80
ut."
I walked to the door. A crowd was waiting on the other side. I stared at them.
"Congratulate Ben," I said. "He's the proud father of a bouncing baby nosebleed."
Ben started screaming for Monica. I walked the short distance to my office.
Miranda followed me in. "Are you okay?" she asked.
"No," I said, "I am in so much pain. I think I broke a finger."
Miranda slipped her notepad under her arm. "Let me see," she said. She reached over. I gave her my hand. She palpitated my middle finger.
"Ouch," I said.
"It's not broken," Miranda said. "it's not even sprained. But you clearly don't know how to throw a punch."
"I'll do better next time," I said.
Miranda pinched down hard on my finger. I screamed.
"Don't you ever do something like that again," she said, "or I'll kill you myself. I like my job, and I'm not going to have you risk it just because you're my boss. Got it?"
"Yes!" I said. "Let go." She did.
"Now," she said, pulling her notepad back out. "Messages. Jim Van Doren called."
"The hell you say," I said.
"No lie," she said. "he says he's working on another story and wanted to see if you wanted to comment this time."
"I can't comment," I said. "I already promised you I wouldn't punch anyone else."
"That's my boss," Miranda said. "Amanda called. She says she wanted you to know she made Tea 'grovel like the she-dog she is' for the part in the Chevy Chase film. Says that she and Tea have come to an understanding and that she doesn't expect too many more problems."
"And here you thought you were going to have to do a lot of hand holding," I said.
"No kidding," Miranda said. "I think we created a monster. Carl called. He wants to know if you're available for lunch tomorrow."
"This is a question?" I asked.
"That's what I thought you might say," Miranda said, "So I told him you'd be free at 12:30. Meet him at his office."
"Got it," I said.
"Last message," Mir
