Page 32 of Three Times You

“What’s going on? Some sort of special request?” He cocks an eyebrow, hinting at who knows what.

“Yes, a ransom note.”

For a moment, he looks at me, baffled.

“Come on, I’m just kidding. It’s an idea from a young writer, and it’s not bad at all, if you ask me. It would be a great get, just what both the Network and Medinews are looking for to spice up their programming.”

“Seriously, something that big? And written by a young writer?”

“Yes.”

“Italian?”

“Yes.”

“How young?”

“Twenty-three. He’s never worked in television before, and he’s chosen us as the company to pitch it to.”

Giorgio is reading the project’s cover letter. He starts laughing. “He choseus? He choseyou! He’s a big fan of yours. These days, you just can’t turn around without landing on silk, you know…”

I shake my head. Then Giorgio stands up, walks around me, and shuts the door. We’re alone. Then he sits down on the sofa. “I have two things to tell you. No, make that three.”

I sit down in the armchair facing him. “I’m all ears.”

“Well, first of all, I’ve found out that Ottavi made two wire transfers to the director Gianna Calvi.”

“Ah. And he makes it that easy to catch him red-handed?”

“He sent them to the account of her boyfriend’s mother.” Giorgio is really something. I can’t begin to imagine how he got his hands on this kind of information, but I have to tip my hat. It must not have been easy.

“What’s more, he gave her a Rolex, the latest model with diamonds, and a week’s all-inclusive stay for two at the One and Only.”

“What’s that?”

“One of the most exclusive resort villages in the Maldives. There are only sixteen bungalows on the island, and each one comes with a butler and all-inclusive in-room service as well as a first-rate spa. I think it runs around three thousand euros a day.”

“Oh, great! I was thinking of going when you told me about the sixteen bungalows. But now that I know about the three thousand euros a day, I don’t think I’ll go after all.”

“Okay. Now let’s do this. If we manage to win the foreign market with at least ten countries for two new formats and we’re also able to place a drama series, then we absolutely have to go there, okay? It’s an incentive to achieve that result. Do you know that many American companies set out the various objectives they want to achieve at the beginning of the year? It turns into a sort of race to grab the highest prize.”

“All right, I’m in.” The objective is so ambitious that I’m perfectly sure that we’re not running any such risk.

“Put it there.”

I shake hands with him anyway, very willingly.

“Fine. Now, let’s move on to point two. The producer played very dirty, and we, if you’re in agreement, won’t play any cleaner with him.”

“But what he’s doing is straightforward corruption. I’m sorry, I’m not interested in veering in that direction.”

He smiles. “Good, that’s what I wanted to hear. But I needed to hear it. We won’t give anything away, but we’ll do our best, one way or another, to place that drama series.”

“I don’t want anything illegal. I don’t want to depend on anyone else. I don’t want to be open to blackmail.”

“And you won’t. I assure you, you’re not risking a thing, not you and not Futura.”

That was an important point to make. Giorgio is a responsible man.

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