Page 15 of Doc Showmance
“I could sell my car,” Marino offered.
“You could. That clunker might get you a few hundred if you’re lucky.” As if Marino could navigate public transportation. He might be able to build a computer from scrap parts, but Lord love the boy, schedules and maps confused him. He’d never had proper help with his dyslexia at the right developmental time. “Let’s not sell your car right now. That’s a backup plan. I’m the one in the best position to leverage more money. Doing so will involve more TV time, but I can handle it for a while. If I help you, you’ll pay me back over five years this time. If you don’t. If you miss one payment…” I held up one finger. “I’ll sell your Pokémon collection to raise the funds.” Marino adored his cards. He had them all organized in binders and some in cases.
“Not my cards.” He looked like he was about to puke.
“I also want you to start going to Gamblers Anonymous meetings every week again. One of us will drive you there. We’ll sit in the car if we have to the entire time to make sure you stay. I want to hear step one right now.”
“Amber…”
“Say it out loud, please.”
He dropped his head. “I am powerless to my addiction. My life has become unmanageable.”
I reached across the table and squeezed his hand. “We love you. We just want you safe and not wrapped up in stuff like this. I don’t want you to end up in jail or, God forbid, one of the loan sharks sends someone to kill you. Does anyone want to hear how my day went sideways?”
When no one said anything, I continued, “They asked me to go full time on camera at work and sometimes when not at work, although I’m going to make sure you three are stricken from any camera appearance. We can’t handle that. Kind of convenient since the extra money will pay this debt.”
“You on camera all the time isn’t that bad,” Marino said, “It’s kind of cool living with a celebrity.”
“Oh, it gets worse. I must be nice to someone I don’t like—a vet I went to school with—to boost the show’s ratings.”
“Who?” Marino and Bruno said at once.
“Is he hot?” Joley asked. “That would make it easier.”
“Oh, he’s hot. He’s been voted the sexiest veterinarian alive two or three years running. He’s got his own show on that animal network on TV.”
“Tell me it’s not…” Bruno covered his face. “Not that…that Ian something or other. Wasn’t he the one who drove you crazy in school? I’ve never seen anyone make you so angry.”
I nodded. “We fought a lot. Apparently, that might make for great TV.”
“Isn’t he the one who made you scared to date?” Joley asked.
“I’m not scared to date. It’s the commitment part I have issues with. That’s not Ian’s fault. He and I never dated. We never did anything. He’s the one who pranked me with the Valentine’s Day video.”
“That was mean. Didn’t he try to apologize, though?” Joley pushed her long, recently dyed auburn hair over a shoulder. “I seem to remember him calling a lot and then when you wouldn’t talk to him, he sent you a letter. That was kind of sweet.”
“He embarrassed the hell out of me to my entire class. He traded our friendship for popularity. He doesn’t get a free pass with anoops-I’m-sorryletter after they already posted the video online.”
Joley said, “This ought to be interesting. You have to be nice to the guy that messed up with you? You’re the world record holder for holding a grudge.”
Iwasgood at holding a grudge. It was my protective mechanism that I’d developed to survive childhood. When someone hurt me, physically or mentally, I learned fast to avoid them and whatever that situation might’ve been, and never forget. I’d learned to be guarded about who I trusted.
Joley’s eyebrows pressed together. “How are you going to approach being nice to him? Maybe fighting would be more dramatic for the show?”
Enemies. That was a great idea. Hope surged. Maybe I could sell us playing enemies to the producer? I could do that. Maybe we’d be so good at being enemies we could stay that way.
“But you don’t have to do this, do you?” Marino asked. “If it sucks that bad, find a new job.”
“The pay boost will help me us get through this. Beyond that, they’re threatening my job, which means my residency. I’ll never find another residency to allow me to do just one year. We’re also not at a point we can survive if I’m out of work for a while.”
“We’re almost to that point,” Bruno said softly.
“Almost.” I faced Joley. “Will you help me figure out how to charm him or at least pretend to act charming? You’re the goddess of understanding men.”
Joley preened. The woman could get a man to do anything with a smile. Helped to have been gifted with curves in the right spots and a wide smile no one could resist. “’Course I will.”
Marino said, “If he hurts you, I’ll—”
