The vision of her in a Simone tantrum made him smile. "I can't imagine you in a tantrum."
"You don't know me when I'm mad. You should have seen me this afternoon. I stamped my foot and clapped my hands till it hurt and said, 'That's enough now from everybody! I don't want to hear one more grumble. Anybody who doesn't like what she has to do or wear can quit right now!' Then I told Ranna and Ilona I expected them to have what they want for lights figured out tomorrow. Everybody sure was meek. I said 'Now you all go home and get a good night's rest and be here at ten sharp tomorrow morning and that means everybody.' Ranna has two girls who are never on time."
He laughed.
"You may laugh," she said indignantly, "but it isn't funny. It's no joke putting on a show. I wish I had never gone into it."
He heard the disquiet in her voice. "Things really are not going well?"
"I just can't tell. There's no one I can ask, or talk to, whose opinion I respect except Vida, and she is too busy with recital details and then the time she has to spend on Figente's library. If the recital isn't a success I haven't anything to look forward to on Broadway because Beman is angry at me for not going to Chicago with the show."
"Isn't that an exaggeration? There are other producers."
"There is Joe Samuels, providing he hasn't cast already for the summer and autumn and even then I don't want to keep doing these same kind of specialties. Ballet dancers are a dime a dozen and you have to do something else, sing and act, or have some unusual style of your own."
"That's true for anyone who works in the arts."
"I hadn't thought of that. The truth is I am hoping the Laurencin ballet will prove to Beman that I can do something different than those revue routines—and I don't even know whether he'll come to the recital—and even if he does—" her voice trailed moodily.
"Figente could be asked to bring him. If you don't wish to ask him, I will."
"He may not want to because of Hal. That isn't all of it. I wouldn't even care so much about whether Beman came or didn't if I could be sure what I am doing is worth it."
"You can't ever be sure until you do it."
"What if I fail?"
