Arnold proved to be very reasonable to talk to. "I know how you might have reservations about this part, Curt," he didn't notice Fennell wince at the shortening of his name. "But I think that this segment will be so good that you'll have nothing but offers after you do it." He had smiled warmly, his round, pink face happy and enthused. "And, of course, I feel obligated to give you carte blanche for two more shows in the series, in episodes I'm slated to direct."

Fennell had smiled sourly, the epitome of the sullen cowboy, his blue chin and long sideburns incongruous to the conversation they were having. "Of course you will, Jack," said Pamela lightly, her scrubbed unlined face shining in the artificial light of her office. "You've signed a contract, remember?"

Arnold raised a hand in a gesture of agreement, "And, of course, I want our makeup man, Rudi Gref, to look you over before I can give you the Rita Ronay part." He sounded so regretful that Fennell became suspicious. Surely he was putting him on.

*

Rudi Gref looked Curtis Fennell over as Arnold explained the basic plot of his show to him. Despite Fennell's close scrutiny in return, Gref appeared in no way put out or amused by Arnold's request as to the best way to turn Curtis Fennell into Rita Ronay. Gref's thick, black hair, broken nose, and hairy arms made him the least likely makeup man Fennell had ever seen. His leathery face was wrinkled in a frown as he studied the cowboy's unkempt appearance. He ignored the levis, boots and denim jacket that Fennell was wearing. "Sure," he nodded. "I can do the makeup. I'll do the general coaching he needs too, if you like."

At that moment, Fennell realized that he was irrevocably committed to appear in a film dressed as a woman and not one which was a caricature, either, but in one in which he was meant to deceive the viewer at first, and then to convince them that he actually could have lived and worked as a woman. Nervously, he scratched his stubbly chin. Gref was going on. "In the time we've got, I'm sure we can make him into a female-not feminine, of course—just enough to pass scrutiny. Fortunately, as a real ex-cowboy, he's not very big, though he'll be a tall woman."

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