Mary Ann was brought out of her daze by the sound of the cashier. "Ma,am... I need you to load your items onto the conveyor belt please."
Mary Ann jumped at the sound of the voice and looked around her. Without realizing it, the line had finally gone through to where it was now her turn. She was getting ready to grab the first item when she felt a tug on her skirt.
"Mama, are you ok?" Grace asked, her big blue eyes gazing up at her mother.
"I'm fine, sweetheart. Would you and Abby like to help me unload the cart?"
"I'll help!" Abby shouted as she eagerly began to put canned items up on the belt.
As the cashier ran Mary Ann's items through the scanner, Mary Ann brought her eyes back to the cover of the tabloid. She couldn't take her eyes off of it. The headline was burned into her brain.
HUSBAND OF OSCAR NOMINEE, GINGER GRANT, CAUGHT WITH ANOTHER WOMAN.
Mary Ann cringed. She could only imagine how Ginger must be feeling right now. Surely, she had been around long enough not to believe any of this garbage. However, the sad fact was is that others did believe everything they read. Either those people would have sympathy for Ginger and think the worst of the Professor, or they would think Ginger had done something to drive her husband into the arms of another woman. No matter what people thought, it was surely a humiliating situation for Ginger to be in.
Mary Ann thought perhaps she should call her. Then again... what would she say? She was too ashamed to just come out and broach the subject of the Professor's possible infidelity. She would have to admit to Ginger that she had been looking at a gossip magazine... one thing she had always swore to Ginger she would never do.
Perhaps I could call her just to see how she is doing? Maybe she'll bring the subject up. I just want her to know that I"m there for her... that I'll always be there to listen... that I'll always care.
Yet, she hadn't "been there" for quite some time. She couldn't recall the last time she had picked up the phone to call Ginger and see how she was doing. However, Ginger never called her either. Both women were so busy with their lives, but in very different ways.
Please God. Please let Ginger know somehow that I'm thinking about her.
Her prayer was interrupted once again by the sound of the cashier.
"That will be $32. 47."
Mary Ann hesitated a moment, looked at the magazine in her hand, and reluctantly handed it over to the cashier.
"Could you add this, please?"
"Your total is now $34. 50."
Mary Ann paid the cashier, quietly thanked her, and then lead her children and the bag boy over to their little station wagon. The little family car had been lovingly nicknamed "Mary Ann's wagon", for Gilligan rarely ever drove it. It was Mary Ann's mode of transportation for errand running and getting the girls to and from dance.
After thanking and tipping the bag boy, she got her three children situated in the station wagon before climbing in the driver's seat. She sighed as she gripped the steering wheel.
Oh Lord! I wonder what Gilligan is going to think about all of this?
...
Tears streamed down Doris' face as she turned the magazine face down on the kitchen table.
"Poor Ginger. I don't believe it! I just don't believe it!" She repeated over and over as she cried.
The Skipper paced back and forth, trying to make heads or tales out of the situation. "This just can't be. I've known the Professor for years! That's not like him at all. " He exclaimed, then paused as he looked at his wife. "You know, I don't feel totally ok with us buying this type of literature. To me, it's like taking pleasure in other's misfortune... or, getting wrapped up in gossip and deceit."
"Jonas, I do believe the pastor has been a good influence on you since the two of you have become coffee drinking buddies."
"Well... I don't know if we're buddies," the Skipper stammered, "it's well... we're kind of our own little support group. Turns out he's got a problem similar to mine. Don't know how it came up... I just felt like talking to him about it one Sunday. He said he knew what I was going through."
Doris held her face expressionless as if she was none the wiser of the good reverend's issue. She had told Amanda that she would never tell another soul about her husband's impotence... and bound and determined, Doris agreed she never would... not even her own husband.
