Have you told her about me yet?
Kate shook her head slowly. She hadn't. And she wasn't sure why. Maybe because she was afraid the magic would all fade away and telling Licia would make it that much harder to live with the loss when he was gone. No. Not yet.
I'd like to meet her. She sounds like a character. Would I like her?
I think so. And what if he didn't? She loved Felicia, always would. But she already felt herself slipping into Nick's world. Nick had a special place in her life now.
He looked down and saw the serious look in her eyes, and he held her close. You look so pensive sometimes, love. One day you won't look like that anymore. When she looked like that, he knew she was thinking about Tom.
Like what?
like your only friend in the world is about to walk out.
Are you sure he won't?
Positive.
She could feel it in his arms, and she felt peaceful as she closed her eyes. She was so happy with him. But it couldn't last forever. Nothing did. No matter what he said. Tom had made those promises too. But she hadn't had the same worries then. She hadn't realized how quickly things come to an end.
Scared about New York? He forced her mind back to the present, as he tilted her face up to his. He was smiling at her again, and she smiled back.
Sometimes. Once in a while I panic and want to hide in the ladies' room, and then I forget all about it and get curious. It's been so long, I hardly remember it.
Good. I want to give it to you brand new. He looked pleased. They were going to stay at the Regency, only three blocks from Jasper's hotel. Jasper was addicted to the Pierre. But Nick wanted to stay somewhere else, so Kate wouldn't feel awkward I ordered separate rooms for us, by the way.
You did? She looked disappointed, and he laughed.
Don't look like that, you dummy. They're adjoining, and we can use one of them as an office. I just thought it would look better in case some nosy reporter gets wind that you're staying with me. This way, you're just staying at the same hotel. A cozy coincidence. She looked pleased again.
How do you manage to think of all that? Glass slippers, separate rooms to protect my lily-pure reputation is there anything you don't think of?
That's why I've managed to stay the producer of Jasper's show all these years, my love. It's all part of the job. But she knew it was part of the man. They exchanged another smile and looked out over the city. It was still bright daylight outside, and would be for several hours, but already there was the softened hue of late afternoon. It's going to be hotter than hell, by the way. Did you bring lots of naked clothes? She laughed as she accepted the glass of champagne he was handing her from a passing tray. First class was delightful. Champagne coast to coast.
I did what I could. I didn't have a lot of time to shop. And Carmel was not San Francisco. But she hadn't done badly. And when they got off the plane in New York she understood what Nick meant about the heat. She had never been to the city in mid-summer, and it was blistering, even at six o'clock.
Nick had arranged for them to be met by the airline's special customer service cart, and they were whisked right to the door of the terminal. Their bags would be separated from the others and brought out to the car. And the little golf cart whizzed through the terminal, plowing through countless bodies. Everyone looked hot and tired and gray, not brown and healthy the way they did in California. It had been a long time since Kate had seen people looking like this, and so many of them. She felt breathless as they launched through the crowds in the ice-cold terminal. The air conditioning was blasting full force on the hot, tired, sweaty crowds.
It's a wonder they don't all die of pneumonia. She held tightly to his hand as she watched them from the cart. It was all so busy and so loud. It was terrifying and fascinating at the same time. Like visiting another planet
It's a wonder they don't all die from lack of air, you mean. Have you ever seen so many people?
She shook her head as he watched her. He had made all the arrangements very carefully, so she wouldn't be overwhelmed right from the first. They were already at the terminal door, and the driver was waiting for them at the curb.
They were shoved through the revolving door by the force of the crowds, and Kate found herself pushed outside, into what felt like a vacuum. It was white-hot and humid, without so much as a breath of air.
My God. It was like being punched in the stomach by an elephant.
