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“Invite you,” he hissed

“Doug,” she said “I honestly don’t care”

“But I do Because…” He paused and glanced around to make sure there were no eavesdroppers “Because of SondraBeth”

“It’s okay,” Pandy said patiently

He shook his head “It’s not Because SondraBeth really believes she is Monica”

Pandy laughed “Well, she does play her”

“You’re not hearing me,” he said “That’s the whole point She doesn’t think she’s playing her She thinks she is her She thinks she actually is Monica In real life”

“Oh,” Pandy said She wasn’t quite sure what she was supposed to do with this information After all, there were plenty of stories about actors who insisted on staying in character for the length of a shoot, much to the annoyance and consternation of the other actors “Monica is pretty appealing Maybe she’s si herself”

“That’s just it,” Doug exclaih to her And I couldn’t invite you to the party because she would have freaked out How can she be Monica when the real Monica—you—is there?”

“Maybe it’s just a phase,” Pandy said “Maybe it’s—I don’t know…” She hesitated, grasping at straws “Maybe you till get row out of it”

Doug leaned back in his chair and guffawed, startling Pandy with his incomprehensible reaction

“She’ll never have a baby” He brought his chair doith a thump “Not while she’s Monica, anyway A baby would ruin her schedule”

Doug sounded unaccountably bitter “The other day she asked me to meet her in a shop in Soho, and I walk in and find out she’s in thephoto shoot”

“It’s part of her job,” Pandy said, narrowing her eyes

“No, it’s not Not when you say yes to everything because you’re afraid it’s all going to go away”