Nikki Revisited by Stuart Friedman

Author:Stuart Friedman [Friedman, Stuart]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781440543272
Publisher: Prologue Books
Published: 1963-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

Anton got there first. He came down the hall in a hurry. Nikki, in silver lounging pajamas, her hair loose and sultry around her cheeks, watched him with a faint smile. He frowned at her and stepped past her into the apartment.

“A man full of agitations and displeasures,” Nikki said with soft, affectionate mockery.

“Kris phoned me that you invited him, too,” he said, looking at her sternly. “Is he here?”

“Not yet.” She grinned at him.

Anton reached past her, slammed the door shut and locked it. He turned away to put his hat and coat down, saying briskly, “Good. He’s got to memorize new lines of a scene we just rewrote this afternoon, and he’s due for an early rehearsal—and believe me that boy can use all the rehearsal he can get.” He turned back to her, smiled broadly. “Darling, you look delicious. It’s wonderful to see you. Good flight, I hope.”

“M’m-h’m. You’re looking nice and edgy and vital,” she said, moving easily in against him as he stepped forward and kissed her softly. “The play shaping up? Is he—how do you say—'taking the stage?’ ”

“He did once. Which shows he can. Two afternoons ago we ran through all three acts in sequence. Without sets, props, costumes; but all the lines, positions, entrances, exits and general business were there. It was a complete performance, a fused continuing whole. We didn’t stop for flubs or to polish an individual bit or scene. When we’ve done this before, Kris was—well, Kris. Passive, flowing along with the thing, trying to keep up. But this time he really took the stage. It perked up the whole cast. Gave them confidence, almost for the first time.”

“Marvelous,” she said excitedly. “How did he do in that tricky second act scene where the real character begins to show through?”

“It still confuses him. He glimpses it, then gets self-conscious. He starts to do the one thing he was never meant to attempt: think. ” He grinned malevolently.

“About his image?” She giggled. “His Hollywood image?”

“Exactly. In those beautiful dummy roles of his, evil was no part of him; that was for ugly people. He could show bad -boy but never bad -man traits. He’s scared of the sonofabitchery in this character. He worries that the retarded adolescents who idolize him may find out about it.”

“Could a success in this role ruin the image?”

“Hell, no. Not one in a hundred thousand of his morons will see the play. The rest will know he’s had a Broadway success. And Broadway has prestige, the more so the farther you get from it. When he comes, Nikki, you can say hello and send him back to his hotel.”

“I can but I don’t intend to,” she said.

Smiling to herself, she started toward the bar, moving with a teasing, feline grace, her hips rolling.

When Anton caught her and spun her around, she laughed gleefully. He clamped her body to his and kissed her mouth, bearing down hard. He tried to deep-kiss her. She turned her face and freed herself.

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