The Love Machine (55 page)

He took her arm possessively and started to ease her away from Ethel and Christie Lane. Suddenly his attention switched to the door. Everyone in the room looked at the frail girl who entered. Then a murmur went through the sophisticated group. No matter how quietly she entered, Diana Williams
entered a
room. She stood there hesitant and alone, almost childlike. Gregory Austin rushed to greet her and protectively put his arm around her. In a split second everyone was surging around her. Diana accepted all the introductions with modesty.

“Boy, Ike Ryan sure doesn’t know what he’s doing this time,” Ethel said, as she watched the commotion. “Diana’s shot. She has to go up in smoke.”

Diana finally broke through the crowd and came to Robin. Gregory Austin was still holding her arm possessively. “Robin,” he chided, “why didn’t you tell us you had invited Miss Williams to our party? We didn’t know she was in town or we would have extended the invitation personally.”

“You invited me on Christmas Day at Voisin,” Diana said accusingly. “When you didn’t call for me, I figured I had misunderstood and you expected me to meet you here.”

“Allow me to make up for my rudeness by getting you a drink,” Robin said. He and Gregory both led her toward the bar, leaving Maggie with Ethel and Christie.

Ethel was talking about her new suite at the Essex House: “We just moved in yesterday,” she told Maggie.

“Big deal,” Christie said. “Living room, two bedrooms, and it’s three times as expensive as the Astor.”

“Well, I can’t exactly see myself pushing a baby carriage down Broadway,” Ethel snorted. “At least the Essex House is across from the Park. It will be good for the baby.”

“Oh, I didn’t know. Congratulations,” Maggie said, forcing herself to show an interest she didn’t feel.

Christie beamed expansively. “The rabbit died last week. When
the doc told me the news—well, I was so happy I was ready to do anything.”

“Except move from the Astor,” Ethel snapped. “But he finally gave in.”

“Yeah, and she’s got me sleeping in the other bedroom. Only until the baby comes, then we fix it up as a nursery. But I guess she’s right, an expectant mother needs all her sleep. Hey, you two broads chat a minute. I see Dan the Man, and I want to talk to him.” He crossed the room and grabbed Danton Miller’s arm.

Maggie felt uneasy with Ethel. She didn’t know her and she wasn’t especially good at girl talk. “When do you expect the baby?” she asked.

“The end of August, or the beginning of September. I’m three weeks late, but the rabbit test was positive.”

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. Then Maggie said, “I think it was very wise of you to pick a hotel near the Park. It will be wonderful for the baby.”

“You don’t think I intend to stay there?” Ethel asked. “Christie doesn’t know it yet, but next season he’s doing the show from California.”

“Oh, I see.” Maggie didn’t, but she had to say something.

“I’ll swing it. With Christie the magic word is ‘baby.’ I’ll tell him the Park is no good for the kid—muggings and all that. And once we get out there I’m determined it’ll be a whole new life—a big house, and all the right people. I’m going to make him hire Cully and Hayes—we’ve got to get in with the right people so our kid will know the right kids. I tell you, Hollywood is just waiting for Ethel Evans Lane.”

“You might be disappointed,” Maggie said. She scanned the room quickly and wondered where Robin was.

“He’s in the den with Diana,” Ethel said.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Your boyfriend—Diana’s latched on to him.”

Maggie was too stunned to answer. For a moment there was an uncomfortable silence. Then Dan and Christie joined them.

“We been talking about a new time slot for year after next,” Christie said. “Would you believe it—the sponsors are lined up, doll, waiting for me for two seasons after this?”

“May I get you a refill of this sticky stuff?” Dan asked, as he smiled at Maggie.

There was a loud burst of laughter from the den. Obviously Diana was holding court. Dan smiled and lowered his voice conspiratorially. “I noticed you came here with Robin Stone. Does that mean you have to leave with him?”

“It’s the normal procedure, isn’t it?” she asked.

