Sapphire and Shadow (A Woman's Life) Read Free Page B

the watery figure in front of him. “Been reading Cosmopolitan again?”
    “Just being a student of human nature, Harry,” Paul said easily. “It comes in handy in my line of work.”
    “Yeah? Well, save it for your scripts and leave Johanna to me.”
    “I’d like nothing better, just let me know when you’re back in town.”
    He hadn’t the strength to raise himself up from the sofa, even though energy seemed to be boiling in his chest. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “Figure it out.” Paul slammed the door behind him. Waste, he hated to see waste. And Harry was quickly disintegrating right before his eyes.
    “Ass,” Harold shot out vehemently, then closed his eyes as another wild rush came. He was pathetically grateful and his hand gripped the arm of the sofa as he hung on for the ride.
    It was over before Paul reached the elevator.
    “Harry in?” The owlish man who stepped off the elevator nodded toward the suite behind Paul. He was Harold’s production assistant. One of many who had come and gone. Garrison Hatheway was determined to stay, one way or another.
    Paul got into the elevator and hit the open button as he answered. “Yeah, he’s in. See that he doesn’t hurt himself, Gar.”
    Garrison jammed his fists into the pockets of his baggy corduroy trousers. “Oh shit, is he—?”
    “Isn’t he always?”
    “Hell, I don’t know why I hang around.”
    “Same question plagues us all, Gar, same question plagues us all.” Paul lifted his hand from the button and pressed for the first floor. “Guess we’re all hoping for a renaissance.” The elevator doors closed on him. “Most of all, Johanna, I’d bet.”
    “Do you want me to come in with you?” Paul asked an hour later as he stood by the suite door again.
    Johanna shook her head. She liked Paul’s company, but she couldn’t use him as a shield. Harold was her husband, her problem. She couldn’t solve it by hiding behind other people.
    “No, there’s no need.” She stood up on her toes and kissed his cheek. “Thanks for riding to my rescue.”
    Paul leaned into the kiss. Damn Harry, didn’t he know what he had, what he could lose? “What’s a shining knight for?” Paul laughed.
    She saw the pity in his eyes and turned away.
    The hostility hit her like a hot, hard hand as soon as she walked into the suite.
    “Where are all the packages?”
    She simply walked straight to her room. “There are no packages, just one dress.”
    Harold rose on unsteady legs. He took two steps toward her, holding onto the back of the sofa for support. “Just one dress,” he mimicked her voice. “How many thousands did it cost?”
    She turned on him, her hurt spilling out. “Less than the money you spent on Alexandra King in the Bahamas last month.”
    She had read about it in the tabloids. It seemed that lately it was the only way to keep abreast of what he was doing, by reading about it in the papers along with the rest of the world.
    Harold kept on gripping the back of the sofa to steady himself. He couldn’t pass up a challenge. “She wasn’t a bitch.”
    Why, why are you arguing with me? Why won’t you become the man I married again? “Is that what I am?”
    He saw the hurt in her face and felt oddly triumphant. He could still evoke emotion as he chose. That was all part of being a director. And he was the best. “That’s what you’ve become.”
    “If I am, you made me that way.”
    “I can’t take all the credit.”
    “No, maybe not, but you certainly had a featured role.” She hated this, hated arguing. The only time they spoke to each other lately was in raised voices. She took a deep breath and tried to clear her head.
    “Why aren’t you working?”
    “I am working.” He tapped his temple. “Right here, the greatest work goes on right here.”
    “How? There aren’t any brain cells left. You’ve burnt them all away.” She took hold of his arm. “Harry, please, can’t you stop doing that?”
    “Doing