Happy Birthday: A Novel

“Thank you,” she said simply. “I’m fine,” she reassured him, and wanted to get off the subject. She tried to make that clear to him.

“I’m here if you need me,” he said again, and then disappeared into the wine cellar. He had said enough. He had let her know that he cared about her as a person, and would be happy to as a woman, if she let him. She didn’t seem to be open to it now. He hoped she would be one day. Maybe when the baby was born. He wasn’t going anywhere, and it touched his heart to know that she was pregnant and alone. He was a good man. But April didn’t want him that way. Right now, she wanted Mike or no one. She couldn’t think about getting involved with anyone while carrying someone else’s child. That was too complicated for her. It was convoluted enough as it was, without adding someone else to the mix. She was better off alone now anyway, she told herself. She had enough on her mind.

Jack called Valerie in her office that afternoon. She sounded busy, and said she was interviewing someone and would call him back. He assumed it was for her show, but as she hung up, she was sitting across her desk from a young woman the Human Resources office had sent her as a possible assistant to replace Marilyn, and Valerie didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Her name was Dawn. She had a nose ring, and a diamond stud just above her lip. Her hair was dyed jet black with a royal blue streak in it and spiked with gel, and she had colorful tattoos of cartoon characters up and down each arm. She also had tattoos of a red rose on the back of each hand. Other than that she was neatly dressed in jeans, high heels, and a short-sleeved black sweater. She sounded intelligent, had gone to Stanford, and she was twenty-five years old. She was a far cry from the beloved assistant Valerie had worked with for years.

Dawn said she had been working in London since she graduated, first at British Vogue and then at a decorating magazine, but life in England had become too expensive, so she had come back to New York. She had never worked in television before, but her mother was an interior designer in Greenwich, Connecticut, and Dawn had worked for her in the summer all through high school and college, so the world of decorating wasn’t unfamiliar to her. She had been assigned to the Home section of British Vogue, and had eventually moved to The World of Interiors. She had majored in journalism in college, and Valerie could see she was a bright girl. She tried not to focus on the way Dawn looked, although the diamond stud above her lip kept catching Valerie’s eye. She certainly didn’t look like a girl from Greenwich. But she answered everything Valerie said, directly and intelligently. By the time the interview was over, Valerie couldn’t think of a reason not to hire her, other than the way she looked, which she knew was not politically correct or a valid reason, but it made her miss Marilyn more than ever.

“I’m sorry about your assistant,” Dawn said quietly as she stood up. She had good manners, as well as being bright, and seemed very poised. Valerie would have loved her if it weren’t for the pierces, tattoos, and hair. “It must be hard for you to change after working with her for so long.”

“Yes, it is,” Valerie admitted with a sigh. “The whole thing was terrible and very sad. We lost eleven.” Dawn nodded respectfully and shook Valerie’s hand as she was preparing to leave. Her handshake told Valerie that she was confident but not forceful. She liked the fact that Dawn seemed sure of herself without being overbearing, and Valerie wondered. Maybe it didn’t matter how she looked. She was clean and neat, although her style was as far from Valerie’s as you could get.

“I don’t mind working long hours, by the way,” Dawn volunteered. “I don’t have a boyfriend. I live in the city, and I love to work. Weekends are okay too.” She was very appealing in a lot of ways. She was quick, bright, and willing, even if Valerie thought she looked weird. She wondered what April would think about her, and suspected she might like her. But April could afford to have someone who looked like that in her kitchen, a lot more easily than Valerie could, meeting guests on her show. But if Valerie liked her, which she did, maybe others would too. She was trying valiantly to be open-minded about it, and told Dawn that the Human Resources office would let her know. Valerie made no commitment to her before she left. She needed time to think about it.

Half an hour later, Valerie picked up the phone with a sigh and called HR.

“So, what did you think?” the head of HR asked her. Dawn was the first candidate Valerie had seen, but she had to admit she was a good one. And her work credentials and references were excellent.