“Too bad. I was about to ask you to dinner. How long will you be in town?”

“About two more weeks.”

“May I call you?”

“Well—” She thought quickly. She couldn’t just say no, and it would never do to let him know where she was staying. “Let me call you,” she said. “I plan on visiting my family in Philadelphia tomorrow. I don’t know how long I’ll be away.”

“You know where to reach me?”

“IBC.” She smiled. “And now I think I’d better join Robin.” She left Dan and went into the library. Diana was holding everyone’s attention with a funny story about her twin sons.

“God, they’re getting so gigantic,” she was saying, “I can’t lie about their ages. And naturally the Beatles are their idols.
They
also have long hair. Oh, my dear, they are absolutely Carnaby Street. The other day I was about to introduce them as my babies and I stared at these two seventeen-year-old, six-foot hunks of children and I suddenly said, ‘Meet the twin cantors.’ “

Everyone laughed more uproariously than necessary. Robin didn’t laugh. He watched her carefully and when she handed him her empty glass, he beckoned the waiter for a refill.

Maggie made her way to his side and slipped her arm through his. “It’s seven o’clock,” she whispered, “and I’m starving.”

“There’s a table full of hors d’oeuvres,” he said, keeping his eyes riveted on Diana.

“I’d like to leave—”

“I’m working, baby.” He patted his pocket. “I have a letter of agreement all ready. I’ve been carrying it around with me for two weeks. All she has to do is sign. And if you’re a good girl you can be the witness.”

“How long will it take?”

“I hope it happens tonight at dinner.”

“She’s coming to dinner with us?” she asked.

“She’s coming to dinner with me. And if you like, you can come too.”

She turned and left the room. She didn’t look back but she sensed he never looked after her. She saw Dan Miller shaking hands with Mrs. Austin. His coat was on his arm. She crossed the room and joined him.

“Does that dinner invitation still hold?”

“It certainly does. Do you like Pavilion?”

“It’s one of my favorite restaurants.”

Pavillon was beginning to empty. As Maggie sat and toyed with a brandy, she wondered what Robin had thought when he discovered she had left. It was almost eleven o’clock. He was probably home, watching the news. Her anger evaporated and suddenly she felt guilty running out on him. What difference would it have made if Diana had gone to dinner with them? Robin needed Diana’s signature for the Happening! She had been childish, and—worst of all—openly possessive! She had never acted that way with any man, not with Adam or Andy, because she never cared enough. Perhaps that was the secret of her success. Was that really true? Did you have to pretend to be disinterested in a man to hold him? She had sat through this dreary dinner with Dan just to play a game with Robin. But it was ridiculous—she
had
Robin, she loved him. Why was she sitting at Pavillon listening to this idiot’s life story?

“I’m glad there is really nothing between you and Robin,” he said suddenly.

She looked at him curiously. “Why do you say that?”

“Because I don’t like him.”

“He’s a very good friend of mine.” Her tone held a warning.

He smiled. “I still don’t like him—and it’s not personal.”

Well, she didn’t like anything about Danton Miller. Especially his smug smile. “Perhaps you’re afraid of him,” she said coldly.

“Afraid?”

“If your dislike isn’t personal, then I assume it has something
to do with business. I know you’re both at IBC and I know a little bit about network policy. Robin has certainly expanded beyond just the news area, so there must be some rivalry between you.”

He threw back his head and laughed. When he looked at her his brown eyes were almost slits. “I’m not afraid of the Great Stone Man, and you know why? Because he has too much pride—and that will be his destruction.”

“I should think pride would be an
asset.”

“There’s no place for it in this business. I’ll tell you something, Maggie. When it comes to infighting, I have no pride. That’s why I’ll survive. There comes a time when you have to crawl a little, no matter how high and mighty you are. But Robin Stone will never crawl. That’s why he won’t survive. And that’s the only word that counts in this business. Survival.”

