Radio and television mirror (Jan-June 1942)

= Anril Sho-wers ;f vou use April ••;, XilUngly soft onyout skm, luxuriously Per^^^il of l>^^-^^""^foApS Showers 4«^ Tolc CHERAMY perfumer Men love 'The Fragrance of Youth 62 thoughts ran on; no one would be hurt by it and my love for Bill certainly justified my grasping at any means to avoid leaving him. Against my frantic determination to stay with Bill the arguments of my conscience had no chance at all and when I left the office half an hour later I left in triumph. My interview with Mr. Marsh had given him no inkling of the fact that I was not the girl I was pretending to be and the job I needed so desperately was mine. Bill was jubilant when I told him. "Now aren't you glad I persuaded you to register at Federal?" he crowed. "Our luck's turned, honey. Now that I know you love me and that you're going to stay here where I can see you every day, I'll work harder than ever." He reached across the restaurant table and took my hands in his. "There never was a girl like you, Elizabeth," he said tenderly. If I had ever intended to tell him why the job was mine, I forgot my resolution in that moment of happiness. ■PkURING my first few days at the -■-' office I was so nervous that I jumped every time anyone called me by name. Gradually, though, as the days passed and no one suspected, I began to have more self-confidence, even to enjoy my work. It was one morning near the middle of April that my early fears of discovery swept over me again. I was just taking the cover off my typewriter when the girl at the next desk whispered excitedly, "Mr. Winters is back." My face must have betrayed the fact that her announcement didn't mean anything to me for she went on hastily, "Oh, I forgot. You don't know him. You didn't come here until after Mr. Winters went to California." All at once her words took on terrible significance for me and I sank weakly into my chair. Karl Winters, the man who had interviewed that other Elizabeth Adams! I had almost forgotten him and when I had thought of him it was with the comfortable assurance that I had no reason to worry about him since he was safely established on the West Coast. But now he was back in New York and, I told myself hopelessly, my pretense would be revealed and dismissal from my job would follow. "There's Mr. Winters now," my neighbor whispered again. "Isn't he the best looking man you ever saw?" I turned to look at the man who had stepped out of one of the private offices at the end of the room. He was good looking — there was no denying that — with black hair and brilliant dark eyes set deeply in a tanned face. The other girls in the office crowded around him, welcoming him back with an enthusiasm that told me he was a favorite with all of them, and in spite of my nervousness I couldn't help realizing that there was something very likable about him. All that day I worked at feverish tension, trying to brace myself for the exposure I expected would follow at any moment. I tried to shut Karl Winters out of my mind, but that was utterly impossible — and it was made more so by the fact that the girl at the next desk chattered about him every moment she could spare from her work. "I wish he'd stay in this office," she observed wistfully, "but I suppose this will be only a short trip and then he'll go back West." "What makes you think that?" I asked. "Oh, his headquarters are really in Hollywood," was the answer. "He only spends a few weeks at a time in this office." I nodded. That idea was comforting to me, for if this were only a hurried business trip perhaps Mr. Winters wouldn't have time to notice me or to remember that other Elizabeth Adams and my secret would remain safe. I felt more calm after that, but my calmness was only temporary for later on my supervisor called me in to meet him. As I approached the small office which had been assigned to him I felt my palms turn moist with apprehension, but instead of the denunciation I expected he smiled and said impersonally, "I'm glad to know you, Miss Adams. I hope you like working here." I gave an almost audible gasp of relief as I realized that he hadn't associated my name with that of the girl he had interviewed months earlier and murmuring a breathless, "I — I like it very much," I returned to my desk. The following morning Mr. Winters brought a number of reports to my desk with the request that I type them as quickly as possible since he would need them for a conference that afternoon. I started on them immediately, but was unable to finish by twelve o'clock so I worked steadily through the noon hour. Everyone else had returned from lunch when I finally completed the reports and took them in to him. "Thank you very much. Miss Adams," he said warmly. "You must have worked straight through your lunch hour to finish these so quickly." "That's all right, Mr. Winters," I said. "I didn't mind." "I was working too," he added wryly. "I'll just have time for a sandwich at the drugstore before going to that conference. Why don't you join me, since we're both so late?" His C)oAA rTeloLo lo LEON JANNEY — beHer known to millions of listeners as Richard Parker on NBC's Sunday-night serial, The Parker Family. Although Leon is still in his early twenties, he's been an actor for more than twenty years. He started in vaudeville at the age of three and worked his way to Hollywood and a Warner Brothers movie contract. When movie work palled he came to New York and has since appeared in several stage plays besides doing his radio job. His hobbies are photography and collecting records; he's on a committee for Notional Youth for Defense and recently became a volunteer New York City fireman. Occasionally, between radio appearance, he composes music and writes lyrics. RADIO AND TELEVISION MIRROR