“I think she’s smart as a whip even if she looks like a freak. I hate the pierces and the hair, and the tattoos.”

“I know. I figured you would. She’s about as opposite from Marilyn as humanly possible. But I liked her too. I figured you wouldn’t take her, but I thought I’d give it a shot. She’s everything you want, just the wrong look.” It was true. She was young and fun and dying to work. She had watched Valerie’s show before the interview and made intelligent comments about it. “Don’t worry about it, Valerie. I’ll tell her no. She knew it was a long shot too, and said it to me. Not everyone wants an assistant with cartoon characters up and down their arms, although I thought Tweety Bird and Tinker Bell were pretty cute.”

“She’ll be sorry about those when she’s fifty,” Valerie said sensibly, and then stunned the head of HR. “Hire her. I’ll take her. I like her. She’s smart. I can live with Tinker Bell and Tweety Bird. I need someone who can do the job, and I think she can. She knows nothing about weddings and entertaining, but she knows decorating. I can teach her the rest.” She had taught Marilyn everything from scratch — she had been a schoolteacher before she went to work for Valerie, and had been the best assistant Valerie had ever had till now.

“Are you serious?” the surprised head of HR asked, impressed by Valerie’s decision. It showed an openness to new ideas she didn’t know Valerie had.

“I am,” Valerie said firmly. “When can she start?”

“She said tomorrow if you want. If you don’t mind, I’d rather start her next week, so we can process her and get all the paperwork done.”

“That’s fine,” Valerie said easily.

“I think you made a good decision,” the head of HR complimented her.

“I hope so. We’ll see,” Valerie said optimistically, and she called Jack back the moment she hung up, a little shocked herself by her decision. Jack apologized for having interrupted her earlier.

“It was fine,” she reassured him, as she leaned back in her chair and sighed again, trying not to think of Marilyn and miss her as much as she did. “I was interviewing a new assistant.”

“That must be hard for you,” he said sympathetically. “They’re interviewing here for Norman’s job. We haven’t found anyone yet. It’s too depressing even thinking about it.”

“I know. I hired her,” Valerie said, and then she laughed. “She’s right out of a sci-fi movie, with pierces all over her face and blue hair. Brave New World. I figured what the hell, she’s a Stanford grad, she’s got great references, and she’s willing to work long hours and weekends. She’s got tattoos of Tweety Bird and Tinker Bell on her arms in living color and didn’t even wear long sleeves to hide them. You have to give her credit for that.”

Jack laughed at the description. He couldn’t imagine Valerie with an assistant like that. “Good for you. She might turn out to be terrific.”

“I hope so,” Valerie said, and then he invited her to see another movie at his apartment that night. It was one she had wanted to see but had missed in the theaters. She was enjoying the time they spent together, and had seen him only three days before.

“I’m off until the Super Bowl and I’m bored stiff,” he complained. He still had trouble getting around on his crutches, and he was supposed to stay off the leg, at least for a few weeks. He said he felt like a shut-in and had been watching soap operas and agony talk shows all day.

“You may be bored,” Valerie said to him, “but I’m working my ass off here. Christmas is over, but we’re already working on our Valentine show, and I start working on weddings right after the new year. We’re busy as hell.”

“Does that mean no?” He sounded disappointed. He had had a good time with her and wanted to see her again. She hesitated, and then shook her head. It was about opening those doors to a new friend, and making time. He was right.

“No, it just means that I’m whining about all the work I have to do. I just had lunch with April. She said to say hello to you,” and had commented on his ten million young girlfriends, which Valerie didn’t say to Jack. He was more than willing to admit to them himself.

“Say hello to her from me. I need to go in for some of her magic healing mashed potatoes. Maybe I should just spread them on my leg.” He never complained about the pain, which Valerie thought was brave of him, although she knew he had been used to some pretty brutal injuries during his football career.