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Back Jungle Up Save as PDF
Chapters (63)
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  33. 33
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  63. Author’s Note

“Yeah. That’s the dream.”

Andy continued to gaze in Roth’s direction, but it took me a moment to realize it wasn’t Roth that he was staring at.

I said, “She likes you, you know.”

“Farah?”

“Trust me.”

“What makes you think that?”

Most people wouldn’t have noticed it, but Thomas Dergen Prescott, body language wizard, sure as heck did. “Her fingers fidget when she’s near you.”

“Fidget?”

“Yeah, like she’s typing on an invisible keyboard.”

He rolled his eyes and scoffed. “I’m pretty sure she has a thing for Roth.”

“No way.”

“Look at them. Chatting as if they’re in their own little world.”

“Observe her body,” I said, shaking my head. “He’s angled in, but she’s not. She’s not doing anything. Also, I only interacted with her for a few minutes, but she’s too smart to go for a guy like Roth.”

“What, you mean handsome, charming, and famous? Yeah, women never go for those guys.”

“Look, I know you idolize him, that you have him on some sort of pedestal, and yeah, maybe he makes a good documentary, but he’s a prick.”

Andy moved backward a few inches, as if I’d pushed him.

“I’ll let you think that over,” I said, giving him a soft squeeze on the shoulder. The two shots of brandy were giving me a headache, not to mention my stomach was feeling queasy. “I’m going to hit the hay.”

I walked over to Vern and told him I was headed to the tents. His cup had just been refilled, and he said he was going to stay up a bit longer.

I flipped on my headlamp and pushed my way through the thick brush to my tent. There were a bunch of cockroaches, mammoth beetles, and other insects crawling on the ground and I stepped on one near the front entrance of the tent, making a soft crack underfoot.

“Sorry, buddy,” I said. Saying the words sent a sharp pain through my temples.

I unzipped the tent and a few cockroaches stampeded in, but I didn’t much care. I needed to close my eyes. My last thought before falling asleep was that I was never drinking brandy again.

33

33

base camp
august 19, 8:48 p.m.
expedition: day 6

Andy reread the same page in his book for the third time. His brain was elsewhere. He couldn’t stop thinking about what Thomas had said. Both things Thomas had said. There was a chance one of them could be true; it was entirely possible Jonathan Roth was a total prick.

During his short tenure in LA, Andy had been exposed to any number of pricks. The film industry was full of them. But Jonathan Roth came across as such a great guy in his movies, and all the behind-the-scenes footage Andy had watched showed him being a decent guy. That’s one reason he looked up to him.