It felt like they stayed like that a long time, but it was probably only a few minutes, then her tears slowed just as suddenly as they had come. She tried to make her breathing normal, but couldn’t. It staggered and fell all over the place, and she started to hiccup. She hadn’t felt like this since she was little, when she would run to Spencer when she got hurt or upset. Total regression.

He tipped her chin up to get a look at her face. She felt horrible and genuinely swollen, and the light hurt her eyes. Spencer’s jacket was soaked, and something was connecting her nose to the front of his collar. He wiped it away with his sleeve.

“You okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” she said thickly.

“Yeah…no you’re not.” He wiped at her face with his hand to try to dry it a bit and unstuck a curl from her cheek. “And I just punched my scene partner in the face.”

“I’m sorry…”

“It’s not your fault,” he said. “This one is all mine. But I’m going to have to go and answer for it.”

He stood, and then reached down to help her up.

“It looks like we have company,” he said.

Mrs. Amberson was waiting at the other end of the playground, flipping the cigarette case thoughtfully in her palm.

“You should probably go in,” she said to Spencer, when they reached her.

Spencer looked to Scarlett, checking on her general condition. It still wasn’t great.

“I’m not going back in there,” she said. “I’ll see you at home.”

“Okay…” he said. He didn’t seem to want to leave her there or go back inside, but he dragged himself forward.

“The plan,” Mrs. Amberson said, when he had walked off, “did not work quite as I anticipated.”

Scarlett decided that there was no need to add to this statement. It pretty much covered the situation.

“Think anyone noticed?” she croaked. Her throat was still a mess.

“Oh, don’t worry about that. Actors love drama, by definition. You made their day.”

“Spencer slipped,” Scarlett said dutifully.

“Of course he did. Accidents happen. And this is just a temporary setback, O’Hara…if it’s a setback at all. Lover’s quarrels are a natural part of relationships. Making up is always the best part. Now, tell me what happened, and we’ll make a plan.”

“Please stop helping me,” Scarlett said.

“Too soon?” Mrs. Amberson said, undaunted. “Best to take the afternoon off. Here.”

She reached into her pocket and pulled out some money for a cab.

“We’ll sort it out later, O’Hara,” she said, as Scarlett walked to the street. “You’ll see!”

Lola the Unstoppable was still at the desk when Scarlett returned, stamping and addressing all the brochures that she had never gotten to the other night.

“Someone left a message for you,” she said, holding up a slip of paper. “Probably something for Mrs. Amberson. Are you all right? Your eyes look kind of funny.”

“Um…allergies.” Scarlett’s voice was a bit thick still.