Shit, I did forget all about that.
“It’s only the series recap, interviews and behind the scenes…” It sounds glorious. “You can watch it tomorrow or even when you get back to the hotel room.”
Dimitri sighs. “Fine. Whatever.” He pauses and gives me a side grin, “But thank you for this. Everyone is having a blast. We miss you.”
“Have fun,” I say, with regret for missing it. But I don’t know how long I’ll be connected with the Four Families, and these memories should be for them.
Once I hang up, I reach for the Sunshine Black 2.3 pen and give it a quick click. I jot down a few notes on the safety report left over from Friday. Damn the ink is so smooth, best purchase I’ve ever made. The room is quiet for a few minutes, and I’m able to get some work done until Macie comes back into my office.
“Hey, Hadeon Olympian is on line one.”
“Good afternoon, King.” Red flag number one, he only calls me King when he needs something. “How are you feeling today?” Second red flag. Hadeon is generally a good guy and does care about my well-being, but he never flat out asks. He needs me for a favor.
“I’m fine. Are you flying down to Orlando today?”
“Yes, Penny and Olivia are flying down tonight. I’m not sure how Olivia is going to handle the crowds, we might buy out the parks at night instead.” Every once in a while, he says things that remind me about the vast fortune he has.
“Yes, of course buying out the park seems like a completely reasonable expectation,” I state flatly.
“Shh… I don’t spoil Olivia all that much.” No, he doesn’t. She doesn’t have a pony or a lion on a gold leash or anything. Her head band only has three diamonds instead of being completely encrusted. Totally normal stuff.
“I’m assuming you didn’t call to check in on me.” Let’s get back on track here.
“No, I need a favor.”
“Of course you do.”
“All Penny wants for her birthday is the pilot script for The Knights of the Night, signed by the cast.”
“Cool. Buy it for her, you’ve got the money.”
“I’m getting to that. There’s a charity auction tonight at the Black Diamond hotel.”
Oh no. I don’t need to see where this is going. “You want me to be social two nights in a row?” I snap. He has assistants for this stuff.
“It’s for Penny.”
Ugh. Penny’s had my back for over a decade now. She’s been a mentor and a friend. But I still whine, “Two nights in a row?”
“You can buy yourself a birthday/Christmas gift, and you’ll be playing with Olympian money.” There’s a little lilt in his voice, and I can imagine him wiggling his eyebrows like he’s trying to convince me of something we both know is already going to happen. Oh okay, now we’re talking.
“What’s my budget?” The script shouldn’t cost any more than ten thousand, even with the charity event markup.
“Do your best to keep it under a million.” Jesus, Zeus, Odin and Loki.
“Do you have a concept of what anything costs?”
“Is that not enough?” There’s genuine concern in his voice.
“Yeah, that’s enough, but I’m getting myself a really nice gift.”
“I would expect nothing less.” He hangs up the phone without a goodbye, but on my personal phone seconds later he texts, “Thanks. You’re the best! Love ya.” Above his text message is a notification from Mom.
Mom: Dad is in an epic battle with the squirrels again… furry bastards are winning.
Me: They normally do.
Three dots appear.
