Danny Part 7 - Chapter 54

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DANNY
Chapter 54
by Roberta J. Cabot

This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he ends up as the female lead singer for a high-school cover band as well as a radio DJ.

Danny met with Sally as Robin, and they finalized their contracts with the fashion house. And, before Sally went to do her show, the both of them became official models and employees of Blumenfeld House.

Never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang.

  Chapter Fifty-Four: Danny's Turn

***** (Danny) *****

I decided to hang out in the break room and do some homework while I enjoyed some of my leftover parmigiana and tiramisu. No sangria this time but a couple of cokes from the vending machine was a good substitute.

I texted Danielle to tell her I'd be here until around six or so, and she texted back that they'll be at Besty's after they had dinner at McDonald's. I giggled, imagining Danielle's angry-sad face at making do with burgers and fries.

Anyway, Mrs. P drifted over and I told her Sally and I had just finished a videocon with some people from Blumenfeld House, and she seemed to know all about it. So I told her that we and the the Blumenfeld people were already in agreement, in principle, and we were just haggling over the details. I told her that they also made an offer to Dannie…

"Yeah, I know," she said. "Tracy told me. So, will Dannie have to, I don't know, turn down her offer? I mean, considering your situation?"

"Ummm…" I looked around, and used my eyes to sign to her that there were other people in the room.

Mrs. P took the hint and we went to her office to continue our discussion.

So I mentioned to her the "tough noogies" clause, and the arrangement we wanted.

Mrs. P giggled. "That's a super complicated arrangement, Danny… I mean, Robin..."

I sighed. "I know. But it's the only way to allow Dannie and Robin to both be models for Blumenfeld."

"Then why not have either Robin or Dannie back off?"

"Well… It won't go well for Tracy's plan if I…"

"Huh? What does Tracy have to do with this?"

"Well… Tracy was hoping that with both Robin and Dannie being spokesmodels for Blumenfeld, it'd help to get them to become one of KRPQ's partners, and she intends to use that as a way to expand KRPQ's reach and get more advertisers and more fans. She's pretty good."

Mrs. P smiled and sighed. "She is, isn't she?"

"You should be proud."

"I have always been proud of him… I mean her." She sighed again and looked at me.

"Danny. You know that you don't have to be doing this. The station's doing extremely well, and it's not like Tracy needs to do this right now."

"But it's what she wants, Mrs. P."

"But it's not necessary…"

I was probably looking a bit stubborn so she came around.

"I am so grateful that Tracy found you, and that you are such a close friend to her, and that you will do almost anything for her. Thank you, my dear." She gave me a big hug.

"Tracy told me before that it wasn't hard to love you," she continued, "that you've been more than a big sister to her. Or big brother." We both laughed at that. "She was right," Mrs. P continued. "Know that you're family to us. And that I'll support you, too. No questions asked." She gave me a kiss on the cheek just like my mom.

I hugged her back.

- - - - -

***** (Danny) *****

Back in the break room, after Mrs. P left for a meeting, I started working on some homework, and laughed to myself as I listened to Sally and Harry spar with each other as their program was fed over speakers in the office.

An hour into my homework, and one coke and a large bag of Doritos later, my email pinged - both my Dannie and Robin emailboxes - and they were both from Sarah of Blumenfeld House.

I checked the one for Dannie first, and it was an invitation. It was like déjà vu. So I typed my reply.

I basically said I was flattered and so forth, and I'd be okay to come over. But I couldn't stay and would need to be back by the same day. So maybe Sunday would be the best. And that I would to have have a companion go with me. I thought of bringing mom or dad but I decided not to. Instead, I called up Kelly (she was the one on duty today) and explained the situation. She checked and she was on duty that coming Sunday. I said it has to be someone else since it was "Dannie" this time and not "Robin."

She called back in a bit and said she'd arranged to swap with Tyler. I guess Tyler will be my "companion." I said thanks, put Tyler's name in the email, and sent it.

And, just like before, Sarah emailed back in a few minutes with an itinerary and e-tickets.

I laughed - it was totally identical to our schedule from last Sunday: a 6:30AM United flight to Minneapolis on Sunday, a limo pickup at the airport this time instead of Sarah herself; a room at Le Meridien; a late brunch at St. Genevieve; a meeting at Blumenfeld House as well as a meeting with Mr. Ed Blumenfeld himself; a quick tour of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area via a chauffeured car; back to the hotel; dinner at The Borough and then a ride to the airport for a 9:30PM return flight.

I confirmed, but said that the hotel room wasn't necessary, and emailed Tyler his e-ticket as well as our itinerary, and arranged to meet him at the airport on Sunday before six AM.

With all of that done, I turned to the email for Robin.

Well… I was surprised to say the least.

"Hello, Robin," Sarah said in her email. "As it happens, Mr. Blumenfeld was here, and he said that he wasn't altogether happy with all of your new provisions. But he said that he'd be okay with them if you really wanted them.

"He also asked you to reconsider the terms you included with regards Ms. Fairchild, but you told me how you felt. If that's the case, then we'll have to live with it, but only for the summer catalogue reshoot. If the catalog doesn't go well, we're going to want to take this part out of the contract."

Hmmm. Gotta talk to dad about that. I continued reading the email.

"Ed also made some improvements in the financial package, like I promised," Sarah wrote. "He also apologizes: the proposal we sent was a standard one, and it was just a starting-off point for negotiation. We weren't trying to short-change you, and based on what you gave me, this new package is a significant improvement."

I had to wonder - when people acted this guilty…

"In any case, in the interest of full disclosure, we are contacting Ms. Fairchild today, and if we come to an agreement, that means we will be starting with the reshoot in about two weeks or so. Provided you can give us a response in a couple of days.

"Mindy and I will be standing by, sweetie - feel free to text or email us at any time.

"All my love, Sarah."

Well. The "sweetie" and "all my love" were a surprise. She's really trying. I think I need to give her a break.

There was a P.S. at the bottom.

"In case Sally hasn't opened her email yet, please tell her the good news, that Ed has approved her changes - Sarah."

I checked the file she attached to the email - there was only my contract - Sarah didn't include a copy of Sally's. I calso shecked my contract with the version she sent using a side-by-side comparison. They didn't make any changes, even to my so-called "tough noogies" section. So I guess her threat was mostly an empty one. The only changes were to the numbers in my financial package, and the changes there were upwards.

I whooped in glee and did my little dance. The people around me looked over and laughed. That made me stop and sit back down more subdued.

- - - - -

***** (Danny) *****

It was the Sunday following that videocon, and it was 4AM. Like before, I knew I needed to leave early. Like before, Danielle and Nikki were with me again, and like before I took my shower and got ready (I used a showercap, though - I didn't want to ruin Joanne's masterpiece).

After my, ummm, ablutions, and a careful application of Dr. Roberts' special solution, I scampered into my room before the girls noticed I was done, and hurriedly put on the bra and gaff Danielle laid out for me.

Apparently, I didn't need to rush since Danielle and Nicki were heavily zonked out. Not surprising given it was after one of our "full" Saturdays - I had my early Saturday morning program as Robin, our usual Saturday minor-major brunch at yet another new restaurant, although given how many calls I got (Tracy and Mrs. P aided and abetted the listeners, and I had too many calls again - my program ran over by over an hour), we might as well just call it lunch instead of brunch.

Robin and Dannie fans didn't know about that new place, so we'll be able to continue eating there until it's discovered. After brunch, we had our regular Saturday practice. To make up for the late start of practice, we ended it at around six, which got Joanne pretty steamed. So immediately after dinner, Joanne got Danielle, Nikki and I to go with her to her mom's salon, and she refreshed my do. We therefore only got to my house at around midnight, and after a long chat, the girls fell asleep at around two. That's why I only got two hours of sleep.

And that was why they were still sleeping.

I couldn't afford to be late so, while they slept, I started fixing up my hair, which wasn't so difficult - I didn't get it wet, and all I needed was to just fluff it up, and comb and tease it into how Joanne got it set the night before.

I did have a worry, though.

With the look, voice, speech, habits and mannerisms that I had honed through months of practice, my personas or alters or whatever you want to call them, were pretty good already. In fact, when I'm… playing them, it was almost second nature to me by now. According to the guys, I don't break character anymore. But that wasn't the worry.

What I told Danielle and Nikki was that, with fashion people around, if Dannie and Robin had the same dress style and taste, then it would be a big giveaway to people whose lives revolved around clothes and fashion.

