When the company broke for lunch, Catherine walked over to the enormous studio commissary and sat at a small table in the corner. At a large table next to her was a group of soldiers in uniform. Catherine was facing the door, when she saw the extra walk in, the three girls hanging on him, each one pushing to get closer to him. Catherine felt the blood rush to her face. She decided it was merely a chemical reaction. There were some people you hated on sight, just as there were others you liked on sight. Something about his overbearing arrogance rubbed her the wrong way. He would have made a perfect gigolo and that was probably exactly what he was.
He seated the girls at a table, looked up and saw Catherine, then leaned over and said something to the girls. They all looked at her and then there was a burst of laughter. Damn him! She watched as he moved toward her table. He stared down at her, that slow, knowing smile on his face.“ Mind if I join you a moment?” he asked.
“ I—” but he was already seated, studying her, his eyes probing and amused.“ What is it you want?” Catherine asked stiffly. His grin widened.“ Do you really want to know?” Her lips tightened with anger.“ Listen—”
“ I wanted to ask you,” he said quickly,“ how I did this morning.” He leaned forward earnestly.“ Was I convincing?”
“ You may be convincing to them,” Catherine said, nodding toward the girls,“ but if you want my opinion, I think you’ re a phony.”
“ Have I done something to offend you?”“ Everything you do offends me,” she said evenly.“ I don’ t happen to like your type.”“ What is my type?”
“ You’ re a fake. You enjoy wearing that uniform and strutting around the girls, but have you thought about enlisting?”
He stared at her incredulously.“ And get shot at?” he asked.“ That’ s for suckers.” He leaned forward and grinned.“ This is a lot more fun.”
Catherine’ s lips were quivering with anger.“ Aren’ t you eligible for the draft?”
“ I suppose technically I’ m eligible, but a friend of mine knows a guy in Washington and”— he lowered his voice—“ I don’ t think they’ ll ever get me.”
“ I think you’ re contemptible,” Catherine exploded.“ Why?”“ If you don’ t know why, I could never explain it to you.”“ Why don’ t you try? At dinner tonight. Your place. Do you cook?”
Catherine rose to her feet, her cheeks flushed with anger.“ Don’ t bother coming back to the set,” she said.“ I’ ll tell Mr. O’ Brien to send you your check for this morning’ s