Can't Help Falling in Love (9 page)

    
“How about love songs?” Allison asked. “Love is probably the one thing girls
think about most often.” She took another bite and looked deeply into his eyes.

    
“We’re looking for songs about stuff like teddy bears, a girl wearing a boy’s
ring around her neck . . . and love in every way that comes around. What we
want to do is hit some kind of a nerve with young people like us, who want to
break away from our parent’s way of doing things, forget about the war once and
for all, and be different.”

    
Allison was impressed that he had tried to establish a heart to heart
relationship with her. She was about to take another bite, when he set his
napkin down and pushed his empty plate away. She saw his lip again curl up
slightly at the side as he smiled. “I’m counting on you to help us do it,
Allison. You’re the best!”

    
Evidently, he appreciated her. As much as she wanted him to express much more,
she was content for the moment to have his true approval. “Thank you! I’ll do
my best!” she replied sweetly, while grabbing the opportunity to demurely bat
her eyelashes once at him. She allowed her chest to swell with pride, which
drew attention to her perfectly shaped bosom. Her actions were not lost on him.

    
“I know I’m in good hands.”

    
“As a matter of fact,” Allison added with confidence, “my little sister’s a
very talented photographer. I think she’ll love taking some fashionable shots
of you.”

    
“That’s convenient keeping the business in the family. But you better tell your
little sister to be careful and not do what her big sister’s done.”

    
“What’s that?”

    
“Make me fall for her.”

  
Whipping wind in Allison’s hair brought just the effect she had hoped. She
practically floor-boarded the gas pedal on her convertible and finally was able
to feel herself breathe more freely. Best of all,
Sharon
was out of her face. Meeting her twice
in one day left Allison feeling drained.
Being near that
woman even for fleeting moments is like facing Dracula. In fact,
Sharon
has all the attributes of a blood-sucking vampire hell bent on draining the
lifeblood from others!
The gust of exhaust Allison left behind obliterated the
scene in her rear view mirror. She also sensed tension slowly leaving her body
with the realization that a wonderful guy had finally come along that thought
she was more than just a professional whiz-bang. Now she knew how Scarlet O’Hara
felt in
Gone with the Wind
,
when
Ashley Wilkes admitted that he loved her.

    
Hearing kind words from a man she knew hundreds of other girls adored left her
feeling rejuvenated. That meeting had confirmed the fact that she would indeed
be doing promotional work for him. She was committed to doing a fine job for
him. She wanted him to be pleased.
Or is it that I want to please
him?
she
dared to ponder.

    
A short while later, Allison walked briskly down the hall to
her apartment.
She was trying hard to dismiss the hot and bothered
feeling
Sharon
had caused that she could not shake.
When she opened the door, she was greeted by the television blaring in front of
Karen, who was draped in her terry cloth bathrobe and reclining on the couch.

    
Allison snapped, “Do you have to play it so loud?”

    
Karen’s response was to turn the set off, and then she replied sarcastically,
“I can see things went well for you this evening! What happened, did his guitar
string snap and pop you on your
keester
?”

    
“I’m sorry. I didn’t think you’d be up this late, and I was craving some peace
and quiet.”

    
“Are you kidding? I’m sorry if you didn’t get the job. There’ll be lots of
others. You’ve just got to—”

    
“I’ve got the job! He needs me!” Allison looked jealously at Karen. Deep down
inside, she knew that Karen would never let herself get so worked up about a
man that she had only recently met, nor would she be as upset as
Sharon
had made her. Allison felt tears misting
in her eyes.

    
Karen noticed. “Allison, what’s the matter?”

    
“I’m such a jerk! How could I ever have imagined that meeting the most
wonderful man in the world wouldn’t be offset by being crushed by the most
horrible female on earth?”

    
“Wait a second. Wait a second. There are some scenes missing from this story. I
know about your new client, but who’s this Bride of Frankenstein that made you
cry?”

    
“Sharon Eaton.” Allison bit off the words as if she was announcing Adolph
Hitler. “She’s a conniving threat to me and every other marketing executive in
this city. She reminds me of that girl in
All
About
Eve
that plotted and schemed to take over Bette Davis’ life and career.”

    
“I know
Sharon
.”

    
Allison was taken aback. “You
know
her?”

    
Karen answered matter-of-factly, “Uh huh. She moved her office here from
Nashville
about a month ago. We shot some pictures
for one of her clients.”

    
Allison was stunned to the quick. “She’s that new? Well, that explains why I
hadn’t heard of her before. I was introduced to her today at the monthly ad
luncheon, and then ran into her again later at the
Arcade
, or I should say was assaulted by her
there.”

    
“She’s a leech!” Karen interjected. “She’s got a reputation for undercutting
others and sometimes seducing her way into getting a stranglehold on clients.
Who’s she trying to steal from you?”

    
“Why would you say that?”

    
“Because that’s what she does best. She’s not tops at providing what her clients
need most, so she tends to lose them after six months, but she has no equal
when it comes to gaining new accounts. Her trouble seems to be keeping accounts
for the long haul. That’s probably why she moved from
Nashville
. She exhausted the pool of prospects to
the point where she had no alternative but to look for fresh blood, like a
vampire. Is she going after your accounts?”

