The World According to Vince - Jane Harvey-Berrick Page 0,17
picked it up and answered for me. “Vince, this is Cady. I hope you’re nowhere near Katz’s Deli because Grace wants to tear you a new asshole. Yup. You said it. Yup. Well, put it like this: one, she’s gotten no sleep last night because she was helping you; two, she’s gotten no work done all day because she was helping you; three, she’s emailed and messaged you a ton and you haven’t replied until now. Yup. That’s right. Yup. Hell, yeah! Your life hangs by a thread, buddy. Your excuses had better be outstanding.”
She handed the phone to me with a smirk.
“Vincent,” I said coldly.
“Hey, Gracie!” he said, his voice only slightly chastened. “Sorry about that. Forgot to check me fookin’ phone. Happens all the time. But no worries, I’ve got good news! All them dogs have got homes! Every single one of them! And the shelter bloke says that dogs all over the city are being adopted. They’re calling me the Canine Crusader!”
My mouth dropped open. “All the dogs? That’s fantastic!”
“Yeah, right! But all the shelters are operating on tiny budgets, so I said I’d help them. I’m going to organise a Canine Crusader fashion show! I’ll get all me mates to donate stuff.”
“A canine fashion show?” I said faintly.
Cady’s eyebrows shot up as she listened to my half of the conversation.
“Yeah! Fashion and dogs. I’m onto a winner, I fookin’ know it! I’ll do it during New York fashion week.”
“That’s the week before Rick and Cady’s wedding,” I muttered, unable to keep up with the conversation.
“Yeah, cool innit? So can you put that in the statement and send it to all them journos you were talking to? Cheers, Gracie!” His excited voice slowed and became more intimate. “So, if there’s anything I can ever do for you, you just have to ask.”
I took a deep breath. At this moment in time, I really hated myself as much as I hated him.
“I need a date for my annual staff party on Friday. You’re coming with me,” I grimaced as Cady just about killed herself laughing.
“A date? On Friday? Sure thing, Gracie! That would be awesome. Tell Cady she and Rick are dog-sitting for us, yeah? That’ll be fookin’ fab! I knew you’d see sense in the end, babe.”
I rested my head on my hands as despair rushed through me.
“Just kill me now,” I whimpered.
Cady spat out half her blintze, she was laughing so hard.
“Some best friend you are,” I grumbled.
Vince
I was Grace’s date to her office party—things were looking up.
The last few days had been crazy and I’d been doing interviews all over town as well as a bunch of online interviews. Sometimes I’d taken the kids with me, although Tap could be shy of strangers—it was either that or leave her home alone which I absolutely would not do. I’d even been on Cady’s morning radio show and Tap had snuggled up on her knee the whole time, the little traitor.
And the news kept getting better—shelters in the city were almost empty, and even the harder to home dogs like older, large breeds were finding their forever families. They were even importing rescue dogs from other states. The idea of the fashion show was a goer and I was confident I’d get the people I needed. The Canine Crusader was on the case! I’d had a load of t-shirts made with my new Canine Crusader logo, and my IG and Facebook followers were buying them in bucket loads. I’d ordered a thousand and was about to run out. I’d paid a neighbor’s kid to mail them all out and slung him a few bucks, so everyone was happy. Even better, the kid worked from my house and Tap, Zeus and Tyson had really taken to him.
I’d started to pull in a shit-ton of favors for the fashion show and promised a load more. But I knew it was going to be worth it. Uncle Sal had already spoken to Giorgio for me, and I had other people in the biz who I knew would help out. To be honest, it was fookin’ fantastic the number of people who wanted in on it.
I grinned at Rick as I studied my reflection in the mirror.
“I am a god and women can’t get enough of this fine specimen of manhood.”
“You’re an idiot, and no woman in her right mind will have anything to do with you,” he said, playing some game on his phone.