Free Another Kind of Love by Paula Christian Page A

passed since Laura had asked her didn’t seem at all important—they both had only one thing on their minds right now.
    â€œYou don’t have to tell me anything, Ginny,” Laura said after a moment.
    â€œIt’s no big confession,” Ginny laughed a little stiffly. “You’d probably get a better ‘story’ out of hundreds of other women.”
    â€œBut I’m not interested in other women right now.” Even as she said it, Laura felt that she should not have phrased it quite that way. But Ginny had not seemed to notice.
    â€œI came to Hollywood a little over a year ago on contract to Excelsior. But there was nothing for me to do. Oh, I’d get a bit part here and there, but nothing worth mentioning. I found one of those cheap, stamp-size apartments on Melrose and tried to make the best of it.” She paused. Laura waited.
    â€œAfter about two months of crumbs, I got another bit part. Only this time in a picture starring Saundra. I’d heard a great deal about her, of course.” Ginny exhaled, then said, wryly, “But not enough!”
    Laura kept her eyes on the road. The evening sun was just horizon level, casting long dark shadows across the road, yet bright enough to sparkle on the glass and chrome of other cars. “Anyhow,” Ginny went on in a soft voice, “Saundra seemed to pick me out from the others. She began by asking me to do things for her: she forgot something in her dressing room, a cup of coffee between takes, cue her for a scene—that sort of thing.” Her voice sounded weary and hard.
    Laura nodded.
    â€œThe next thing I knew, she was telling me that she believed in me—thought I had what she called an outstanding talent. But I needed coaching, she said. I was too immature, stiff, and needed rounding out. Not just with my acting, she explained, but as a person, too. An actress of stature could not separate her personality from her career and remain on top—much less reach the top.”
    â€œOf course, you were impressed,” Laura said with a trace of sarcasm.
    â€œImpressed?” Ginny laughed. “I was walking on air!”
    â€œGo on,” Laura said.
    â€œSaundra was going to teach me the ropes, and I was spellbound. She can be pretty spellbinding, you know. Why, according to her I’d be a star in no time at all.”
    Laura nodded grimly, and Ginny went on. “She began by having me over to her house on Saturday mornings—her last husband played golf then. Diction, posture, dress, just about everything.
    â€œOne day I showed up and she was still in her dressing gown . . . said that her husband had gone out of town and that her housekeeper had gone to Oakland to be with her sister and that she was all alone and terribly bored, and . . .”
    â€œAnd would you stay overnight with her?” Laura supplied knowingly.
    â€œYes.”
    â€œAnd you accepted?”
    â€œYes.” Ginny twisted in her seat. “It never occurred to me that . . . that . . .”
    â€œAll right, I get the idea.” Laura felt a little sick to her stomach. She was torn between hating Ginny for being such a dumb little kid, and marvelling at her spirit. You don’t hate people for being dumb, she told herself; you hate them for pinpointing your own weaknesses. Oh, sure, Laura sneered silently to herself, now I suppose you think you’re a pervert like Ginny.
    It was an unkind—and uncomfortable—thought.
    â€œBut why did you stick it out all this time? That’s what I really would like to understand.”
    Ginny didn’t answer immediately. Then, “I suppose you’re thinking that I’m over twenty-one and could have walked out, that nobody was holding me prisoner.”
    â€œSomething like that.”
    â€œI’m not sure I can explain it to you,” Ginny said.
    Laura waited for her to try but was beginning to feel uneasy with the whole conversation. She