June Moon

Sears, the composer. He wrote “Paprika.” You remember “Paprika”? He sings a strain of it. “Paprika, Paprika, the spice of my life⁠—” Edna With quick concurrence. I think so. Fred When you write a song like “Paprika” you don’t ever have to worry again. He’s one of the most successful composers there is, Paul Sears. I bet you I and he will turn out some hits together. Edna Are you going to be partners with him? Fred If he wants me to, and I guess he will when I show him Benny Davis’s letter. That’s the hard part, getting acquainted. I’d have broke away a long while ago only for my sister. I couldn’t leave her alone. Edna Is she in Schenectady? Fred Nods. She got married a week ago Saturday. A fella I been working with in the shipping department⁠—Bob Gifford. Edna She’ll miss you just the same. I know how sisters feel, especially when their brother is like you or Dick. Fred Well, anyway, she got married, and I give them a pair of bookends. Edna She’ll love them! Fred She always done everything for me⁠—I mean, cooked my meals and sewed things for me. Look! Dives for his bag and starts opening it. She made me a half a dozen shirts before I left. Different colors. Here’s one of the blue ones. I bet if you was to buy a shirt like that, you couldn’t buy a shirt like that under a dollar seventy-five. Edna I’ll bet it would cost more than that. Fred Marion can sew, all right. My mother used to say she was a born seamstress. Edna I love to sew. Looks at the shirt. Has it got your monogram, your initials? Fred No. She was going to put a F on the sleeve, but she was too busy. Edna It’s too bad you’re not my brother and I’d embroider your whole initials. Fred You don’t have to be a man’s sister to embroider their shirt. Edna I don’t want you to misjudge me, Mr. Stevens. I’m not the kind of a girl that talks to strangers. My friends would die if they knew I was talking to a man whom I had not been properly introduced. Fred You don’t need to be scared of me, girlie. I treat all women like they was my sister. Till I find out different. Edna A girl alone in New York can’t be too careful, especially a girl in my position. You take at Dr. Quinn’s, where I work⁠—he’s one of the best dentists there is, and he has lots of men patients that would be only too glad to start a little flirtation. Why even Doctor himself was fresh, the first day I met him. It turned out he wasn’t really, but it seemed that way. He put his arm around my shoulders and I jumped away from him like he was a leopard or something, and I told him, I said, “Doctor, I guess I don’t care to work here after all.” Then he laughed and said forget it, that he was just testing me. He said he didn’t want an assistant who was inclined to flirt. And from that day he’s never made any advances, except once or twice. Fred He’d keep his distance if I was around. Edna I wish you could be. Fred I got plenty of excuses for being there. I got a cavity as big as the Grand Canyon. Edna Laughing a little harder than is necessary. You must forgive me laughing. Caroline used to tell me I had the keenest sense of humor of any person she ever met. Fred First thing you know I’ll be in to see Dr. What’s-His-Name myself. Edna He’ll fix it for you. He’s a wonderful dentist. Fred If I come, it’ll probably be when he’s out to lunch. Edna Then what would you come for? Fred I’ll let you guess. Edna I’d rather you told me. I’m a bad guesser. Fred I might come to see you. Would you let me? Edna I’d love it, if you wanted to. Fred I wouldn’t say so if I didn’t. Edna You’ll forget all about it. Fred No, I won’t. Your smile will always haunt me. Edna I’ll bet you’re a wonderful songwriter. No wonder your friends gave you that big dinner. Fred It certainly was quite a banquet. I bet some of my pals got a headache today, all right. Edna I hope you haven’t got one. Fred No. Liquor don’t afflict me like most people. Edna I hardly ever touch it myself, only once in a great while, at a party. Fred Girls ought to lay off it entirely. Edna Quickly covering her slip. I never touch it. Fred Take some of those women in Schenectady and they want to go out somewhere every night and guzzle. Married women, too. Edna I don’t see how they can, with a home to take care of. Fred Either they get all dressed up and drag their husband to a dance or a card party every night, or either they lay around the house in a wrapper. Edna When I marry I’ll be just as careful of my appearance as I am now. I believe a husband appreciates a wife dressing up for him. Fred Ever the practical soul. If it ain’t too expensive. Edna The man I marry won’t have any complaints. I make practically all my own clothes. Caroline⁠—she’s the girl I used to live with⁠—she used to say I always looked like I had just stepped out of a bandbox, even if we were only sitting in our room. We hardly ever went out evenings; personally I prefer to stay home and read, or else just sit and dream. But still I always bathe and change my clothes even when I’m only going to cook dinner. Fred I think I’ll take a room with a bathroom when I get to the hotel. Edna Where are you going to stay? Fred The Hotel Somerset. They got rooms with a bathroom right in the room, so you don’t have to go out of the room. And it’s close to the music publishing houses and