soon as the clients left, there was trouble. She wasn't sure whether to excuse herself and go home, or just keep typing and try not to listen.
"You better phone your girl friend right away!" Charles said, handing a paper to Ferris with Andrea's number on it.
"What the Hell are you talking about?"
"Sleeping pills, her friend says!"
"Oh my God." Ferris gasped.
"Nembutal — about fifty of them — according to the friend."
Ferris was dialing the number.
"Have you a Doctor you can call, someone discreet?" Charles asked.
Ferris, white as a sheet, shook his head. "God help us, Andrea's not answering!" He grabbed his brief case, and was out the door. "Wendy call my wife and tell her — don't tell her anything — just tell Marian I've been delayed!"
++++++++++
Chapter 31
Marian thanked Wendy and hung up, but the phone rang again almost immediately. She picked it in the middle of the first ring. "Yes —?"
"Um…ah…he-llo?" the voice stuttered.
Marian knew it was HER. She'd caught HER off guard by answering so quickly.
She was angry. She wanted to say — "If you don't stop bothering me, I'm going to report you to the police."
"I was calling to find my Mommy," a quiet little girl voice announced. Then the child banged down the phone so that it hurt Marian's ear.
It was just a wrong number!
Marian was aware of her own burning ears, flushed face and trembling hands.
...What a stupid jealous idiot I am, reacting like that to the phone! And it was just a little girl — she couldn't have been more than eight or nine-years-old....
It was just seven o'clock.
Marian held up a candlestick to see if Felipe had polished it. The glossy surface was a mirror, telling her — "hair and makeup O.K., green taffeta hostess gown a flattering contrast with complexion and eyes."
A thought went out to Jeanna Dawson. Was the housewife of 14-B in a gown, table set, dinner ready? And what about 14-C, and the housewife of 14-A? Marian was envisioning them all. The sense of being synchronized with other dining rooms pervaded every gesture as Marian positioned the napkins, put cocktail glasses in the freezer, tested vegetables and tasted the curry. The housewife of 14-D was waiting and ready, clock-watching ready, ever so slightly restless ready to welcome home her husband.
Passing from kitchen to dining room, the glass doors affirmed that hair had no wisps, gown was hanging perfectly. Remembering Mary Ellen's mother in the pink hostess gown, Marian adjusted her own crisp, mandarin collar. Clumsy, crayon stained Marian Melnik seemed light years away. If eyes could see through the bricks and plaster sides of the building, glamorous Mrs. Warner would have been just one more member of the corps in the ballet of seven-o'clock-wives. And what about Mary Ellen — was her dinner ready? Did her husband have young women running after him too?
"What a day!" Ferris put down his brief case and hugged Marian. "God, you're a sight for sore eyes, you look beautiful dear. You're not expecting anyone are you? I've been looking forward to just the two of us tonight."
"Score ONE, Marian," Marian thought to herself. His compliment was a reward for the trouble she had gone to, making herself the hostess — fresh, relaxed and beautiful for his enjoyment.
"I'm glad you had Wendy phone. What was the delay?"
"Oh, it was nothing — just a hoax."
"What kind of a hoax?"
"Guess what? A check's in my pocket — a big one!"
"You got the new client?" Marian ushered him into his study, hurried off to get the frozen glass for his cocktail. "Keep talking darling, I can hear you."
"A terrific new client," Ferris called out to Marian. "Even bigger than we thought — OAy's
Farm
Kitchens
."
"What's the 'O.A.' stand for?" Marian returned with the ice and glasses.
"Owen Arthur — O.A. is his nickname. The Brinkerhoff's all have nicknames. The
Farm
Kitchens
are very successful restaurants in the south." Ferris continued describing O.A.'s plans for farm kitchens throughout the United States as Marian ushered him into the dining room.
During the wine and the shrimp cocktail, Ferris tried out different names for his new client. "'OAy's,' or 'OAy's Kitchens,' or what about 'OAy's Oasis?'"
"A chain of restaurants sounds very ambitious."
"It's a big enterprise and there may be other areas where
Cooper-Riche
can do a service. O.A. has written a book. I've got to read it tonight, he gave me an extra copy to give to you."
"What kind of book is it?"
"Don't laugh, its called "
O.A. Sez
.
"
"Darling, you
are
joking? He can't be serious about the name?"
"The title can be changed," There was a tinge of irritation in Ferris' voice. "It's recipes, plus O.A.'s ideas about good living and good eating." Ferris didn't want to get into a critical discussion until he'd read it. "Courtney seems to feel that the book might be an interesting side-product if publicized correctly."
"What is Courtney's position in all this? "
"He may be the power behind the throne, haven't got the power structure figured out yet but at the very least, I'm in." Ferris corrected himself. "
We're
in, Charles and I."
"It's just what you needed." With minimal gestures, so she wouldn't distract him, she proceeded to serve the curry that was steaming hot, just the way Ferris liked it best. "The title may be a bit unusual, but it certainly stays in the mind."
"The book might just be the right gimmick. After all, why does one soup sell, and another doesn't?"
"A gimmick," Marian echoed.
Ferris tasted the curry but he still too tense to eat. "Courtney came up with the idea for making the restaurants into health spas — putting in tanning rooms, swimming pools, maybe a movie theater — all in the same physical plant."
"Sounds like a very shrewd idea."
"I suggested we research it with questionnaires to find out what the customer wants. Court wants me to get on it right away."
"You two certainly seem to get along well."
"We're on the same wave length. You certainly made a big impression on him."
"You mean at the screening party...What did he say?"
Ferris did an imitation of the elegant giant with his long black cigarette holder. "She's quite a baby doll, your wife!"
Baby doll
made her think of Rickey, the "Andrea" clothes hanging in the closet. Suddenly the collar of her gown seemed to be hot, chokingly tight about her neck. "Is it warm in here?" she asked.
"It's your curry, it generates heat from within." Ferris said.
The Chablis was from the case the Coopers had bought during that home-coming-honeymoon-weekend that hadn't been a honeymoon, but a very bad time. The wine was delicate, with a slightly bitter aftertaste as were Marian's memories of that day.
In the goblet mirror, her green gown looked a spiteful sallow yellow and her face had an embryonic evil-eyed egg-shape. She pushed the goblet away. She straightened up and brushed back the short ends of hair that were straggling. She could see from the way Ferris was eating that her dinner was successful.
...Score
TWO
for the hostess...
The mood Ferris was generating was a rainbow bubble around them. Jeanna's paperback manual which Marian had been reading, was reminding Marian in its snappy book voice, "Communicate! Sex partners are pals! Ask him what he wants! Tell him what you want!" She started to laugh as she drained the last drops from her goblet and poured herself another. "Do you want me to refill your glass?"
Ferris nodded "So, I told Courtney I could be ready around noon, Friday. I should be back a week from Sunday night."
"Oh? Where? You're talking about this weekend?" Marian realized that she hadn't been paying proper attention.
"Courtney's farm in South Carolina, like I said."
"Oh?" She had not heard him mention a farm in South Carolina. She didn't feel tipsy but she didn't feel entirely sober.
"I'll be doing a lot of riding, but it'll be good for me, I'm afraid I've been enjoying our dinners too much, lately."