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Chapters (37)
  1. Cover
  2. Colophon
  3. ALSO BY OMAR TYREE
  4. Title Page
  5. Copyright
  6. Contents
  7. Introduction
  8. Part I
  9. One
  10. Two
  11. Three
  12. Part II
  13. Four
  14. Five
  15. Six
  16. Part III
  17. Seven
  18. Eight
  19. Nine
  20. Part IV
  21. Ten
  22. Eleven
  23. Twelve
  24. Part V
  25. Thirteen
  26. Fourteen
  27. Fifteen
  28. Part VI
  29. Sixteen
  30. Seventeen
  31. Eighteen
  32. Part VII
  33. Nineteen
  34. Twenty
  35. Twenty-one
  36. Closing Interview:
  37. About the Author

Ashley grinned. “Well, your feeling was right,” she told him. “I had a feeling about you, too…especially after you asked me about a boyfriend.”

Ivan chuckled again. He said, “Yeah, I like to know what I’m getting into before I leap. But enough of all this talking. Are you ready to get into this or what?”

Ashley looked into Ivan’s colorful eyes, caressing his manhood in her hands. Then she asked him, “Which way is the bedroom?”

Fifteen

It All Comes Together

AS LUCINA’S SURPRISE to her partner, San Diego’s 944 magazine published Ivan’s photo as the front-cover story with his article running the same weekend as their second celebrity party event downtown. They were hosting hip-hop and R&B producer Timbaland and his protégé, the Canadian/Latina pop artist Nelly Furtado.

The 944 cover story called Ivan “Mr. Likability,” with a great close-up shot of his face, eyes, teeth, and diamond stud earring, all shining and looking good.

Lucina called him up on it only after she knew that he had seen it. “Did you see your article, Ivan? You look great. And they’re willing to let us distribute extra copies at your birthday party in two weeks. They know it will be a great promotion for them.”

Ivan said, “Are they coming out to cover the event with a reporter and a photographer, too?”

“Of course they are. Nobody wants to miss it now. They all want to see how you pull this thing off.”

Ivan said, “Yeah, well, we got a hundred tickets allocated for business friends, sponsors, the media, future advertisers; we need to get them all in there. The more the merrier. And by the way,” he told her, “that magazine cover story looks good.”

Lucina chuckled. “I told you I would take care of it for you.”

With sponsorship money included, Ivan was able to cut their budget expense from nearly twenty-five thousand dollars to just under ten thousand. The tickets were set to go on sale the Monday after the Timbaland and Nelly Furtado party.

Ivan also teamed with their promoter friends to have them sell tickets on commission. It was another effort to keep them loyal. With a team of sponsors involved and the local buzz-building, projections looked very positive.

In fact, Ivan and Lucina were guaranteed to make a profit after selling only 10 percent of the tickets, a mere two hundred and fifty out of a possible twenty-five hundred that would go on sale. Including the expected bar money, a sellout crowd would make them more than a hundred twenty thousand dollars, or sixty thousand each.

“Shit, this party is looking real good now,” Ivan told himself from his living room sofa. He continued to flip through the 944 magazine. The Tribune and the News Link articles would be published the week of the party.