Chapter 6

TETE-A-TETE

"Your sister is a charming child."

Andrea smiled. "Mimosa? I think she'd be the first to agree with you."

"So I noticed," Dick replied. "She's certainly not shy."

"Shy?" Andrea raised an eyebrow. "She's brazen."

"I regret I didn't meet Billy," Dick said. "After looking at his pictures this afternoon, I was interested in seeing the young man himself."

Andrea nodded. "And he was enthusiastically looking forward to meeting you-he really was, Dick. You should have seen the expression on his face when I informed him that I had a date with you tonight. His eyes popped open. "That faggot," he said, "everybody in the business knows Dick Finch is a dirty old queer!" He couldn't get over the surprise to hear that you're about as far from a faggot as any man I ever knew."

Dick sighed. "My professional liability. Men are afraid of me. What a ridiculous business we're in, Andrea. Sometimes the idiocy of this enterprise enthralls me."

"In what way?"

"That so much should depend on the visceral reaction of one person to another ... what they used to call "sex appeal" in the old days. Now it's charisma ... magnetism. like a sock in the balls. And that's where I come in. A guy like me's got to have balls, or else the system falls apart."

He paused in the middle of his explanation to examine the wine list. "The Chateau Loiseau '59 was a very good year."

Andrea smiled. "Lovely!"

Dick snapped his fingers. The wine steward bustled toward the table. He smiled with appreciation when Dick placed the order. Obviously recognizing a patron with good taste.

"Eh bien, monsieur. An excellant choice, an excellant choice!"

"Shall we order now?"

"If you'd like, yes, certainly."

Dick beckoned the waiter and began rapidly reciting in French the choices he had selected from the menu.

He turned to Andrea. "I hope you'll enjoy the duck," he said.

"I'm certain I will."

"They do it here with a raspberry and orange sauce ... sort of a glaze, with a melted Maraschino flavor. Can you imagine what that would taste like? On a duck!"

Andrea laughed. "No, I can't," she replied. "I'm afraid I'll have to wait until I actually get it in my mouth."

"I'm sure you'll enjoy it."

"So am I," Andrea responded. "But while we wait, Dick, go on with what you were saying-it sounded fascinating. Especially the last part, where you compared yourself to..." she hesitated.

"Balls," Dick said quickly.

"Testicles," Andrea said simultaneously.

They both laughed.

"Actually that is about what my job amounts to," Dick explained. "I have to react to people from that level. Guts. Sex. Because in the final analysis, that's what sells a product on television.

The sex appeal of the performer who's handling the product in the commercial."

"What is sex appeal?" Andrea asked. "People tell me Billy is sexy, or I am sexy, or Mimosa-but I never quite know what they mean."

"You're joking, Andrea," Dick said with a smile. "I know exactly what they mean."

"Do you?" Andrea leaned forward. "Then you'll have to explain it to me. And I mean this seriously. Good looking, yes, even beautiful I'll agree to without making much of a pretense of modesty. I only need my eyes to tell me that. We're an exceptionally handsome family, all three of us. My brother, my sister and me. But isn't sex appeal something more than perfect features and a well developed body? That's what I want to know."

"Have some wine and I'll give you an answer." Dick filled her glass. "Sex appeal is ball magnetism. I use myself as a judge. I just look at someone I know. You, for example-I'd like to go to bed with you. Not just once, not for a quickie, but for a long and lascivious session...

Well, Andrea, that's sex appeal in my book. One look at you is good enough to tell me that you're exactly what we need on TV to put a new product into a million American homes!"

"What a funny thought!" Andrea mused. "To be on TV and know that a million people are out there waiting to get you into bed with them!"

"That's exactly what they do," Dick replied. "Our studies have shown that most people watch TV in bed. Men and women."

"So that means we're a sexy family," Andrea mused. "Even little Mimosa..."

"Most especially Mimosa," Dick interjected. "From what I could see, she's going to develop into another Elizabeth Taylor!"

"Or Mata Hari!"

He grinned.

"But tell me," Andrea inquired, "what about Billy? How do you form an opinion about him? Certainly you don't want to spend a long and lascivious session in the sack with Billy, do you?"

Dick smiled. "Not from his photographs, no."

"Then how do you tell about a man? In that situation you can't trust your balls."

"That's where I have to make an educated guess. In terms of a man I use other guidelines. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. In Billy's case I seem to feel that they will. I already spoke to the sponsor, did I tell you that?"

"No!" Andrea was thrilled. She leaned forward in her seat. Her face was flushed and excited. "You spoke to the sponsor already? Oh, Dick, that's marvelous-just marvelous! What about his pictures? Did you send them over to the sponsor to look at?"

Dick nodded.

"You're wonderful, Dick. I can't tell you how much I appreciate this!"

"I don't want you to tell me, Andrea, I want to be shown."

She smiled.

He smiled.

"That's what I call a radiant smile," Dick whispered. "You are lovely, Andrea, incredibly lovely."

"Dick..." Her eyes glowed in the candlelight. "I have so much I want to show you. So much to thank you for."

"Maybe it's a bit premature," Dick said with a shy smile. "I wouldn't want to have to disappoint you."

"What do you mean?"

"I'd have to see Billy myself, of course, and then arrange for an appointment with the sponsor," explained Dick. "Now that's going to be the hard part."

"Why?"

"Well, as I tried to explain to you this morning, he's not as imaginative as we are. The sponsor is used to simply looking at a reel of film and making his decision from that. That's understandable in a way. like buying a prepackaged item of food. There's much more security involved. You know that someone else has already purchased the item."

Andrea shuddered. "Not if it were sex. If it were sex, I'd hate to think that. But all these details, Dick, are they really that important between us, I mean. Because I can tell you right now that I won't be disappointed. Whatever happens with Billy and his career, I'll always believe you tried your absolute best. That will be true, won't it?"

"Of course, Andrea, of course..."Dick leaned forward. He was on the verge of adding something else to his previous comment, but the arrival of the food delayed him.

He smiled at Andrea, indicating that there was much left unsaid. "I understand," she whispered, stroking the back of his hand. "I understand."

"Duck," announced the waiter, "especially for you."