“Come in, Joe. You’re just the man I’ve been thinking about. If I call you in to audition a show that will go on at 4:15, will you be available?”
Joe understood. Dennis wanted to know if he was out of the Sue Davis program that went on at 4:30.
“What show?” he asked.
“Were reviving Mr. America. There’s a new part being written in that should fit you like a glove. We put the show on last March and had three sponsor nibbles before it went off in June. This time we think we’ll sell it.”
Joe remembered Mr. America. A five-a-week sustaining. Front demanded that he tell Gillis he was uncertain, that he might decide not to return to the Sue Davis cast. Dennis would probably know he was lying, but that was the way front was played. He cast front aside.
“I don’t know, Mr. Dennis. Right this minute, I’m in the dark. I’ll let you know.”
“I’ll have to know by Wednesday. Unless there’s a switch, we’ll start to audition Thursday and cut the platter Saturday.”
“I’ll know definitely by Wednesday,” said Joe. He had vowed Vic would have to send for him. All that was changed. He’d have to go to Vic for a showdown.
Waiting for the elevator, unconsciously listening to an FKIP loudspeaker, Joe felt that the future held a grim, mirthless humor. If he went on the Mr. America program, he’d still be in radio. He’d still be on a five-a-week. Both shows would come out of the same station, fifteen minutes apart. But the Sue Davis sponsored show had been paying him twenty-five dollars a week, while the unsponsored Mr. America would pay him only in experience. Show business!
John Dennis’ secretary came running along the corridor. “Mr. Carlin! I wasn’t sure I could catch you. Mr. Wylie’s office called. You’re wanted over there.”