Rupert Holmes, Howard Meltzer, and AMC own the rights to Remember WENN...I just like to play.
Mackie stared at the typewriter and decided to scream...softly. How did Betty do this all, he wondered. And he didn't have to create the stories...Just type some commercials and announcements...
He typed a few more words, then pulled the paper out. "Damn..."
*Broone Vrorhuers...*
Well, he'd never said he could type accurately. He picked up a pencil, and instead wrote the new Broome Brothers ad by hand. "Much better," he said a couple of minutes later as he looked as his almost unreadable script. He stood slowly and glanced at the clock.
The door crashed open. "Mackie," Maple said. "You're on in ten seconds."
Mackie groaned as he followed her out. They had promised Betty they could handle things at the station. While that had only been two days ago...already one script had disappeared and Broome Brothers Department store wanted a new ad on the air that afternoon...
#
Mr. Eldridge handed Mackie an official looking form as he stepped into the studio.
Mackie didn't glance at it as he grabbed a script. Daphne had managed to return from the wilds of the North Pole in time to become involved with ferreting out a Nazi spy ring. This storyline was proving to be immensely popular with their listeners and their leading lady. He glanced quickly at Hilary who was speaking--she had been delighted that this show was becoming a adventure story; and that Daphne was now able to rescue herself. He finally looked at the piece of paper and dropped his script in surprise. The soft thud echoed through the studio.
"Mr. Eldridge, this is impossible," he called out as he left the studio.
"Yes?" Eldridge said as he stopped sweeping. "That is often said about our shows."
"No, no, this...This is impossible. All our windows have been properly covered with black-out material. There is no way light could get out." He waved the paper under the older man's nose.
"What's this?"
"This...you handed me this." He stopped waving it. "You've given us a citation for ignoring the black-out. I helped put up the curtains..."
Mr. Eldridge glanced at the paper. "It's my handwriting. Oh dear, what did I do with the original." He searched his jacket pockets before he found it. "I counted the floors. See..." He pointed at the number.
Mackie shook his head. "But Tom, this isn't our floor, it's the floor below."
The old man nodded in perfect understanding. "Understood completely...but I can't alter anything because I work here."
Mackie clinched his fingers around the paper, then relaxed. "But..."
"Mackie," Gertie called out. "Hilary is in a fight with Wolfgang, the silent Nazi."
"Damn." He thrust the paper into Eldridge's hands. "Take it to the floor below." He rushed back into the studio.
Hilary threw him an evil glare as Foley grunted and kicked things. "Tell me Herr Wolfgang, where are the secret plans?" She said as she returned to calmly studying her finger nails.
Mackie picked up his discarded script and read with a heavy German accent. "Fraulein Dafne du vill tell me vy du are here." Hilary grabbed his script and flipped to the correct page. Mackie shrugged as he read, "Ich vill never tell du."
#
Gertie sat petting Felicity; she'd given up her knitting fifteen minutes earlier when the kitten had gone on the offensive. Since then the cat had tried to reorganize her desk then decided a nap was in order.
"I'm going to lunch. Do you want anything?" Maple asked as she walked by the receptionist's desk.
Gertie shook her head. "Mackie brought a sandwich earlier." The cat had thoroughly enjoyed the piece of ham she'd stolen. The cat lifted her head at the sound of Jeff's voice on the radio. "Radio Station WENN and Parson's Pets proudly present *The Friends of Felicity Feline.* Today's guest is Dr. Samuel Lindall to talk about your dog's health." The cat stretched and leapt off Gertie's lap.
Maple and Gertie laughed as they watched Felicity walk down the hall, tail straight in the air.
#
Hilary smiled slightly as she patted the couch beside her. She had been against them keeping the cat, but...She patted the animal's head as it crawled up beside her. It tried to crawl into her lap, but she carefully placed it beside her. The cat lay on its side and kneaded the air.
Hilary sighed as she stroked the cat, mesmerized by the softness and the contented rumblings from its throat. She'd never been an animal person--like kids they stole scenes. Not that Felicity had stole any scenes...well not recently anyway.
"Hey, Hilary..." Maple stopped in the doorway and laughed. "Have you seen Mackie?"
"He's in the writer's room...again." She sat up and ignored the cat.
"Thanks." Maple smiled as she left, but didn't say anything about the cat beside her.
"Don't tell anyone," she said to Felicity as she ran her hand along the cat's back. The cat's response was to reach out and grab her wrist with it's front paws. Hilary chuckled and pulled her hand away. "Cat hair. You really do shed too much." She patted the cat and stood.
#
Mackie glared at the typewriter as he searched through the desk for a pencil. It's menacing features looked ready to attack him again. When the air raid alert had blared through the city twenty minutes ago, Mr. Eldridge had shut all the lights off on the floor. Mackie had been caught in the writer's room. He had dropped his pencil and banged his head on the typewriter...And he still hadn't found a pencil.
The door opened and Maple entered with a small flashlight. "You are still here, everybody else has gone home. We've shut down for the night."
"Maple, I need that flashlight. I have one last thing to do before I go home--two if you include finding a pencil so I can do the first." His mood brightened when the light revealed a pencil. "It'll take me five minutes now. If you want the company...I mean...well, if you'd rather..."
Maple laughed. "I'd be delighted if you would walk me home."
#
Six minutes later he was locking the door and thinking that thank God Betty returned tomorrow.