Lucina looked up from her chair, where she’d been flipping through the latest issue of San Diego’s 944 magazine, and caught the secretary’s eye.

“He’s ready for you now,” the secretary told her.

Lucina closed the magazine and slid it back onto the small table in front of her. She stood and said, “Thank you.”

The secretary led her into the back office, past a hallway of framed enlarged photos of Randy and Ralph with various celebrities at their past events. Lucina was surprised to see that they had not bothered to frame even one photo of her. She had been present at at least five of the twenty events on their hallway walls.

Typical, she told herself. And there is no reason to even ask. Nevertheless, she hoped he would be open to a few new business deals.

As soon as Lucina walked into his office, Randy picked up the phone again and started blabbering away.

“Justin Timberlake? I mean, is this kid for real, or will he be another solo act that goes nowhere?” He spotted Lucina on her walk in and motioned for her to have a seat in the empty chair across from his desk.

“Hey, thanks, Linda,” he quickly told his secretary.

“No problem,” she said, and turned to walk out.

Lucina took another seat and waited again while Randy continued to run his mouth on his office phone.

“Yeah, of course I’ve heard the album. But I mean, you know, the hits, they come and go. But I guess we can do something while he’s still hot, you know. And he’s still a little young, but the chicks seem to like him.”

Randy was a brown-haired, green-eyed white man in his late thirties who was still in athletic shape with solid height and good skin. He considered himself every bit an entertainer. He gave the connected people of San Diego a premium good time at a premium price.

“All right, well, let me call you back on that. I have an old friend in my office,” he commented over the phone, with a wink in Lucina’s direction.

Lucina smiled at him out of courtesy.

When Randy hung up the phone, he went right at her. “So, Lucina Gallo, what brings you around? I see you’re still looking hot these days. What can I do for you?”

She didn’t like the tone of the conversation already. It sounded way too distant, as if they would be starting from nowhere. Lucina carried on with the bullshit game anyway.

She grinned and told him, “I see you’re still at it yourself. You’re still single?”