Читать книгу The Love Triangle - Nic Tatano - Страница 10

“Well, if it isn’t the unidentified stunning redhead.”

Lexi studied Chandler’s face. “What the hell are you talking about?”

He handed her the day’s edition of the New York Post, open to the gossip section known as Page Six. Her eyes went wide as she saw the photo of herself with Jake Frost getting into the limo. “Holy shit!” Then a smile slowly grew. “Hmmm…. they actually called me stunning.”

“My sentiments exactly.”

“The holy shit part or the fact that you’re surprised they called me stunning?”

“I’m not at all surprised at your description in the publication, as you have, since the day I met you, consistently underestimated your appeal to those of the male persuasion. As for the expletive involving excrement, since when are you being escorted about town by a professional athlete? Were you unable to log on to Ashley Madison’s website?”

“Oh, stop it. I don’t need to visit an affair website. I met him at the Jets’ news conference the other day. He asked me out and seemed like a good guy.” She pulled off her sunglasses. “Damn, it’s bright in here.”

Chandler moved closer to get a good look at her bloodshot eyes. “Ah, revenge of the grape.”

“Don’t remind me. But do remind me not to drink champagne on a weeknight when I have to go to work the next day. I feel like someone’s hitting a Chinese gong in my head. I think I’ll just work on those press releases all day.”

“Perhaps not. Mister Caruso called again with yet another emergency request for your help with one of his clients.”

“When did he call?”

“Five minutes ago.” He handed her a message slip.

“Okay, let me see what he needs. This could be a very lucrative client. And he seems like a really good guy.”

“You met him?”

“No, we talked on the phone forever the other night. Really had a connection.”

“Speaking of connections, what’s the story with the aforementioned professional athlete?”

“Yeah, we had a connection as well, but I’m regretting it this morning.”

“Since you’re wearing a different outfit than yesterday, I assumed you were not doing the proverbial walk of shame.”

“Hey, what kind of a girl do you think I am? No, I meant that since I’m on the rebound I should be taking things slow and they got a bit out of hand last night. But not that far out of hand. Champagne on a first date is a bad idea for me. Anyway, let me get back to Kyle and see what he’s got for me.”

“Meanwhile, I’ll work up a dossier on the weekend gladiator.”

“He’s a football player, not a guy fighting lions in the Coliseum.”

“Similar occupation, different era. Regardless, I wish you to know who you might be getting into bed with. Literally and/or figuratively.”

“You don’t have to do that—”

“I should have done it with your last paramour.”

“Point taken, Chandler. Knock yourself out. Dig up as much dirt as you can find. Hopefully you won’t discover anything, but better safe than sorry.”

She headed into her office, pulled her cell from her purse and dialed Kyle’s number. He picked up on the first ring. “Lexi, thanks for calling back so quick.”

“Not a problem, Kyle, what do you need?”

“One more athlete who needs an attitude adjustment. But at least this one’s not in trouble with the police.” Lexi took notes as he went over the situation. “Anyway, as usual I’m stuck out of town and was hoping you could knock some sense into the kid.”

“Sure, happy to do it.”

“Great. He can be at my office later this morning if your schedule permits you to meet him there. Oh, and I’ve told my executive assistant, Donna, to cut you a check for last week and today.”

“Kyle, you’re my kind of client.”

“Hey, you dropped what you were doing for me at the last minute, so the least I can do is pay you quick.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it. So give me the address for your office.” Her eyes went wide as he told her. “Are you kidding me?”

“Why would I kid about my address?”

“You’re not gonna believe this, but we’re in the same building!”

“Are you kidding me?”

“That’s my line. Anyway, you’re one floor up from me.”

“Damn, small world. We both share office space in the same dump.”

“No argument here,” she said with a sigh.

“The rent’s cheap and since I just went out on my own, I have to keep expenses down,” he explained.

“Same story here, so I know where you’re coming from.”

“Well, I guess I won’t have to reimburse you for a cab fare.”

She laughed. “Yeah. Anyway, I’ll wander upstairs in a couple of hours and make your problem go away.”

“Thanks, Lexi, I cannot thank you enough. One of these days I’ll do it in person.”

