I was blushing like a damn schoolgirl. “The bidding war was pretty intense,” I said.
“I didn’t expect Steph to give me any special treatment, and she definitely didn’t,” he said, a shiver rolling through his body. “Seeing her in action is always a treat in and of itself.” He threw back an entire cup of coffee like a Jell-O shot. It was impressive.
“Yeah, she’s always out for blood, and as her client, I’m not complaining.”
Teddy peered past me like he might see her there. “She didn’t make it to set, did she? I’d, uh, hoped we could get together. To talk business, of course.”
“No,” I said, “There was some sort of client catastrophe on the set of the nextFast and Furiousmovie and she had to go to Dubai.”
“That’s a shame,” Teddy said. “About the catastrophe. Not Dubai. I’ve never been. Maybe one day. When I’m done bleeding money out of my ass for art school and sustainable sex toys.”
This man was a goddamn onion. “Right.”
“I hear the first few days here were a little touch and go. I guess Winnie was having a hard time getting into... character. People think selling sex is easy, but it’s not. It’s a real art form. You get it. You’re a natural,” he said. “Gretchen said your tape is looking solid. That’s not easy when your costar isn’t really pulling their load.”
Teddy Ray Fletcher, the porn king of my adolescence, had just called me a natural. Holy fuck. My brain pulsed, suddenly remembering that it needed to make words. “I just did the best I could with what I had, sir,” I managed to sputter.
“It was good of you. It’s the kind of thing that can tank a movie, awkward sex scenes.” He shook his head. “I saw some of the early stuff. Ouch.”
“Well, I mean, we were all embarrassed for her,” I said, thinking back to how stiff and stressed Winnie had been, and how much we’d all wanted her to succeed, how much we hated seeing her struggle. I was about to tell Teddy how she’d been blowing us all away ever since she’d found her sex-scene feet, but my phone started ringing again before I could.
I glanced down to see Topher’s contact number illuminating my screen. “I better get this,” I told Teddy.
He stepped aside, and I got onto the open elevator. If Topher was calling me this early in the morning, I was going to need a coffee. Or maybe a stiff drink.
The phone rang again just as I was about to hit the little green button to call him back. “Hey, Toph, what are you doing up so early?” And as the words came out, I realized just how bizarre this was, especially since he was in a different time zone.
“Uncle Kallum?” he said through hiccups.
For a moment, I thought he was definitely drunk, but then I heard that same little sniffle he’d made when he was a kid and crying because he’d fallen down. “What’s wrong?” I asked quickly.
“The restaurant...” Another hiccup.
“Slice, Slice, Baby? Which one?”
“It’s the—the Lawrence location. I went to pick up the deposit last night and I accidentally fell asleep in the back office while I was waiting for everyone to close. The guys who closed up forgot to check the oven and—and I don’t know—the fire department thinks that maybe a stack of boxes caught on fire—”
“Topher, listen to me. Are you okay? Was anyone else inside?” Frantically, I began to push the buttons in the elevator to get back to my floor. Forget coffee. I had to get home.
“I’m—I’m okay, and I don’t know. I think I was alone, but Paul, the new delivery driver, was supposed to meet me there and I can’t get a hold of him and—”
“Kallum,” my sister’s cool and even voice said. “We’re heading to the hospital so they can check him out for smoke inhalation. He’s okay, but we’re still trying to get in touch with Paul. The place... well, it’s a total loss, I think.”
“I’m coming home. Right this minute.”
“To what?” she asked. “You’re supposed to fly home tomorrow anyway. Besides, the damage is done. There’s nothing you can do here.”
She wasn’t being mean or sarcastic or teasing. She was just being honest, and that’s what stung the most. “I need to be there,” I finally said. “I have to see Toph with my own two eyes. See if you can get as much info as possible on Paul. Full name, address, emergency contact. I’m walking back to my hotel room right now and then I’m on the first flight back. I’ll take a fucking cargo plane if I have to.”
There was some commotion in the background. Metal clanking, wheels squeaking, voices barking. “Okay,” she finally said. “Okay. They just loaded us in the back of the ambulance. I’ll text you all the info I can find.”
“Thanks,” I said. “Thanks. And Tam?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you. I love Topher. More than anything. You know that, right?”
“We know,” she said. “We love you too. Let me know when you get a flight.”
