"Hello, real Myrna."
She hesitated for a moment. "Good evening, Thad. Please come in."
He followed her in and greeted the family. She opened the box and for a moment she seemed impressed. Then she regained her composure. He accepted her formal thanks as the families milled around admiring the gift. Everyone seemed slightly restrained. Thad finally phrased the question that they were all thinking.
"Are you real?"
"Perhaps you could tell if you kissed me," she said with mocking sweetness.
"Myrna, I'm sorry about that first evening, but I forgot that I wasn't really there." He wished the family wasn't there so close. All of them watching and listening made him feel an even greater uneasiness. Oh, he thought, the hell with this contest!
"Myrna, honey, look, I don't care if it's really you or not. Well, that is, I mean—"
His voice faded out. He realized he was getting more confused. Someone snickered. Myrna was watching him with a contemptuous smile curving her lips. The whole thing suddenly made him mad.
"O.K.! I don't care who wins the contest! I don't care if we do have to wait a year. I don't even care at the moment if there's going to be a wedding or not."
He started out of the room dimly aware that he was angrier than he realized. Myrna caught him in the vestibule.