    
Now, Allison could see the big picture more clearly. “She’s probably trying to
horn her way into the
Memphis
music scene, slithering up to Phillip
Samuels and hoping that she can get first crack at all the upcoming recording
artists that pass through his studio. But I think I’ve got the best one of the
bunch! And there’s more to my bond with him than just a business deal!”

    
“You haven’t shared all this with me yet. What a wonderful opportunity! What a
fantastic account!”

    
“It’s astounding, isn’t it?” Allison felt her mood swing into more positive
territory. Her sister often had that effect on her. “I’m not excited simply
because there’s got to be work in it for me—and you—but he’s just the most
simple and down to earth guy I’ve ever met. Why just today, he taught me how to
enjoy a fried peanut butter and banana sandwich!”

    
Karen grinned from ear to ear. “That really does sound serious. Marriage
usually follows.”

    
Allison grinned. “Most of all, he needs new, carefully styled photos. That’s
where you come in. We’re going to think of just the right imagery, and you’re
going to get the poses on film. We’re going to have a lot of fun with this, and
who knows—maybe something more will develop besides a set of 8x10 glossies!”

    
“That reminds me . . . you haven’t shown me a picture of him.”

    
“I don’t have any, except for a grainy one-inch black and white halftone I
clipped from the newspaper, and that one looks amateurish! That’s why he needs
us.”

    
The two women sat and excitedly discussed the work that they would be doing
shortly. They felt like they were lost in a dream, flipping through all the
movie fan magazines and making notes about what poses and what kind of lighting
effects captured the best qualities of the male stars. Rarely did they get the
opportunity to work on such a coveted account as a star in the making. They
both realized that the new campaign was a trial of sorts. If all went well,
they were both assured of more work from him, and the more deeply they
brainstormed, the more they began to realize that if they played their cards
right, maybe they could inherit the trust of Phillip Samuels and become the
backbone of his company’s efforts to market new music talent to the burgeoning
teenage market.

    
“Can you imagine anything more fun than styling photo and promotional campaigns
for all the handsome young men singers coming through
Memphis
?” Allison asked rhetorically, knowing
that the question hardly required an answer. “I must say it would be a welcome
change from working on industrial safety garments and grocery chains!”

    
Both Allison and Karen laughed. Allison continued, “I think there’ll be quite a
bit of work for you to do, Karen. I know I’ll need to use a lot of photographs,
but I also want to have wonderfully romantic illustrations in the ads. They’ll
capture the fantasy—the dream boy—every girl wants to have in love with her.
And who better to fulfill those fantasies than a handsome young man in his
twenties with a great big head of gorgeous hair and a voice that can make a
girl swoon—a devil in disguise as the angel Gabriel? Who knows? We may graduate
to working with the big
Hollywood
stars! Can you imagine? What if that
fourteen-year-old “irrepressible Ricky Nelson” grows up into a gorgeous
heartthrob who can sing? Or Paul Peterson from
The Donna Reed Show
?
Or Johnny Crawford
from
Rifleman
?
We might end up
working with them all!”

    
Karen felt the need to put a damper on her sister’s discourse. “Hold on,
Allison! It’s one-thirty in the morning, and you’ve already got the two of us
heading up
MGM
! How about a good night’s sleep before
we have to get ready for our close-ups?”

    
“Don’t you want to know about what I’ve got planned for us?”

    
Karen stood up and yawned. “Sure I want to know, but I’ve got to get up much
earlier than you. Being the Queen of Hollywood will have to wait. Besides,
Cecil B.
DeMille
may not yet be ready to abdicate his
throne!”

   
“You’re right, of course. I guess I’ve let my enthusiasm get the better of me.
Still, we’ve got our first assignment, and everything begins with a dream,
doesn’t it?”

    
Karen yawned again. “That’s what Dr. Frankenstein said. Look what happened to
him.” She trudged sleepily to her room and shut the door most of the way, but
then opened it and peeked out. “I think your new man’s going to be good for
you, Allison. And when he sings, he sounds like Dean Martin, Little Richard, and
Pat Boone all rolled into one, plus a little something extra . . . that special
something that makes him unique. He might also be thinking the same thing about
you!” She winked and closed the door for good.

    
Allison folded up the magazines and tidied up the living room before going to
her room.
I don’t want to think about him any more tonight. But
she’s right. He does have that special something. I’m going crazy over him
after having only just met him a day ago! On the other hand, this sudden turn
of events has spun my life into a more complicated and confusing merry-go-round
than it was before. At least I know where I stand with him. I just hope that
working so closely with him won’t push him away from me!

    
Suddenly, the telephone beside their sofa rang and Allison’s head shot up.
Who
could be calling this time of night?
A wrong number or a
crank call?
 She picked up the
receiver.

    
“Allison?” The deep voice she already knew so intimately sounded even more
sublime when he said her name. She felt as if he had just strummed every string
in her heart.

    
“Oh! Hello!”

    
“I’m sorry to call you so late. I just wanted to tell you how much I liked
having supper with you today. I found your number in the phone book. Have you
looked out your window?”

    
Allison was confused. “No, I’ve been working with my sister all evening on some
ideas for you. I only just now decided to go to bed.”

     
“Look out your window. There’s something I want you to see.”

    
Allison was puzzled over what in the world could possibly be outside her window
that he knew about and wanted her to see. Fortunately, the cord on her
telephone was long enough to stretch the entire width of the room. She parted
the blinds and looked outside. “I don’t see anything.”

    
“Sure you do. Look up.”