Woman (4 page)

     "Liz come on,
say something,"
Charlie said.

     She touched round her head
with shaking fingers.

     
"What?"
 David asked.

     She swallowed dryly.
"Gone," she muttered.

     "What do you
mean?" David looked confused.

     Unexpectedly, Liz uttered a
short, barking laugh. "It'sgone,"she said, her tone incredulous.

     "Well I'll be
goddamed," Charlie said. He took a long swallow of scotch. "I've
heard of psychosomatic but this is ridiculous."

     Liz laughed again. There
were tears in her eyes. "Thank God," she said, "Thank God."

     David moved to her and sat
beside her, putting an arm around her shoulders. "This is. . .what?
Remarkable."

     
"Incredible,"
she said.

     "At least,"
Charlie said. He took another long drink, sighed.

     David looked at Ganine. She
was standing motionless in the kitchen doorway looking at Liz. Well, he thought
abruptly, still that problem. "I'll talk to her now," he murmured to
Liz.

     "Yes," she said.
She sounded weak.

     Standing, David took hold of
Ganine's arm and guided her into the kitchen.

     "I'm glad your wife is
all right," she said. "That didn't need to happen."

     The remark passed over him.
"Listen. Ganine," he said gently. "You really have to go."

     "But I won't bother
anyone," she said, "I'll just sit quietly. I just want to be near
you."

     "Ganine, this is a very
important evening for my wife. It disturbs her—"

     "But she's
all right
now." She cut him off.

     "Ganine, that's really
not the point—"

     He broke off as Ganine
suddenly pressed both hands over her face and began to cry, her back and
shoulders hitching with sobs.
"Ganine"
he said, "There isn't any need to—"

     He stopped as she tried to
speak but couldn't, crying harder. Oh, God, he thought. This is a bloody
nightmare.

     "It's all right,
Ganine. Just—"

     He started, tensing, as she
pressed against him abruptly. He glanced at the living room. Liz was sitting on
the sofa,looking at him, her expression undecipherable. Anger?
Confusion? Uneasiness? All of them in combination?

     "What is she,
crying?"
  he heard Charlie say.

     "Yes." Liz's voice
was strangely unconcerned. The sudden, miraculous disappearance of her headache
seemed to have momentarily drained her of determination.

     "You know, I bet it was
neuralgia," Charlie said, "Doesn't that come and go?"

     Liz shook her head. "I
don't know."

     "Well, anyway, it's
bloody marvelous. It would be damned tragic for you to miss this night."

     "Yes."

     David found himself patting
Ganine's back awkwardly. "I really think you need to see this woman
therapist," he said.

     "No," she
whimpered.
"No. Please."

     He looked at Liz with a
hapless expression as she came into the kitchen.

     Now what am I supposed to
do? he wanted to say.

     Liz started to speak when
the doorbell rang, then looked at David, her expression as hapless as his. Her
reaction surprised him. Where was the resentment now? Liz made a faint sound
of—was it possible?—surrender and turning, left the kitchen. David took out his
handkerchief and handed it to Ganine. "Stay here," he said.
"I'll be back in a few moments." Well, what the hell else can I do?
he asked himself. Drag her to the front door and pitch her bodily into the
hallway? Sure.

     Leaving the kitchen, he saw
Max and Barbara Silver entering the living room. Liz kissed Barbara on the
cheek, welcoming her.

     "Are you all
right?" Barbara asked, "You look a little peaked."

     "I'm sure I do,"
Liz said. "I feel all right though." She gave Max a peck on the
cheek. "Max," she said. Over at the sofa, Charlie called out,
"Hello, people!" Liz helped Barbara off with her shawl. Max, tall,
grey-haired and bearded, waved to David as he approached them.

     "You look lovely,"
Liz said to Barbara.

     "Thank you,
sweetheart." Barbara smiled.

     "What about me?"
Max said, "Do I look lovely?"

     "You were born
lovely," Liz said, straight-faced.

     "That's what they tell
me," Max replied. There was little love lost between them.

     Charlie came over and gave
Barbara a bear hug. "Barbara, my adored one," he said. He looked at
Max. "Hello, Mr. Head Writer," he said.