If both my Dannie and Robin personas stood any chance of surviving the scrutiny of the Blumenfeld people, I had to make Dannie as distinct from Robin as I could.

I was already worried that the similar build and height and, of course, facial features would be problematic, but for the couple of months that Robin's become visible, no one's really connected Robin to Dannie. In fact Sarah and Mr. Blumenfeld didn't tumble to it when they saw our posters. Of course, this might not last for the months and months that I'd be working closely with them. But a different makeup style might help. So, belatedly, we realized that the makeup people assigned to my girls might be the same people. And I'm sure these makeup people will twig to the masquerade very quickly. And we thought of a solution for that. I thought of all of this as I did my own makeup the way Joanne taught me.

There was no provision for makeup or makeup people but I think I can just make that a new provision or something - that I'd like to have my own makeup person and a dresser.

Anyway, going back to the clothes…

What I said were generally agreed to by everyone but I guess Danielle had a bit of a problem really understanding it.

Because, looking at the clothes Danielle had selected for my trip and put on a bunch of hangers inside my new closet a couple of days ago - as expected, it had a pretty high-end and sophisticated style to them, and just like Danielle's usual style. And I thought that would be a mistake - that would make Dannie's and Robin's style similar.

I told her so, but she was adamant that there was enough of a style difference that it was fine as is. I'm afraid her stubbornness has gotten the better of her again.

Stubbornness was a family trait - Mom, Danielle and I were all heir to the Cassidy side of the family (Dad says there's a lot of truth in that, actually), but Danielle was by far the most stubborn.

Mom's side of the family were from Belfast in North Ireland. She and her brother - our Uncle Nathan - immigrated to the States when they were young, more as a measure to take some financial pressure off the family, but my mhamo (that's how we call our grandmother Rosemary - mhamo meant "grandmother" in Irish) and the Cassidy clan (or, more properly Clan O'Caiside) was doing so much better today - Northern Ireland's economy is so much better now compared to the sixties and seventies. I was very excited for our planned trip, and to finally see Ireland, mhamo, and all my uncles and aunts and cousins in person.

Guess I digress again… Anyway, as I was saying, Danielle was unwilling to reconsider her choice for my outfit, even with Nikki helping me to make her reconsider. It became a heated debate actually, and we only avoided a full-blown fight because of Joanne's peacekeeping skills. Anyway, after much argument, we ended up agreeing for me to pick my own outfit, and, if I can't pick a good one (which was an inevitability, according to Danielle), then I have to wear Danielle's choice.

During the week, I asked Betsy for some help shopping for outfits - I couldn't very well shop at K-Mart or in the sale bins, so Betsy helped me look for outlets in town where they sold boutique and designer labels - among all of us, Betsy was the only one that regularly shopped at such places.

She was, however, under strict instructions not to help me select anything - I have to pick them myself.

And, after a long afternoon and evening of shopping, "Dannie," with Betsy's help, ended up with a new DKNY bodysuit, a Stella McCartney jacket, a Chloe skirt, Moschino sneakers and a Kate Spade backpack. I was dismayed by the amount of money I spent but it wasn't as if I couldn't afford it, especially with my new income from my new modeling job as Robin…

I didn't show Danielle my selections though, so it was the first time she and Nikki would see them.

So, the first thing I put on was my new light pastel-yellow slub knit rayon-spandex bodysuit that had a scoop neckline and back, long sleeves, and a dual snap-button bottom closure.

I then put on the flirty little eighteen-inch scuba knit skirt that had a skater shape and a raw-cut hem, and an exposed back zipper that enhanced its sleekness. I thought the heathered look went well with the almost-white yellow top.

I didn't bother with any tights and went bare-legged and just wore a pair of below-the-knee white athletic socks,

As my final touch, I put on the new Chuck Taylors girl's high-top sneakers I got that had a Converse star logo on the side, a lace-up closure, and a hidden wedge heel. It was my first pair of high-heeled sneakers.

It was black but with a white tongue, eyelets, shoestrings, toe cap, sole, collar, a white back part of the heel and the star embellishment was white as well. My socks just barely peeked over my sneakers' collar.

As my final accessory, I got my new, all-white Kate Spade saddlebag backpack with its own laptop compartment, and filled it with my travel essentials, including the Ziploc bag filled with stuff and my computer.

As a final touch, I put my white wristwatch on my left wrist and a bunch of white plastic bangles on my right wrist, a simple simple silver chain around my neck and a couple of silver hoop earrings.

I then took from its hanger a new denim jacket with the faded wash detailing, basic collar, button front, dual chest flap pockets with button closures, front slanted welt pockets, and long sleeves with button cuffs, and draped it over my chair. It had "light distressing" but I didn't mind since they weren't really holes or rips.

I stood in front of the mirror and looked at myself from various angles, and I think I looked okay. The outfit was okay, but it was extremely casual - almost high-school-girl casual, but still very chic. This way, Robin would be the older, more sophisticated girl and Dannie would be the high school kid.

"Well," Danielle said from my room's doorway, "I guess I'm mature enough to admit when I'm wrong."

I turned around and saw Danielle and Nikki in my doorway.

"Good morning, sleepyheads," I smiled.

Nikki came over and gave me a big hug but refrained from giving me a kiss so that she didn't mess up my makeup. I lightly kissed her cheek since I was worried for my makeup, too.

Danielle looked me over and complimented me on my makeup, hair and outfit, quizzing me about my new clothes, and she nodded in reluctant satisfaction at my answers. As for Nikki, she kept her arms around my waist and kept nuzzling my hair. Not that I minded.

"You're perfectly gorgeous, Danny," Nikki said as we both stared at the me in the mirror.

"Yes, you are," Danielle agreed. "Looks like you don't need my help anymore."

I turned to Danielle and saw the look of sadness in her face.

"I'll always need your help, sis," I replied. "I was just forced to pick my own clothes this time because I needed to show what I meant. And the only reason I was able to do it at all was because I thought of what you'd pick in my place."

Danielle smiled delightedly at that compliment, and I sighed in relief.

"I understand, Danny," she replied.

We went downstairs and had a pre-breakfast breakfast, and I called an Uber as we finished coffee. Fifteen minutes later, I was off to the airport.

Mom and dad were perfectly aware of this new trip back to Blumenfeld, and they didn't put up any fuss and just wished me well last night. That was good - it felt good that my folks were completely aware of what was happening for a change. And after this, maybe I don't really need to keep them out of the loop anymore.

Arriving at the airport, my Uber driver dropped me off at my gate, and Tyler was there, waiting. I gave him a high-five and we went inside.

I knew the routine by now, so I walked ahead of Tyler and just followed the posted instructions.

I took off my shoes, jewelry and watch, took out my laptop and the ziploc bag of stuff, put them all in a basket and passed the basket through the x-ray machine as well as my backpack. I went through the metal detector machine and showed airport security my e-ticket, Danielle's ID and passport, and it was no trouble at all.

There were no a-holes hitting on me this time, although there were a lot of people staring. I just tried to calm myself and gave them a smile. I saw Tyler about fifteen feet behind me in line, and that gave me a feeling of security.

I was sandwiched between two groups of women, so there were no untoward… stuff. But, to be safe, I gave the group ahead of me a bit of distance, and I kept my back to the group behind me.

We got through check-in and security just fine, but because Tyler and I were a tad late, they had already started boarding, so we were passed through quickly and we directly boarded our plane. I sat in my window seat but Tyler didn't sit beside me. I looked around, and found Tyler sitting in the seat directly behind me. I guess he must have asked for a change in seats. That meant the seat beside me was going to be empty. That suited my just fine, and I buckled securely and went to sleep.

A few hours later, I found myself being gently shaken awake. The flight was a little over-long and I got plenty of sleep. A pretty stewardess, I mean "flight attendant," was telling me we had landed, and passengers were already disembarking. Someone - some kid about my age - was sitting in the previously-empty seat beside me and grinning. Thank God I slept through the flight.

I yawned bone-crackingly, thanked her and got up. I gestured for the guy to go ahead, and as he got his bag, I was able to hurry past him and not give him an opening to chat me up.

Since I only had the one carry-on, I didn't have to get anything from the overhead bins so Tyler and I got out ahead of the crowd. My seatmate tried to follow but Tyler expertly interposed himself between us and I got away. I texted Tyler to meet me at the Sbarro's near Taco Bell. He texted back and said he'll just hang back and slow down any more "fans."

Typical.

So I decided to order just for myself, plus one of each of Sbarro's stromboli turnovers and a large coffee to go for Tyler.

