The caller coughs. “I recently purchased a very interesting set of pictures. Ones that don’t portray Oliver in the best light.”
Oh shit.
“For a price I may be willing to make sure they don’t get printedin tomorrow’s gossip column.”
Of course. We also received a six-hour training on this situation. Apparently it happens a lot. Thank God I paid attention. Even with all the training, my stomach drops and I panic trying to remember all the steps we learned in New York. What the heck is step one?
“How much do you want?” Marley and Reagan perk up in their chairs and listen to my conversation closely.I mouth the word Asbell and then stand, walking to the other side the room.
“Fifty thousand.” The caller is quick to answer.
“I can’t do fifty thousand. The most I could do is thirty.” Yes, it happens so often there’s actually a standard for how much money we’re allowed to pay for a picture. The events in Oliver’s room this morning are starting to make a lot more sense. I bet another thirtythousand I know exactly what pictures this guy has.
“Meet me in the standard parking lot at 5:30 this afternoon. Column C2. And don’t be late.”
Ugh. Could this day get any worse? I pop the last of the Twizzler in my mouth, the red goodness coating my teeth with a layer of sugar. I need to hunt down thirty thousand dollars.
“Can you ladies watch Oliver for me? I have to go to Asbell’s officereal quick.” I point to the direction behind me, feeling like I’ve asked them to watch my new puppy with a pee problem. It’s not a complete lie. Asbell will deftly want to talk about this in the privacy of a closed room.
I don’t even wait for their answer and take off for the front doors to catch a cab back to the athletes’ building.
There is no time to waste. I need to make sure Oliver staysoff the front page of TMZ’s website. If that happens I will be on a plane back to the states.
