His Assistant - Alexa Land Page 0,5
unread emails.”
“Yeah, but a lot of those are junk.”
“And a lot of them aren’t.” I searched by his publicist’s name and discovered her messages ended abruptly two weeks ago. The last message was a tersely-worded resignation letter, and I exclaimed, “Oh man, you made Julia quit! She was really good.”
“I didn’t mean to.”
“If you wanted her to stay, it probably would have helped to actually show up for the events she kept arranging for you.”
He returned to his seat with the sticky note and muttered, “I showed up for some of them.”
I opened the last email Julia sent before the resignation letter. Then I glanced at the calendar and said, “Please tell me you know you’re supposed to appear on Tommy Allen’s show tomorrow, and that you already booked a flight to New York.”
He looked confused. “Am I? But I’m not promoting any movies right now.”
“He’s celebrating forty years on late night, and this is a huge deal! You’re one of a very select group of A-listers who’ve been invited to his anniversary show. It looks like Julia confirmed your attendance before she quit, so they’re expecting you on set at ten a.m. tomorrow for rehearsal, and taping is at one p.m.”
Harper’s green eyes went wide. “Shit. I really shouldn’t miss that.”
“Oh yeah, no way in hell are you missing it. Tommy Allen is a national treasure. It’d be like standing up Santa Claus.” I flipped through the contacts on my phone as I said, “I’m going to talk to Tommy’s people, and then I’ll book you a flight for this evening. Go find your luggage and your best suit and tie. Don’t forget dress shoes, you always do that.”
He picked up the skinny white chicken and asked, “Can Loco come along?”
“Absolutely not.”
“But—”
“It’s just for two nights. Kel’s perfectly capable of looking after her.”
He asked, “Why two nights? Why not come right back after the taping?”
“Because you’re flying all the way to New York, and while you’re there you know you’ll want to do some networking.”
“Okay. But you’re coming with me, right?”
“Of course. I need to make sure this goes off without a hitch.”
Harper got up and asked, “Are you sure I can’t bring my chicken?”
“She’s not coming, for two reasons. First of all, it’s going to be hard enough finding a hotel on such short notice, let alone one that allows livestock. Second, and most importantly, I refuse to get stuck chicken-sitting while you’re out partying.”
“Fine.”
After he left the room, I placed a call to someone I knew on Tommy Allen’s staff to make sure nothing had changed with Harper’s appearance on the anniversary show. Then I booked a hotel and our flights. Once that was all squared away, I left the office and went in search of Harper.
Along the way, I found the new personal chef in the sleek black and white kitchen. The tall, handsome Black guy looked more like a model than a chef, and his skin-tight tank top showed off his muscles and tattoos. He was chopping up a mountain of leafy greens while three pans sizzled on the stovetop, and he said, “Oh hey, you’re that country star.” He snapped his fingers repeatedly while he tried to think of my famous identical twin’s name. “You’re named after a city. Memphis? Detroit?”
“You’re thinking of Dallas Jaymes.”
“No, that’s not it.”
“Trust me, it is.”
“Oh, okay.” He smiled at me and said, “It’s nice to meet you, Dallas.”
“No, I’m Phoenix.” He looked confused, but I didn’t have the energy to explain myself.
Kel joined us a moment later, absolutely reeking of artificial lavender. He had the bug-eyed chihuahua in his arms, and the little monster growled when he saw me. Kel ignored the dog and looked embarrassed when he said, “The poop’s gone, but I spilled a bottle of air freshener on the Bronco’s carpet. I left all the doors open to try to air it out, and hopefully it won’t be so strong once it dries. I’m really sorry.”
There was no point in getting mad, so I just shrugged and said, “Don’t worry about it.” Then I told him, “Harper needs to fly to New York tonight, and he won’t be back until Sunday afternoon. Will you be able to look after his animals over the weekend, including that spoiled chicken he’s overly attached to?”
“Definitely! Loco and I get along great, and I’ll be sure to give her extra attention while Harper’s gone. Just so you know, I live here, and I always work through the weekend to