As I was finishing, I finally noticed all the stares, and I was starting to get nervous. But no one was coming close so Tyler didn't intervene.

In any case, I felt relieved when I finally got a text from the limo driver Sarah hired. Thank god!

Tyler and I headed for the main exit, and I handed him the munchies and the coffee I bought as we walked.

Tyler smiled and put the turnovers in his backpack and carried the coffee. Just like Kelley and the others, he didn't dress like a bodyguard and looked like he was, at most, just a few years older than me, but there was just something bodyguard-ish about him despite the casual clothes. Anyway, he unobtrusively walked a couple of feet beside me and kept an eagle eye out for suspicious characters.

At the curb just outside the doors was a big, shiny Cadillac waiting for us. There was a uniformed limo driver, complete with cap, standing by the car and a copy of our ad torn from some magazine in his hand.

The car and the driver definitely caught the attention of the people outside, and a few were waiting to see who he was waiting for.

The driver's eyes lit up when he saw me, recognizing me from the ad he was holding. He waved to get my attention and opened the limo's passenger door.

"Good morning, Miss Fairchild," he said pleasantly. "I'm Manny, your driver. I was sent by Ms. Rhodes from Blumenfeld. I hope you had a pleasant flight. I was told to drive you directly to the hotel, and then to St. Genevieve for brunch. Would that be satisfactory?"

"Thank you, Manny. That would be great. But I think, instead of the hotel, maybe we can drive around a bit - I want to see some of the sights? And then, maybe we can go directly to Blumenfeld House? I'm not all that hungry."

Some of the people looking clearly didn't recognize me, but there were a bunch of high school fashionista wannabes who were jumping up and down and waving at me. I couldn't help but giggle and wave back.

Manny nodded at my suggestion and ushered me through the passenger door. "Of course, miss."

Tyler mumbled to Manny, asking if he could sit up front, and Manny nodded as he closed the door for me.

In a few moments, we were pulling away from the curb and smoothly merged into the light Sunday traffic.

A minute later, the glass partition that separated us slid down.

"Excuse me, Miss," Manny said as he drove, "I called Ms. Rhodes to inform her of our change in itinerary. She said that would be perfectly fine, and she and Mr. Blumenfeld will be ready for your meeting at Blumenfeld House by twelve noon. That gives us three hours for some sightseeing. Do you have any particular places you'd like to see?"

"I'll leave it up to you, Manny."

"Very good, Miss. Perhaps we can start with the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden? That's a favorite of ours, especially on such a bright Sunday like today."

"That sounds good."

"I also brought a camera in case you'd want me to take some souvenir pictures?"

That was unusual, but… "That sounds great, Manny. Thank you."

Manny nodded, and with that, the partition slid back up.

We were soon at the park, and I remembered Sally and I visiting it last weekend. It was as lovely as I remembered it, except there were more people around now, especially lots of kids running around and enjoying themselves.

We looked at the large sculpture of the giant cherry and bent spoon, and I looked it over, pretending that it was the first time I saw it.

Manny came over, a DSLR camera hanging around his neck, and proffered a big ice cream cone. I smiled in delight, grabbed it and took a big lick.

Manny laughed, clicked a picture and walked back to where Tyler stood where he was doing his thing and keeping his eye out.

As I looked at the big cherry sculpture with the bent spoon wishing that my ice cream had a cherry on top, a little boy came up to me.

He was looking at me with big, cute eyes, or rather at my ice cream cone.

"Hey, cutie," I said and crouched down. "Are you lost?"

He looked at me, eyes crinkling and his mouth poised for a smile.

"Want a lick of my ice cream?"

"Bobby!" I heard a voice. "Leave that girl alone."

I looked up to see a young woman wearing a casual blouse and shorts who, I supposed, was the boy's mother or something, and she came up to us. She was also carrying an ice cream cone.

"I'm sorry," the girl said. "Bobby's after your ice cream, I'm afraid."

She gave the boy a big kiss, and handed him her cone. "Here's your own cone, honey. Don't bother the nice lady." The boy got his cone, grinned at the both of us, and ran away in the direction of some other kids.

I laughed with the girl. "Oh, he wasn't bothering me."

"I'm Nancy," the girl said, held out her hand. "That was Bobby, my little brother."

"Hi, I'm Dannie." I stood and shook her hand. "I'm sorry you had to give up your ice cream cone."

"It's fine. I've been meaning to lose a few pounds anyway."

"Let me buy you another one."

Some of the girl's friends came up, and I ended up having a pleasant morning walking around the park with them, and chatting as we kept Bobby in view. The boys were all over me, but the girls were helpful in fending them off.

Apparently, they were all hanging around the park for the morning, either taking care of kids or siblings, or just hanging with their boyfriends or girlfriends. I mentioned to them that I was just in town for a job interview, and was just passing time before then. I tried to be vague about it, and asked them about places to see in the city so they didn't ask me any questions. They all wished me good luck for later.

I got a lot of info about the Twin Cities and places to visit, as well as a lot of questions about my outfit, especially from the girls after they found out about my designer-label clothes. I told them I bought them specifically for the job interview so I could make a good impression.

Hearing that, some of the guys who had kids with them made sure that none of them messed up my interview clothes. The girls asked where I got them, and I said I got them mostly on sale.

We drifted to the food carts, got some snacks, and we sat down at some nearby benches.

Minneapolis/Saint Paul seemed like a very friendly place judging by these people, and the time just flew by. Before I knew it, Tyler came up to me and said we had to go, or I'd be late for my interview.

Everyone groaned good-naturedly, and I said goodbye to my new-found friends, especially to Nancy and her little brother Bobby.

I walked back to my limo, and my new friends looked surprised at that - that I actually had a limo, and a limo driver. I suppose they had to re-evaluate me, now. I giggled and waved at them again before we pulled away.

On the way to Blumenfeld House, I pulled out my compact and brush and touched up my makeup and hair.

I got a bottle of water from the mini-fridge and used it to wash my mouth out as well as get hydrated.

When the car pulled up to the front of the building, we were met by Mindy, Sarah's and Mr. Blumenfeld's friendly assistant. I acted like I hadn't met her before, of course, and we shook hands. I introduced her to Tyler, and we both went inside with her.

We went directly to their offices and I was introduced to Ms Sarah Michelle Rhodes. Again…

The office was practically empty again, so except for Sarah and Mindy, there was no one in there, just like last Sunday.

This time, though, instead of being led to Mr. Blumenfeld's office, I was led to a large and well-appointed conference room, and there were a couple of carts like the wheeled room service carts they used in hotels. Tyler leaned over and whispered into my ear, saying that he'll be staying outside.

"Are you sure, dude?" I said.

He gave me a thumbs-up, sat outside in the visitor's area, pulled out a tablet and started watching YouTube.

I looked at him for a moment. It was too bad that he didn't have much to do. I guess being a bodyguard could be a drag.

I waved to Mindy and then to the food. "Is it okay if I…"

Mindy nodded. "Yes, of course. Help yourself."

I got a couple of the big plates and piled a lot of the half-sandwiches or finger sandwiches on one, and dished up a couple of the slices of the lasagne in the other.

I then grabbed a fork, a couple of cans of soda plus a big bottle of water.

"Someone's hungry," Sarah said, giggling.

Holding the drinks gingerly in one hand, one plate with my other hand and the extra plate on top of my bent arm in a Waiter's Carry, I gestured for Mindy to open the door.

"Ah, no," I smiled. "These are for my guy out there."

Laying the plates and drinks on the coffee table in front of him, I shrugged in apology.

"I'm sorry, Tyler," I said. "I know hanging around me can get pretty old. I'll keep the meeting as short as I can."

Before I could go back, Tyler gently held me by the arm. I turned to him.

"Danny," Tyler said, "stop. I'm fine. This is my job. Take your meeting, take your time, and stop worrying about me."

"Well… okay."

"But thanks, Danny," he smiled and let go of my arm. "I appreciate it. None of our previous clients worry about us like you do."

I smiled back and went back to the conference.

- - - - -

***** (Sarah) *****

"That was very nice of you," I said to Dannie as she came back in.

Dannie shrugged. "Hanging around me all the time can be pretty boring. It's the least I could do."

"Is he your boyfriend, then?"

"Tyler?" she said. She laughed at that. "Ah, no. That's my bodyguard?"

"Bodyguard!"

