CATHERINE Washington-Hollywood: 1941 7
It seemed to Catherine Alexander that her life had entered a new phase, as though somehow she had climbed to some higher emotional level, a heady and exhilarating peak. When Bill Fraser was in town, they had dinner together every night and went to concerts or the theater or the opera. He found a small, charming apartment for her near Arlington. He wanted to pay her rent, but Catherine insisted on paying it herself. He bought her clothes and jewelry. She had resisted at first, embarrassed by some deeply ingrained Protestant ethic, but it had given Fraser such obvious pleasure that finally Catherine had stopped arguing about it.
Whether you like it or not, she thought, you’ re a mistress. It had always been a loaded word for her, filled with connotations of cheap, slinky women in backstreet apartments, living out lives of emotional frustration. But now that it was happening to her, Catherine found that it was not really like that at all. It just meant that she was sleeping with the man she loved. It did not feel dirty or sordid, it felt perfectly natural. It’ s interesting, she thought, how the things that other people do seem so horrible, and yet when you’ re doing them they seem so right. When you are reading about the sexual experiences of someone else, it’ s True Confessions, but when it’ s you it’ s the Ladies’ Home Journal.
Fraser was a thoughtful and understanding companion, and it was as though they had been together always. Catherine could predict his reactions to almost any situation and knew his every mood. Contrary to what Fraser had said, sex with him did not become more exciting, but Catherine told herself that sex was only a small part of a relationship. She was not a schoolgirl who needed constant titillation, she was a mature woman. Give or take a little, she thought, wryly.
Fraser’ s advertising agency was being run in his absence by Wallace Turner, a senior account executive. William Fraser tried to have as little to do with the business as possible, so he could devote himself to his job in Washington, but whenever a major problem arose at the agency and they needed his advice, Fraser got in the habit of discussing it with Catherine, using her as a sounding board. He found that she had a natural flair for the business. Catherine often came up with ideas for campaigns that proved very effective.
“ If I weren’ t so selfish, Catherine,” Fraser said one night at dinner,“ I’ d put you in the agency and turn you loose on some of our accounts.” He covered her hand with his.“ I’ d miss you too much,” he added.“ I want you here with me.”
“ I want to be here, Bill. I’ m very happy with things the way they are.” And it was true. She had thought that if she were ever in a situation like this, she would want