The Pursuit of Happiness (2001) (18 page)

After a few weeks, it became even more preposterous. Because I’d yet to receive one letter from Jack.

Initially, I tried to rationalize away the absence of news from my beloved. I would work out schedules in my head, figuring: it must have taken him nearly five days to reach Europe by ship, another couple of days to make his way to wherever he was being stationed in Germany, and then at least two weeks for his first letter to cross back the Atlantic to me (this was, after all, well before the days of Air Mail). Factor in the strain put on the postal system during Christmas - and the fact that there were still hundreds of thousands of GIs stationed around the globe … and it was suddenly clear why I hadn’t heard from him by Christmas.

But then the New Year arrived. And there was still no word from Jack … even though I continued to write him every day.

I waited. No response. January ebbed into February. I became obsessed with the daily delivery of mail to my apartment building. It would arrive in a bundle around ten thirty. It took the superintendent around two hours to sort through it all, and place it outside each apartment door. I began to devise my work schedule at
Life
so I could get home by twelve thirty and collect my mail, then race back to the subway and return to my office by one fifteen (the end of my lunch hour). For two weeks I rigorously stuck to this routine, hoping against hope that, this day, the long-awaited letter from Jack would finally arrive.

But I kept returning to the office empty-handed. And feeling a little more bereft with each passing day. Especially as my sleeplessness was beginning to escalate.

One afternoon Leland McGuire stuck his head into the tiny cubicle where I worked.

‘I am about to give you the plum assignment of the week,’ he said.

‘Oh, really,’ I said, sounding a little distracted.

‘What do you think about John Garfield?’

‘Wonderful actor. Easy on the eye. Somewhat to the left politically …’

‘Yes, well, regarding that last aspect, we’ll want to play down the political stuff completely. I don’t think Mr Luce would appreciate reading about Garfield’s socialist ideologies in the pages of his magazine. Garfield’s a hunk. Women like him. So I want you to play up his “brawny, but sensitive” side …’

‘Sorry, Leland - I’m not following you here. Am I going to be writing something about John Garfield?’

‘Not only are you going to be writing about Garfield - you’re going to be interviewing him. He’s in town, and he’s agreed to give us an hour of his time. So be there at eleven thirty to watch an hour of the filming, then you’ll get a chance to talk with him around twelve thirty.’

I suddenly felt a stab of panic. ‘I can’t do twelve thirty tomorrow.’

‘Pardon?’

‘I’m sorry, but I just can’t do twelve thirty tomorrow.’

‘You already have plans?’

I heard myself say, ‘I’m expecting a letter …’ God, how I instantly regretted uttering that sentence. Leland looked at me incredulously.

‘You’re expecting a letter? I don’t quite understand what that has to do with meeting John Garfield at twelve thirty?’

‘Nothing, Mr McGuire. Nothing. I’ll be happy to do the interview.’

He regarded me warily.

‘Are you sure about that, Sara?’

‘Absolutely, sir.’

‘Right then,’ he said. ‘I’ll ask Garfield’s press agent to call you after lunch, and give you a briefing. Unless, of course, you’re busy after lunch, expecting a letter …’

I met his stare. ‘I’ll look forward to his call, sir.’

As soon as Leland left my cubicle, I careened down to the ladies’ room, locked myself in a cubicle, and sobbed like a fool. Then I checked my watch. Twelve ten. I bolted out of the Ladies’, out of the Time and Life building, then over to the subway. With several changes of train - and a quick dash from Sheridan Square - I made it to my apartment by twelve forty. There was no mail outside my door. Instantly I dashed down the stairs to the basement, and banged on the door of the superintendent’s apartment. His name was Mr Kocsis - a tiny Hungarian in his fifties (he couldn’t have been more than 4‘11”), who always made a point of being surly … except around the holiday season, when he was expecting his annual Christmas tip. But this was mid-February, so he wasn’t putting on the charm.

‘What you want, Miss Smythe?’ he said in brittle English after opening his door.

‘My mail, Mr Kocsis.’

‘You get no mail today.’

I suddenly felt jittery. ‘That can’t be true,’ I said.

‘Is true, is true.’

‘Are you absolutely certain?’

‘You say I lie?’

‘There has to be a letter. There has to be …’

‘If I tell you “no letter”, it’s “no letter”. Hokay?’

He slammed the door on me. I made it back upstairs to my apartment, collapsed across the bed, and lay there staring at the ceiling … for what only seemed like a couple of minutes. After a while, I glanced at the clock by my bed. Two forty-eight.
Oh God, oh God,
I thought.
I am cracking up.

I leapt off the bed, ran out of the apartment, and into the first available cab. I made it to the Time and Life building just after three fifteen. When I reached my cubicle, there were four pink ‘While You Were Out’ slips on my typewriter. The first three were all messages from a ‘Mr Tommy Glick - press agent for John Garfield’. The times of the messages were one thirty, two, and two thirty. The final message - logged in at two fifty - was from Leland: ‘Come to my office as soon as you’re back.’

I sat down at my desk. I put my head in my hands. I had missed the press agent’s calls. We had lost the interview with Garfield. And now I was about to be fired.

I knew this was going to happen. Now it
had
happened. I’d let irrationality triumph - and I was about to pay a huge price for it. Yet again, I heard my father’s voice in my head:
There’s no use crying over a mistake, young lady. Simply accept the consequences with dignity and grace - and learn from your infraction.