Lovely, isn't it? He grinned as she rolled her eyes, but the driver was already holding open the door of the air-conditioned car, and Nick was urging her gently inside. It was all wonderfully quick and efficient. And five minutes later, the driver had their bags, and they were on their way to the city. She looked back over her shoulder through the smoky glass of the limousine and she could still see the people in line for cabs. There was a short fat cab driver waving a cigar in another man's face, and as they sped away she started to laugh.
Isn't it crazy?
It's like the circus. She didn't remember the city as quite so intense. Everything had seemed more sedate when she had been there on Easter vacation with her parents when she was seventeen. They had stayed at the Plaza and had tea in the Palm Court and at a place called Rose-Marie. That all seemed a thousand years ago. And Tom had never let her go to New York with him. He hated it, and usually stayed outside the city with friends. Now she could see why. This wasn't Tom's scene. And it wasn't really Nick's. But he handled it perfectly. He had shielded her from everything unpleasant, even the heat.
She watched the constant fury of the traffic on their way to the hotel. Even on Park Avenue, the cars moved along as though they were angry. Jerk, bump, stop, screech, honk, shout, and jerk on again. The noise was deafening even in the carefully sealed car.
How do they stand it?
I don't know. Either they don't notice it, or they love it.
But the crazy thing was that she loved it too. She loved the aliveness of it. The frenzy and the sparkle, the crackle of electricity as everything moved at breakneck speed. She suddenly wanted to get out of the womblike car and walk. But she was afraid that if she told Nick, he would think she was crazy. And ungrateful. He had gone to such lengths to protect her from her fears. And yet, there she sat, dying to push and shove along with the rest of them.
They had arrived at the Regency, and the driver helped her into the doorman's hands, from whose protective grasp Nick took her and led her quickly inside. They knew him there. He signed the registration card and they were instantly led to their rooms. Hers was a suite, his a large double room with a door that adjoined her living room. They decided to use his as the office, and hers as their house. The bags were stacked on elaborate little gold and white stands, and Kate looked around as her feet sank into the thick carpet, and then with a sigh she settled onto the rose-colored silk couch. Everything was very subtle and very lovely. It looked like an English watercolor painting. And they had a beautiful view of the city facing south. She looked around the room again and then at Nick with a smile and a sigh. She felt like the poor little rich girl, shielded from everything that was fun, like dirt and noise and all the crazy people she was dying to gape at, and run along on the sidewalk with. Nick meant well by shielding her from it all, but she felt as if he were keeping her from the fun. Maybe it was nuts to feel that way. But she did. Suddenly she wanted to break loose from her shell, and even from Nick ' from the past' from Tom ' from Tygue ' from all of them. She wanted to be free.
Want a drink? He loosened his tie, and smiled down at her. He had already made reservations for them at Caravelle. He had had his secretary do that from Los Angeles that morning. The reservations were for nine. He didn't think they'd be hungry until then. That would give them time to have a drink and relax, maybe have another drink in the bar of the hotel, and go oft to a quiet dinner. But Kate only shook her head at the offer for the drink. What's up, Cinderella? You look like those wheels are turning a mile a minute. Want to call Licia now?
No
. And she didn't really want to call Tygue either. Not yet.
Then what would you like to do? He sat down next to her on the delicate couch and put his arms around her as she started to laugh. And he loved the fire he saw in her eyes. New York was doing good things to her. Already. It was as though she were coming to life in a way he had never seen before. Name your pleasure, milady, and it's yours.
You mean it?
Of course I mean it.
Okay. I want to go for a walk.
Now? He looked stunned. At seven o'clock, it was still ninety-five, and the humidity was close to the same figure. In this heat? She nodded excitedly and he threw back his head and laughed. He understood. Kate, who had hidden for years, almost since she was a girl, was suddenly young again and hungry for life. Okay, Cinderella, you're on. Do you want to change first? She shook her head with a grin and looked just like her son. In that case he held out an arm and she slipped a hand through it as they both stood up we're off.
