“My God,” she whispered.
Nick reached out to touch her face, and she slapped his hand away.
With a sigh, he got up and walked over to one of the windows that overlooked the street. “Ithink we’d better stop seeing each other for a while,” he said after a long time.
Vanessa was stunned and infuriated. If anybody was going to break off this relationship, it was going to be her. She was the one who had been wronged!
She threw back the covers and struggled out of bed. “Wait just a minute, Nick DeAngelo!” she shouted, waving her finger at him.
Instantly he was facing her, and his face was taut with fury. “Listen to me,” he ground out. “I won’t play these games, Vanessa. I’ll be damned if I’ll involve myself with another woman who refuses to trust me!”
Vanessa’s mouth dropped open.
“Goodbye,” Nick said bluntly, and then he walked out, leaving her standing there, in the middle of her bedroom, feeling even worse than she had before.
Throughout the rest of the week, Vanessa functioned like an automaton. She got up in the mornings, fed the cat, got dressed and went to work. When that was done, she went home, fed the cat again and crawled into bed, usually without supper.
By Friday, the day of her interview, she looked less than her best. Wearing some compoundMargie had given her to cover the shadows under her eyes, she presented herself at WTBE-TV in her new raw silk suit.
The front she put on must have been effective because the interview went very well. Although the program wouldn’t actually go into production until after the first of the year, she was informed, the final decision would be made before Thanksgiving. Would she be able to leave Midas Network by the middle of December?
Vanessa answered yes, thanked the woman who had interviewed her and left. Some fundamental instinct told her she was going to get the job. She still wanted it very much, but the excitement was gone.
Since Nick had walked out of her bedroom three days before, so many things had stopped mattering.
She glanced at her watch and saw that it was three-fifteen. She’d promised to meet Janet Harmon for a drink, so she set out for the Olympic Four Seasons at a very reluctant pace.
Janet would probably grill her about the breakup with Nick, and Vanessa didn’t want to burst into tears in the bar of a swanky hotel.
Sure enough, her friend looked grimly determinedwhen Vanessa met her in the elegant lobby.
“Paul and I stayed here on our wedding night,” she said to make conversation, but it was plain that Janet’s mind wasn’t on her own relationship. “How did the job interview go?”
“I think they’re going to hire me,” Vanessa answered dispiritedly as they entered the cocktail lounge and seated themselves.
“Paul will be beside himself,” Janet answered, “and not with joy, either.”
Vanessa sighed and averted her eyes for a moment. “Stop pretending you didn’t ask me here to find out what happened between Nick and me,” she said.
Janet, a pretty woman with shoulder-length dark hair and blue eyes, folded her arms on the table top and leaned forward slightly. “I don’t have to ask, Vanessa—I already know. Paul is Nick’s best friend, remember?”
A waitress came, took their orders and left again.
“I’d be very interested to hear Nick’s side of the story,” Vanessa said stiffly.
“Then why don’t you go over to DeAngelo’s after you leave here and ask him to tell it to you?” Janet replied in clipped tones.
“Oh, great,” Vanessa complained. “You’re mad at me, too!”
“I’m furious. Nick DeAngelo is the best thing that’s ever happened to you, and you’re not even going to fight for him.”
The waitress returned, setting a glass of white chablis in front of Vanessa. Janet was having a martini, and she made a small ceremony of eating the olive.
At any other time Vanessa would have been amused. As it was, she just wanted to go home, feed the cat and slink back
Nick reached out to touch her face, and she slapped his hand away.
With a sigh, he got up and walked over to one of the windows that overlooked the street. “Ithink we’d better stop seeing each other for a while,” he said after a long time.
Vanessa was stunned and infuriated. If anybody was going to break off this relationship, it was going to be her. She was the one who had been wronged!
She threw back the covers and struggled out of bed. “Wait just a minute, Nick DeAngelo!” she shouted, waving her finger at him.
Instantly he was facing her, and his face was taut with fury. “Listen to me,” he ground out. “I won’t play these games, Vanessa. I’ll be damned if I’ll involve myself with another woman who refuses to trust me!”
Vanessa’s mouth dropped open.
“Goodbye,” Nick said bluntly, and then he walked out, leaving her standing there, in the middle of her bedroom, feeling even worse than she had before.
Throughout the rest of the week, Vanessa functioned like an automaton. She got up in the mornings, fed the cat, got dressed and went to work. When that was done, she went home, fed the cat again and crawled into bed, usually without supper.
By Friday, the day of her interview, she looked less than her best. Wearing some compoundMargie had given her to cover the shadows under her eyes, she presented herself at WTBE-TV in her new raw silk suit.
The front she put on must have been effective because the interview went very well. Although the program wouldn’t actually go into production until after the first of the year, she was informed, the final decision would be made before Thanksgiving. Would she be able to leave Midas Network by the middle of December?
Vanessa answered yes, thanked the woman who had interviewed her and left. Some fundamental instinct told her she was going to get the job. She still wanted it very much, but the excitement was gone.
Since Nick had walked out of her bedroom three days before, so many things had stopped mattering.
She glanced at her watch and saw that it was three-fifteen. She’d promised to meet Janet Harmon for a drink, so she set out for the Olympic Four Seasons at a very reluctant pace.
Janet would probably grill her about the breakup with Nick, and Vanessa didn’t want to burst into tears in the bar of a swanky hotel.
Sure enough, her friend looked grimly determinedwhen Vanessa met her in the elegant lobby.
“Paul and I stayed here on our wedding night,” she said to make conversation, but it was plain that Janet’s mind wasn’t on her own relationship. “How did the job interview go?”
“I think they’re going to hire me,” Vanessa answered dispiritedly as they entered the cocktail lounge and seated themselves.
“Paul will be beside himself,” Janet answered, “and not with joy, either.”
Vanessa sighed and averted her eyes for a moment. “Stop pretending you didn’t ask me here to find out what happened between Nick and me,” she said.
Janet, a pretty woman with shoulder-length dark hair and blue eyes, folded her arms on the table top and leaned forward slightly. “I don’t have to ask, Vanessa—I already know. Paul is Nick’s best friend, remember?”
A waitress came, took their orders and left again.
“I’d be very interested to hear Nick’s side of the story,” Vanessa said stiffly.
“Then why don’t you go over to DeAngelo’s after you leave here and ask him to tell it to you?” Janet replied in clipped tones.
“Oh, great,” Vanessa complained. “You’re mad at me, too!”
“I’m furious. Nick DeAngelo is the best thing that’s ever happened to you, and you’re not even going to fight for him.”
The waitress returned, setting a glass of white chablis in front of Vanessa. Janet was having a martini, and she made a small ceremony of eating the olive.
At any other time Vanessa would have been amused. As it was, she just wanted to go home, feed the cat and slink back
Similar Books
