Staring straight ahead, Peggy got to her feet and headed for the door. The walk seemed endless. She was about halfway there when a deep voice growled out.
“Hey! Where are you going?”
Peggy stopped and turned slowly, her eyes widening in surprise.
Oscar Stalkey was still standing in the doorway, but now he was pointing a finger in her direction. “Come in here,” he said. “I want to talk to you.”
There were gasps of surprise from the other girls. Peggy swallowed once and pointed to herself. “Me?” she asked in a voice that cracked.
“Well, who’d you think I meant?” came the gruff answer. “Come in. I haven’t got all day.” He stepped aside and motioned her to hurry.
Still unable to believe what was happening, Peggy followed Oscar Stalkey blindly into his office.
III
The Inner Sanctum
Four people were grouped in the office. There was Stalkey himself, heavy-set and dynamic, hovering impatiently by the door. Behind him in a corner lounged a rather disheveled man in his mid-forties who looked vaguely familiar. A young man in his twenties, with a collegiate crew cut, stood by the window. Beside him, behind the largest desk Peggy had ever seen, sat Pam Mundy—the girl she had met during the summer.
Pam seemed even more surprised than Peggy. Her eyebrows shot up in twin crescents of astonishment at the sight of her friend coming through the door. But she quickly regained her composure and threw Peggy a reassuring smile and wink.