"Yeah. My band and I were in a concert few months ago, and we also have a regular gig. Nothing major, but we seemed to have accumulated a very loyal following, small though it may be. And some of our fans are a little more… demonstrative of their... devotion than is safe." She giggled a bit. That was good - at least I knew she didn't take herself too seriously.

"Sounds like a tough town," I laughed.

"Nahhh. It's just a typical small town. I guess my band's just too good for our own… good."

We both laughed at that.

"Must be expensive," Ed said as he came in the room.

"Ahhh! Dannie, this is Mr. Edwin Blumenfeld - the son of our founder, and fearless leader. Ed, this is Ms. Danielle Fairchild."

He came over and shook Dannie's hand and politely bussed her on the cheek.

"I'm glad to finally meet you," he said pleasantly, and gestured. "Sit! Please."

We all sat down at the conference table, and Mindy served us coffee.

"Can I have a diet Coke instead, Mindy?" Dannie asked. Mindy smiled and nodded, and gave her a can of ice-cold coke and a glass with a straw. Dannie returned the straw instead, poured some Coke into the glass and took a sip, just like my niece. This girl seemed a lot younger compared to Robin. If everything works out, I think we're gonna have a pretty good demographic coverage - Dannie for our pre-teen and teen clientele, and Robin for those in their late teens and early twenties.

We all helped ourselves to some food, Dannie taking several of the Whitecastle sliders. This is just one hungry girl.

"What did you mean, by the way?" Dannie said. She took dainty bites of her food but I was a bit surprised to note that she'd already put away a slider and a finger sandwich.

"Yes, my dear?" Ed said.

"You said 'expensive.'"

"Ahhh. I meant that hiring bodyguards can be expensive. Is your band making enough to be able to afford bodyguards?"

"To be honest, the bodyguards are paid for by one of our bandmembers, Betsy Haley. Or rather her folks are. After a few incidents with some, ummm, very enthusiastic fans, Mrs. Haley decided to assign a bodyguard to Betsy, and Betsy convinced her to splurge for all the band members as well."

"Haley," I said. "You mean the Haleys that own all those real estate and housing developments on the east coast?"

"I think so, yeah."

I whistled. The Haley family was a big deal in the real estate and residential housing business. That family was loaded.

I leaned towards Ed. "Tell you later," I whispered. "So, Dannie," I said to the girl, "let us tell you what we're thinking."

So I told Dannie, with Mindy's indispensable help, what we intended for our Young Adult & Young Professional line, and how we hope Dannie can help us. We gave her a copy of last year's Young Adult mini-catalog so she could check out our clothes while we talked.

We also told her what we were intending for her - model our clothes for our catalogs, of course, but also to be part of promotional fashion shows, promotional events, maybe interviews and other things relating to her being our spokesmodel. I also mentioned that she would get to keep everything she wore, and because of her work for us, she'd get to travel and attend events, concerts parties and premieres.

"That's great!" she said, smiling broadly. "But I'm sensing a 'but' somewhere in there?"

I sighed. "True - we have two 'buts,' actually. The first big one is that, if ever you become part of our team, you are going to be one of two main spokesmodels - that'd be you and -"

"And Robin Tibbles - yes, I know."

"How do you feel about that?"

"Well… not totally happy about that, but I can live with it, provided there are certain conditions…"

"God!" Ed said. "This again..."

"What do you mean?" Dannie asked.

"What Ed is saying is that Robin felt the same way, too, and she had some conditions as well."

I gestured to Mindy, and she handed me my open laptop. Robin's contract was already open so I just paged down to the, hmmm, "special" provisions, and handed it to Dannie.

"Would what you have in mind be similar to this?"

Dannie read it. "Well, I wouldn't be averse to this," she said.

"I don't get what's behind this feud between you and Robin."

Dannie shrugged. "Other people might say it's childish. I don't know - maybe it is. But the point is, I can't work with that girl, and it's obvious she can't work with me, either."

"I guess it doesn't really make a difference since we already have an arrangement with Robin, so I don't think it's a problem anymore."

Dannie shrugged. "Whatever."

I grinned. As smart as this kid was, she's still a kid. "Whatever," indeed. "Anything else?" I asked.

"I also want to have my own makeup person, and my own dresser. Would that be okay?"

Yes, this girl was still a kid. "I think that could be arranged," I said, "but we can't foot the bill for your dresser and makeup people. You have to take care of them, although we can add a small allowance to your compensation to help you in that area."

Dannie nodded. "That'd be great, ma'am."

Ed cleared his throat. "Dannie, you mentioned a dresser - what's that?"

"Sorry, Mr. Blumenfeld," she said. "My mom insisted on that. That's essentially someone who would help me get dressed and stuff."

Ed nodded. I thought that was a good idea, actually. It would help insulate us from any kind of sexual harassment possibilities, especially with an underage model.

"That can be arranged," I said. "But, Dannie, what are your expectations if ever we do come to an agreement?"

Dannie paused, thinking.

"I guess I don't really know," she said. "Everyone has the stereotype of a model in their heads. I guess I'm thinking that, too, and maybe that would be fun. But I'm actually considering doing this to see what options I'd have, and I guess to earn some money. The future is something I sort of worry about, and, and I think, by being a model, it might open doors for me that wouldn't be open otherwise."

For some reason, this girl sounded just like Robin - it's like she doesn't really want to be a model.

"I guess that's a good attitude to have," I said. I was trying to probe deeper. "School is important, after all. Do you have any idea which college you want to go to yet?"

"Well, my mom and my dad have promised me and my s… brother that they'll take care of tuition and stuff, and we can go wherever we want. So I guess there's no pressure to pick one yet."

"My goodness!" I exclaimed. "Your family must be rich!"

Dannie giggled at that and shook her head. "Not really. Daddy makes a good living as a financial adviser, but nothing big. He and my mom just made arrangements, I guess."

"An educational plan, I suppose?"

Dannie shrugged. "I'm not really sure. But my daddy's pretty smart - he's got that covered."

"So you're just going to ride on your dad's…"

She shook her head a little angrily. "That's a lot of bull," she said.

"Pardon?"

"I'm sorry Ms. Rhodes," she apologized. "I didn't mean that. I guess what I mean is that my folks have done a lot for us. But I'm not some entitled millennial brat. I'm not taking any of it for granted - whatever they've done for me, I'll make sure that I don't waste it and I'll make my mom and dad proud so, so proud. And I think I'm doing okay so far - I think my folks think I'm doing okay."

Well… that was a surprise. "I'm sorry as well, Dannie. I didn't mean to imply anything."

"S'all right." She gave me a wan kind of smile.

This kid is pretty confident of herself, but unlike the millennials I've met, her attitude is backed up by substance. Just the kind of person I look for. I quite like this girl.

I guess I'm sold. Provided, of course, that she passes the next thing.

So I went back to selling her on Blumenfeld - that we were one of the top designer brands around, and have been so for years. I asked Mindy to show her our previous catalogs, and then a copy of the latest one we were working on.

To her credit, she looked at them in their order of printing, and ended up with the latest one which is a work-in-progress at the moment.

"What do you think," Ed asked.

"The clothes are all pretty nice," she said, and Ed reacted to that.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Blumenfeld," she said, picking up on Ed's reaction. "I guess I'm not really any sort of fashionista…"

Ed smiled at that. "I think you're selling yourself short, my dear. Look at your outfit now. Does your mother have any of our clothes?"

"Oh, yes! She does! In fact, she'd be very pleased to have me working for you. But I'm sure that she's just hoping I can get her discounts and stuff."

We all laughed at that.

"Tell you what - give us her sizes and we'll make sure you bring home some stuff for her."

Would you have stuff for men, too?"

"Sadly, no. We did have a men's line, once upon a time, but it didn't do well. Why do you ask?"

"I was just thinking of my brother and my dad."

"I'm sorry, my dear. Blumenfeld is a women's line."

"That's okay. They can manage."

"Great. Hey, would you like to see a tour of our little place? Mindy, maybe you can show Dannie our operation?"

"Absolutely," Mindy replied.

Dannie finished off the last of her finger sandwiches and she went with Mindy for a little tour. Essentially, Mindy just repeated the tour she gave Robin and Sally last week and that gave us time to discuss the second "but."

We called Manny, Dannie's supposed "driver," to come up. What Dannie didn't know was Manny wasn't really a driver but one of our in-staff fashion photographers.

When Ed and I first saw Dannie in the KRPQ ads, she didn't catch our attention the way Robin did - it was like Dannie was just another one of the background or "filler models" that we kept around. But then we saw her in several pictures in Sally's phone, and that magical X Factor was plainly there. But was it because of Sally's phone? Perhaps a special filter, or maybe the photographer there was a better photographer?

