“Thanks, Max.”
“All of us suffer from confirmation bias, only recognizing ideas that support our existing beliefs. Just hanging out with you, I’m starting to recognize my biases. It’s a good learning experience for me.”
“That’s what this internship is all about,” I say with a ridiculous smile. “I assume you think I’m hot, too?”39
He chokes on a laugh. “Duh.” He looks at me in a very familiar way. “Super hot. And this is a vice presidency, not an internship.”
“Whatever you want to call it, Max,” I say, and pat his arm. “Now that we have that cleared up, I have one more idea. It didn’t work at the casting call, but I think pretty much any girl at Starbucks could be Crystal. And there’s a Starbucks just ahead.”
We’re at a stoplight. He looks over at me skeptically and says, “Go on.” I can tell he’s trying hard to listen without shooting me down immediately.
“How about we walk in and yell out, ‘Hey ladies, anyone here wanna go on a date with Jules Spencer, the underwear model?’ ”
He laughs.
“I’m serious.
“So am I. I’m not doing that.”
“I thought you said I should be a scientist.”
“I take it back.”
I’m about to argue my point when my phone pings. “MAX!” I scream way too loudly given that we’re inside a car. “Cue the hallelujah chorus!”
“What? Did that Craigslist Elsa text you?”
“Even better. It’s Crystal.”
Pick me up from work. 6 pm. Tomorrow.
I almost tell her to take a long walk off a short pier, but I hold back. She’s the one who I matched with clients when I had resources and my wits about me.
Awesome. Text me address.
Back at JP’s, I tell Max I’m off to lie down. I’m officially out of energy.
“Thank God. I was worried about you. You know that you can die from lack of sleep.”
“I don’t think it’s that bad.”
“Trust me. You need more sleep than you realize right now.”
“The sun hasn’t even set yet. I just need a little nap.”
I schlep down the hall and plop into the center of JP’s giant bed. It would take up the whole room, if the master suite wasn’t luxury sized.
Max knocks on the doorframe. “Mind if I tell you one thing before you go to sleep?”
“As long as I don’t have to sit up. And it’s just a nap.” I pat the bed next to me and say, “We can have a meeting here. You can even turn on Netflix if you want.”
Max sits on the edge of the bed. “I’m glad you got some good news with Crystal…because I have some bad news.”
I stare at him wordlessly.
“So, it’s not really bad news. It’ more like ‘Joke’s on us’ news. When I was waiting for you at the casting call, I went through some of your GoldRush material and found out something about Jules.”
I can’t imagine what he’s going to say.
