AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She was not understanding me. “I was supposed to find a long-term girlfriend who was, as you would say,respectable, and I have. Her name is Alexa Borelli.”
The tenor of Charlie’s voice ramped up again. “I give you instructions for a reason. I told you to call me as soon as you found a candidate.”
“I heard you, and I’d planned to call today.”
“My card saystwenty-four hoursfor a reason. You should have called me before going out.”
“What’s the big deal?”
She sighed. “I thought it would be clear to you. To make certain the public is going like this girl, she needs to be the right kind of woman—not a gold-digger type or a groupie or a worthless socialite. I need to vet her, go through her social media and history like the press is going to. We need to be sure there aren’t any surprises, any fountains she’s been in.”
“You won’t find anything like that on Alexa.”
She let out a long sigh. “Okay, tell me about her. How did you meet her? Start with that.”
“I’ve known Alexa since we were teenagers. We hung out together a little.”
“And now you’re getting back together?” she asked. “That’s a good story. What broke you up originally, and how did you reconnect?”
“I said we hung out. It was summer in the Hamptons. We never dated, just grew up neighbors and went our separate directions later. She was younger.” The history behind her hatred of me could wait.
“What does she do for a living? Tell me she’s not a do-nothing, trust-fund socialite type, or an Instagram model.”
“You really have something against rich people, don’t you?”
“Not at all. I’d love to be one, but the public relates better to normal people who work for a living.”
“Then you’ll be pleased to hear she has an MBA from Columbia. She works at Sydney Perlmutter Accounting in Brooklyn and is finishing up her CPA certification. She even helps out at her family’s deli on weekends.”
“She sounds encouraging. Previously married? Kids? Arrests? Rehab?”
“No on all counts.”
“I’ll still need to do some digging on her, though.” She sighed. “But getting back to following instructions, what was it about staying out of the papers that you didn’t understand?”
“It was an accident. The paps have never hung out at DiMaggio’s before, and nobody knew I was going to be there.”
“Okay, well…” Her voice carried clear disappointment. “It will be up to Bradley to figure out how to get control of the narrative while I do my research.”
“I tell you, she’s the one,” I assured her.
“I’ll be back in touch. In the meantime, keep your head down and promise me you’ll follow my instructions in the future—all of them.”
“I will. When can I take her out again?” At least Charlie hadn’t quit on me. I knew enough to know what I didn’t know, and this PR stuff was in that category. I needed her kind of help.
“What’s the hurry?”
“Saturday night is the best time to be seen. You said we have to be seen together over a respectable period of time, and I want to get the clock started.”
She was silent for a moment. “I’ll do my checks as quickly as I can, but I’m not promising anything.”
“I’m sure you’ll like what you find. Alexa’s as squeaky clean as they come, but I’ll wait to hear from you.”
“Damned straight you will. Have a good morning, Mr. McAllister.” The line went silent.
* * *
Alexa
