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After a few minutes of continued silence from Charlie, Adam motioned
to the steward and requested the small magnetic chess board he kept on the plane.
"I know what you're trying to do," Charlie warned him, as he set the game
board on the armrest between their seats. "I really don't feel like playing."
"You don't?" He sounded disappointed. If he had feigned the disappointment,
he did a good job, for Charlie immediately felt guilty.
"Oh, all right," she sighed, "if you're going to take it that
way."
Flashing his handsome Clark smile, Adam set up the chess board while Charlie tried
not to fidget in her seat.
"Bill will meet us at the hotel," Adam informed her, as Kevin burst into
laughter for apparently no good reason. Adam glanced up at the movie screen and smiled.
"He has a personal assistant that'll help you get ready, and Melvin will probably
want to go over your talking points."
"Melvin will be there?" Charlie brightened.
"Yes, didn't I tell you?" Adam was surprised by his young wife's sudden
hopefulness. She seemed to take comfort in knowing that his publicist was going to
be there, and visibly relaxed. "If I had known you would calm down like this,"
he smiled, "I would have told you that, sooner. It would have saved me a lot
of trouble!"
"I'm sorry," apologized Charlie. "I'm not trying to make this hard
on you. But I'm glad Melvin will be there. He's pulled me through facing the media,
before."
"Answering reporters' questions for a minute or two," reminded Adam, "is
different than an in-depth interview for an entire hour."
Charlie's eyes grew wide with horror, and she turned pale.
"I should have kept my big mouth shut," muttered Adam, as she quickly made
her way to the bathroom at the opposite end of the jet. Adam followed closely behind,
only stopping when Charlie tried to close the door in his face. When he blocked the
door from shutting, Charlie went straight to the toilet and lost her breakfast.
Even over the sound of his movie, Kevin heard the commotion from the bathroom and
pulled off his headphones to see what was going on. He saw Adam in the bathroom doorway,
and guessed that this was most likely a private matter between husband and wife.
Endeavoring to mind his own business, Kevin quietly resumed his movie.
"Do you want me to call off the interview?" Adam wondered, in what Charlie
felt was the most obvious question he had ever asked. But as she was about to say
that she did, Charlie hesitated. "Honey," he sighed, "you're as white
as a sheet."
"Please," she asked him in a trembling voice, "just give me a chance
to clean up? I'll be out in a minute."
"Okay, but I won't go too far," he told Charlie, and then strode across
the aisle to wait for her.
Inside the bathroom, Charlie tried to pull herself together. This was no way for
Wallace Shipley's wife to act. Adam was depending on her to behave professionally,
and not buckle under the pressure. Charlie reached for help, and the Holy Spirit
responded with comfort that came in the form of a verse. "God hath not given
us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." (2 Timothy
1:7)
"Please," Charlie prayed in a whisper, "give me the spirit of a sound
mind. Give me the love I need to pass through this with my head held high, and maybe
even a little power to remember who I am, and who I represent. Adam represents You,
and now I do, too. Don't let me bring ridicule to him, or to You, with this interview." |
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