Page 87 of Puck Me Secretly

Katrina shot up off her seat. “You preordained this.”

“Trust me, I have better things to do, but the GM requested I attend.”

“I don’t think so,” she gathered her bag and focused her attention on Max. “I promise you that I’ll be there, okay? You can count on me.”

She strode out of my office.

Max leaned forward and pleaded. “You need to get me out of this.”

“I can’t.”

“You can talk to your dad.”

“I already tried, and he’s adamant this will happen.”

“Why?”

“Why do you think?” I parlayed back. “You’re banned from the media. You should have sought special permission before doing this.”

“Katrina set this up.”

“She should have then.”

“But I don’t even want to do this.”

“And that’s why he is making you do it.”

“He’s punishing me.”

“He’s teaching you that there are rules in this club.”

“How was I supposed to know that?”

“We pay you 1.2 million dollars a year. For that amount of money, we expect you to know the rules.”

“This is bullshit.”

I lifted my hands up. “My hands are tied. You’ll be excused from practice on Friday so we can go get your photo taken.”

His eyes studied the sketches. “I don’t think I can do this.”

“Why not?

“I’ll be naked.”

“You’ve had plenty of photos of you in the buff.”

Anger flashed in his eyes. “You can’t be in the room when thishappens.”

“That’s fine. I will accompany you there and wait outside.”

He gave me another angry glance and then stood up and walked out.

Friday morning,at an ungodly hour, Max and I arrived on the set. The room was a hub of activity. There was a white screen set up, and half a dozen lights were being adjusted by two men. The photographer fiddled with a camera while another two assistants set up his gear. A make-up artist sat talking to another woman at a make-up counter. Two women talked at the back and a young man carried coffee. There were two more men in suits, standing and talking around the breakfast table.

“I’ll wait for you outside,” I yelled over the loud techno music.

A big hand shot out and grabbed my wrist. Max turned to me. “Don’t leave me.”

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