Chapter 6
In early December, Sally found a studio apartment on Hilton near the university and moved out of Kitty's place. She hated being so close to the Airliner, but she couldn't afford to be fussy and she had a pretty view of the quad almost directly across the street.
She was still friends with the auburn-haired girl. During the next few weeks, they frequently met for coffee before work. Bill's drinking had gotten out of hand and, more and more, he was flying into bursts of unexplained anger. Then just before Christmas both Kitty and Sally left their jobs at the 'Liner . . .
Christmas, and the Wisconsin university town was deserted. A blizzard in mid-December had dropped a foot of snow in the area the old quad buildings were surrounded by white-mantled oaks, and out in the residential parts there was a snowman in every front yard. But the white fluff had soon turned to pepper-and-salt slush, and now even that was melted away. Sally'd hoped for a white
Christmas, but the weather reports were predicting rain for central Wisconsin...School shut down for the holidays, the streets were empty, the bookshops and Student Union were locked tight; three days before Christmas, even the corner Rexall closed. Sally's holiday social festivities turned out to be slipping into an empty movie theater by herself, and meeting Kitty for lunch in the Smorgasbord Room at the Clinton Hotel. Tonight, Christmas Eve, she was staying home. To get in the mood, she'd bought some antique Christmas ornaments and hung them in the window and in the entryway between her tiny living room-bedroom and kitchen.
It was five in the afternoon and Kitty had said she'd call at four, but so far she hadn't. Sally's plans were up in the air, and it looked like she was going to be frustratingly free this evening. Now she poured herself some eggnog from the supply she'd made in case Kitty should come over. The pretty blonde had always dreaded the dreary holidays with her mother, but she was coming to know another side of Christmas which was equally depressing...Today she hadn't talked to one other human being, and she had no reason to expect a ring from anyone...but Kitty.
She polished off the cup of eggnog and crossed to the phone table by the couch and dialed Kitty's number.
"Yes...who is it?" the redhead's huskily sexy voice answered.
"Me. I was wondering...do you want to come over?" Sally lit a cigarette and set her ashtray on the armrest of the couch.
"I was thinking about it and then something came up. Dave called. He wants to go out."
"What about his family?" Sally said.
"That's what I said, but to him it doesn't make any difference."
Sally exhaled smoke into the receiver. "I'm so damn lonely," she said.
"Actually, I think Christmas is a drag for a lot of people," Kitty commented.
"Well...give me a call if Dave decides not to go out," Sally said expectantly. "Maybe we could still do something."
"I'm sorry, honey, but I'm afraid there's not much chance of that," said Kitty regretfully as Sally hung off the line.
Now that she'd dropped work at the 'Liner, a void had opened up in Sally's life. She'd rarely had a chance to examine what she was doing what with waitressing and her fling at being a prostitute...but after giving that all up, she realized she wasn't connected with college life anymore either. She really couldn't figure it out; superficially, everything was better. She'd earned enough money to get her own apartment, and it looked like her grades would be excellent as ever. She had a good part-time salesgirl job lined up at a boutique...starting as soon as school began again.
She should be jumping up and down, excited about how everything had worked out, but she wasn't. In the old days she would have been, but somehow she had changed. She just didn't get that excited anymore. In some ways, she felt like one of those patients who, having survived an unusual operation, had some vital part missing, though no one could tell it but herself.
Pouring another tumbler-full of brandy, she gave an automatic sigh at her prospects for the evening. She still wondered as she turned on the portable TV, whether she hadn't made a wrong choice...somewhere along the line....