Part 35 (1/2)

Something inside Jane told her who it was even before she asked. ”Who is calling?”

”Dulcie Warren,” the voice answered.

”Just a moment,” Jane said impersonally. ”I'll see if I can get him.” She turned the cut-off key closing the extension and pressed the buzzer on her desk.

She could hear it ring in Johnny's office. His voice came on the wire: ”Yes, Jane?”

”A Dulcie Warren is calling,” she told him.

There was a sudden lightness in the tone of his voice. ”She is?” he exclaimed excitedly. ”Put her on!”

She threw open the cut-off key. Her voice was cold. ”Mr. Edge is on the wire. Go ahead, please,” she said coldly, flipping over the key that carried the call through into Johnny's office.

A few minutes later Johnny came out of his office. His face looked flushed and happy. ”A Miss Dulcie Warren will come here at noon. Let me know as soon as she comes in, I promised to show her the place.”

She made a note on her desk pad and looked up. ”Anything else?” she asked sarcastically.

He missed the sarcasm in her voice. ”No,” he answered, going back into his own office.

Jane was maliciously happy when an unexpected coast call from Peter came through just as she was ushering Dulcie into Johnny's office.

He smiled apologetically at Dulcie, ”I have to take this call,” he explained to her. ”It's from the boss.” He turned to Jane. ”Hold the call for a minute and get Rock for me. He can show her around while I'm tied up.”

As Jane left his office she could hear Dulcie telling him that she wouldn't mind waiting. The door closing behind her shut off Johnny's reply.

The faint odor of Dulcie's perfume still hung in the air as Jane furiously began to dial the interoffice phone, looking for Rocco. Dulcie was all that Jane thought she would be. Grudgingly Jane admitted to herself that Dulcie was beautiful. She could see why Johnny was attracted to her and she instinctively disliked her.

She finally located Rocco in the newsreel office. He came on the phone. She was so angry, the words spilled out of her mouth. ”She's here, Rock,” she said.

He was bewildered. ”Who's here?”

”She is. The girl Johnny's been sending flowers to,” she explained. ”Johnny wants you to come up here right away to show her around the place!”

He whistled slowly. ”From the way you're burning, she must be a knockout!”

”Don't be silly, Rock,” she replied heatedly. ”She doesn't mean a thing to me.”

”Of course she doesn't, Janey,” he said soothingly. ”But I'll be right up there to see for myself what she's like!”

The phone went dead in her hand. The red light on her desk began to flicker on and off. That meant that Peter was getting tired of waiting. She pressed the buzzer. There wasn't any answer from Johnny's wire. She pressed it again.

This time Johnny answered. ”Peter is still waiting,” she said.

He hesitated for a moment. ”Sit down over there, Dulcie; Rock will be up in a moment,” she heard him say with his mouth away from the phone. Then his voice was louder: ”All right, put him on.”

She turned the key down as Rock came into the office. He looked at her questioningly. She pointed with her hand to Johnny's office. He went in, leaving the door open behind him.

”Rock,” she heard Johnny saying through the open door, ”This is Miss Warren. Would you mind showing her around while I'm talking to Peter?”

She didn't catch Rocco's reply because just then Peter came on the phone. ”h.e.l.lo, Johnny,” he said.

”Yes, Peter,” she heard Johnny say into the phone she switched off her key and hung up the phone.

Rocco and Dulcie came into her office. He closed Johnny's door behind him. There was a strange smile on his face as he brought Dulcie over to her desk.

”I'd like you to meet Miss Andersen, Johnny's secretary,” he said politely. ”Miss Andersen, this is Miss Warren.”

Dulcie smiled at her. Jane thought the smile was condescending and her dislike for Dulcie deepened. ”I'm glad to meet you,” she said politely, not meaning a word of it.

Rocco took Dulcie's arm and steered her toward the door. They stepped out. A few seconds later Rocco popped back into the office, alone. He looked at her and whistled softly. ”No wonder Johnny's standing on his ear.” He grinned mischievously at her. ”What a babe!” He shook his head from side to side. ”She sizzles when you touch her!”

Jane made a face at him. ”You men are all alike.”

His grin grew broader. ”I just came back to tell you not to worry 'bout me, baby. I'll be true to you!” He turned to go out the door again and then stopped. His words floated back mockingly over his shoulder. ”But poor Johnny-Oh!”

6.

Dulcie knew that he was looking at her but she kept her face turned away from him, watching the dancers on the floor. The lights were soft, the music was sweet, and the dancers were moving slowly as if caught in a dream world of their own.

She was thinking about what Warren had said to her that morning before Cynthia had come into the room. ”How are you making out with our big picture man?” he had asked mockingly.

”All right,” she had answered. ”I think he's trying to screw up enough courage to pop the question.”

He had grinned derisively at her. ”You better turn on more charm, sugar,” he said, ”or the fish will get off the hook. I see in the paper that he's going to the studio in the morning.”

Johnny's voice interrupted her thoughts. ”Dulcie.”

She turned and looked at him, her eyes wide and clear. ”Yes, Johnny.”

He smiled apologetically at her. ”I don't suppose there's much fun in it for you going to a dine-and-dance place with me.”

She knew what he meant and a sudden inexplicable wave of sympathy for him ran through her. She put her hand on his. ”That's not so, Johnny,” she said softly. ”If I didn't want to go with you, I wouldn't be here.”

He turned his hand over and held hers. He looked down at her hand. It was thin and small-boned and soft in his. ”It's been very kind of you to spend so much time with me that last few weeks,” he said humbly, not looking up from the table.

She restrained a smile. ”I wanted to, Johnny,” she replied.

He didn't look up. His voice was still humble. ”It's meant a lot to me that you did,” he said. ”It's difficult for some people to understand how a guy like me feels. We watch people living and having fun and somehow we're always on the sidelines, never in the crowd.” He looked up at her. His eyes were a dark blue and there was an honest warmth in them. ”By being so kind, you've made me feel for a while like I was one of the crowd.”

”The fool,” she thought desperately. ”Why doesn't he say it and get it over with?” But she didn't genuinely understand what he had been saying-that he felt he couldn't ask her what he wanted to. She didn't speak. She sat there waiting for him.

His eyes were still on her. ”I like being with you,” he said. ”And I'll miss you.”

He didn't ask her. The surprise she felt showed in her voice. ”You'll miss me?”