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“No, you won’t. And besides, these photographers have all kinds of tricks to deal with these contingencies. I’ll bet he’s got a cream or whatever to cover that spot right up. And then of course there’s Photoshop.”

She was only partly reassured by his words.“It’s the end of the world,” she told him in a quiet voice as she prostrated herself across the sink. “The end of my life!”

CHAPTER 14

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Interesting things had been happening at Advantage Publishing all day long, and the number of people in and out of Madison’s office was growing by the minute. The man certainly led an interesting life!

And all throughout the events that unfolded, Danny kept us informed.

Shortly before lunch, a man named Wayne Piscina had been fired. According to Danny some old homophobic and racist tweets had surfaced, which led to a big furor online, and Wayne, who worked as an assistant photographer, had to go.

Next, a rumor circulated that Advantage Publishing and Madison himself were being sued by a model. The model’s name was Ona Konpacka, and according to Danny the woman’s face was permanently disfigured because of a botched cosmetic procedure. Danny showed us pictures of the woman, and it has to be said she was gorgeous. Now, apparently, not so much—though there were no pictures to indicate the damage that was done. No before and after.

“Apparently she had a bad reaction to some fillers that were injected into her face,” Danny explained to an eager audience of four. “The fillers permanently altered the shape, and now she won’t leave the house. Her career is ruined, her life is over, and she’s suing Advantage Publishing and Madison for millions.”

“But why? It’s not Madison’s fault that the surgeon botched the procedure,” said Scarlett, who kept touching her face as Danny related this horror story.

“Oh, but she’s suing the surgeon, too, of course, and the clinic. But she says Madison personally told her to get the procedure, since he wasn’t happy about the way she looked, and said she could stay relevant only if she had some minor alterations. And also, he was the one who recommended this particular clinic.”

“Poor woman,” said Scarlett as she studied Miss Konpacka’s face. “Imagine having your face destroyed by some horrible butcher. She’ll never work again?”

“As far as I understood, the structure of her face is so different now even her own mother doesn’t recognize her anymore,” said Danny. He seemed to relish relating the details of this latest example of a cosmetic procedure gone wrong.

“A boyfriend once told me to get fillers, and I declined,” said Scarlett, gently fingering her lips. “Thank God I did. Though I had some minor work done, I never did fillers.”

“And you better not,” said Gran. “Look what happened to this model.” She glanced over to Madison, who was pacing his office, screaming something into his phone, which was one of those wireless models, with something stuck in his ear.

Up and down his office he went, and even though we couldn’t understand what he was saying, it was obvious the man was under tremendous pressure.

Natalie was also studying her boss, and I thought I could detect from her body language that she felt for her former lover and baby daddy. Now that he was in trouble, she was clearly eager to kiss his head and make the trouble go away.

And behind Natalie, Tom was staring at the PA, and it was pretty obvious what he was thinking: that he wanted to be the one to shower the girl with kisses and make all her trouble go away. But from the young man’s demeanor, it was also clear he didn’t think that would ever happen.

Danny had left, to spread some more gossip around the office, and take bets, and Scarlett and Gran, even though they should have been correcting spreadsheets, were conferring about the next step in their rescue operation.

“This place is better than any soap I’ve ever seen,” said Scarlett. “Better thanThe Bold and the Beautiful orGeneral Hospital. We should have gone back to work a long time ago. This is so much fun!”

“If you remember, I never stopped working,” Gran pointed out.

“Being Tex’s receptionist doesn’t count,” said Scarlett.

“It does, too. It’s hard work having to listen to Tex’s patients all day.”

“I worked for Tex, and I don’t remember it as work. Tex is a sweetheart, and the kindest, best employer ever.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” Gran admitted. “Tex is a sweetheart. Not like Madison, who seems like some kind of ogre.”

They eyed the big boss for a moment, then returned to the topic at hand.

“So what do you reckon Tom’s chances are?” asked Gran.

“Zero,” said Scarlett. “The kid’s nice, but he’s got as much charm as a dish towel.”

“Yeah, and judging from the way Natalie keeps looking at Madison, I don’t think she’s ready to move on.” She sighed deeply. “Looks like this mission of Dear Gabi on the Road is going to be a bust, honey.”

“Oh, well. Better luck next time, I guess.”

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