“Oh, no?” He really didn't understand and she was too tired to argue about it with him. “Why not?”
“Because she's gone.” He said it so quietly, Mel had to strain to hear.
“I know. But it's difficult living here with her photographs staring at me all the time.”
“You're exaggerating. There weren't that many around.”
“I put twenty-three of them in your study last night. That's not bad. I just gave a dozen of them to Pam. And I thought I'd put some in Matt's and Mark's rooms. That's where they belong.” Peter didn't answer and went back to the journals on his lap, as Mel stretched out on the bed. The producer had suggested she do as many special features as she could in the next month. They were desperate to pull their ratings up, and historically her interviews had worked miracles for the news show in New York. She had promised to do her best, and had already made notes about half a dozen subjects that interested her. But she could just imagine what Paul Stevens was going to say when he got wind of that. Maybe all she could do was ignore the man, but the following night, he was rude to her as she came on the set, and despite his charm while they were on the air, she had the feeling that he would have liked to punch her out when they went off. It was really an untenable way to work, and not what she was used to at all. But she submitted her list of possible interviews to the producer that night, and he loved almost all of them, which was both good news and bad. It meant that she would be working overtime for the next month or two, but maybe that was one way to settle in. It was always strange working for a network at first. It was just a little stranger for her this time because she was feeling her way around at home as well.
“Busy day today?” Peter looked at her distractedly as he came in and she smiled. She had gotten home at seven fifteen, and he was even later than that. It was almost eight o'clock.
“Pretty much.” She was in a quiet mood. The hassles with Paul Stevens wore her out.
“Is that guy behaving any better man before? Paul What's His Name?”
She smiled. Everyone in L.A. knew his name, whether they liked him or not. “No. I think he was a little worse.”
“Sonofabitch.”
“What about you?” The kids had gone back to school, and had eaten dinner at six. Mel and Peter were eating at eight.
“Three bypasses in a row. It wasn't a very exciting day.”
“I'm doing an interview with Louisa Garp.” She was the biggest star in Hollywood.
“You are?”
“I am.”
“When?”
“Next week. She accepted today.” Mel looked pleased and Peter was obviously impressed. “Hell, I even did Dr. Peter Hallam once.” She smiled and he reached out and took her hand. They were both so busy now. They both had such hectic jobs. He hoped it didn't mean they'd never be able to spend time with each other. That wasn't the kind of life he liked. He liked knowing that his wife was there for him. And he wanted to be there for her too.
“I missed you today, Mel.”
“I missed you too.” But she also knew what the next two months would be like. She was going to scarcely see him at all. But maybe after that things would settle down.
They sat in the living room after dinner and talked for a while and Pam came down. Peter stretched an arm out to her. “How's my girl?” She came to him with a smile. “Did you know that Mel is doing an interview with Louisa Garp?”
“So?” She seemed to be bitchy all the time now, as though Mel were a real threat to her, and Peter looked annoyed.
“That's not a very pleasant thing to say.”
“Oh yeah?” She was asking for it, but Mel didn't say a word. “So what? I got an A on my art history paper today.”
“That's great!” Peter let the second comment slide by. Mel was furious and when the girl left Mel told him so. “What did you want me to say? Last year the kid was flunking out, now she tells me she got an A.”
“Terrific. But that doesn't cancel out her being rude to me.”
“For chrissake, Mel, give her time to adjust.” He was tired now. He'd had a long day. And he didn't want to come home to argue with Mel. “Let's go upstairs to our room and close the door.” But as soon as they did, Jess came in, and Mel gently asked her to leave.
“Why?” She looked shocked.
“Because I haven't seen Peter all day, and we want to talk.”
“I haven't seen you either.” She was clearly hurt.
“I know. But we can talk in the morning, Jess. Peter will be at the hospital by then.” He left the room to take a shower and Mel kissed her cheek but Jess drew away.
“Never mind.”
“Jess, come on … it's hard cutting myself into pieces for everyone. Give me a chance.”
“Yeah, sure.”
“How's Val?”
“How do I know? Ask her. She doesn't talk to me anymore, and you don't have time to talk to us.”
“That's not fair.”
“Isn't it? It's true though. I take it he comes first.” She nodded toward the bathroom door.
“Jess, I'm married now. If I'd been married all these years, it would have been different than it was.”
“So I gather. Personally, I preferred it before.” “Jessie …” Mel felt agonized as she looked at her oldest child. “What's the matter with you?”
“Nothing.” But tears filled her eyes, and she sat down on her mother's bed, trying not to cry. “It's just … I don't know …” She shook her head in despair and looked up at Mel. “It's everything … a new school, a new room … I'll never see any of my friends again … I have to share a room with Val and she's such a pig. She takes all my stuff and she never gives it back.” They were big problems to her and Mel's heart went out to her. “And she cries all the time.”
“She does?” And just saying it made Mel think. She realized that Val had been crying a lot in the last few weeks. Maybe Peter had been right, and Val was sick. “Is she all right, Jess?”
“I don't know. She acts weird. And she's always with Mark.” Mel made a mental note to say something again about that.
“I'll talk to them again.”
“It won't change anything. She's in his room all the time.”
Mel frowned.” I specifically told her not to do that.” But there were other things that Mel had also specifically told her not to do, and Jess knew perfectly well that she did, but she would never have told her mother that. Mel put her arms around Jessica then and kissed her cheek and Jessie looked at her with a sad smile.
“I'm sorry if I was a bitch.”
“It's hard on all of us at first, but we'll get used to it. I'm sure it's hard on Pam and Mark and Matt to have us in the house too. Let's give everyone a little time to settle down.”
“What's all this?” Peter came out of the shower with a towel wrapped around his waist and smiled at Jess. “Hi, Jess. Everything okay?”
“Sure.” She smiled and stood up. She knew she should leave them alone. She turned to Mel. “Good night, Mom.” And as she left the room, it tore at Mel's heart to see her so sad. She didn't say anything to Peter about their exchange but it was one more burden on her heart as she went back to work the next day, and had to deal with Paul Stevens again, and that night when she came home, Peter called. There was an emergency he had to take care of himself, he'd be home in a “while,” and a while turned out to be eleven o'clock.
They never seemed to get off the merry-go-round anymore, and for the next three weeks she was constantly out doing interviews, fighting with Paul Stevens before or after the show, or listening to Jessie and Val's complaints when she got home. Mrs. Hahn wouldn't let them in the kitchen for a snack. Pam was taking their clothes, Jess said that Val and Mark were locked in his room all the time, and to top it off at the end of January, Mel got a call from Matt's school. He had fallen out of a swing in the playground and broken his arm. Peter met them in the emergency room with an orthopedist friend, and Mel joked tiredly that it was the first time they'd seen each other in weeks. He had had emergencies almost every night, endless bypasses to do, and two potential transplant patients had died for lack of donors' hearts.