To solve this mystery, Ed and I therefore concocted a gimmick by asking Manny to take pictures of our prospective spokesmodel himself.

The intention was to have Manny accompany Dannie around during her "tour" of our offices, but when she asked if they could like go around town instead of having breakfast or resting up in the hotel prior to our meeting, Manny took the opportunity to take pictures of her at the sculpture park downtown.

Manny had a big grin as he came in.

"I've got gold, Sarah!" He nodded to Ed. "Hey, boss. I think you'll like what I have." He pointed at the multimedia projector. "Should I?"

"Go for it."

He plugged a thumbdrive in and clicked the projector's remote control. A projection screen started descending.

"That girl definitely has got it," he said. "Don't let her get away."

"Are you sure, Manny?" I asked.

"Don't take my word for it." He clicked the control and the first picture was flashed on the screen. "Just take a look at this."

Because of the rush, the picture was less than perfect, but Manny had at least color-balanced it and cropped it.

On the screen was Dannie. She was in the sculpture park, sun shining down brightly on her, copper hair almost glowing, green grass underfoot and lots of young people cavorting in the background. She had in her hand a big ice cream cone, and she was enthusiastically licking the ice cream with a simple, open and happy expression. The shot caught her in mid-lick.

Ed and I had to laugh at that, but it just made her awfully gorgeous, especially in her summery teen-friendly outfit.

The next picture showed her crouching down and talking with a little boy.

This was followed with several shots of her chatting and laughing with a bunch of kids about her age or maybe just a smidge older, but that just made her stand out from the pack all the more.

Her designer clothes were just on-target, and they gave her just the right casual touch appropriate for a park outing, but they were high-fashion enough to make her enough of a fashionista to make girls ask about her outfit and maybe get them to want it for themselves. Too bad her clothes weren't Blumenfeld.

In the pictures, Dannie was very open and engaging, chatting with her new friends, and one could plainly see how everyone was hanging on to her words. It was so obvious how everyone was so enthralled by her. She was just so incredibly beautiful. She and Robin will do very, very, very well, indeed, and our catalog will be the hottest thing this coming season.

I caught Ed's eye, and he looked at me with such excitement that I knew we were thinking the exact same things.

"I think this is going to be great," he said, grinning widely. "Sarah, I think you've just saved your YA line. Well done."

"Wait, Ed," I said. "First things first - we need to secure Dannie's services first before we start making plans."

Ed nodded. "Okay - I agree… We need her locked. Today. So... how do we do that?"

I looked at Ed, frowning. "Dammit, Ed!"

"Simmer down!" he said. "The only thing we need to do today is to get her to sign a contract with us - lock her in. Make her exclusive to us. So what would make her want to sign with us? Money? Free clothes?"

"Well, money, obviously, and maybe a chance to travel? Vacations maybe? What's she into?"

"Well, she's into music, of course. Concert tickets maybe? Dammit, we should have asked about that!"

"Hmmm. She's only sixteen, Ed. So her parents need to co-sign. Maybe we should appeal to her folks, too. A good school, perhaps? A scholarship? And she mentioned a brother…"

"That's a great idea, Sarah! So…" He suddenly stopped.

I looked at him. "What?"

"I was just thinking… what if we just used Robin's contract?"

"Well… would you be fine to use Robin's rates as well?"

"Well, most of our models earn more money, anyway."

I giggled. "That's not what you said in the beginning."

He pshawed that away. "Oh, forget about that! I was just being a hard-ass that time. Besides, I suspect Robin and Dannie will probably see each other's contract before long, so it'll be better to make their contracts the same, so we won't be accused of favoring one over the other."

"I'm on it." I made a copy of Robin's contract, replacing Robin's name and the other personal details with Dannie's, and adding a place where Mr. and/or Mrs. Fairchild can sign in a conforme section at the bottom.

"Hey, Ed," I said, "can I add a 'signing bonus' section?"

"Great idea! But what will you put in?"

I don't know yet. I'll check our other contracts with signing bonuses."

I logged onto our server, checked the few contracts I remembered that had signing bonuses, and copy-pasted the ones that seemed appropriate to Dannie.

As I was doing so, Mindy and Dannie were walking back to the conference room. Oh, no!

"Manny!" I called, "she's coming! Better turn off the projector and go before she sees you!"

As Manny hurried out, I copy-pasted everything I could find in our contract files and saved it.

Ed was looking at me with a questioning expression.

"Show you in a bit - here she comes."

The girls came in and I made a show of drinking my coffee in practiced nonchalance.

"Hey, Dannie," I said. "Had fun?"

"Heck, yeah!" she said enthusiastically, but pulled it back. "Ummm, I mean, yes, ma'am. I did."

Ed and I laughed. "Well, that's great!" Ed laughed.

"Tell us what you think?"

She got a big glass of ice-cold orange juice, a big slice of angel sponge cake and sat down.

"I like it. Especially the roof. But is this where I'm gonna be working?"

"Some of the time," I said, "especially for studio shoots, but we're going to be doing a lot of location shoots, not to mention fashion shows, TV shows and interviews, and attending fashion events or industry events."

Dannie was properly impressed.

"Well…" she said a little hesitantly, "Ms. Rhodes, Mr. Blumenfeld - I talked to my folks a couple of days ago, and they said it was my decision, but they're saying they approve, although my dad has said he will need to see the contract before he will co-sign anything."

"We totally understand, my dear," Ed said. "In fact, it would have been nice to have met them today."

Dannie looked surprised at that. "But, Mr. Blumenfeld… the invitation was just for me… and the only reason I asked for a companion was that I needed to bring my security…"

Ed and I looked at each other, chagrined.

"Oh, Dannie," I said, "I'm so sorry… it was a mistake - we didn't think of inviting your folks."

Dannie giggled a little bit. "That's okay."

Ed stood up and went to sit beside her. He gave her a fatherly hug. Ed really was laying on the charm attack.

"Would it be all right if you call up your folks for me?"

Dannie hesitated. After a bit, she relented. I had to wonder at the long pause and the pensive expression she had. But she relented and dialed.

"Maybe you can put it on speakerphone?" he said.

She hesitated again, but pressed the button. We could hear the phone ring on the other side, and, eventually, someone answered.

"Hello, Fairchild residence," someone said.

"Hi, Daddy," Dannie said. "It's me. I'm here in the Blumenfeld office. You're on the speakerphone right now. I'm here with Mr. Blumenfeld and Ms. Rhodes, the lady who sent the email. They asked me to call you…"

Dannie seemed a little nervous, and she had rushed through that fairly-long explanation. I don't know why she felt she needed to explain, and why she needed to rush through it. I suppose she felt a little nervous, being made to call up her folks.

Her dad didn't respond right away.

"Ummm," her dad paused just a tad longer than seemed normal. "I'm sorry - who's this again?"

"It's Danielle, Daddy," she said. "I'm in Minneapolis. In the fashion place."

"Dannie!" he exclaimed, like in final recognition. "How're you doing there, kid? Is anything wrong? Is everyone treating you okay?"

Ed tapped Dannie on her shoulder, and gestured to himself. Dannie shrugged.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Fairchild," he said towards the phone. "This is Edwin Blumenfeld."

"Hello, Mr. Blumenfeld. Is anything wrong? How's my girl?"

"Oh, no!" Ed said. "Not at all! I just wanted to call to say that your daughter has been a treat to have here at our place, and that we'd like to apologize."

"Yes?"

"I suppose I was having a senior moment as it slipped my mind to invite you and your wife over. I'm very sorry about that."

"Oh, it's all right, Mr. Blumenfeld."

"So I'd like to extend an open invitation to you and your wife to come visit us anytime you want. Dannie said she has a brother?"

"Yes, she does - her twin."

"Her twin! That's interesting. What's your boy's name?"

"We named him Daniel…"

"What!"

Mr. Fairchild laughed. "I know, I know. It's my wife's brother who suggested the names. Dannie is Danielle Louise, and her brother is Daniel Lewis. Nathan said they were twins, so what better than to have the same name for both?"

Ed and I laughed. "That's so wonderful!" I said.

"Doesn't that make it hard if you need to call one and not the other?" Ed said.

"Well, not so much. Danielle is 'Dannie' or 'Danielle,' and her brother is 'Daniel' or 'Dan.' So far it's worked out for the kids."

"Well then, you and your wife, as well as Daniel, are welcome to come visit us anytime. Just let us know and we'll arrange everything for you.