And it was just what she wanted. They wandered up Madison Avenue as she looked into all the shops, and then over to Central Park, where people were still playing games on the grass, Balls were being thrown, radios were blaring, buses zoomed by, and hansom cabs clopped along behind tired, flower-bedecked horses. It was as though someone had assembled every possible moving part, every face, every car, every smell, every color, and jammed them all into one town and called it New York. God, I love it. She took a deep breath of the polluted air and sighed with delight as Nick laughed.
I think I've created a monster. But he loved seeing her like that. She was so alive. It was what she should have had for years. Fire, and excitement and success. He was glad he could share them with her now. He looked at his watch. It was already after eight, and they were nearing Sixty-first Street and Fifth. It was only two blocks to the hotel. But they had walked at least twenty, drinking everything in Kate watching the city with passion, and he watching her with delight Ready to go back and get dressed?
Where are we going?
To the best restaurant in town. All for you, Cinderella. He swept a wide arm toward the skyline, and she beamed. She smiled all the way back to the hotel, and when he closed the door to their room, she advanced on him with a purposeful gleam in her eye.
Does this mean what I think it means? He was grinning at her from the bathroom door, and she suddenly reached over and unzipped his pants.
It certainly does.
Lady, I don't know what this town does to you, but I love it.
They didn't even make it to the bedroom, but made love on the richly carpeted floor of their room, as her tongue and delicate hands brought soft moans from Nick. This time it was Kate who took the lead, and Nick who lay back spent when they had both come. Kate lay on the floor, in the twilight, smiling vie. toriousiy at her life.
Chapter 24
Miss Harper? The woman in the expensive black dress and the Cinandre-sculptured hair walked into the room and extended a hand. Kate shook it nervously, and smoothed her dress. You'll be on in a minute. It was her first television appearance in New York, and she was terrified. But prepared. She had gone over what she would say with Nick that morning. And the dress was a new one she'd bought in Carmel. It was a warm coral linen that set off her deep tan. She wore it with some of the coral jewelry Felicia had brought her from Europe the year before, despite her protests. Now she was glad Felicia had insisted she keep it. You never know. Kate remembered the words with a smile. Her hair was pulled back. She hoped she looked like a writer. At least she felt like one.
I've been admiring the view. It was breathtaking. They were in the southwest corner of the thirty-something floor of the General Motors Building, with a sweeping view of Central Park if you looked uptown and an unbroken panorama of Wall Street downtown. It must be fabulous living in this town.
The woman in the black dress laughed, shaking the well-coifed hair and flashing a large emerald ring. I'd give my right arm to live on the Coast. But Audrey does the show here, so ' She threw up her hands.
This woman was the biggest female producer in daytime television, and her job was not unlike Nick's. Now Kate better understood what it entailed.
Ready?
I think so.
She held open a door and Kate walked through it The door to the studio showed a brightly lit sign: On the Air.
She was on for almost an hour, with three other prominent women, a representative from the United Nations, a nationally known lawyer, and a woman who had won the Nobel Prize in biochemistry the year before. Good God. She felt breathless as she looked at them. What was she doing there? But as they looked at her, she realized they were wondering the same thing. She was an unknown.
How does it feel to write your first best seller? Audrey Bradford, the host of the show, smiled at Kate, and the other women looked interested but hardly overwhelmed.
It hasn't quite gotten there yet, but I must admit so far it feels awfully good. She laughed and Audrey smiled with her. This was the biggest high in the world. The ego trip of the century. Success. Public success. On national television. But still she could feel an undercurrent from the other guests. Envy? Suspicion?
Our research shows that you're in your third printing and have sold fifty thousand copies in five weeks. I'd say that's a best seller, wouldn't you? In fact, it's starting to show up on the national charts. It is? It had? ' It was? Why hadn't anyone told her? Jesus. Fifty thousand copies? She almost gasped, but instead she smiled.