So I stood up, and smoothed out my hair, and took a deep breath, and walked slowly down the corridor, ready to face my punishment. I knocked twice on the door.
Leland McGuire: Features Editor
was stenciled on to the frosted glass.

‘Come in,’ he said.

As soon as I was halfway through the door, I was already talking.

‘Mr McGuire, I am so terribly sorry …’

‘Please shut the door behind you, Sara, and sit down.’

His tone was cool, detached. I did as ordered, sitting in the hard wood chair facing his desk, my hands neatly folded in my lap - like a recalcitrant schoolgirl called into the headmistress’s study. Only in this instance, the authority figure sitting in judgment of me could destroy my livelihood, my career.

‘Are you all right, Sara?’ he asked.

‘I’m fine, Mr McGuire. Just fine. If I could simply explain …’

‘You are not fine, Sara. In fact, you haven’t been fine for weeks, have you?’

‘I cannot tell you how sorry I am about missing Mr Glick’s calls. But it’s only three thirty. I can ring him right back, and get all the info on Garfield …’

Leland cut me off.

‘I’ve reassigned the Garfield interview. Lois Rudkin will be handling it. Do you know Lois?’

I nodded. Lois was a recent graduate of Mount Holyoke, who’d joined our department in September. She was also quite the ambitious young journalist. I knew she looked upon me as her direct inter-office competition … even though I refused to play those games (believing, perhaps foolishly, that good work would always win out). I realized what was coming next: Leland had decided that there was need for only one woman writer in Features, and Lois was that writer.

‘Yes,’ I said quietly, ‘I know Lois.’

‘Talented writer.’

Had I wanted to be fired on the spot, I could have said, And I’ve seen the charm offensive she’s launched on you. Instead, I just nodded.

‘Do you want to tell me what’s going on, Sara?’ he asked.

‘Have you not been happy with my work, Mr McGuire?’

‘I have no serious complaints. You write reasonably well. You are prompt. Barring today, you are basically reliable. But you also look exhausted all the time, and completely distracted - to the point where, work-wise, you appear to be just going through the motions. And I’m not the only one in the office who’s noticed …’

‘I see,’ I said, sounding non-committal.

‘Has something terrible happened?’

‘No - nothing terrible.’

‘Is it … a matter of the heart?’

‘It could be.’

‘You obviously don’t want to talk about this …’

‘I’m sorry …

‘Apologies are not necessary. Your private life is your private life. Until it begins to affect your working life. And though the old newspaperman in me rebels against the idea of company boosterism, my superiors at
Time and Life
believe that everyone who works here should be a “team player”, with a real commitment to the magazine. And in your case, I’m afraid that you are widely regarded as somewhat remote - to the point where certain people also consider you haughty and patrician.’

This was news to me - and I was deeply distressed by it.

‘I certainly do not try to be haughty, sir.’

‘Perception is everything, Sara - especially within a company environment. And the perception among your colleagues at
Life
is that you’d rather be elsewhere.’

‘Are you going to fire me, Mr McGuire?’

‘I’m not that brutal, Sara. Nor have you done anything that merits the ax. At the same time, however, I would like you to consider working for us independently … from home, perhaps.’

Later that night - drinking rough red wine with Eric in his apartment - I filled my brother in on the remainder of my conversation with Leland McGuire.

‘So after he dropped that bombshell about thinking I should work from home, he offered me his terms. He’d keep me on full salary for six months - for which I’d be required to write a story every two weeks. I would no longer be considered a
Time and Life
staffer - just a freelance, so I’d have no benefits.’

‘Believe me, there are huge benefits in not having to go to an office in the morning.’

‘That thought has crossed my mind. But I’ve also been wondering how I’d adjust to working on my own.’

‘You’ve said you wanted to write fiction for a long time. Surely, this would now give you the chance …’

‘I’ve given up on that idea. I’m not a writer …’

‘You’re just twenty-four years old. Don’t dismiss yourself as a lost literary cause. Especially when you haven’t really tried.’

‘Well, there’s a little problem with my fiction writing career: I can’t get started.’

‘You could sing that.’

‘Very funny … But not only am I a failed writer; I am also - according to Leland McGuire - something of a failure as a team player.’

‘Who wants to be a “team player”?’

‘It’s easier than being considered
haughty
or
detached
or
patrician.
I’m not really that patrician, am I?’

Eric laughed.

‘Put it this way: you wouldn’t be mistaken as a Brooklynite.’

I gave him a sour smile. ‘Thanks for that.’

‘I’m sorry. That was thoughtless.’

‘Yes. It was.’

‘Still no news from him?’

‘You know I would have said something …’

‘I know. And I haven’t wanted to ask you …’

‘Because … let me guess … you think I’m a romantic fathead - who’s lost her heart to a rogue after just one night of dumb passion.’

‘True - but I would actually thank your Brooklyn Irish rogue for forcing you out of
Time and Life.
Neither of us is a team player, S. Which means we’ll always be outside of the mainstream. And, believe me, that’s no bad thing … if you can handle that. So, consider this an opportunity to discover if you are your own best company. My hunch is: you’ll really take to working by yourself. You have that
remote
temperament, after all.’

I punched him lightly in the shoulder.

‘You are impossible,’ I said.

‘But you give me such wonderful opportunities to be impossible.’

I breathed a sad sigh.

‘I’m not going to hear from him again, am I?’

‘Reality finally dawns.’

‘I keep wondering if … I don’t know … maybe he had an accident, or was transferred to somewhere so remote that he can’t be contacted.’