but honestly, don't you think it's a terrific
idea?"

"I think you're terrific," I told her, raising my left eyebrow at my
secretary, "and we'll get around to you one of these days."

"Oh, Mr. Sanders!" she said, exploding those big eyes at me and
shoving a half-folded sheet of paper at me. "Would you please sign my
interview voucher?"

In Madame Elaine's organization you had to have a written "excuse" for
absenting yourself from your department during working hours. I
supposed that the paper I signed was no different from the others.
Anyway, I was still blinded by the atomic blast of those hazel eyes.

After she left I got to thinking it was strange that she had me sign
the interview receipt. I couldn't remember having done that for any
other department heads.

I didn't tumble to the pixie's gimmick for a whole month, then I
picked up the phone one day and the old man spilled the news. "I
thought you were making lipstick over there. What's this call for ad
copy on a new bath powder?"

The incident flashed back in my mind, and rather than admit I had been
by-passed I lied, "You know the Madame. She always gets all she can
for her money."

The old man muttered, "I don't see taking funds from the lipstick
campaign and splitting them off into little projects like this," he
said. "Twenty-five thousand bucks would get you one nice spread in the
Post, but what kind of a one-shot campaign would that be?"

I mumbled excuses, hung up and screamed for the pixie. My secretary
said, "Who?"

"Little sexy-eyes. The Atomic Bath Powder girl."

Without her name it took an hour to dig her up, but she finally popped
in, plumped down and began giggling. "You found out."

"How," I demanded, "did you arrange it?"

"Easy. Madame Elaine's in Paris. She gave you a free hand, didn't
she?"

I nodded.

"Well, when you signed your okay on the Atummyc--"

"That was an interview voucher!"

"Not--exactly," she said ducking her head.

The damage was done. You don't get ahead in this game by admitting
mistakes, and the production department was already packaging and
labelling samples of Atummyc Bath Powder to send out to the
distributors.

* * * * *

I had to carve the $25,000 out of my lipstick budget and keep my mouth
shut. When the ad copy came over from my firm I looked it over,
shuddered at the quickie treatment they had given it and turned it
loose. Things were beginning to develop fast in