"So... do you think we should call Ginger? Maybe call the Professor? I'm really worried about them. Even if this story isn't true... the rumor alone could destroy their marriage. I love the both of them too much to see that happen." Once again, Doris pulled out her handkerchief to dab at her eyes. Emotionally she was all torn up inside. Here, she had this blessed marriage. Though far from perfect... she knew that things between her and her husband were rock solid despite their lack of intimacy. She felt somewhat guilty, for she knew that things between Ginger and the Professor were more than likely quite rocky. They probably had been before this picture had ever been taken. Mary Ann and Gilligan struggled paycheck to paycheck, while trying their best to raise their family. All the while, Mary Ann was doing ninety percent of the housework and both of them were putting in every effort to have their troubled child get her rambunctious nature under control. Then there was Mr. and Mrs. Howell. She hadn't spoken to Eunice lately, but Mr. Howell had revealed that Mrs. Howell had been having memory lapses, forgetting things, forgetting dates, snapping at him and being suspicious of her caregiver's intentions. No... compared to these other families, their family didn't have any problems in her eyes.
"No, I don't think we should call. The last thing they need right now is to be bothered. They need time to work this out. Let them come to us when they are ready. In the mean time, there is no law that says we can't remember them in our prayers," the Skipper suggested.
Doris smiled and nodded. "That is what we shall do then, oh wise one." The Skipper only smiled back at her as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze.
...
"Roy... I don't understand this. I don't understand this one bit. However, you know that the university has rules against faculty becoming romantically involved with alumni. Why Roy? Why?" The Dean of the UCLA campus asked as he paced back and forth behind his spacious desk.
"I'm not romantically involved with her!" The Professor insisted as he pounded his fists on the desk. "This has to be the most pathetic excuse for a magazine that's out there. Why would you believe it?" This time, the head of the Botany department spoke up.
"Of course we don't believe it! It's the implication though, Roy. You know how people are. This is how rumors get spread. Think of how young and impressionable college minds are going to take this. This story makes the campus of UCLA look just as bad as it makes you and this poor, young woman look."
"I... I know it looks bad. I'm terribly sorry gentlemen. I will humbly turn in my resignation," the Professor replied, hanging his head. He loved his job... truly loved being able to balance research and teaching. Now, it seemed that he was going to have to leave it all behind.
"What will you do then?"
"I guess I'll teach high school Chemistry. I've done it before... I guess I can do it again."
"Balderdash!" Exclaimed the dean. "Roy, you have way too much talent to be teaching high school kids how to make baking soda and vinegar volcanoes, or showing them how to freeze and shatter balloons by dipping them in Nitroglycerin. You work hard and are meticulous in your research... especially when it comes to Botany and Geology. It must have stemmed from your time on that confounded island. Anyway, my point is I am suggesting a two week suspension. Perhaps all of this will die down. You know how young adults are. Next week it will be another celebrity caught in a scandal."
"What will happen to Laura?" The Professor inquired.
"Suspension as well."
"No!" The Professor begged. "She is so close to getting her Masters. Please don't ruin this for her. After all, none of this is her fault... it's my fault. I ran into her in the Student Union, and I was the one who insisted on paying for her cup of tea and invited her to sit with me."
"For some one not involved, you seem pretty quick to defend her. Is that the same pretty gal you brought to the awards banquet?" The head of the Botany department accused. This frustrated the Professor. Only moments before the man had been saying he didn't believe the rumor. Now, he was insinuating the worst of the man.
"Yes she is, but she was my children's nanny! She was doing her job."
"Come on Roy! You expect me to believe those two little angels of yours couldn't have sat still for a couple of hours without their nanny?"
"Look here, I don't like what you are insinuating. The only reason I am sticking up for Laura in this matter is because she is a helpless victim of circumstance. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time, that's all. A suspension on her permanent record could damage her reputation as a future Child Psychologist. Just please... please consider leaving her out of this. I'm used to the media being up in my business... she is not. This is quite alot for her to deal with."
The dean and the head of the Botany department looked at each other and sighed. The dean plopped down in his chair, pulled a cigar out of the top drawer, and lit it. He took one long drag before he began to speak.
"Ok Hinkley, against my better judgement, I'll let this little incident slide for Miss Johnson. She just better keep her nose clean. I mean it. I even see the two of you within ten feet of each other, I'll kick both of you out of this institution."
"Thank you sir," the Professor said with a relieved sigh.
...
After being dismissed, the Professor made his way to the parking lot. Upon entering his vehicle, he was immediately filled with dread and anxiety. He had nearly lost his job today. His image and reputation had been slandered. He had felt the stares of the alumni and faculty being drilled through him as he had made his way across campus. He knew what they all had been thinking. He was nothing but a dirty, old man that had seduced one of their own alumni. Well, it wasn't true.
