Private Scandals

his, sighs merging, tongues dancing. Even when he slipped into her, filling her, the flash of heat was as comforting as a sunbeam.
     
    Across town there was another hotel room bed that hadn’t been slept in, or loved in. Angela sat on the edge of it, her robe held protectively over her breasts. The dress she had worn was a tattered heap of silk on the floor, a victim of her temper.
    Most of that temper was spent now, and she huddled like a child on the big bed, fighting back tears.
    “It doesn’t mean anything, honey.” Dan urged champagne on her, the equivalent to a kiss where it hurt. “Everybody knows the fucking awards are a sham.”
    “People watch.” She stared straight ahead, sipping the wine she’d ordered chilled for celebration and now served as commiseration. “Thousands of people, Dan. They saw her walk up there, when it should have been me. They saw her pick up my award. My award, goddamn her.”
    “And they’ll forget about it tomorrow.” He stifled both impatience and disgust. The only way to handle Angela, and to keep them both riding high, was to cajole, flatter and lie. “Nobody remembers who got what when the glitter fades.”
    “I remember.” She tossed up her head, and her face was icy again, eerily controlled. “I remember. She’s not getting away with it. With any of it. I’m going to do whatever it takes to make her pay. For the slap, for the award. Everything.”
    “We’ll talk about it later.” He’d already gotten word on the incident in the lounge. Too many people—people who couldn’t be easily bought off—had heard that Angela struck first. “Now you’ve got to relax. You have to look your best when we fly home later today.”
    “Relax?” she spat at him. “Relax? Deanna Reynolds is getting my press, my ratings, now my awards.” And there was Finn. Oh, no, she wouldn’t forget Finn. “How the hell can you tell me to relax?”
    “Because you can’t win if you look like a resentful has-been.” He watched her eyes flare with fury, then chill to an icy gleam.
    “How dare you speak to me that way? And tonight of all nights.”
    “I’m telling you this for your own good,” he continued, assured he had the upper hand when her lips trembled. “You need to project dignity, maturity, confidence.”
    “She’s ruining my life. It’s just like when I was a kid. Someone was always taking what I wanted.”
    “You’re not a kid anymore, Angela. And there’ll be other awards.”
    She wanted this award. But she held the words back. He’d only become more remote and disgusted. She needed him beside her, supporting her, believing in her. “You’re right. Absolutely right. Tomorrow, in public, I will be gracious, humble and dignified. And believe me, Deanna Reynolds is not going to win another award that should be mine.” Forcing a smile, she reached out a hand and drew him down beside her. “I’m just so disappointed, Dan. For both of us. You worked just as hard as I did for that Emmy.”
    “We’ll work harder for the next one.” Relieved, he kissed the top of her head.
    “Sometimes it takes more than work. God knows I’ve hadplenty of experience there.” She sighed and drank again. She’d drink all she wanted tonight, she promised herself. At least she deserved that much. “When I was a kid I did all the chores around the house. Otherwise we would have lived in a pigsty. I’ve always liked things to look right, to look pretty. To look the best they can. I started doing cleaning for other people. Did I ever tell you that?”
    “No.” Surprised that she had now, he rose to fetch the bottle. He topped off her glass. “You don’t like to talk about your childhood. I understand that.”
    “I’m in the mood for it.” She sipped again, gesturing toward her cigarettes. Obligingly, Dan picked them up, lighted one for her. “I earned extra money that way, so I could buy things. My own things. But I earned more than money. You know . . .” She took a contemplative drag. “It’s amazing what people leave lying around their homes, tucked into drawers, closed in boxes. I was always curious about people. That’s why I ended up in this business, I suppose. And I found out a lot about the people I worked for. Things they preferred to be kept private. I might mention to a certain married woman the name of a man not her husband. Then I might admire some earrings, or a bracelet, or a dress.” Through the haze of smoke, she smiled at the memory.