Henderson daily dispatch., 1937-06-01
CHAPTER 8

FER CRYING ended after
Sandy had made his hasty depar-
ture Marcia picked herself up,
gathered her bags, and went down.
stairs slowly.
"A. cup of coffee before you go?"
Grandma was waiting for her.
Marcia raised it high and said.
1--WE who are about to leave, salute
thee. Don't worry. Grandma.
Everything will turn out all right.
If it doesn't, I'll send for you to
come post-quick and fix it up.
And that's a promise"
With last minute embraces, she
was gone in the shining taxi that
had chugged up the hill to the
house at La Cresta. Gazing back
she wondered if all that had hap
pened in the last fortnight was
really true: if she, Marcia Madden,
had found love and lost it all in the
space Of those few days. A
philosopher at heart, she decided to
let things work themselves out,
hoping tenaciously that Sandy
would forget his stubborn pride
and come back to her.
She reached Los Angeles by 4:3O,
when the tall skirted palms were
casting. long shadows over the
roadway and the first early lights
Of evening glimmered here and
there. It was the favorite time as
far as Marcia was concerned, for
usually it signaled the finish of a
days work and the beginning of
her own private life", either in
special and fascinating planning at
the Office, or in personal entertain
ment. Marcia never counted the
hours after as real work, for it
was then old Abe took her into his
confidence, asked her advice on
new campaigns, or discussed copy
angles till the late hours. n.
When the Office telephone had
stopped its perpetual jangling, and
when the irreverent. workers had
gone horne,i then it seemed to
Marcia that the serious business
of the. agency was accomplished.
The young girls who did tipping and
filing would pity Marcia when she
stayed late but Marcia pitied them,
whose interest was so shallow they
found no real love in their work.
! Marcia decided t0 ston oYllv
briefly at her. apartment, then take
a cab doWntoWp and surprise Abe.
Childishly, she kbpped on a double
decker bus, checking her. bags to
be sent home. ~On top of the bus
she took off her hat and let the
cool breezes ruf1e her hair, then
sat back and watched the rest of
the world go by. Already the rush
Of traffic presaged Office workers
promptly heading for home after
the days labors:
"Well, maybe if I had something
Il. someone :. waiting for me,
{ would be anxious to hurry back,
too,"' she thought reasonably. But
it never occurred to her even then
that in such case she might not
wish to go to work at all, or that
Sandy was not the type to wait
for her to walk tiredly into his
heart after her full day was fin
ished. al 80 et
. Across the curving bridge at the
park, past the impressive and ex-
elusive Wiltshire shopping section,
the bus lurched and snorted, stop
ping. only occasionally to discharge
passengers.
Familiar landmarks called Mar
cia out Of her reverie, and she
raced down the winding bus
stairs A brisk five minutes walk
brought her to .''home", two rooms
in an old house on South Multern
drive. Anyone who could have fol-
lowed Marcia into the dinly lighted
apartment would realize that her
real life was not lived i'll these
rooms. In excellent taste they
were. but without the many femi-
nine and personal touches that
indicated happy hours spent at
home. Against the richly bur-
nished and panelled walls there
was. deep-seated davenport of
mulberry tones, with carelessly
placed pillows and an afghan that
bore earmarks of Grandma's
thoughtful giving. Directly across