Becky waited nervously at the edge of the studio for her cue to go on. After years of struggle this was hopefully going to be her big break into show business, as an assistant on a gameshow. The role involved introducing the contestants, delivering forfeits when they got things wrong and participating in the occasional skit and stunt.

But the main requirement seemed to be adding a touch of glamour to the proceedings, in other words acting as eye candy for the male half of the audience. This was why Becky was dressed in a white sequined leotard, fishnet stockings, high heels, satin gloves and a matching headdress.

"And introducing my new assistant, Rebecca!" the host announced.

Just before stepping out into the studio one of the stagehands passed Becky a small silver tray upon which lay a pastry case, filled with custard and topped with whipped cream. Becky knew this was one of the standard forfeits for the poor contestants but hadn't been expecting to have to carry one out for her introduction.

The studio itself was a fairly large affair with a seated audience of around two hundred people. There were three cameras, two to record the events on set and one to capture the audience's reactions. The set itself was empty except for Gina, the shows smartly dressed thirty-something host.

Becky sashayed over to Gina, being careful not to drop the custard pie she now carried. The audience clapped and cheered her appearance and at least one wolf whistled was directed at her. She grinned at the studio audience and the cameras as she stepped up to Gina and struck a sexy pose.

"Welcome to the show" Gina said, "and what better way of saying that than with a pie."

And with that Gina picked up the pie from off the tray Becky was carrying and slapped it into her new assistant's face. Becky had suspected that staying clean and free of mess was going to be an impossibility with her new job but hadn't expected to be pied so soon and by her own colleague.

* * *

Back in her dressing room, Becky wiped the pie filling from her face and attempted to clean herself up. She had just gotten most of the pastry crust out of her hair when someone rapped on the door and called out "five minutes". Putting back on her headdress Becky headed out to meet the contestants and escort them on to the set.

Both contestants were female, the first a tall willowy brunette dressed in a pale summer dress. The second was a short blonde with a fuller figure and wearing a bright top and short skirt. Becky linked arms with the pair of them and the three women walked onto the set to polite applause from the audience.

"This is Lorraine and she's a trainee solicitor" Becky said indicating the brunette.

Gina greeted Lorraine by shaking her hand and got her to stand behind one of the two podiums that had been positioned in the middle of the set. Lorraine waved at the audience as Gina turned to her opponent.

"And this is Ellen, a retail assistant" Becky said, completing the introductions.

Ellen shuck Gina's hand and then took her place behind the second podium. Meanwhile, Becky walked off set and waited in the wings beside a trolley laden with fresh cream pies for her next cue. Gina explained the format of the first round to both the contestants and the audience before mentioning the forfeits.

Becky walked back on set pushing the trolley before her which provoked expectant laughter from the audience and worried looks from the two contestants. Becky wheeled the trolley over between Lorraine and Ellen and picking up one of the pies waited patiently for one of them to get something wrong.

Gina began asking them questions, alternately between the two contestants. They both got their first two questions right and Becky was starting to wonder if the pair might actually escape without getting a forfeit when Lorraine stumbled over the answer to her third question. Becky and Lorraine both looked expectantly at Gina.

"I'm sorry that's incorrect" Gina declared.

Lorraine barely had time to register her disappointment before Becky took the cream pie she was holding and splattered it into the unlucky contestant's face. Becky found it was certainly more enjoyable to be the one delivering the forfeit than receiving it. She picked up another pie from the trolley and waited to Gina to restart her questions.

Ellen and Lorraine got their next questions correct but then Ellen slipped up and Becky got to pie her. The round continued with another pie to Lorraine and two more to Ellen before Gina finished the questions. The contestant's scored were displayed on a screen behind the audience which Becky read out.

"Loraine is leading with four points and Ellen is behind on three" she announced.

Becky lead the contestants from the set and back to their individual rooms so they could get cleaned up before the next round. Luckily, she had managed to avoid the mess this time except for a little cream which had stained her gloves which she planned to change for a fresh pair.

* * *

During the interval the audience were entertained by a comic whilst Becky returned to her changing room. She'd just touched up her make-up when there was a knock on the door. Becky knew it was too soon for the start of the next round so was confused who might want her. Slightly hesitantly, she opened the door.

"Hello again" Gina greeted her.

Before Becky could react, Gina had walked into the room and was looking around it with a disdainful expression. Becky had heard that Gina wasn't always the easiest person to get along with, but she was very influential behind the scenes. Gina finished examining the room and turned her attention back to her new assistant.