Worse yet, he knew that more than likely Ginger was fully aware of this little piece of garbage. She had probably known since this morning. Even though she had been away shooting a film in Texas, he was quite certain that Lonnie had made her fully aware of the latest issue of "The Tattler". She was going to be livid. Worst of all, she was probably going to believe it. For whatever reason, Ginger had been extremely jealous of Laura. For months it had been off and on accusations against the Professor having feelings for her. Though Ginger could never justify her feelings, she still felt completely justified for having them.
Then he thought of his children. Oh sure, today had probably been just fine for them at school. The magazine had only come out that afternoon. Tomorrow would be a different story though. Would the other children tease and taunt Dexter and Amy? He wasn't naive enough to believe that those children's parents didn't enjoy a bit of juicy gossip from time to time. In fact, some of them probably thrived on it. It wasn't fair that his children might face ridicule for a mess that he himself had caused.
Oddly enough, as he thought of his family, he also considered his friends... his island friends... his second family. What did they think? Perhaps they hadn't seen the magazine. Yet, this tripe was sadly sold at every news stand and store in the United States. He thought first of Skipper and Doris. More than likely they were grieved and disappointed. On an up note, though, the Professor knew at least somebody was praying for him. The two of them were quite religious, to say the least. The Professor wasn't much of a religious person himself, and hadn't really supported the Skipper's enthusiasm when he had first mentioned that he had been "born again"... whatever in the world that meant. The Professor had chuckled, shaking his head, saying the man had traded in one form of superstition for another. Now, he was beginning to wonder who the fool really was.
Then there were the Howells. They had always been so old fashion and so proper to begin with. The mere fact that the Professor had been sharing an innocent cup of tea with a woman besides his wife would have been enough to cause Mrs. Howell to faint from shock. Would they get wind of this and decide to disassociate themselves from him and Ginger both. What of the children? Dexter and Amy had come to look at the Howells like another set of grandparents. They were Nana and Papaw Howell. Surely they wouldn't disinherit or disown the children. Every year at the castaway reunion, Dexter and Amy would leap into Nana and Papaw's open arms. It would break there hearts if the Howells ever turned them away.
Then there was Mary Ann and Gilligan. The two, even though married and both more mature, still held an innocent and naive nature about them. What in the world did sweet little Mary Ann think of all this? More than likely, she was upset to the point of tears. More than likely she was saying. "Don't that woman know he's a married man?" Gilligan, who saw the good in everybody, was more than likely thinking likewise. Surely he would also add. "Not the Professor. He would never ever, ever never do something like that to Ginger!". The Professor cringed inside at the thought of it. The fact of the matter was... the thought had crossed his mind. He had constantly talked himself out of pursuing things with Laura, and constantly denied that he had feelings for her. It wasn't that he didn't love his wife. He did. That didn't make him immune to the temptations of another. He fought tooth and nail with his infatuations to make doubly sure that he remained faithful to his wife. He owed her at least that much. For when they married they had pledged their lives to each other.
His mind wandered back to Ginger. His heart broke for her. He realized that in many ways he had become calloused to her feelings. At the first sign of jealousy, he should have drawn the line. When conversations had ended between he and Laura, it should have been at his request and not because either one of them was afraid of Ginger's wrath. He shouldn't have made the digs about her never being home, or loving her fans more than she loved her family. In hind sight, he could see how such words could break her spirit. She was a strong woman, but yet, she was vulnerable. What other's thought of her was very important. It had taken her a long while to let constructive criticism roll off of her back. That was because she was a sensitive and tender hearted individual. Sometimes it was a curse... but most of the time it was a blessing. When was the last time he had told her she was beautiful without her having to ask his opinion? It had been quite awhile.
At all cost, they had to work this out. She needed to know just how important she was to him. The first thing he was going to do when he got home would be to call the airport and secure a ticket to Dallas. Surely his in-laws would be willing to come watch the kids. Next... as much as he hated to do it... he would begin typing a letter of resignation to UCLA. He had to get away from Laura. As much as he enjoyed her company, he had to get away from her. Surely, this would prove to Ginger how much he truly loved her.