Crossroads of Desire by Amos Hatter — page 52: what you’re looking at

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

CROSSRGADS OF DESIRE “About what’s going on here, that’s what!” Philip snapped. “Nothing in particular,” she told him lightly. “The devil there isn’t. I walk in here and find you sitting on a piano. You—the premiere danseuse of the Ballet de le Roi.” Connie gave him an amused look. ‘“‘What’s wrong with sitting on a piano?” “Plenty!” he said emphatically. “It cheapens you. It makes the ballet look like a farce. It—” “Oh phooey, Philip,’ she laughed. “Come down to earth,” “IT am down to earth,” he said, rapping the table. “I’ve taken all the nonsense I can stand, Constance. This has got to stop, And it’s got to stop immediately!” : The smile faded from her lips. Slowly she lowered her glass and put it on the table. A storm began brewing in her eyes. “There’s nothing to worry about, Mr. Hathaway,” Larry put in quickly in an effort to keep peace. “Connie and I were over at the theater at Hoke’s request this afternoon to do some work on the new ballet. Afterward we had dinner and came over here. The crowd has gotten a little gay, that’s all.” “You stay out of this, Brooks,” Philip ordered, glaring at him. “You're getting pretty stuffy, Philip,” Connie observed evenly. He turned his glare on her, ‘More importantly, from your standpoint I should think, ’m getting fed up.” “And just what do you mean by that?” “I’ve put thousands of dollars into the ballet. I’m not going to stand by and watch it turned into a Side show, especially in a Third Avenue dump like this.” “There’s nothing wrong with Third Avenue and there’s nothing wrong with this dump,” Connie shot back. “Everybody here tonight is a potential customer of the ballet. They like Larry’s music. They seemed to like my dancing earlier in the evening and—” “What?” he exclaimed. “You performed here in front of— ot this drunken crowd. He stared at her horrified. “And what if I did?” she asked haughtily. “Just this,” he thundered, when he found words, “I’m not going to tolerate it another minute.” - “You've got a nerve telling me what to do,’ Connie flung back at him, her anger rising, 102 CROSSROADS OF DESIRE “Maybe not. But I don’t have to put out another damned nickel to finance it,’ Philip exploded. Larry stared at the two of them open mouthed. He didn’t Know what to make of Philip Hathaway’s remark. And he was even more astounded by Connie’s reply. This had all the ear- marks of a momentous event. “Nobody's asking you to!” cried Connie who had not been stopped one second by Philip’s declaration. She went on in a rage. ‘The ballet is making money and it’s going to make more, I’ve got a right to go wherever I want to.” “You can’t come here!”’ “The hell I can’t. And if it’s so beneath your dignity just what brought you here tonight?” she asked defiantly, “Jane Vollmer called me. She said for me to get right over because you were making an ass of yourself!” Philip answered acidly. Sparks flew in Connie’s eyes at this information. She glanced beyond, toward the crowd at the waitresses who moved through the tables. Jane Vollmer, at that instant, was approaching a nearby table carrying a tray with four steins of beer. Connie was so beside herself with indignation that she lost control at sight of the waitress. She jumped to her feet before either Philip or Larry could restrain her and raced to Jane. “Just what do you mean, butting into my business?” she demanded. Jane was so startled that she came to a sudden halt. The tray tilted and the four steins crashed to the floor. When it came to her what had happened she glared at Connie. “Look what you made me do!” she cried accusingly. “Shut up, Answer me,’ Connie demanded. Jane wasn’t used to such orders, especially from girls, and of all girls, from Connie. She gave her a shove. To Connie that was the final insult, heaped on top of injury. She tore into Jane like a buzz saw. Both men at the table had arisen before this but it happened so quickly that neither Larry nor Philip reached the girls in time to keep them apart. Actually the fight was started before even those at tables in the immediate vicinity realized what Was going on. In a few seconds a whole table of patrons were involved when Jane was thrown back into a lady’s lap. In- Stantly, four men were on their feet. teonmlleloOolkS .~E@ mM