"You're very kind, Mr. Blumenfeld."

"We've been taking care of your little girl, just as well as Tyler, her bodyguard is. And we'll have her back to you soon enough."

"Ahhh. Thank you."

"I have to say, if Dannie ever does decide to work with us, she'll probably be one of our youngest, if not the youngest model."

"That'll be amazing. But the question is, is she going to be working for you?"

Ed and I laughed at that. I can see where Dannie gets her sharp mind and her directness.

"Well… I guess, it's up to her and you? For us, we've already decided. And, to be very frank, sir -"

"Call me Joe, Mr. Blumenfeld."

"Ah, thank you, Joe. To be very frank, we're a bit under the gun. We need Dannie as early as she can sign on. The reason we have asked Dannie here, Joe, is because we found ourselves in a bit of a pickle. We've been working on our summer-autumn catalog but it wasn't working. We made the tough decision to re-do the catalog, or at least part of it. And we need to finish it in the next few weeks, otherwise we'll miss our window and have to default on several contracts."

Ed looked at me.

"What're you saying, Ed?" I asked.

Ed took a deep breath and looked at Dannie.

"Mr. Fairchild," Ed said while looking at Dannie, "we actually have a contract ready for you and Dannie to sign right now, and if you do, we can start the ball rolling."

"Well…"

"Mr. Fairchild, this is Sarah Rhodes," I said towards the phone. "I am the vice president in charge marketing and creative design. Tell you what we can do - we can leave Dannie here in the conference room, and she can use the video conference equipment to have a chat with you. We'll give Dannie a copy of our proposed contract and you two can go over it and talk it over."

"Ms. Rhodes, I know something about contracts and the law…"

"Oh, definitely, sir! We're aware of your credentials."

"… and I have to say that any contract that we sign now can be construed as something illegal, because this could be construed as undue influence."

Ed and I laughed.

"Oh, we're not worried on that score. So let me put it this way - you and Dannie chat about it, and let us know if you like what we're proposing. And regardless how you feel, we will start the ball rolling on this side, with the understanding, of course, that there are no strings attached - that there are no commitments - and you are free to say no. We will just have to cut our plans down and just use the models we already have."

"Ms Rhodes," Dannie interrupted, "what does that mean, exactly? What do you mean 'start the ball rolling?'"

"Well, there are a lot of things to prepare for before we even start shooting. We'll need to get solid on a concept, and then start getting the production team necessary for the photo shoots together, start making arrangements for the locations, which means getting the permits, paying for the fees, getting the police and all that, and arranging for the clothes, the trucks for the transportation of the equipment and everything else, the makeup people, the wardrobe people, the choreographers, the photographers …"

Dannie made two victory signs with her fingers and giggled. "Peace! Peace! I get it! I give up!"

We all laughed.

"Actually, Dannie," I said, "we'd be starting the ball rolling anyway. Ed was right - we need to finish the new catalog in a few weeks. Which means we'll have to start shooting this coming weekend if possible, or the next weekend at the latest. If you don't come to a decision by then, we'll just have to work with Robin alone."

"This coming weekend! Oh,no…"

"Indeed. If you do come onboard, you're gonna have to start working right away."

"So," Ed said, "what do you guys say?" He gestured to Mindy. "Mindy, get the equipment ready for Dannie and her dad."

"Sounds okay to me," Dannie replied. "How about you, Daddy?"

"If you're okay with it, kid, then I'm okay with it. But - can we do it somewhere else? Is there a café or a restaurant nearby?"

"Oh, you guys don't need to do that, Joe. Feel free to use the conference room."

"I'm sure you'll understand, Mr. Blumenfeld, if we insist on finding another place. I think we'll need an hour or two."

Ed looked at Dannie, and she shrugged helplessly.

"Well, if you think that's best." He gestured to Mindy again. "Mindy?"

Danny said goodbye to her dad and hung up, shook hands with us, collected her stuff and started making her way to the door.

Her bodyguard stood up and met her by the door. After a short conversation, they both stepped into the lobby elevator, and Mindy stepped in with them.

Ed sighed as the elevator doors closed.

"What do you think, Ed?" I asked.

"Her dad's pretty sharp," he said. "Actually they both are."

"The legendary Ed Blumenfeld charm attack struck out this time, huh?" I laughed.

He laughed and shrugged. "Doesn't happen often, but it does happen." He looked at me. "You know this is just a lot of nonsense, but I don't mind if we can get a signed contract today."

He rubbed his hands together. "Okay, so while we wait while Dannie and her dad finish, can we start planning at least? Start conceptualizing it and such?"

I nodded. "I'll start making calls, and maybe we can get Manny to come back and help us."

- - - - -

***** (Danny) *****

Mindy rode with us down the elevator.

"I wonder why your dad didn't want to use our conference room?" Mindy said.

I knew why, but I shrugged.

"Well," Mindy continued, "whatever the reason, if you're looking for places where you can chat, just go up 11th Avenue and you'll spot a lot of nice coffee places. If you want a nice quiet place, I suggest Segue Café - it's one of the favorite cafes around this area - and they have a little meeting area at the back. And since it's a Sunday, there would hardly be anyone in the streets much less the coffeehouses."

"Thanks a lot, Mindy."

She handed me one of her business cards. "If you do end up at Segue, hand this to Jessica - she's the manager, cashier and master barista there. She'll start a tab and I'll take care of it. Tell her to give you the wifi password and you won't need to use up your data minutes."

She also handed me a thumbdrive. "Here's the draft contract. Just bring back the thumbdrive later with your changes."

The elevator doors opened and we walked down the lobby and out to the street.

"Thanks, Mindy. I guess we're all set."

She reached out and gave me a hug.

"Good luck, hon. I really hope you get to work at Blumenfeld. We got lots of good people. I promise you'll enjoy working here. I'll make sure of it."

"Thanks, Mindy. See you in a couple of hours."

So Tyler and I started walking down the sidewalk in the direction Mindy said.

I thought of what Mindy said. It sounded like a friendly little comment, but I couldn't help but think there was some kind of undertone to it. Anyway I shrugged it off and just looked around as we walked down the street.

Minneapolis' Central Business District area was pretty quiet at the moment, and there were very few people coming in and going out of the tall office buildings, and most of the people weren't walking at the pace I imagined people in the big city would be. But then, as Mindy said, it was a Sunday.

As we walked, I started to feel a little uncomfortable. Sneaking a look behind me, I saw that we had started to develop a following. This wasn't really something I was unfamiliar with, but the people here didn't look as friendly as back home. Maybe it's because I was used to small-town life.

I whispered something to Tyler, and he nodded.

He started walking a bit slower and was soon behind me. As I walked, I found Tyler using himself as a kind of barrier, and made the bunch of people following us either stop or have to go around him. In any case, they were slowed down and I was able to get ahead of them and cross the street just as the light changed. I saw the sign for Segue Café so I dived into it, the passing traffic blocking me so the people following didn't see me duck into the café.

There were only a couple of people behind the counter so I assumed Jessica was the one manning the cash register.

"Hi, Jessica?" I asked, "My name's Dannie. Mindy from Blumenfeld said for me to give this to you." I handed her the card.

She took the card, smiled and reached out to shake my hand. "Hi, Dannie," she said. "Yes, I'm Jessica. So you're a friend of Mindy's?"

"Well, I don't know her well. We just met today. I'm actually interviewing with her bosses for a possible job at Blumenfeld's."

"Got to be for a modeling job, right?"

I giggled for effect. "What gave you that idea?"

She gestured at me up and down. "What else?" she laughed. "So what can I do for you today?"

"Well, I need to do some work on my computer. Would you have a nice quiet place I can work in, and if you have wifi?"

"Absolutely." She scribbled on the back of a business card for the café. "Use that ID and password, and I suggest you go into our little study nook." She pointed to a room behind what looked like a sliding barn door. "My favorite spot is the table in the corner right beside the window. It's quiet and no one will bother you. Want something to drink?"

I smiled. "Surprise me."

"A Café Miel and a Nordic Waffle coming up, then!"

"Make it a big one," I smiled. "Oh, my friend Tyler is coming over. Can you give him a snack and something to drink, too?"

"Not a problem."

"I like the barn door, and that fishtank TV is sooo cute!"

"Thanks-thanks!"

I went past the sliding barn door and found the room empty. Spotting the table Jessica suggested, I went there and got settled in.

Using my computer, I logged on to Google and clicked Dad's name in Google Chat.