***

Lexi took the stairs, since Kyle’s office was only one flight up. Besides, the elevator in the old building was always an adventure, and the standing joke was that if the hamster fell off the treadmill that powered the ancient thing you’d get stuck.

She found the door marked “Caruso Agency”, which turned out to be right over her own office. She entered the office and found a sharp-looking thirty-something brunette manning the reception desk. The woman looked up and smiled as she stood up and extended her hand. “I’ll bet you’re Lexi. I’m Donna, Kyle’s executive assistant.”

Lexi shook her hand. “So nice to meet you, Donna.” Though she hadn’t met Kyle, he certainly had good taste in assistants. The woman was petite, maybe five-two, with huge brown eyes, high cheekbones and long, wavy mahogany hair down to the middle of her back. Very exotic. Very Italian. “So, where’s the guy I’m here to fix?”

“Every woman’s dream, huh? And you get paid to do it. Right this way.” Donna led her into a small meeting room occupied by a large blonde man, who was busy staring at his cell phone. “This is Franklin Jessup. Franklin, this is Lexi Harlow, the woman Kyle sent over for you.”

The guy looked up from his phone and stood up, towering over both women, and built like a Coke machine. “Nice to meet you.”

Lexi looked up at the hulk. “You might not think so when we’re done.”

“Can I get you anything to drink?” asked Donna.

Lexi sat at the small round table. “Big glass of water, thanks.” She gestured to the chair opposite her. “Have a seat, Franklin. So, you’re in trouble for your tweets and Facebook posts.”

The guy exhaled as he sat down with a hangdog look. “Yeah. I’ve been getting into arguments with fans and I guess some people took my last tweet the wrong way and got offended. I was just joking around. Coach fined me and then called Mister Caruso. Mister Caruso told me I should do exactly what you tell me to do.”

“Why don’t you just stay off the Internet?”

He shrugged. “I dunno. I guess I’m addicted, like most young people. Fans start saying hurtful things about me and I have to fight back.”

“Actually, you don’t. Do you go into the stands and fight the fans when they boo you on the field?”

“Of course not.”

“Then you shouldn’t do it online. It’s nothing more than digital road rage, like flipping the bird at someone from your car.” Donna returned and slid the glass of water next to Lexi, then leaned against the wall to listen. “Are all your accounts logged in with apps?” She pointed at his phone.

“Yeah. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.”

Lexi reached across the table and grabbed the phone. “Franklin, you need a cleanse to fix your problem.”

“What, like drinking juice all day?”

“Nope. Social media cleanse.” She tapped his phone a few times. “Okay, that takes care of Twitter.”

“What do you mean?”

“I just deleted your account.”

His eyes went wide. “Why would you do that? I had thousands of followers!”

“So you won’t get in any more trouble. By the way, you’ve got seventy thousand real followers in the stadium stands and millions more on TV every Sunday.” She tapped the phone a little more. “Okay, hasta la vista Facebook.”

“No!”

A few more taps. “And it’s sayonara to Instagram. Say bye-bye to Snapchat.”

The player bit his lower lip as Lexi continued to tap on his phone. Then she turned it over, opened it, and pulled out the SIM card. “What are you doing now?”

“First, you owe me fifty bucks.”

“For what?”

She reached in her purse and pulled out a simple flip phone. “Your new phone.” She opened the back and slid the SIM card inside, then closed it and slid it over to Franklin.

He opened it and shook his head. “No way. This is one of those phones for old people with the big numbers. All it does is make calls.”

“No shit, Sherlock.” She took his smartphone, held it over the glass of water and dropped it in.

“What the hell did you do that for?”

“So you can’t get in trouble. You wanna talk to someone, or someone wants to talk to you, you now have this wonderful thing called a telephone call. No more social media, no more texting. You are cleansed and off the grid. And therefore… wait for it…”

“I can’t get in trouble.”

“Very good. So what’s more important, Franklin… your cell phone and playing on the Internet or your career and keeping your coach and fans happy?”

He slowly nodded. “My career.”

“Good.”

“You do realize I could simply go out and buy another phone.”