     "Mr. Exec
Producer," Max returned.

     "Nervous abut
tonight?" Barbara asked Liz.

     "Only enough to come
out of my skin," Liz answered.

     "Think how Val must
feel," Barbara said.

     "I'd rather not,"
Liz told her.

     Max looked over toward the
kitchen and saw Ganine standing in the doorway. She'd dried her tears with
David's handkerchief and looked under control again.

     Max looked at Charlie.
"Something we should know about?" he asked. Charlie was noted for the
number of young women he dated and bedded.

     "Stranger in
town," Charlie said.

     "Uh-huh." Max
looked at the glass in Charlie's hand. "What are you drinking?" he
asked.

     "Scotch. On the
rocks."

     "Embalming fluid,"
Max responded.

     "That's right, you're a
gin man aren't you? Shades of Gatsby."

     "Also good for open
wounds," Max said, starting for the bar. Liz took Barbara aside to talk to
her. David wondered what to do about Ganine. The front door was available. He
could physically push her out. That was impossible though. He was wondering now
just how mentally disturbed she actually was. It was certainly a dilemma, no
doubt of that. Which, none-the-less, left him nowhere. And Liz seemed to have
deserted him now, leaving the problem entirely in his lap.
Well, you're the psychologist.
She'd said
that more than once and would probably say it again.

     At the bar, Max and Charlie
were still razzing each other as Charlie re-filled his glass with Scotch.

     "Gin will rot your
brain, Max," he said.

     "More than
Scotch?" Max said. "No, scratch that. More than writing
sitcoms?"

     "Got a point there,
Senor Silver," Charlie agreed.

     "Max, would you pour me
a glass of white wine over ice?" Barbara asked from across the room.

     "Do it yourself,"
Max said.

     "Well, aren't you the
perfect gentleman?" Charlie said. "Allow me, my dear," he said
to Barbara, "Not your fault you married a boor."

     "Thank you,
Charlie," Barbara said.

     "My pleasure." He
poured the wine for Barbara, adding ice to the glass. As he brought it to her,
he looked at Ganine. "You all right, darling?" he asked. She smiled
and nodded once.

     David came over to Liz and
Barbara. "Would you excuse us for a few moments?" he asked Barbara.

     "Sure," she said.
"I'll go flirt with Charlie. He doesn't think I'm shit."

     
"Barbara.
. ."
Liz looked at her accusingly.

     "It's nothing,"
Barbara said, "I'm used to it."

     She walked over to the sofa
and sat beside Charlie. "Does this mean we're engaged?" he asked.

     "No, just potential
lovers," Barbara said, loud enough for Max to hear. He raised his martini
toastingly, a scornful smile on his thin lips.

     David took Liz to a far
corner of the room.

     "What?" she asked

     He hesitated.

     
"What,
David?" she said.

     He braced himself, "I
think it would be simpler to let her stay," he told her.

     She looked astounded.
"You have got to be kidding."

     "Trying to put her out
in her frame of mind could be more trouble than it's worth."

     "David, I am not going
to—"

     "We're only going to be
here for a little while," he said. "Just ignore her. She won't make a
scene or anything and, when we leave, that's the end of it."

     She stared at him, unable to
speak.

     "I really don't see any
other way to go about it," he said, "Not without casting a pall over
the entire evening."

     Liz shook her head slowly.
"I don't like it, David. I don't like it at all."

     "Your headache is gone,
isn't it?" he said abruptly.

     "What has
that
got to do with it?" she asked,
frowning.

     "When it hit you a few
hours ago. . ." He didn't know how to say it. "Had a headache ever
come on that fast before?"

     She looked at him
questioningly. "I told you it'd been threatening all day."

     "And has a headache
ever become completely agonizing in a split-second?" he asked.

     She stared at him, then,
finally, spoke. "You're not trying to say—" she couldn't finish, the
concept so unbelievable to her.

     "I don't know,
Liz." She saw that he was deadly serious though, and the smile that was
starting to raise the ends of her lips disappeared. "There's something
very odd about her. I'm going to get her to Dr. Wilson as soon as I can.
She—"