"Hi, Dad," I said, waving at him after he accepted my call. "You all alone?"

"Hey, kid," he said. "Unfortunately, yeah. Danielle got your mom to go with her and do some shopping." He rolled his eyes and the both of us laughed.

"So," I said, plugging the thumbdrive Mindy gave me, "I'm sending you their file. Hold on a second." I moved it to the google dropbox and, while it was synching, I opened it. Right off the bat, I noticed that it was just like my Robin contract. To be sure, I ran it through my text file comparator, comparing it with the Robin file (the version they sent), setting it to just compare the text.

"Here you go, Dannie," Jessica said, coming up to my corner table. "An extra-large Nordic waffle with maple syrup and cream on the side, and our super-venti size café miel."

"Extra large?" Dad said. "Dan, what did your mother and I tell you about over-eating?"

"Daaad! Stop embarrassing me!"

"Is that your dad?" Jessica asked and went around to take a look.

"Hey, Dannie's dad!" she said and waved. She turned to me. "He's cute!"

"Shhh! He'll get a swelled head."

"Who's that?" Dad asked.

"That's Jessica, Dad - she runs the coffeeshop."

"Hello, Jessica."

"Hello! I know you and your daughter are pretty busy, so I'll leave you guys alone."

"Oh!" I exclaimed. "Jessica? Has Tyler come in already?"

Jessica pointed to another table near the barn door, and Tyler waved, holding up a tall iced tea in thanks.

"He didn't want to sit closer," Jessica said. "Are you guys having a fight or something?"

I laughed. "Oh, no! We're not together. He's just doing his job - he's my bodyguard."

"Bodyguard!"

I pooh-poohed that. "It's not a big deal. I'm a member of this band that's been getting a lot of, ummm, enthusiastic fans, so…"

"Would I have heard of your band before?"

"I doubt it - we're just a small garage band -"

"Dannie, stop that!" he said. "Stop putting yourself down. Jessica? Go and google the band. It's called Unlimited Bandwidth. I think they still have songs up on Youtube."

"Daaa-deee!"

"Oh, yeah?" Jessica said. "I'll take a look now. Thank you, Dannie's dad." She turned to me and winked. "Enjoy your waffle, hon, and call me if you need anything else."

"Thank you, Jessica."

She left me and went back to the counter.

"Dad," I said, scolding him. I got out my earphones and plugged in.

He laughed at my embarassment. "She was pretty cute."

"Shut up, Dad. Can we get back to work now?"

He laughed some more. "Okay, okay. I'll behave."

The comparator was done. "Dad? The files are identical. Except…"

"Okay. What are the exceptions?"

"Well, my name, of course and…" and the Tough Noogies clause, and the section for my own makeup and dresser... I went down to the bottom. "and there's a conforme section for you… and I guess that's it!"

"That's it? Even the rates? It that's the case, then I guess I'm okay with it. It's up to you now, son. Check it again - is it really the same to your other contract?"

"Let's see - yes! Yayyy!"

"Don't make a scene, Dan! Keep your voice down."

"Ooops… I mean yayyy…" I whispered.

Dad sighed in exasperation. "Okay, so if those are the only changes, that means they're basically identical, and I officially approve."

"Right. That was fast. Guess I can go back now. Oh, wait…" I checked the top of the list. "There's more than a page of text that's new…"

"Oh, no…"

"Can't read it right. Lemme open the actual file."

I opened the file and paged down to the proper section.

The new section was titled "signing bonus," and it listed over a page of "bonuses" if we were to sign within a couple of days from the receipt of the contract.

I linked the display to Dad's screen, and he read the list.

"This is too amazing a list!" Dad said. "They are really desperate to get you signed!"

"But, Dad… is this okay? Or would this be, what did you call it? Aren't we being 'unduly influenced?' Is this legal?"

Dad laughed. "No, son, this is totally 'legal coercion.' It's like an incentive to sign instead of being forced to sign. Remember earlier when they said that they would get the ball rolling even before we signed? The implication there is that we have to sign, or else we'll be made responsible for that."

"Ahhh!"

"And look at these incentives! Your sister is going to be so happy! Cosmetics, clothes, store discounts at department stores… I wonder if they include the ones in town?"

"Yes! It says all the stores of the JC Penny's, Macy's, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and other department store chains. And look at this - tickets to all company-sponsored events like concerts and premieres. And there's even specific stuff for mom and you, Dad!"

"Nice. Your mom will like it. And, look! You even get a car."

"I do? Where?"

"And that worries me. Okay, kid. I approve, but, I'm gonna do this: lemme edit it a bit."

After a minute, he sent me back his modified file. I checked his changes.

"Hey, wait!" I reacted. "Dad! Why!!!"

He shrugged. "Sorry, son - take it or leave it."

I sighed. "Okay. I guess I'll take it." I saved the modified file to Mindy's thumbdrive. "So I guess we go back now?"

"Hold off on that, son," Dad said. "Wait for an hour. Part of negotiations is to not seem too anxious." I could see Dad's crafty little smile and I had to laugh.

"So, let's just sit here for a while and talk. Tell me everything since you landed."

But I went to Jessica at the counter first, asked for a big lemonade, another waffle, and Dad and I chatted for a bit while we passed the time away.

- - - - -

***** (Ed) *****

I checked out the "signing bonus" section that Sarah had just added. She laid it on pretty thick, I thought, as I saw all of the provisions she copied from the other contracts we had. I had to laugh at some of them. I wonder what Mr. Fairchild thought of the monthly supply of Bazooka Joe bubblegum with the little comic inserts, the unlimited supply of ice-cold Fresca and still-hot In-N-Out cheeseburgers during photoshoots, fashion shows and other events, fresh underwear after each wardrobe change, two sets of all the clothes she would model, or a complete set of Gotham Academy, Princess Ugg and Rocketgirl as well as updated subscriptions to some other comic books.

"Sarah?" I asked.

"I know, I know," she sighed. "I didn't have time to fix it up. I just copied things randomly. Do you think it's…?"

I shrugged and laughed. "It's fine. It's just that there are so many, and some of them a bit ridiculous, at least for Dannie and her dad."

"Like?"

"Like the Bazooka Joe gum, the lavender-colored car seat covers, or an American-English accent coach, or half her salary to be deposited to an iTunes account or prepaid credit cards, gourmet caramel popcorn in the break room, a licensed six-foot tall blond masseur who is a certified Swedish national, or…"

"Stop! Stop!" And we both laughed.

"Well, let's leave it for the moment, and let's talk about the re-shoot," I said.

"Okay. I guess I'd like to go big this time, and feature our entire line. And we can do the work a little faster since we have two signature models."

"Signature? Really? Do we want to call them that?"

"They're really going to be the line's signature models, even without the title, right? So might as well call them that. And, we we can do twice what we can normally do over the weekend."

Sarah and I made a big dent in the planning for the reshoot when Dannie and Tyler came back after about an hour.

There were few decisions that were made, and that was, most of the shoots were going to be in town, otherwise we just won't make the deadline. Next was that it was Sarah's idea that a substantial part of the shoot must be done in some kind of school setting, and I agreed. So, we had Mindy check with the nearest high school and junior college if we could use their campuses as our sets. We also had her go through our portfolio of models, including our "standby models," and screen them for teens and young adults.

Sarah and I started calling our usual crew of photographers, designers, stylists, set people and our usual production outfits, and for the proper fees, they would all be available.

Tomorrow, I had a meeting scheduled with our concept people to start storyboarding. After that, Sarah will meet with the set design and styling people to get them in line. Hopefully, by the middle of the week, we'd be ready with a solid plan.

I was currently in our stock area, going through our YA stock. The line was one of our shortest, which Sarah used to complain a lot about, but in this case, it was actually an advantage since we could feature most of them in our catalog. The trick is to come to some kind of logical concept for the shoots, that they would be shot in appropriate settings, with the appropriate models and the appropriate concept.

At that time, Dannie and her bodyguard, Tyler, came back.

Dannie was all smiles, and we resumed our meeting in the conference room. Mindy had Tyler installed in her office, and had him supplied with snacks and Internet access, which made for a happy bodyguard.

Dannie sat beside beside Mindy, and Mindy got her a large diet Coke and a couple of slices of pizza from Sarah's favorite artisan pizza place.

I couldn't help but smile as Dannie enthusiastically had a big bite of pizza while Mindy loaded up the thumbdrive in the PC that was connected to the projector.

"So," I began, "what have you and your dad come up with, Dannie?"