"I'm sorry about that pie in your pie at the start" Gina said, "but the producers insisted upon it."

"I thought you were one of the producers?" Becky replied.

"That's right and you'd do well not to forget that" Gina responded "try to do anything similar to me and you're out!"

And with that Gina waltzed out of the room. Becky was confused by the visitation and not quite sure whether she should be worried or not. In fact, she was still distracted by the matter ten minutes later when a stagehand called for the restart, so much so that she forgot to change her satin gloves.

* * *

For the second round, the set had undergone a slight change. The podiums the contestants had stood behind had been replaced by a pair of clear perspex booths. Becky escorted Lorraine and Ellen back on to the set and Gina asked them to seat themselves in the booths. Both contestants seemed hesitant to do so.

"Perhaps my new assistant could demonstrate" Gina suggested.

Becky was somewhat apprehensive about sitting in one of the booths. Not only because of her encounter with Gina earlier but also because she could guess what would happen to the contestant if and when they got their questions wrong and certainly didn't want to experience it herself.

The instant she sat in the booth she felt something drip on her head and automatically looked. That proved less than wise, as she was suddenly meet with a deluged of green slime. It covered her from head to toe and she had to wipe the gunge from her face before she could see again. The audience howled with laughter.

Becky got out of the booth and stood towards the back of the set whilst the two contestants took their seats. With the forfeit so much worse than the first round the questions were worth double the points but we're also harder. Ellen once again for her first answer right but Lorraine wasn't so lucky.

"That's wrong!" Gina announced.

Lorraine was covered in orange coloured gunge much to her horror. Becky could sympathise as the gunge she'd suffered minutes earlier had soaked into her costume and she suspected her leotard now clung somewhat indecently to her figure based upon the looks she was getting from some of the audience.

Ellen now had the lead and was smiling in triumph when she unexpectedly got her next question wrong and was drenched with yellow gunge. Lorraine actually got her question correct to retake the lead from her opponent.

"And now for our final set of questions" Gina said.

Both contestants got their final questions wrong. Lorraine was coated in blue gunge whilst Ellen's was pink in colour. Both looked miserable sitting there in the booths but at least for one of them the humiliation was soon to be over. Becky stepped forward to announce the final scores.

"Ellen has five points whilst Lorraine is ahead on six!" Becky stated.

The audience applauded as both contestants got out of their booths and stood before them. Becky walked over to the pair of them and put her arms around them as she led them from the set and back again to their rooms. A stagehand was waiting just off set with a cotton bathrobe for each of them.

Meanwhile Gina addressed the audience as stagehands descended on mass to remove the booths from the stage, mop up the gunge that Becky and the contestants had tracked across the floor and prepare the set for the finale.

* * *

Becky accompanied Lorraine back on to the set. Both women had gotten cleaned up and were wearing fresh clothing; in Becky's case an identical showgirl costume to before and for Lorraine a patterned gown that showed off her long legs. Gina waited for them onset beside a curtained off section.

"Congratulations on your victory" Gina said to Lorraine.

Gina went on to explain that Lorraine had won an all-expenses paid trip to the Caribbean for two weeks for herself and a guest. Lorraine did a little celebratory dance after hearing her prize much to the enjoyment of the watching audience. Then it was time to reveal Ellen's impending fate.

Becky pulled back the curtain beside Gina to unveil a pool of brown sludge above which was suspended a small seat. Sitting on the seat was a nervous looking Ellen who had discarded her top and skirt from the previous rounds and was now dressed in a skimpy black bikini that provoked more than a few admiring glances.

"Would you care to do the honours?" Gina asked Lorraine.

Lorraine stepped forward and took hold of a chain which has hanging beside the pool. To the encouragement of the audience she began to pull on the chain which slowly began to tilt the seat under Ellen forward. Ellen lent back and took a firm grip of the chair in an attempt to avoid falling into the pool.

Suddenly the chair gave way, sending Ellen plunging face first into the brown sludge. As she attempted to extract herself from the sludge the audience laughed and cheered to see the young women so humiliated. Meanwhile Becky, Gina and Lorraine turned to the audience and begin to wave goodbye.

"And a special thankyou once again to my new assistant" Gina said.

Becky was pleasantly surprised at Gina's words, but this changed moments later as Gina took a cream pie she had been handed by a stagehand and planted it into Becky's face. Gina and Lorraine laughed among themselves whilst Becky started to wonder if show business was always this messy.

The End.