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Show lnTsrwrr:BIG CHANCE 111 I" IVa I BV-'N BV FREDERICK LAING UtUji .ed the boss "Bill," and he I you cr ' caller" his secretary "Nancy or "Pa'" and took ner t0 dinner on ie expense account, on nights wi the work was late. 1 i was all strictly business, but It emed intimate and informal. Both Paula and Nancy knew " about those dinners. Bill had tried 1 to be fair. He would ask Paula to stay one night, and then it would be Nancy's turn the next. But Paula had been smart. She'd soon learned how impersonal Bill Hargrave could be, even at those Intimate dinners. About as personal , She handed him the envelope. It contained the two sets of tickets. "That's your stateroom number on the outside," she said crisply. She had on a double-breasted blue flannel suit something like Bill's, and it was clear he thought she looked pretty smart in it. "Don't forget the time," she added, add-ed, "eight fifteen." Hargrave grinned. "So there were no staterooms for love or money, eh?" He looked again at the number of his stateroom and he put the H I f (5te fee HE WASN'T the kind to pick a secretary by the color of her ba ir. Not Bill Hargrave. Both Paula and Nancy had been smart tnough to know that. And for some time every one in the office had known that one of them, Paula o Nancy, was going to get the Job In fact, the decision probably wouk tome through this afternoon. Hal grave was leaving town and wantr to get it settled. n The two girls could see him fy Ihcir desks outside his office. for be It was. only a set of prrWas the Zippo" campaign that But looking at with cool, keen nei tQ lor a moment his finger f6nt m. pause above those two essfid the He push-buttons. If he,a's pulse left one, It would be Ts peed. Ibat would go tntoh'er eye, o(f Paula couldn't ke sho kept Ihat light on her CT typing and making mistakes J sneets out to servously rlppinf itart fresh agajs typewriter She leaned f. "The boss is all and said to N Must be going on dolled up toMtb the new presi- i special dent of Zij talking to reliev She wnes3 Nancy took her her ner answering. She wasn't time ?ving Paula talk to her in used Intimate tone. Not inc uchgamed a month ago that the'ere both in line for pro-tbj, pro-tbj, for the important Job as Hargrave's secretary. e does look nice," she said, ally. Hargrave was ybung and outside out-side of office hours he was said to be human. But that wasn't why he'd gotten to be one of the key men at Advertising, Ino. He was quiet, and Borne of the boys In the office hadn't realized how fast he was traveling until they somehow happened to get in his way. The two girls saw him get up from his desk and walk to the doorway of his office. He stood there with one hand in a pocket of his double-breasted blue flannel suit. There was a small white flower in his buttonhole and the And for the next 10 minutes, half the office force could hear Paula snappily telling the ticket agent where to get off. as an ad that says. "This means you." And she saw how much harder to please he was during the overtime hours more irritable, more apt to get that edge of complaint com-plaint in his voice. So when Nancy had said, "I don't mind staying nights, really. I know Paula usually has a date. She's popular with the men . . ." well, Paula had been glad to let it go at that. She'd been quick to see that neither of them was going to get the Job mainly on sex appeal, and she was right. envelope carefully in his inside pocket. Then he told her. She had a new - Job. He mentioned the salary, too. He didn't neglect to mention the salary. She took it just right. Just enough of gratitude. And then, the old sportsmanship. How sorry she felt about Nancy. She didn't look sorry. And neither did Bill. He told her it was okay, that Nancy wasn't made for the Job anyway, and that they were leaving on their honeymoon honey-moon tonight Tonight, at eight fifteen. Paula didn't need any lessons when it came to office politics. She was the one who was always busy when some copy cub wanted his stuff typed. "Sorry, but it's impossible, impos-sible, Mac. Why not ask Nancy?" And they did. It left Paula free to do Bill Hargrave's work in a hurry. Never too busy for Mr. Bill. When Hargrave finally pressed one of those buttons it was at Paula's desk that the light flickered. flick-ered. She started to make a grab for her note book, but she whipped out her mirror first. Then she grabbed up her note book and an envelope that was on the desk. As for Nancy, what else could she do but sit there with her pretty blonde head bent over her typewriter? type-writer? Nancy was a natural blonde, and that seemed the best way to describe her. She Just didn't seem to know any tricks. The moment Paula got Inside Hargrave's Har-grave's office, he asked about that stateroom. "Any luck, Paula?" No, Paula hadn't been dumb. It was the little things that would add with Mr. Bill. Orchestra seats when the client was in town and the show was sold out. Or a stateroom state-room when there were "no staterooms state-rooms to be had for love or money." usual keen, unrevealing smile on his face. "Did you send for the tickets?" he asked Nancy. "I got the tickets all right," she answered, "but . . ." and she tried to smile in the same hard way the boss did. She looked as hardbolled as a white kitten. "But there Just aren't any staterooms to be had." she told him. "Not for love or money." The boss was certainly disappointed. disap-pointed. Anybody could see that "Suppose I try it?" Paula suggested sug-gested quickly. And for the next 10 minutes, half the office force 'could hear Paula telling the ticket agent where to get off. "Listen," she said, "I don't care whose reservations you have to cancel . . ." Well, the Job was worth going after. There was the salary, for one thing. And there was the prestige. pres-tige. The boss' secretary knew a lot of answers. And there were the Interesting people she got to talk to. The big shots. And the boxes of perfume, flowers and candy they often left on her desk. And there was Bill Hargrave for a boss. Young and clever and attractive. at-tractive. That was a factor, too. Because in the advertising business |