Page 37 of Love Redesigned
I paused theFriendsreruns I was binging and stared at Paige’s text. I couldn’t tell her. Not until I knew something definite.
Gorgeous as ever,I responded. It was a lie, but I had to buy a little time somehow. How was I ever going to tell Paige the truth?
Chapter Twelve
Alex
“Alex!” Isaac called to me from somewhere—the kitchen, maybe?—with a volume and intensity that might have alarmed me three months ago. I’d since grown used to Isaac reacting to everything from running out of paper towels to burning his toast with the same vigor he would an approaching hurricane.
I closed my laptop with a weary sigh and stood from the concrete bench in the corner of the side garden. The garden was frequently the quietest place in Isaac’s house. Fortunately, our other roommates didn’t spend very much time outside.
“Should I get you a bell you can ring whenever you want to find me?” I dropped my laptop onto the table and gave Isaac a wry look. “A cowbell, maybe? Or one of those gongs used to call people—”
Isaac shushed me and motioned to his phone laying face up on the kitchen table.
So he was on a call.
“Rizzo, I get it, man, but it’s too late to restructure. Invites have already gone out. Your name is on all of our promotional materials.”
My jaw tensed. Rizzo backing out would not be good for the event. I shot Isaac a questioning look.
He shrugged his shoulders, then waved his hands in front of him, a clear mark of his annoyance.
“I don’t want to drop out,” Rizzo said, his voice calm and smooth. “I want you to give me what I want.”
“Explain, please,” I whispered to Isaac.
“Hey Rizzo, hold on a minute, will you?” Isaac pressed mute without waiting for Rizzo to respond. “He doesn’t want to contribute to the cash prize.”
I scoffed. “Seriously? It’s only four grand. He makes that much in twenty minutes.”
“And,” Isaac continued, “he doesn’t want to stop charging for his live stream.”
“Wait, I don’t understand. What do you mean charging for his live stream?”
Isaac raked a hand through his hair. “A lot of YouTubers do it. When they live stream, you make a donation in exchange for access to the feed. For the event, we’ve asked that the donations go to charity instead of to the content creator.”
“Right. Of course. That’s the entire point of the event.”
“Except, he thinks that’s asking too much. He says he’s willing to match whatevermylive stream brings in, but anything above that is his to keep.”
“Great guy,” I said. “So generous.”
“Tell me about it,” Isaac said.
“What he’s not thinking about is what backing out would do to his public image.” I reached over and unmuted the call. “Hey, Rizzo, Alex here.”
“Hey, Alex, my man. You talk some sense into Isaac for me?”
Ha. Not exactly. “I want you to answer a question for me.”
“Okay. Shoot.”
“How long does it take you to make four thousand dollars?”
He was silent a moment, then he chuckled. “Not very long.”
“We aren’t changing the terms of our original agreement. You made a commitment and we’re holding you to it. You’re free to back out if that’s what you decide to do, but if that happens, I want you to know I’ll be obligated to work up a press release explaining exactly why you backed out of the event—thecharityevent that has the potential to bring in thousands and thousands of dollars to benefit America’s underprivileged neighborhoods. I might mention how long it takes you to make four thousand dollars and will be sure to make the point that, in your mind, the small amount of time it takes you to make more money than what most of your viewers earn in weeks, even months, was more important to you than your participation.”