She picked up her pocketbook, hoping he would take it as a cue to end the evening. He noticed it and signaled for the check. “I’m boring you, talking about business. Shall we go someplace for a nightcap?”

“I’m very tired, Dan, and I have to be up early tomorrow.”

When he hailed a cab, she told him she was staying at the Plaza. He dropped her and waited until she walked inside. Then she crossed the lobby, slipped out the Fifty-eighth Street side and took a cab to Robin’s.

There was no light under the door when she put the key in the lock. Perhaps he had gone to sleep. She tiptoed through the darkened living room to the bedroom. The room was dark but she saw the dim outline of the bed, rumpled and unmade from their afternoon of lovemaking. It was empty. She walked back into the living room and was just about to turn on the light when she saw the sliver of light under the door of his den. She smiled—he was in there working on his book. She walked to the door and had her hand on the knob when she heard the voices. It was Diana and she sounded drunk.

“This carpet isn’t very soft…”

Robin laughed. “Well, I told you to go make the bed.”

“I don’t fuck in another woman’s sheets!”

Then there was silence.

She opened the door quietly. She couldn’t believe it. Both of
them were completely nude. Robin was stretched out in the club chair in the corner of the room, his eyes shut, his arms behind his head. Diana was on her knees making love to him. Neither of them was aware that she was standing there. She backed out of the room and closed the door quietly. Then she went back to the bedroom and switched on the lights. She dragged her suitcase from the closet, then with an abrupt change of mind left it on the floor. Why bother for a few pairs of slacks and one dress? She’d never want to wear anything she had worn with him again. She collected her makeup and her wallet and started from the room. She turned back and stared at the bed. The bed she had shared with Robin just a few hours ago. The bed she had expected to share with him tonight and every night. The bed she thought was part of her future—the bed that Diana wouldn’t get into unless there were fresh sheets. How many girls had slept in it? How many more would sleep in it? She rushed to the bed and tore at the sheets, but she couldn’t rip them into the shreds her fury demanded. No one was ever going to sleep on these sheets again, or on that bed! She remembered there was a can of lighter fluid in the medicine chest and raced into the bathroom to get it. She poured it over the sheets and the headboard, and then struck a match, held it to the book of matches until it all flared, and tossed it on the bed. With a hiss, a hot orange flame licked across the sheets.

She ran from the apartment. She walked through the lobby and stopped at the door. In a quiet voice she said to the doorman, “I just rang Mr. Stone’s doorbell and there was no answer, but I thought I smelled smoke coming from inside.” As the doorman dashed to the elevator, Maggie casually crossed the street and stood watching under the canopy of another apartment house. A slow smile crossed her face as she saw the blaze of light from Robin’s bedroom window. In a few minutes there was the sound of sirens. Soon the blaze of fire went dark and gusts of heavy smoke poured out of the window. She saw Robin come out onto the street with the other tenants. He had thrown his trench coat over some pants. Diana was wrapped in his overcoat but she was barefoot, hopping up and down on one foot on the cold pavement. Maggie tossed back her head and laughed. “I hope she gets pneumonia,”
she said aloud. Then she walked down the street.

She walked five blocks before the reaction set in. She began to shiver, and damp sweat broke out on her forehead. Good God, what had she done! She could have killed him. She could have killed everyone in the building. She felt faint as she realized the horror of her actions. Suddenly she understood how people could kill in a moment of rage and plead temporary insanity. She hadn’t even thought of the danger of the fire spreading… . Thank God it was all right! She saw a cruising cab, hailed it and mumbled, “Kennedy Airport.” Then she leaned back against the seat. She’d have to wait hours to catch a plane to Los Angeles, but it didn’t matter. The cab cut through a dark tree-lined street as it headed toward the East River Drive—it was the street where the Austins lived. She glanced at the solid brownstone. There was a light on the second floor. How she envied a woman like Judith Austin, secure in her beautiful brownstone fortress… .