Part 22 (1/2)
”When I buy Chamberpot a thesaurus, I'll pick one up for you, too.”
Marty shrugged. ”It's up to you. My immediate concern is for perfect salmon.” She pulled the sizzling steaks from the oven. ”These are gonna be great.” The phone rang. ”Shall I get it?”
”It's okay. I'll be right back.” Helen steered herself into the living room and picked up the phone. She didn't have to check caller ID. She knew who was on the other end. ”h.e.l.lo.”
”Are you ready to talk to me?”
Only twenty-four hours had pa.s.sed and already Helen missed Cory's voice with a pa.s.sion. There it was again: that brain-dead speechlessness Helen had felt with their first telephone conversation. Wis.h.i.+ng to be near Cory, who awaited an answer, Helen sighed deeply. ”What is it about you, Coryell Chamberlain?” she finally managed to say. ”I can't resist you.”
”I think it's my swordtails.”
Helen laughed. ”I think it's more than that.”
”We need to talk.”
”I miss you,” she admitted. ”I'm angry, but I love you, baby. Compromise, huh?”
”Or concede, give and take, a settlement-”
”Okay, smart-a.s.s. Come over tomorrow. We'll talk.”
”I love you, too. Good night, Helen.”
When Helen entered the kitchen again, Marty set down her gla.s.s of Chardonnay and laughed loudly. ”Gotcha.”
”What?” Helen asked, trying to conceal her smile.
”You're doing that Carter thing again. A compromise, maybe?”
Helen bit her lip and shrugged. ”Maybe.”
”Yep. Really made her suffer, didn't you?”
Helen felt her dimples go their deepest ever. ”Eat your dinner.”
As it turned out, Cory's idea of a compromise wasn't much at all. She agreed to live with Helen but wouldn't display their relations.h.i.+p in public, and, of course, she wouldn't do the show. Back to square one.
”I don't like it,” Helen said. ”You'll be guilty by a.s.sociation. If I'm the subject of gossip, I'd prefer it was legitimate.”
”I think the important thing is that we're together.” Cory squeezed her hand.
Helen sulked while she glanced over Cory's face. She liked her features. Her slight overbite gave her mouth a very desirable look. Not so much as a freckle marred her complexion, and she wore makeup only for performances. She was almost always fresh and natural.
She fooled with Cory's wispy bangs. She smiled at her eyebrows. They were always ragged and erratic, never to lay normally. They were cute, Helen thought.
She looked down to Cory's hand. The touch she adored. Cory reached to Helen's chin and raised it. She always wanted to see Helen's eyes when they talked. Only in the music room, when she had said no, had Cory not been able to look directly at her.
”If someone asks if we're lovers, will you deny it?” Helen asked.
”I would be denying you. No. I would say the truth.”
Helen huffed. ”That's what I don't understand!”
”Boston. It's that simple. There's a better chance of me staying with the orchestra if I don't do the concert.”
Cory's eyes stole Helen's heart every time she looked at her, as they did at that moment. Helen relented. Cory would have Boston and the girl; Helen would have the show and the girl, but only in the privacy of their own home. Home. They still hadn't settled on the issue of whether or not Helen would move to Boston. There was time. Either way, she agreed to Cory's terms. Society had won.
Helen tried not to, but she took the compromise personally. She moved back in with Cory, but feeling more an embarra.s.sment to her than her lover, Helen picked random fights.
”I'll be home next week to take you to the doctor,” Cory said during a practice break. ”Have you been getting more feeling in your foot?” Helen continued to polish her nails and nodded yes. ”I look forward to walking with you.”
Helen looked up from the table. She said nothing and then continued to apply a second coat of polish, as though she'd never heard Cory. Cory grabbed Helen's hand to stop her. Helen pulled away.
”I'm talking to you, not to the fish.”
”I don't think you should come to my appointment. I could need support and you may have to touch me in public.”
”Oh for G.o.d's sake, Helen. Don't do this to me.”
”What the h.e.l.l are you so afraid of?” She stabbed the nailbrush back into the bottle and twisted it closed.
”We've been over all this!” Cory raised the volume of her voice to match Helen's.
”What's the worst thing anyone could do to you?”
”Take away the one pa.s.sion I've spent my entire life nurturing.”
”I'm number two on your list?”
”That's not what I meant.”
”What did you mean when you said you would do a show like ours if you had someone to show off to the world? Well, here I am, baby, and all you really want is to show off with your piano and baton. Period.” Helen wheeled toward the bedroom. Cory followed, but stopped at the doorway and faced Helen.
”And what makes you so self-righteous? The world won't magically open their arms to us. They don't like what we do.”
”Chamberlain, one day you'll wake up and the only thing you'll have is your d.a.m.n piano.”
”Is that a threat?”
”It's the truth, Cory. You're pus.h.i.+ng me away.”
”You're pulling away. If you can't handle things the way they are-”
”Now look who's threatening.”
”I've had it with you.” Cory threw her arms out to her sides. ”Take me as I am or don't. You've pulled this c.r.a.p att.i.tude for two weeks and I don't want to hear it anymore.”