"Well, Mr. Blumenfeld," she said, "my dad thought that the draft was more than satisfactory, and he didn't have any complaints, except two - well, not really complaints but more comments."

I nodded. "Well, let's start with those."

Dannie nodded. She took the keyboard and scrolled through the contract and stopped at the financials section. "Daddy wasn't really complaining about the rates, and was very happy about the specifications for work hours and such. He said that you guys must work with a lot with young people since he said that the whole contract was completely in keeping with child labor laws and such. But Daddy said that he had researched your company and he knows your usual rates of payment. He says we're okay with what you specified. He's just letting you know that he's aware of things." Dannie shrugged in embarassment. She was clearly instructed to say that - if left to her, she probably wouldn't say it.

Sarah and I looked at each other. Reading between the lines, we knew what Mr. Fairchild was saying, and I gave Sarah a slight nod. This meant we'd be adjusting Dannie's rates to something similar to Robin's. Still low, but I think more than appropriate, the justifier being they were both new to the industry.

"No need to be embarrassed, Dannie," I smiled. "Even I had a father once."

"So what's the other thing, Dannie," Sarah asked.

Dannie nodded and scrolled back to the "signing bonus."

"Daddy went through this list, and he had a few items in that list that he wanted taken out. We had a lively debate about some of them. Anyway, he's laid down the law, and this is the list that we want."

We looked through the list, and I had to laugh at the more ridiculous items that they had crossed out. However, there were a few that they retained. All in all, maybe half of it was retained.

In truth, though, I was wondering why they were even crossing out things - they didn't need to. That sort of gave me an idea what these two were about. And I approved.

By the end, though, we had a finalized contract, and since the document had been reviewed by Legal already, except for the "signing bonus" section, I made the decision to sign and to have Dannie bring it to her dad for signing.

Sarah went with Mindy to get it printed, and came back with a pair of copies. Sarah and I signed them and I put them back in their envelopes, sealed them and handed them to Dannie.

"You and your dad can sign them later, and have them Fedexed back to us before Friday. We'll be contacting you before then to make arrangements for your trip."

Dannie looked at me. "You were serious about starting right away," she said.

I nodded. "Dead serious. But no pressure on you guys to sign, Dannie. Like I said, if you don't, then we'll just fall back to just using Robin. But we have to start working on this right away."

Dannie nodded and accepted the sealed envelopes. "I see. Thank you, Mr. Blumenfeld."

"Quite all right, my dear."

 
to be continued in PART EIGHT, which, hopefully,
will start posting in about six months' time.
 
Thank you to everyone who've been reading
my story. Be sure to check back here in six
months or so for its continuation.
 
    - Bobbie C...

 

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Comments

Nothing in this one I can really find fault with...

as far as mistakes about the Twin Cities. Closest thing I think would be that the sculpture Gardens isn't in the downtown, per se. It's on the outskirts, midway between Downtown, and what is known as Uptown. But it's close enough that that's a quibble. If you need any info on the area, for future stories, feel free to drop me messages.

This story is so entertaining!

I'll be counting the months until a new chapter is published.

Wishing you much success on your newest endeavors and don't forget to stop and enjoy yourself, family and friends too.

Double dipping

Two contracts for one person?

I guess they are contracted against two separate personae but I don’t understand how that would work.

I do not think the fact that

I do not think the fact that Robyn and Dannie will need to be in the same place at the same time has clicked yet.....

__

Estarriol

I used to be normal, but I found the cure....

Thank you Bobbie

Bobbie thank you for a great story, I have really enjoyed it. Can't wait to see how it will continue. Thank you so much and hope to resume in 6.

Big Problems on the Horizon

Love this story, but I see this arrangement as a massive disaster waiting to happen. No way they can pull off this deception.

Can't wait -- actually waiting improves the anticipation

It will be inevitable that, with what they've already seen, that Blumenfelds will prick the bubble and realise how they have conned themselves. I can bear the wait till that happens. And will also be happy to pick whatever you post (if any) which continues your other stories. I hope your RL commitments work smoothly.
Best wishes
Dave

Sweet to the end

Podracer's picture

We'll be waiting, all agog to see how Danny and friends can make this work. Will it be serious stress, or epic comedy?

"Reach for the sun."

The only thing that bothers

The only thing that bothers me is that Tracey and Danny only looked at the upside of having both Dannie and Robin sign contracts
they forgot to look at the downside of the fallout that will happen when they get discovered. I'm thinking they won't take it too kindly when it's discovered they were duped into paying the same person twice.
What happens to the radio station and Danny's life then, will they be sued into oblivion and will anyone trust them after it becomes public.
They could very well be left on the outside looking in.
I'm thinking it's inevitable that they will be discovered, the bigger the lie the harder it is to keep secret. plus its the job of the photographers, makeup artists and people that look over the photos.
That's an awful tall order to fool them all forever, it might have been better to be honest with them up front and explain the reason for the multiple identities so they knew that they were the same person and then they could have helped to keep the separate identities secret

Fun story. Doom may be approching

I've enjoyed the story so far. Although I wonder if they should rethink all this identity hiding for Danny. He basically has two (three?) identities now because he doesn't want to attract attention? Seems to me that one should be picked and the others listed as aliases. The sooner the better and come clean with people. At least those making an investment in his/her future. Of course the story would may not have as many twists and turns. I am looking forward to the next part after the break. take care.

----------
Jenna

Binge read

I ended up getting behind on my reading, but I'm catching up. I binge read the last several chapters. What can I say? You have some great characters that we can all get entangled with and care about.

Like a lot of the other readers, I am concerned about Danny's triple or quadruple life. I hope it doesn't come back and bite him in the butt.

I'm not concerned about the two personae as much as how he did it. After all, authors very often have pen names so that they can write something like "Thumping ❤❤, Broken ❤❤, ❤❤United" without admitting it. Even Isaac Asimov wrote as Paul French when writing his Lucky Starr stories.

But having two SSNs means that he is getting two standard deductions, and Uncle Sam tends to unforgiving when it comes to his money.

The easiest way it could come out is if their currently whacked out former singer ends up putting enough scrutiny on the situation that it comes to the surface. And she is currently one of the loose ends that will have to be eventually handled. The good point is that sh is already known to be mentally unstable, so wild stories should end up being dismissed out of hand.

What nobody else brought up is that exclusivity clause. If they signed it without provisos, will they be able to promote their own band and radio show. Of course, we haven't seen the contract, so it might be a case of "Of course they can promote their own businesses," or "Of course the non compete clause only matters for competitors. It will actually help our brand if they are seen promoting cars or sports equipment or their band/show or whatever."

I think that they are kinda overlooking possible resources by not having Mrs. Piper involved. After all, she is on their side in a big way.

There is a Britishism in one of the previous installments. American cars have trunks, not boots.

For some reason, I had initially thought that the story was placed in the central part of the United States, not near the eastern seaboard. I guess that's because radio stations to the east of the Mississippi have a 'W' prefix, and those to the west have a 'K' prefix.

Anyhow, I'm looking forward to the next part. Since I already read the 'other stories' section, I'll probably read the Drew Nance stories next.

Parched

Been a long dry spell here. So I've been doing another re-reread of this. Looking forward to some new chapters of this wonderful story.

Everybody is so gloom and doom about the eventual outcome, and I don't think that has to happen. I'd be happy for one of John in W-land's patented "Disney Happy Endings". Danny being able to satisfy everybody's expectations while he untangles his web of deceit without anybody the wiser. Janet is corralled and given the help she needs.

Maybe the doctor is even able to develop a "fix" for Batch 14 that will eliminate the pesky infatuation problem. Perhaps the doctor is even to synthesize the problematic pheromone just in case Danny needs it down the road. You know, have your cake and eat it too!


"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin

Great story so far

I am really enjoying the story so far. I comment earlier about wanting to know where it was taking place. I figured it was in the Maryland or Virginia area because of the reference of DC being 30 minutes away and it would take about 4 or 5 hours to get to empire city Which is New York. So like I stated before the only Problem is the call letters of the radio aNd TV stations would start with the letter W as it is east of the Mississippi River. Other than that it is a great story.

~o~O~o~

responding to these gotcha comments...

bobbie-c's picture

To respond to these gotcha comments about the call letters of Robin's radio station...

(1) The station call letters are a tribute to the old seventies TV program, "WKRP In Cincinnati"

(2) Yes, the call letters may be incorrect per your and others' comments, but you shouldn't be pedantic, and please note #1. This is not a true story.