Andrea Donovan Pt. 09

"Andrea, I've been thinking about it for weeks now, ever since we opened that first safe and I saw the photos on the driver's licenses. I've studied those driver's license photos for hours now and I think its Mildred Mayfield in those photo I.D.s, I'm convinced of it. I also believe that it's Mildred Mayfield posing on the calendar with the car in front of the Texaco. Whether or not Mary Lane actually knows her mother was once a famous actress or not - that I don't know but am inclined to agree with you and Brenda, I don't think she does know, or maybe she does now but not until recently when she saw the driver's licenses herself on that day she came into the Texaco and broke down in tears" I answered with conviction.

"Howard Hughes was actually discovered, under an assumed name, and working as a baggage handler at his own airline once. Apparently he'd just gotten tired of all the hype in the News papers and decided to go underground." Andrea said in recollection.

"Honey, you were famous once, doesn't it make sense that some people just don't like fame?" I asked.

"Yes, fame has often been described as a double edged sword, Tim. Famous people are plagued with being weirdo magnets sometimes too, and that's tragic because famous actors and actresses are just people doing a job like anyone else and they deserve their own privacy. In my own case, my photos were semi famous; I wasn't really, not like a famous actress. - It's difficult to explain but I could turn-on and turn-off the A.J. West in me and whenever I'd dress in jeans and T-shirts and act like a small town girl, then no one really noticed me out of the ordinary. I had a few tricks, like using different accents and such, which would throw people off if they actually did make the connection. Whenever someone did say that I looked like A.J. West then I'd just respond with 'Who's she?' or sometimes I'd answer with 'I wish I had her money.' ...I think it would have been much harder for a lady as famous as Mildred Mayfield to have slipped under the radar though" Andrea explained in defense of my own argument.

"I don't think Mary Lane would ever talk about it one way or the other, whether she knew her mom had been famous once or not. At least that's the feeling I get from her, Andrea" I pondered aloud.

"Mary Lane is a very private person and I think you're right, Tim. ...Want to get out of the tub now and go to bed?" Andrea asked as she yawned.

"Yes, let's go to bed, Honey. ...Brenda was right, my hypothesis surrounding Mildred Mayfield and a dusty road Texaco is an interesting theory but we'll probably never really know what the actual story is. I do believe sincerely though, that it's Mildred Mayfield in those driver's license photos and the Texaco calendar. I honestly believe that Mary Lane is the daughter of Mildred Mayfield whenever I compare the photographs of the two ladies and watch that old movie footage on YouTube" I answered.

"Either way, I think you're just a romantic at heart, Love" Andrea said with finality as she reached up for the towel hanging above us...

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