“That’s true.” The girl controlled her sobs and said, “It’s kind of you to take an interest in me. I needed that twenty—”
“If we each chip in five dollars, you’ll still have money enough to take you home. You may consider it a loan,” Irene said.
“Thanks.” The girl smiled for the first time. “You’re a genuine Golden Girl. I’ve seen you on television. I recognized your voice, too, when you sang that funny song. You’re Irene Meredith!”
“Indeed I am.” Irene introduced the other girls and offered the newcomer the vacant chair at the table.
“Now our phantom friend is real,” declared Judy.
The girl looked startled. “I hope I’m real. Once,” she confessed, “I looked in the mirror, and there was no reflection. It scared me half out of my wits. Why do you call me a phantom friend?”
“We were pretending we had a fifth girl at the table. It was just a joke. You do have a name, don’t you?” Judy asked.
“It’s Clarissa,” the girl replied. “Clarissa Valentine.”
“That sounds like a stage name,” declared Pauline. “You aren’t an actress, are you?”
“No, but I’d like to be. That’s why I came to New York,” Clarissa admitted. “At home we had a little theater group for a while. But they’re old-fashioned down there. Some of the people in my father’s parish didn’t think it proper for a minister’s daughter to act on the stage. We had to give up the little theater, so I coaxed Daddy to let me come here. I thought I could get a little part on TV, but I was wrong. I couldn’t get any kind of a job. I was all out of money when Daddy sent me that twenty dollars for Christmas. He said he hoped I’d spend it for a ticket back home to West Virginia. I was going to take the train tonight.”