Pandy joined the crush at the bar. It didn’t take but a minute for her to start having a good time, as she immediately saw four people she knew. It wasn’t until half an hour had passed that she remembered Jonny. Ought she to go look for him? On the other hand, he should be the one looking for her. In any case, there was no rush; she was bound to see him eventually. In the meantime, she would use the bathroom.
Turning the corner into the darkened hallway that led to the toilets, she nearly ran straight into him.
“Hey!” he exclaimed. And with a proprietary intimacy, as if they were already a couple, he pulled her into him and squeezed her hard against him. Pandy felt an intense, girlish rush of joy.
“I’m so sorry,” he exclaimed.
“For what?” she asked, feeling a little tremble at the base of her throat.
“For not finding you right away. I kept looking for you, and then someone told me they’d seen you go in this direction.”
They stood for a second, smiling, staring into each other’s eyes.
“Come on,” he said, taking Pandy by the hand. “I want you to meet my mother.”
Jonny squeezed her palm. Pandy noted that the crowd parted as he guided her through them, their expressions lit up as if they were pleased by this potential coupling.
And then he was escorting her across the floor to the head table. There, squatting behind two swags of red velvet like a gypsy in a fortune-teller’s booth, was Jonny’s mother.
Pandy slid in next to her. It was one of those booths that once you got into, you couldn’t get out of easily.
Jonny leaned over the table. “MJ, meet PJ,” he said loudly and with great affection. He gave Pandy a grateful smile. “She’s been pestering me all night to introduce you.”
“How wonderful,” Pandy exclaimed. She turned her head to look directly at Jonny’s mother. This required some courage. Her first impression of MJ had been of bad face work topped by a blue silk turban coupled with enough bright gold jewelry to rival the Franklin Mint.
Pandy forced herself to look beyond all that and right into MJ’s eyes. It was like looking into chocolate kisses, Pandy realized with a start. She was sure she saw kindness, along with something else—a mesmerizing dash of Jonny’s intangible allure.
So that’s where he got it from, Pandy thought. She tore her eyes away and smiled up at Jonny.
“Now listen,” MJ said, commanding Pandy’s attention again. “I’ve read everything you’ve written, and I’ve watched both the movies. I’m your biggest fan.”
“Now, MJ,” Jonny said warningly.
MJ turned back to Pandy and spoke conspiratorially. “He told me I wasn’t supposed to embarrass you.” She glanced at Jonny and inhaled sharply. “But I told him I don’t care who knows, and I’m not ashamed to say it.
“I absolutely love Monica.”
* * *
Two hours later, Pandy and MJ were still talking.
“How come a girl like you isn’t married?” MJ asked.
“There are a million girls like me who aren’t married,” Pandy said.
“But smart women usually can get married if they want to,” MJ countered. “When I see a smart woman who isn’t married, I think to myself, there’s someone who doesn’t want to get married.”
Pandy leaned back in the booth, staring at MJ in awe. She could hardly believe it. Here was someone who might finally understand her own feelings about marriage.
“Why did you never marry?” she asked MJ cautiously.
“Because I’ve already got my man. Jonny,” she said. “He came into my life and saved my life. And I don’t want to be greedy. If a woman gets one good man in her life, she’s lucky. She should be happy. Asking for two good men is tempting fate.”
Pandy agreed with spirited enthusiasm. Henry, she thought, was her good man. On the other hand, Henry was her agent, and probably not exactly the sort of man MJ was talking about.
The name Henry, however, reminded her of the million bucks.
“Well, I, for one, am perfectly happy by myself,” Pandy said. She leaned toward MJ and hissed quickly, “I just made a million dollars.”