But Colleen was laughing, too. Before they hung up, Gail promised to bring her a change of clothes.
◊◊◊
Colleen heard a knock at the office door.
“Come in.”
In walked David, his hair still damp from a recent shower.
“Sorry. I was working out and lost track of time. I hope I’m not late,” David said and then smiled when he saw it was her. “It’s good to see you again.”
Colleen had every intention of returning his greeting. She even opened her mouth with the expectation of saying something, but her tongue stuck stubbornly to the roof of her mouth like she’d just eaten peanut butter. He may have just seen her impression of a carp, but she at least nodded her head and pointed at a seat.
“I was surprised when I saw you in class. I had to wonder if you were stalking me,” David said as he got comfortable.
“Do you think all women stalk you?” Colleen asked a little too aggressively.
“Sorry. I was just commenting on the coincidence of meeting you in Wimbledon and again here.”
She closed her eyes for a moment so she could focus.
“No need to apologize. It’s just been a long day.”
“I bet you’ve been the dream-crusher today,” David said with an understanding look.
Somehow, that made her relax.
“There have been some issues with the scope of a lot of these projects that’ll need to be worked out,” Colleen admitted.
“So, what did you think of my project? Is it too aggressive?”
She pulled out his proposal so they could get down to business.
“You want to do a podcast about USC sports?” she asked.
“A vodcast, actually; a video podcast. I plan to call it ‘Trojan Inquirer’ and feature players and alumni each week. I want to shoot it like it’s a TV sports show,” David explained.
“Weekly?” Colleen asked doubtfully. “All you need is to do one episode for the class. Why not just do that but do it very well?”
“But I need to sell advertising, and I can’t do that unless I build up a following,” David countered.
“Advertising? Why would you want to do that?”
“To pay for the production, of course. Professor Blum said that I would have to use TAs or other USC staff to film my shows. I have to pay them somehow,” he said, as if that made sense.
“I think he meant that they would volunteer.”
Now it was David’s turn to look confused.
“I’ve found that you get what you pay for, and I want this to come across as professional.”
“Who’s going to pay them?” Colleen asked.
“Why, USC, of course. I would expect they would want everything done aboveboard.”
“But I’m sure they don’t have it in their budget to pay for your production.”
“Remember the part about advertising? I wouldn’t expect it to cost the university anything.”
“I wouldn’t even know where to begin to get something like that approved,” Colleen finally said.
“Well, in my experience, I find it works best if you talk to whoever’s in charge.”
“I can’t just pick up the phone and call the executive director,” she said.
David rolled his eyes at her.
“Call and put them on speaker. I’ll talk to them,” he said.
Professor Blum was so going to kill her, but Colleen wanted to see how this played out.
She sat in shock as David talked his way into doing what he wanted. The clincher was when he promised to cover any costs that his advertising didn’t cover.
When he was done, she still felt that a weekly vodcast was too aggressive. But she wasn’t about to turn him down after he’d gotten approval from the woman in charge of the School of Cinematic Arts.
◊◊◊
When Colleen got home, Gail was waiting for her.
“I ordered pizza and picked up a couple bottles of wine. We’re having a girl’s night in.”
At least Gail had waited until she’d eaten and had three glasses of wine before the interrogation began.
“He was sitting right there, and at first, I couldn’t even talk,” Colleen admitted.
“Is he really as handsome as he looks on the internet?”
Colleen dropped her head and groaned.
“Oh, dear God, Colleen. You’re a mess.”
“He just … ahhh!” Colleen threw her hands up in frustration. “Trust me, I know. And now I have to face the guy once a week!”
“So?” Gail asked.
“So?” Colleen fired back and stared her friend down.
“So, now what?”
Gail’s face broke into a devious smile before taking the conversation to the gutter.
“So, now you tell me all about it. I know you checked. Is David A. Dawson hung like a donkey or a small pony?”
Colleen’s face flushed bright red.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Well, I do,” Gail insisted. “I bet it’s donkey. Those pictures couldn’t have been Photoshopped. He’s got a big one, doesn’t he? Admit it. You totally checked him out.”
“Bite me.”
Usually, Colleen was up for a bit of dirty girl-talk, so she wasn’t really mad at her friend. It was just that she didn’t want to jinx it somehow by admitting that she might really like David. Watching him work out what he wanted from the university made her realize that he was unlike anyone her age she’d ever met.
“And besides, it wasn’t like he whipped it out in the office.”
Gail burst into fits of giggles. Colleen tossed her napkin at her, which Gail easily swatted out of the air.
“As long as we’re talking the kind of hung that makes you ache for a week. The kind that you can’t really walk right after, looking like you just rode a damn donkey,” Gail added.
Colleen realized that she wouldn’t get that image out of her mind anytime soon. She was screwed.
◊◊◊
Colleen had an early morning meeting with Professor Blum. She’d promised him coffee and a slice of coffee cake. She walked into the coffee shop and discovered David behind the counter, pouring coffee for a small girl who had a big brown Lab sitting by her side.
“This is Colleen … uh … this is the painful part of the conversation when I have to admit I don’t know your last name,” David said.
“Colleen O’Connor. So appalling, really. It is so like the talent to not remember the little people behind the scenes.”
The girl took her coffee and muffin but didn’t seem at all interested in not watching this little byplay between David and Colleen.
“Right. Sorry about that,” he said with a half-abashed, half-amused look. “I think the real question is, are you stalking me?”
Colleen acted wounded by his question.
“Yeah, right. Try again. See, the problem with actors is that they are too full of themselves,” Colleen said to the girl.
The dog’s tail wagged in agreement.
“You’re tough.”
“People don’t want an act. They want someone real. So, David, Mr. Actor man, what is it with you?”
“Well, Colleen, I guess I just find that on Monday mornings, most people are dragging, so a little coffee is needed.”
“Why is that, exactly?”
“Because they’ve generally gone out on the weekend and done something they regret.”
Colleen wasn’t quite sure what happened next. All she knew was that before she could even stop herself, her mouth was spewing word-vomit.
“Or not something they regret. Follow me here, David. It is possible to feel more regret for the things they haven’t done than those they have. Like, say, failing to get someone’s phone number,” Colleen said.
“I would have to agree with you there. Unless the girl—no, excuse me, woman—had blown you off majorly in the last social interaction you had with her,” he said with a big smile, putting the ball firmly back into her court.
The owner of the coffee shop came from the back and kicked David out from behind the counter. He went and sat down with the girl and the Lab.
After Colleen got her order, she walked up to David’s table, handed him her phone number, and left.
◊◊◊
To her amazement, David called and invited Colleen to his townhouse. A very fit girl answered the door, accompanied by a good-looking dog and a giant cat.