had lost all the weight she'd gained while she was pregnant, along with an additional fifteen pounds. And all in the six weeks, since the birth of the baby.
“If I'm going to model again, it's just as well. What did Dorothea say, by the way?”
“That she awaits you with bated breath, as does every photographer in New York.” Serena looked pleased.
“Well, that's good news.” But the best news of all, to her, was that she had escaped Vasili. There had been a time when she thought she never would, that she would be trapped with him forever. It had been like escaping from a jungle. But it was all over now, and Vasili knew it. She had told Andreas too. And she hoped that she never saw Vasili again. She had listened to enough lies and suffered enough trauma to last her for a lifetime.
“Do you think he'll follow you over here?” Teddy asked when Vanessa had gone to bed.
“It won't do him any good. I won't see him.”
“And the baby?”
“I don't think he'll really care. He's too involved in himself and his drugs.”
“Don't be so sure. From what you said he was crazy about her.”
“Not enough to stop using heroin though.”
“I still can't believe it.”
“Neither can I. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever be the same again.”
“You will. Give it time.” She had survived so much in her life that he felt sure she would survive this too. And he thanked God she had left Vasili.
She sighed and closed her eyes before facing him again. “I don't know, Teddy. I guess you're right, but it's been such a nightmare, it's hard to understand what happened. You know … I think that stuff makes him crazy.”
“It's pathetic.” She changed the subject then and they discussed a school for Vanessa. The poor child had been through a great deal in the past six weeks. Serena was almost inclined to give her some time off from school while she readjusted, and all Vanessa wanted to do anyway was take care of the baby. She was totally enamored of her baby sister, whom she called Charlie, instead of Charlotte. Serena could hardly get the baby away from Vanessa when it was time to go to bed, and Vanessa was marvelous with her. “She's a great kid.” Teddy spoke of his niece with obvious pride and Serena laughed.
“Yes, she is.”
He left them alone then to settle into the apartment, and Serena fell into bed after feeding the baby. She slept a deep dreamless sleep and woke up feeling slightly less exhausted.
She went to the Kerr Agency a few days later, and Dorothea looked at her pointedly with a hand on one hip.
“I told you, didn't I?” She grinned at Serena. “But I sure am happy to have you back.”
“Not as happy as I am to be here.” They had a cup of coffee, and Dorothea gave her the latest gossip around New York. There was a new girl in town who had been the rage since the summer. She was German and looked a little like Serena, but Dorothea felt certain that there was still room for “The Princess” too. “They've missed you, there's no doubt about it.” She could also see that there was something new and interesting in her face since she'd had the baby. She was even thinner than she had been, and there was something wiser and more serious about her eyes. It was that that told Dorothea she had been through an ordeal with Vasili.
“And what about Vasili? It's all over?”
“Finished.”
“Forever?” Serena nodded and said nothing. “Want to tell me why?”
But she only shook her head and patted her old friend's hand. “No, love, I don't. And you don't want to know. It was like going to a place I thought I would never come back from. And now that I'm here, I don't want to remember or reminisce, or even think about going back. My only pleasant memory of the past year is Charlie, and she's here with me.”
“Thank God.” Dorothea looked impressed. Serena's year with Vasili had apparently been worse than she had suspected.
By the end of the week Vasili had started calling the agency, and Dorothea thought she was going to go nuts. He wanted to know where Serena was, where he could find her, how he could call her. Serena had given out strict instructions not to tell him. It was only when one of the models happened to answer the phone for someone, as