RANSVESTIA

"The reviews, kiddies! The reviews!" Rosalie picked up the paper and languidly let it go. "Marty gets a whole paragraph, and all of it good! Wanna bet there'll be a big house tonight?" Her tone was mocking, spiced with innuendo.

There was a stunned silence at the table. In the background, cups rattled as secretarial workers hurried off to their offices as lunch hour abruptly ended. "They-they'd be coming to see Marty," said Sally slowly.

"Oh, but he wouldn't have to ..." Cindy began, but then she saw David's face. She took his arm and hugged it to her. "Oh, the poor kid," she said softly.

"Well," said David. "Be nice to him tonight, do you hear?"

"Yes," said Cindy and Sally in unison. They stared at each other and then looked away. Everyone seemed more than a little em- barassed.

"We're, uh, we're supposed to rehearse today," said Farrell.

"That's right, dearies," Rosalie gave Farrell and Ace a pat on their knees. "Let's all go and shake our tails." As she stood and made exaggerated progress towards the door, they all began to smile. No one could stay mad for long with Rosalie around.

Nadine was in deep conversation with a little group of dark-suited men throughout the "rehearsal" so that it was actually Sally Rader, who had choreographed most of the dances, with no billing, who ordered them about. As a rehearsal, the time spent was wasted, as Marty wasn't there, and Jackie was just going through the motions her voice quite gone with acute laryngitis.

At the end of the desultory session, Nadine left her little group and spoke directly to Sally. "Where's Marty?" she asked.

Sally shrugged. "I don't know," she said.

"Come on now," snapped Nadine. "You're living with the guy, aren't you? What's the matter with him?"

9