American fiction -- 20th century; Chicago (Ill.) -- Fiction; Journalists -- Fiction; Marriage -- Fiction
When she made the coffee the pungent fumes of it found their way through
the locked door which separated his room from hers.... He smiled,
thinking how startled she would be if he should knock on that door, and
demand a cup of coffee.... At this point he had to remind himself that
it was not really Phyllis there on the other side of that door.
3
But it really was Phyllis!—that was the strange thing about the whole
affair.... Clive had at last confided to him that Phyllis was in town,
but told him nothing more; it was Rose-Ann who told him that Phyllis had
come to Chicago, unknown to Clive, and got herself a job, before letting
him know anything of her plans.
“He’s finding her quite too much for him,” said Rose-Ann.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“I mean—she’s been his pupil, as it were, all along. Now she’s
demonstrating her independence.”
“Where is she living?” he asked, and when Rose-Ann said she didn’t know,
he told her of the girl he had seen who looked like Phyllis.
“Why didn’t you speak to her and find out?” she asked impatiently.
“Why, I thought it must be a mistake,” he said awkwardly.
“You really don’t care anything about people at all, do you, Felix?” she
said.
“Why do you say that?”
“Because it’s true. You’re interested only in ideas. A girl who was at
your wedding comes and lives in the same house with you, and you never
even speak to her! You are a strange creature, Felix. For heaven’s sake,
knock at her door, and bring her around to see us. Just because she
wants to be queer and not see anybody is no reason why we shouldn’t be
friendly.”
4
Yes, it was Phyllis; he saw her again, late that night, from the window,
plainly revealed by the glare of an arclight, walking with Clive along
the street toward the house; he had an impulse to shout to them, but he
refrained, and only looked on while they came slowly over, and stood
talking in front of the door. It was Phyllis, but she had changed; or
was it only some constraint in her manner? No wonder he had not been
certain of her identity. She had a different air; all the quietness was
gone from her—she seemed the embodiment of a defiant restlessness. There
was a reckless impudence in the whole pose of her body, the tilt of her
head as she stood talking to Clive, in the very gesture of her arm as
she held out her hand to Clive in good-bye.... Clive went abruptly; she
was entering.
Felix could hear her running up the stairs. He ought to go out and speak
to her. But he did not want to. He had a sense of her having changed,
being a new and different person that he did not like. He wanted to keep
the companionship of the Phyllis whom he had known these past weeks in
imagination—he did not want for a neighbour this restless girl whom she
had become in actuality. He heard her unlock her door, and enter; and he
said to himself that his refuge was spoiled—he would have to find
another place to work in....
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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