In that case, I concede. After a few minutes of nervousness, Kate was surprised at how easy the show became. The other women were fascinating, and Audrey was good at what she did. She turned a potentially chilly situation into a cordial one. And Kate was still riding high when she met Nick at Lut+?ce for lunch, and swooped down on him at his table in the little garden.
Hi, darling. God, it was scary. And then, all in one breath, she heard herself telling him how tense she had been, how terrifyingly successful the other women had been, how impressive Audrey Bradford was, how well put together the woman producer was, how '
Hey, hey, wait a minute. Slow down there, lady, or you'll pop your girdle. Relax. He was amused at her excitement. She was suddenly as hyper as everyone else in New York.
She sat down with a sheepish grin and took a breath. I don't wear a girdle, by the way.
Thank God. Now, did you make sense on the show?
Didn't you watch me? She looked stunned.
My darling, you are about to discover what my life is like in New York. I sat down peacefully in Jasper's suite to watch you there, and all three phones started to ring at once. He's had two extra lines put into the suite for his stay. The secretary he brought with him ran in with a major crisis on her hands. Our big name for the first show here is in the hospital with a stroke, it'll be front page by tonight. The additional secretary he hired here walked in and quit. Jasper's oldest boy called from London, had run over some kid with his car and was in jail. And meanwhile, I had calls in to nine different people to try and make a substitution for tonight's show. No, my love, I did not see your show. But I'm sure you were splendid. He looked at her with a grin and she tried to hide her disappointment. Sometimes she forgot how much he had to do. By the way, Jasper was thinking that you might like to come back on the show. Maybe at the end of the week?
Already? He just had me on.
That's all right. You're getting to be a hot property these days, with the book doing as well as it is, and with the daytime exposure you're getting, the women in his audience will like seeing you on our show; For a moment, he wasn't even Nick. He was a producer, a stranger, a nervous man with the nation's most important talk show to run. He hadn't even had time to watch her on her first New York show. I'll have Stu talk to your publisher about putting you on. Jasper definitely wants you. He pulled out a little book, jotted something down, and then looked up, surprised, as the headwaiter brought him a phone.
Call for you, Mr. Waterman. What followed were ten minutes of unin
telligible conversation with someone on his production staff as Kate looked around at the other tables nearby. She was having lunch at one of the most expensive restaurants in New York, surrounded by the illustrious and the powerful. Nick signaled to the waiter and pointed at his watch midway through the conversation. The waiter nodded and hurried back with a menu for Kate. It was another five minutes before he was off the phone.
I'm sorry, love. Some days are just like this, I'm afraid. More than he let on to her in fact. She never realized just how busy he was. But she was getting a ringside view of it in New York. He looked at his watch again. Damn.
Something wrong?
No. Except that I'm going to have to leave you in about twenty minutes. I've got about thirty-seven things to discuss with Jasper before tonight.
Lucky man, sounds like he's going to be seeing more of you than I am. She was almost miffed, but not quite. She didn't have a right to be too demanding; they were both here to work not just play.
I'm sorry I missed your show, Kate. I really am. Next time I'll watch, no matter what. I promise. If I have to bolt all the doors and take the phones off the hook.
Okay, then I forgive you. They kissed just as the Louis Roederer arrived. It was an exquisite champagne, 1955.
They had caviar on paper-thin slices of white toast, quenelles Nantua, endive salad, fresh raspberries and whipped cream, and knocked off the whole bottle of champagne in less than half an hour. The result was that Kate sat back against the banquette, looking slightly drunk.
You know ' She looked at Nick philosophically and he smiled as he signed for the check. Thank God for expense accounts. You know, she started again, sometimes it's hard to remember that all of this fun can lead to disaster.
Now what's that supposed to mean? He looked at her and was about to laugh, and then suddenly he remembered Tom. Only if you let it go to your head, Kate. There are ways of having the success without the insanity.
Are you sure? She looked worried. She hadn't forgotten what all of this had done to Tom and to her.
Season Of Passion (1980) Page 23