“You do realize that if you do I’ll kick your ass.”

He was speechless.

“Now get your butt back to practice and knock the hell out of the Falcons this weekend.”

Franklin got up and shook her hand. “Thank you, Miss Harlow.”

“You can thank me by staying off the Internet and out of trouble.” He nodded and left the office.

Donna patted Lexi on the back, then sat down next to her. “Oh my God, the look on his face when you dropped his phone in the water! You, young lady, are worth your weight in gold.”

“Thank you. Just a matter of tough love.”

“Well, it worked. Hey, you wanna go to lunch?”

***

Lexi hadn’t realized how much she needed simple girl talk. Chandler was an okay sounding board, but too much like her dad and very protective of her when it came to matters of the heart. And most of her friends were male. But she immediately sensed a kindred spirit in Donna, who seemed to be as spunky and snarky as she was.

Donna picked at her grilled-chicken salad. “So, I don’t see a ring on your finger. What’s the story here?”

“Just got out of a two-year relationship.”

“Ah, rebound city. So, taking time off from the dating pool?”

“Ya know, when I was younger I might have, but I’ve decided to simply bury the past right away and play the field for a while. Dating one guy didn’t work out… I mean, I put all my eggs in one basket and ended up with an omelet on my face.”

“Interesting visual. So, you already back on the horse? Or still looking at the racing form?”

“Got a couple of new guys on my dance card who I just met. But I simply need to have a bit of fun without anything serious.”

“I hear ya. Think you might have room for a third on that dance card? You’re perfect for my brother.”

Her face tightened a bit. “No offense, but I’m not big on fix-ups, Donna.”

“Well, I’m obviously biased, but he’s a catch and I think you two would be a great match. He loves spunky girls and he’s got this thing for redheads. Oh my gawd, he would luv ya. He’s around your age, just turned thirty. Cute as hell. Got that boy- next-door thing going. And a real sweetheart. He’s my younger brother but he’s very protective of me as if he was the older one. We’re really close.”

“That’s nice. So why hasn’t this great catch been caught yet?”

“Well, he’s never had any problems getting dates because he’s so much fun, but when it comes to getting serious… I dunno, I don’t think girls see him as what they envisioned in a husband.”

“Why, what’s wrong with him?”

“Nothing. But he’s got several factors working against him. He’s, well… he’s a little guy. I don’t mean as short as me, but he’s only five-seven and slender. Not the traditional big macho guy many women want. He also doesn’t have a lot of money. He just opened his new business a year ago and finances are tight. In fact, the only way he could go out on his own was by ditching his apartment and moving in with me. So I’m searching for a girl who can look past a short guy with no money who lives with his sister and realizes good things come in small packages.”

“I don’t have any problem dating short guys. In fact, one of the guys I’m seeing this weekend isn’t much taller than me.”

“See, I knew you were open-minded. Anyway, if those two guys on that dance card of yours don’t work out, let me know. Seriously, you’re perfect for him.”

“So how did you feel about him moving in with you?”

“It was my idea. He needed the twenty-five hundred he was blowing on an apartment each month to rent an office, and I had a house all to myself. Pretty much thanks to him.”

“Not sure I follow.”

Donna grabbed her drink and leaned back. “Well, I got married when I was twenty-two to a handsome rich guy and it wasn’t working out. I caught him cheating and the sonofabitch hits me like it’s my fault. So I left the house and went over to my brother’s apartment. When he saw the black eye he was livid, went to my house and kicked the living crap out of my ex-husband, who was twice his size. My brother had been bullied a lot in school so he got a black belt in karate. Anyway, a few weeks later we show up with our lawyers for the first divorce meeting, my brother cracks his knuckles, shoots my ex the death stare and he immediately caves. Gives me the house and most of the cash. So I owe my little brother big time.”

“Okay, I haven’t even met him but his stock just went up.”

“Listen, Lexi, I married a wealthy guy who was incredibly handsome, but I was young and stupid and had stars in my eyes. I’d gladly trade the house and money to have not gone through that. So take it from me, when you do settle on a guy, make sure it’s for love. At the end of the day, looks and wealth don’t mean a damn thing.”