Helen sat quietly for a second, thinking. Mark was leaning against the counter examining her expression and waiting for her reply.
It was going to tear her apart to say ‘good-bye’ to him, but she couldn’t stop thinking about their relationship. It always felt like he liked Vera far more than Helen, and she couldn’t tie him down if the one he liked wasn’t her true self. She had always thought he was more than she could handle. Why would a guy like him want to be with a plain-Jane girl like her?
“Mark,” she said quietly. “It sounds like a great opportunity. I think you should probably take it.”
“You don’t want me to stay?” he asked as he turned around and started scrambling the eggs crossly.
“Of course I want you to stay, but I also don’t want to hold you back. You know, it’s a delicate balance, but…”
“But what?”
“But,” Helen swallowed hard and braced herself for what she was about to say. “I was never really good enough for you to begin with. You’re incredible, fascinating, and you have it all together and I… just pretend. You deserve someone who doesn’t need to dress up to get your attention.”
“Is that how you really feel? Is that how I make you feel?” he asked. His voice was tight and dry.
She’d screwed up. He didn’t take it as a compliment at all. What could she say? She felt tortured. She had to come up with a way to smooth everything over as quickly as possible, but no ideas were coming.
When she didn’t answer him, Mark turned around and approached her. “You know, sometimes I feel like my feelings are too close to the surface. Maybe I leave my face too open and you read exactly what I think and feel—and then you say exactly the right thing to either excite me into ecstasy or to twist the knife that much deeper. Are you doing it intentionally? What exactly do you want from me?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about! I’m not like that,” Helen cried.
“Really? What about yesterday during the shoot? Trevor wouldn’t have cared if we kissed on the set, while he was taking pictures of us. No one would have cared, but you kept on turning your face away over and over again.”
“I didn’t do it to insult you or to push you away. I thought you weren’t serious and you were just hamming it up for the shoot.”
“And then in the trailer? I fell on my face when you pushed me away,” he accused.
“But Mindy and Trevor came in! It wouldn’t have been professional!”
Mark stared at her wide-eyed. “Are you really that straight-laced? Give me a break. You had no problem with public displays of affection when you worked as an escort. Why be squeamish now? Besides, it was Trevor and Mindy. I can’t even think of two people who would have cared less if they caught us kissing.”
Helen exhaled heavily. “I’m sorry Mark, but I keep telling you that I’m not really experienced when it comes to that sort of thing. Apparently, I make stupid mistakes. I honestly wasn’t trying to hurt your feelings. I’m not like that.”
“Well, I’ve been trying very hard to figure out who you are, Helen. Sometimes, you’re so hot it seems impossible a woman like you exists and sometimes you are the girl-next-door to a T.”
“I am the girl-next-door,” Helen said sorrowfully. That was the truth and she might as well get it out in the open. He might as well know who he was dealing with.
“Bull!” Mark accused. “If that was all there was to you then it would be impossible for you to pull off being Vera. Maybe you’re not a little girl anymore and you don’t want to deal with the fact that you can be a skilled man-eater.”
“But you are never attracted to me when I’m not dressed like Vera!” Helen wailed, finally saying exactly what was on her mind. “You’re always trying to get me to go out with you while dressed like her.”
“For your information, it’s not just how you look. It’s how you act. You can think I’m shallow if you like, but I promise, it’s not just the long hair and additional curves. You act flirty. It’s cute.”
Helen bit her lip. She was listening carefully to what he had to say, but her vision got blurry when she realized that what she’d believed all along was true. He did like her better as Vera.
“You’d better go,” she said quietly. “Thank you for making me breakfast." Then she got up and headed towards her bedroom.
“Wait,” Mark said, grabbing her arm.
“Don’t say anything else, Mark,” she said, jerking her arm free. “Look, everything is cool between us, but if we keep talking it won’t stay that way and we need to work together tonight. So, just consider this a breather and I’ll see you tonight. Okay?”
“Okay,” he said and made his way to the door. Apparently, he understood as well as she did their need to get along for the sake of the campaign.
Helen listened to him put on his shoes and go out the door. She heard his footsteps down the hallway and she even heard him open the door to the stairs. What if it was the last time he came and the last time he left? The thought was too much for Helen.
She’d always felt like Mark was too good for her. She wasn’t the kind of girl who could win a guy like him, was she? Her conversation with him had done two things. First, it had made her miserable. Second, it let her know how she could not only get Mark but also how she could make him happy. Did she like him bad enough to make the sacrifice? To give up being Helen?
When her determination became concrete, she got up and went into Mindy’s bedroom. She wouldn’t be able to go through with her plan without Mindy’s help.
After Helen explained, Mindy laughed. “Are you sure you want to do this? It’s sort of intense, and it could end badly.”
“I want to,” Helen said boldly, rubbing the tension out of her shoulders. “I want to see if he means what he says. If he’s really that far gone over Vera, then let’s see how far he’ll go if we give her to him.”
“Are you trying to drive the man insane?”
“Maybe.”
Mindy shrugged her shoulders. “And what about Helen? What will happen to her?”
“She’s me. She’ll always be me, so it won’t matter if I give this a try,” Helen said stiffly.
“If that’s how you feel, then I’ll help you, but today is going to be brutal. Prepare yourself!" Mindy grabbed her cell phone and started making calls.