whenever you want to find me?” I dropped my laptop onto the table and gave Isaac a wry look. “A cowbell, maybe? Or one of those gongs used to call people—”
Isaac shushed me and motioned to his phone laying face up on the kitchen table.
So he was on a call.
“Rizzo, I get it, man, but it’s too late to restructure. Invites have already gone out. Your name is on all of our promotional materials.”
My jaw tensed. Rizzo backing out would not be good for the event. I shot Isaac a questioning look.
He shrugged his shoulders, then waved his hands in front of him, a clear mark of his annoyance.
“I don’t want to drop out,” Rizzo said, his voice calm and smooth. “I want you to give me what I want.”
“Explain, please,” I whispered to Isaac.
“Hey Rizzo, hold on a minute, will you?” Isaac pressed mute without waiting for Rizzo to respond. “He doesn’t want to contribute to the cash prize.”
I scoffed. “Seriously? It’s only four grand. He makes that much in twenty minutes.”
“And,” Isaac continued, “he doesn’t want to stop charging for his live stream.”
“Wait, I don’t understand. What do you mean charging for his live stream?”
Isaac raked a hand through his hair. “A lot of YouTubers do it. When they live stream, you make a donation in exchange for access to the feed. For the event, we’ve asked that the donations go to charity instead of to the content creator.”
“Right. Of course. That’s the entire point of the event.”
“Except, he thinks that’s asking too much. He says he’s willing to match whatever my live stream brings in, but anything above that is his to keep.”
“Great guy,” I said. “So generous.”
“Tell me about it,” Isaac said.
“What he’s not thinking about is what backing out would do to his public image.” I reached over and unmuted the call. “Hey, Rizzo, Alex here.”
“Hey, Alex, my man. You talk some sense into Isaac for me?”
Ha. Not exactly. “I want you to answer a question for me.”
“Okay. Shoot.”
“How long does it take you to make four thousand dollars?”
He was silent a moment, then he chuckled. “Not very long.”
“We aren’t changing the terms of our original agreement. You made a commitment and we’re holding you to it. You’re free to back out if that’s what you decide to do, but if that happens, I want you to know I’ll be obligated to work up a press release explaining exactly why you backed out of the event—the charity event that has the potential to bring in thousands and thousands of dollars to benefit America’s underprivileged neighborhoods. I might mention how long it takes you to make four thousand dollars and will be sure to make the point that, in your mind, the small amount of time it takes you to make more money than what most of your viewers earn in weeks, even months, was more important to you than your participation.”
“It’s not just about the four grand—”
“Are you confident your public image could stand the hit of being the guy who backed out of a charity event because of his own greed?”
“Now you’re just playing dirty,” Rizzo said.
“No, playing dirty would be including a picture of your multi-million-dollar mansion in the press release.”
He was silent for a beat before finally relenting. “Fine.”
I smiled. “Always a pleasure to talk with you, Rizzo. We’ll see you in December.” I hung up the phone and Isaac let out a whoop of victory.
He straightened an imaginary tie and slipped on a pair of imaginary sunglasses. “Always a pleasure to talk with you, Rizzo,” he said in an exaggerated Southern accent. “We’ll see you in December.”
I socked him in the arm. “You’re welcome.”
“Seriously, you are one convenient man to have around,” Isaac said.
“I have a list of things I need you to go over when you have time,” I said, moving to the fridge. I pulled out the leftovers from last night’s Chinese takeout. I opened the container and sniffed. Maybe it wasn’t last night. “When was the last time we had Chinese?”
“The fact that you can’t remember probably isn’t a good sign.”
I tossed the leftovers into the trash, instead grabbing an apple from the basket on the counter. “I talked to the event planner this morning. She had questions about the food and sent over a few different designs for the decorations. She wants you to pick the one you like the most.”
“It’s happening on Christmas Eve. I assumed it’d be decorated for Christmas.”
“The designs are all holiday-themed, just