Flavor of the Month Read Online Free PDF Page B

reporting day? She didn’t think so. How had she known? Well, it wasn’t important. Mary Jane shrugged.
    “Pretty much as I expected, Beth. It’s the end of my twenty-six weeks. The well’s going dry.”
    “I’m sorry, Mary Jane. Is there anything I can do to help?”
    She was very sweet, Mary Jane knew. Pretty, not too talented, but very sweet. Mary Jane had seen a thousand of them. They all had thin thighs and cute names. Bethanie was newly arrived in town, and filled with ambition and awe. Too bad that, despite Bethanie’s face and body, she’d never make it. In New York you had to be able to read before you could act. But, hey, Mary Jane thought, you never can tell. There’s always television.
    “You can’t help any more than you just did. Thanks for the coffee.” Looking around the noisy room, she asked, “Is Sam here yet?”
    “Yes, we’ve been here about an hour. Oh, we’ve come up with a wonderful scene for you and me to do together.”
    We? Mary Jane thought, and sighed. Another starry-eyed actress in love with her director. Mary Jane had gotten used to it. She looked around for Sam, but he wasn’t anywhere among the bustle that she could see. “That’s great, Bethanie, I’d love to work with you. What kind of thing is it?”
    “Well, it’s sort of a spoof on a magic act. It could be good.” Bethanie was all enthusiasm. “You know, I’ve wanted to work with you since I first joined the company. You’re so, I don’t know, so professional . I know I’ve learned a lot from you already, just watching you. I feel the older, you know, the more experienced actresses have so much to offer, like role models.”
    Great. Thirty-four years old, never been in a Broadway production, and I’m referred to as a “role model.” Why doesn’t she just roll out the wheelchair? That’s it, Mary Jane thought. Today qualifies as the worst day of the year and it’s only January. Stifling a groan, she turned as she heard Sam’s voice raised over the buzz in the room. Just hearing him warmed her better than the coffee had.
    “Okay, everybody, let’s settle down. We have a show to do.”
    Mary Jane moved with the others to the circle of chairs in the center of the space, glad that her conversation with the deadly Bethanie had been interrupted. She looked over to Sam and smiled, and he nodded. She wasn’t surprised. He had never been demonstrative in public. Well, he’d say hello later, at home, in bed. Now the work of improvisation, rehearsal, scripting, and more rehearsal would start up again. Together, this group of ragtags would create a polished theatrical work, a showcase for all their talents. They were working on an idea of Sam’s—to do a spoof of a variety show as in the days of television, but to show the backstage story as well. The working title was Snow Business .
    Mary Jane loved the idea. But, of course, that was why she loved Sam. He was brilliant. Funny, brilliant, and hers. So what if every now and then he was tempted by the latest little item? Sam had insisted, from day one, that theirs would be an open relationship. Mary Jane simply closed her eyes to his dalliances. Not that there had been any that she was certain of. As she took a seat, Mary Jane looked across the room at Sam, caught his eye again, and winked, but he didn’t wink back. Well, he was being the serious director again, she thought. Remember, he comes home with me , not with any of them , she reminded herself for the thousandth time.
    She loved watching him in the theater setting, loved drinking him in without his noticing. Tall and lanky, he moved with grace, like a dancer, Mary Jane thought. His usually pale skin was tanned from the California trip, and the two-day growth of beard and the black turtleneck sweater he favored reminded her, as always, of some Italian film star of the fifties. His long, silky black pony tail offset his slightly receding hairline. He was very aware of his hairline, and she sometimes caught