Love Conquers All
Page 64
Chapter 55
The magazine was now in the black—advertisements came in at a satisfactory pace, and the circulation continued to increase. The Italian printing machine proved very efficient; other businesses paid good money to use it. “You see, Caspi,” Talia said proudly, “my initiative brings more result than many efforts by other people. The machine I imported is more lucrative than the ads.”
“You don’t say!” Caspi was not nonplussed, “Didn’t I tell you, you’re in charge of the money, I’m in charge of the magazine.”
But it was then, when the business was beginning to prosper, that Talia felt her resources were dwindling. The daily squabbles with Caspi exhausted her. His inflated ego was a very sensitive plant and required special attention. When she had a good idea for a piece, she knew she had to mask it to make it look as if the idea originated with him. He was a quarrelsome, contentious person, always arguing and picking up fights with or without a reason. Talia was often left with the job of cleaning up the debris after him.
What am I doing here? Talia asked herself, again and again. She was filled with uneasiness and displeasure. She was dissatisfied with herself as well as with the people around her. Most of all, she felt she needed to make amends to her children for the wrongs she had done them. She wanted to turn her house into an oasis of love and tranquility. On the face of it, the children looked happy enough. Their friends filled the house, and the two grandmothers showered them with love and attention, but were not appearances deceptive? Talia still harbored the guilt and the shame of the “Hit” period. In an attempt to cleanse herself of that stain, she decided to sell the magazine to the first prospective buyer, even at a loss.
Her first adventure in the media domain cost her dearly. She paid for her losses with profits from Cooling Air Conditioning Company, and she was pleased to rid herself of that burden. But for all that, she was proud of the fact that she did not close down the magazine; instead she sold it to a dedicated and industrious publisher. For a long time afterward, the press and the people in the streets speculated over why Talia Schwarz had sold the magazine just as it was beginning to turn a profit. Talia refused to be interviewed. She, herself, was not sure she knew the answer.