Going Up

"Ms. Hendricks?"

"My secretary."

"Oh. I'm glad we didn't, then."

"Me, too. Would you care for a drink?"

"Oh, I couldn't. I don't have time. My audition-"

"I'm writing a note for you, remember? Kurtz will audition you."

"Just the same, I think I'll pass, if you don't mind."

"I don't mind at all. Let me get you the tear-away."

He left her studying the mural as he went into his bedroom. It portrayed a reclining nude woman, lying upon her left side, her back toward the viewer, a wrinkled white fabric not unlike a bed sheet beneath her. Her arms were folded over her breasts, the right one of which was visible to the elbow. Her hair was thick and dark, and a strand of the straight tresses lay along her back, parallel with the hollow, sweeping curve of her spine. Her buttocks, although ample by current standards, were smooth, and her thighs were thick, though sleek. The lower halves of her upper legs were draped with a fold of golden fabric of a satiny sheen. A placid blue lake-or, perhaps, a river-lay beyond a screen of low green shrubs, the shapes of which were but indistinctly rendered, as was the suggestion of the bank that ran parallel to the water, along the top of the scene.

Charlie returned, bearing in his hands a gown even lovelier than the one that Siren-or the elevator doors-had ruined.

"I hope it fits," she said, accepting his offering.

Charlie chuckled. "It'll fit," he predicted. "The girls Kurtz auditions are always the same size. You can try it on in there, if you like." He nodded toward the bedroom.

"Thanks."

She took the gown into the room that Charlie had just vacated.

It was beautiful. Simple but elegant, the black velvet gown, slit to the thigh on either side, was both strapless and sleeveless, with a plunging neckline and a low back. Its full, sweeping skirt was adorned with large burnt velvet floral appliqués and gold leaves.