Crossroads of Desire by Amos Hatter — page 26: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

CROSSROADS OF DESIRE to O’Brien’s. She should have gone there in the first place. Now that she had delivered herself of her rage, she was chag- rined that she should have given into it so completely. What the hell difference did it make to her if Philip got drunk with Ginger Doss? Neither of them were worth the least considera- tion. Neither meant a thing to her. By the time she reached the saloon her anticipation at being with Larry the remainder of the evening had completely over- come her anger at Philip and Ginger. She paid the driver and got out. In the saloon she learned from the bartender that Larry had knocked off for the evening about half an hour ago and had gone upstairs to his room. Following the bartender’s directions, Connie made her way up a dimly lighted stairway. On the third floor she found Larry’s door. Connie stood there for a moment smiling mis- chievously to herself. What a happy surprise this visit would be to Larry. She knocked. There was a moment of startled silence from within. Then she heard his bare feet padding to the door. A second later it opened a few inches and Larry peeked out at her. His eyes bulged. “Surprise!” Connie cried, pushing against the door and flinging her arms about him. For a brief second Connie felt the thrill of him against her. Then her own eyes opened wide as a girl sat up suddenly on the divan. Connie recognized her as one of the waitresses she had seen not so long ago in O’Brien’s saloon. Suddenly Connie was paralyzed both in body and mind. Not one of them moved for at least twenty seconds. Connie stared and stared as her mind wrestled with the full import of what she saw. Jane Vollmer sat there, not moving an inch. Larry stood there fascinated by the horror of what had happened. Connie felt her head turning and her eyes were almost glazed as she looked up at him. Her body felt numb. She turned around all at once and staggered toward the stairs. There was no feeling at all in her legs and she wondered dully what 50 CROSSROADS OF DESIRE enabled her to keep going. She still saw Larry’s dismayed face before her as she stumbled down the stairs. “Oh, no!” Those two words that escaped her were barely a gasp. She never did know how she got down the two flights. Dazedly she found herself on the sidewalk. Miraculously a taxi drew up and she got in. The driver inquired twice before she remembered to mumble her address. She rode all the way home as if in a trance. It wasn’t until she was in the elevator going up that her lips began to quiver. Her eyes blurred as grief began welling within her. With superhuman effort she managed to hold back her anguish until she reached her door. “Mademoiselle!” Yvonne exclaimed in great distress when She opened the door. Connie walked past her into the room. She didn’t even notice that Yvonne was embarrassed. Only dully did she realize that Gene hastily arose from the divan and gaped at her in deep agitation and embarrassment. Suddenly Connie was blinded by tears. She ran wildly to her bedroom, closed the door and locked it. Her coat dropped to the fioor. Her grief broke like a storm as she flung herself on the bed. She beat the covers with her fists as she poured out her anguish, Her whole body was racked with the torture of her sobbing. Her mouth was twisted in agony as she buried her head into her pillow, attempting to shut out forever the tragedy of this night. It was fully thirty minutes before her grief began to subside. Fleeting thoughts crossed her mind as she was caught in a maelstrom of loneliness. Everywhere she had turned tonight had been evidence of treachery in love. She had been scorned, denied and, as if in final mockery, a cruel fate had permitted her a glimpse of tenderness in her own apartment—a love that she could only look upon with envy and despair. Connie’s sobs broke out again but this time for only a short duration. Her emotions had been wrung dry. She was dulled by an overwhelming exhaustion. A few moments later she drifted off into a deep but tormented slumber. eOnmic looks. .econn