Sellevision - Augusten Burroughs [53]
“There’s another thing, Howard,” Trish leaned in. “She’s been eating Tic Tacs like crazy, but you can still smell the alcohol on her breath. Even in the morning.”
“Oh my God.” Howard wiped his hand across his forehead. “Do you think I should say something to her?”
Trish waved her hands in front of her. “Oh, absolutely not, no. Please. I just think, well, let’s see what happens. Maybe you could cut her hours down, a hair. I mean, to give her a little extra space. I wouldn’t mind taking them on. I covered for her that day she got the rat.”
Howard smiled at her. “That was very good of you on such short notice, by the way—thanks. And that’s an excellent idea, I’ll do that. Not such a cut that she worries, just enough so that she has a chance to spend more time with her family.”
Trish stood to leave and Howard added, “Please, keep an eye out, let me know if there are any developments. Hopefully, whatever it is will pass.”
She made a point to touch Howard’s arm, to thank him for his understanding. And she made a point to do this while standing very close to him.
twelve
“I thought you’d be happy. I thought . . . well, I just thought this is what you wanted,” Howard told Leigh. She sat in the chair across from the desk, legs crossed. Her bright red skirt and jacket contrasted sharply with her mood.
“I am happy, Howard, it’s great,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I mean I’d be lying if I told you that I’m not excited about having my own jewelry showcase, it’s just that I wish things between us could be moving along as fast as my career.”
“Sweetheart, we’ve talked about this again and again—it’s just a matter of time. I’m just waiting until the right . . . moment.”
“But, Howard, you’ve been waiting for the right moment for months. I feel like my life is on hold. I really hate it.”
Leigh uncrossed her legs, then crossed them again. She felt edgy, uncomfortable. She had been having a hard time sleeping lately, and she’d lost her appetite. A good thing, she supposed, because she’d lost the four pounds that had plagued her since last Christmas.
“Tell me something, Howard,” she said, looking into his eyes. “Is that why you’re giving me so many more hours? Is this some sort of tactic to keep me occupied?”
Leigh had learned of her jewelry showcase from Trish, who had stopped by to congratulate her. Leigh had been genuinely shocked. Jewelry showcases normally went to the blond women, except for Bebe.
Howard gave her a soft smile, his eyes compassionate. “Of course not, Leigh. Our professional relationship is just that—strictly professional. Viewers love you, that’s the bottom line. It makes sense that you should pick up some of Peggy Jean’s hours. You deserve them.”
“Why me? Why not Trish?
“Trish has some, you have some. You have a little more, because I believe you deserve them.”
“Yeah, but I don’t deserve you, right?”
“Oh, Leigh, I wish you’d stop doing this to yourself. To us.”
Yeah, Leigh thought, that makes two of us.
Glancing at her watch and seeing that she had less than an hour before going on air, Leigh stood. “Well, I have to get going.”
“You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m okay. I’m fine. I’m always fine.”
Howard smiled. “That’s my girl.”
For the next three hours, Leigh smiled, laughed, and spoke with viewers who called in. She measured the diameter of white-gold panther-link bracelets and fingered bold-hoop earrings. She informed viewers when an item sold out, and asked viewers to stay tuned for the next show, Candle Creations. To the twenty-four million viewers who tune into Sellevision at any given moment, Leigh simply appeared to be a happy, attractive young woman who enjoyed her job as a host for America’s premier retail broadcasting network.
One would never guess just by looking at her that inside, her heart was being ripped in half.
After her show, Leigh stepped into her car and made the thirty-minute drive home to her apartment. By the time she’d taken off her work clothes and slipped into a pair of sweats and an oversized T-shirt,