“I think you’re doing the wrong thing,” Peggy said, “but I suppose there’s no way I can force you to do otherwise. Of course ... I can always call them myself, but I’d rather you did it.”
“Please, Peggy! Promise me you won’t do that!” Paula begged.
“I ... I’ll think it over,” Peggy said. “I don’t want to make any promises before I think.”
Both girls sat in unhappy silence for what seemed like a long time.
“Paula,” Peggy began after a while, “I hope you’ll forgive me for—”
“Of course,” Paula interrupted. “There’s nothing to forgive. I know you were doing it for my own good. And if it hadn’t been for you—”
Peggy cut her off with an impatient nod. “Please don’t thank me for that,” she said. “As long as you know I was just trying to help. And all I want to know now is that we can keep on being friends.”
“You’re the best friend I’ve ever had,” Paula said solemnly, “and I don’t know why you even want to have anything to do with someone who’s acted as selfishly and inconsiderately as I have.”
“It’s because I want to meet your famous parents!” Peggy said, laughing.
For a moment Paula was taken aback, then she too burst out laughing. The surface strain of the meeting was broken, and in a much lighter mood, the two girls left the apartment for dinner and the night’s rehearsal.