Plain Jane in the Spotlight

‘But I’m glad you did. You really saved me from disaster. Why I was crazy enough to argue with you-if I’d opened the door-’

‘It did seem strange. I thought you were being cautious.’

‘I was, but I lost my temper. It doesn’t happen often, so when it does I don’t tend to think straight.’ He touched her face. ‘Thank you. Thank you more than I can say.’

She placed her hand over his and held it against her cheek, moved by an emotion for which there were no words.

‘I told you about my doctor friend,’ he said. ‘I’m going to send her to see you. She’s a nice lady. She’ll do that test, then you’ll know and you can make decisions.’

Charlene nodded. ‘Yes, that’s the best way. Thank you.’

‘Don’t thank me. I’m in your debt, not the other way around. I’ll call you. Bye.’

He kissed her cheek and departed.

Dr Grace Hanley arrived an hour later. She was in her forties with a mature, kindly face. Charlene tried not to feel too nervous. This was it. The final answer.

They got quickly down to business and soon Grace was studying the test cylinder with a face that revealed nothing.

‘Were you hoping to be pregnant?’ she asked.

‘I’m not sure. Does that mean it’s a negative?’

‘Yes, I’m afraid so.’

‘But at least…now I know. Thank you, Doctor. Can I make you some coffee?’

She was trying to sound normal and untroubled, but the doctor evidently understood her inner turmoil because she declined, patted her hand gently, and departed.

The walls of the apartment seemed to crush Charlene in bleak, hopeless silence. So that was that. It had all been for nothing. She’d made a fool of herself by pursuing a man who didn’t want her.

She lay down, trying to control her flickering memories. There was Lee, or was it Demetrius, smiling as they came offstage after a rehearsal, complimenting her.

‘Hey, you really played that scene for all it was worth. Wow!’

And herself, dazzled to receive a compliment from such a knowledgeable source, gazing at him, starry- eyed.

She could see him now, warming to her, holding her in his arms, smiling as they made love.

Or was it love? Perhaps on her side, but whatever he’d been making it wasn’t love. She should have faced that earlier.

Yet if there had been a baby, might his feelings not have warmed, flowering into family affection that would embrace her and their child?

Instead-nothing.

Nothing!

She was seized by a fierce longing for Travis to be there, wrapping her in his arms, offering brotherly comfort that would have made this bearable.

No!

The ferocity of her emotion made her sit up. Hell would freeze over before she became a pathetic, needy creature, clinging to Travis. He would be kind, she knew, but soon the kindness would become forced, as he strove to conceal his exasperation.

That mustn’t happen. The moment she sensed him thinking, How long must I put up with this? was the moment she would inwardly die. Or run a mile. Or both.

When he came home she was waiting for him, calm and smiling.

‘Everything all right?’ he asked.

‘Everything’s fine.’

He didn’t ask her for the test result. It would have been dishonest when he already knew. As promised, Grace had discreetly texted him one word: No. It might be a disgraceful violation of professional confidence, but friends did that for each other. So he waited for Charlene to speak, which at last she did.

‘I’m not pregnant, so that’s that.’ She made a gesture of finality. ‘I’ll make some coffee.’

She turned away but he detained her. ‘Wait a moment. “That’s that”? Nothing more? You don’t care?’

‘Not really. This always seemed likely. And besides, something else has happened.’ She laid her hand over her stomach.

‘You mean you’ve finally-?’

‘Yes. I don’t know what made me late in the first place, but perhaps it was caused by tension because it started barely an hour after the doctor left. Anyway, it’s the clincher. There’s no baby. There never was, thank goodness.’

Her voice was bright and efficient, informing him that all was well.

But he didn’t believe it. All was far from well with a woman who could wear such a dead smile.

‘Well, I can see it solves one problem,’ he said cautiously.

‘It solves all the problems. Think of the catastrophe if I’d been pregnant while Lee… Ugh! ’ She shivered. ‘It doesn’t bear thinking about.’

Travis was troubled by an inner desire, as mysterious as it was illogical, to hear that she was saddened by the news. But she was bright, breezy, practical. And she froze his heart.

In the kitchen she made coffee, talking without stopping.

‘I’m really sorry to have given you all this trouble. Just think of me making so much fuss about nothing. You must be good ’n’ mad.’

‘Not at all,’ he said in an equally unrevealing voice. ‘These things happen. You have to deal with matters as they come up. Sooner or later we all of us-’

Stop burbling, Travis told himself in disgust.

‘I hope you don’t mind but I have to vanish,’ he told her. ‘I’ve got a lot of lines to learn. Goodnight.’

He grabbed a sandwich and fled to his room.

So all was well. A potentially awkward situation had vanished. He could continue on his way, planning, calculating, arranging things for his own benefit, doing everything with an eye on his career.

It was absurd to be disappointed at her sensible reaction. What had he expected?

As the light failed he rose and drew the curtains across the great windows, shutting out the view. Just to the side was Charlene’s window, already almost covered by curtain, with just a gap of a few inches left.

There she was, a shadow standing in the gap. Her light was off and in the near darkness it was hard to discern her. He switched off his own light so that he could watch, unobserved in the darkness.

She stood quite still, looking down at Los Angeles, then gazing up into the sky. Now he could see her face a little more clearly. It was sad, and there was a hint of tears on her cheeks. The mask had fallen away, revealing loneliness and despair.

Then she did something that broke his heart, leaning her head against the glass, clasping her arms about her body as though to protect herself from some unknown danger, and rocking back and forth.

That was the truth, he thought, cursing himself for stupidity. And she didn’t trust him enough to let him see her grief. How had he been so easily fooled?

For a few minutes he paced the floor, then walked out into the hall, heading for her room. But at her door he stopped, aghast at what he could hear from the other side.

‘What’s the next flight to London?’ came Charlene’s voice. ‘Midday tomorrow? Right, I’d like to book a ticket-’

The crash of her door being thrown open made her look up. ‘Hey, what are you doing? Give me that phone.’

‘Like hell!’ Travis said, shutting it down. ‘What do you think you’re doing?’

‘Booking my flight home.’

‘And no thought for anyone else,’ he raged. ‘Who cares about the damage you’ll do to me? I put my neck on the line for you, Charlene. I’ve done everything I could to help you. And this is how you thank me. People saw us together, it gave them ideas. Just how do you think I’ll look if they know you’ve fled the country without a backward glance? They’ll laugh themselves sick. I can just hear them-Guess he must be losing his touch! Ho, ho,