A Howl in Disguise

Sidewalk Stars anchorman Ken Barbie flashed his brilliant teeth.

"And now to Diana Dupont who has a story on bad girls getting into charity."

"Yes, Ken," said Diana in the next shot. "Connie Leighton and Clarise Chalmers are taking

time out from affairs, shoot outs and wild parties, and have dropped a feud stretching all the way

back to the prom queen contest in the high school they both attended, to jointly organise a benefit

for the Haddenbach Children's Hospital in Los Angeles. Hard hit by cutbacks the hospital …

After some discussion and Will calling his mother, who was astonished to hear he was

organising a benefit, for advice, Will and Emma had opted for a three hundred seat event. Anything

larger would be unmanageable and, Will thought, they had enough guaranteed star power to fill the

venue. As it was the event sold out in just two weeks, except for a few places which Will held back,

following his mother's advice, for last minute requests from VIPs and as favours.

When Meghan, on one of her days at home, called Will into her study/office the writer

thought it was to discuss the details of the benefit. Instead, she wanted to talk about an investment

proposal her boyfriend Robin had given to her.

"He wants you to invest in NFTs?" said Will, trying to keep the astonishment out of his

voice, as he looked at the proposal document.

"They're some sort of digital asset," said Meghan, "Non-funge something."

"Non-Fungible Tokens. I know what they are, kinda," said Will, leafing through the

proposal which was a few pages stapled together. "You're not investing directly in these NFTs,

according to this, but in a consortium that will trade these tokens for big profits, they hope. The

profits will be split among the participants."

"Okay, that's what Robin was talking about," said Meghan. "Some friends of his are in it.

Guaranteed big returns, he said."

Since working for Meghan Will had developed a highly uncomplimentary view of the

financial judgment of Robin Hawk, with his string of get rich quick schemes in which he was

always trying to involve Meghan. He kept that opinion to himself. Instead, he said: "You remember

I spoke of two rules of investing. The first is that if you don't understand what you're investing in,

then don't. The second rule is that if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is. NFTs could

earn big bucks, sure, but they could also lose all your investment, and they're difficult for anyone to

understand."

He flicked to the back pages of the proposal.

"You're relying on the trading skills and judgment of two guys, although there is very little

detail about their careers, and they're both at a brokerage I've never heard of. I could check it out

further if you want. How much are they asking from the consortium members? It doesn't say here."

"Half a million minimum," said Meg.

"Wow! Well, at least they're not thinking small," said Will. "But that still means you're

handing over half a million plus to two guys working in an office somewhere in New York, in the

hope that they'll give it back plus big profits, on the basis of four pages stapled together. If they're

that good, why aren't they trading for themselves? The choice is yours but maybe you could tell

Robin that you're a conventional, real estate kinda girl who's saving up to buy the high-end

residential tower filled with paying tenants of your girlish dreams?"

Meghan smiled. "I don't think he'd believe me."

The star also thought she wished she could get Will to tell Robin she wasn't going to invest

but she suspected that was not going to work. Among other difficulties, she had never mentioned

the consultant to her boyfriend, or that she now valued his advice on investment matters far above

his. No, she would have to tell her film star boyfriend that she was not getting involved in yet

another of his schemes herself.

Later that day a photoshoot team arrived, including the all-important cameraman, but also a

makeup lady, a stylist and lighting expert, two other bodies to help with the equipment, and a

security guy. All of this was to advertise a major jewellery brand with salacious shots of Meghan

wearing the merchandise but little else in the pool and garden. Will, still discussing details of the

seating with Emma, paid them little heed until the security guard came into the dining room.

"Sir, you have to leave," said the guard, a big man in a very official-looking uniform with a

pistol in a shiny holster on his hip.

"I do," said Will, astonished. "Why? Who are you?"

"I'm Ms Chalmers' security," said the guard. "She wants the area cleared for the shoot."

"I'm on Ms Chalmers' staff and I've never seen you before," said Will. "If she wanted me to

go, she'd have told me beforehand in no uncertain terms."

"I'm Ms Chalmers' assistant," said Mia from the other end of the dining room table, "and

you're shoot security, not her security. She didn't say anything about clearing people out to me."

"Okay, shoot security," said the guard. "The photographer told me to clear people out."

"Now it's the photographer who told you this," said Will. "Ms Chalmers has never asked for

it before."

"I was still told that I had to clear out the men," said the guard. "You need to leave now sir."

Will looked at Mia.

"You know what, Will," said the assistant. "Meg has to do some shots like this." She held

her arms in front of her breasts, "and face down topless on towels. She may not be comfortable with

you here."

"Fine," said Will, standing up and closing up his lap top. He did not look at the annoying

security guard. "Event details can wait a day or so. You'll tell her where I've gone?"

"Of course," said Mia.

Will started walking towards the garage.

"The front door is this way, sir," said the guard.

"But the garage is this way," said Will without turning around.

The officious guard followed Will out to the garage and stood, arms folded, while he drove

off. He then looked through the rest of the house, even going upstairs, to the astonishment of Mia

and Emma.

"There's no one else in the house apart from the housekeeper," said Mia.

"Just doing my job, ma'am."

Later, Meghan came in wrapped in a towel. She had to speak to both Mia and Will, although

the mischievous part of her also thought it might be fun to show bare shoulders to Will and was

surprised to find the consultant missing in action.

"Where's Will?" she asked.

"The security guard came in and told him to leave," said Mia. "He said you had told him to

clear the men out."

"I never said any such thing," said Meghan. "I know the photographer also didn't say it. I

wanted to see if Will could make the crew, and me, coffee, and I also wanted to talk again about

Robyn's investment stuff. Call him and tell him to get back here at once."

Mia did so, catching Will still on the road back to his place, or so she thought. In fact, he

was not all that far away, having been called by Charlotte to meet her.

"He says there's no point in coming back today," called Mia, after talking to Will, as

Meghan messed around in an unfamiliar kitchen, making her own coffee.

"I expect my per day consultant to be here on the day when I pay for the day," called

Meghan. "Look! I'm even having to get my own coffee. Tell him to come back, now."

Mia conveyed this to Will.

"He says you can always call him and if it bothers you, don't pay him for the day."

"For heaven's sake," said Meghan, "I want my consultant back here. Tell him if he doesn't

come back, he's fired."

Mia spoke again with Will. "Okay, he's fired," she said. "Thanks for hiring him for those

few weeks."

"What?" said Meghan. "How dare he be fired!"

"But you just fired him," said Mia.

"I didn't think he'd take me seriously," she said, as she emerged from the kitchen coffee cup

in hand. "Men! I'll send the crew in to make their own coffee."

Mia waited until she stalked back out to the pool area and then laughed.

"Will's not actually fired, is he?" said Emma, who had followed the whole exchange roundeyed.

Mia shook her head.

"She likes Will and trusts him, but if he'd come back just because she had threatened to fire

him, she might have started using him as a doormat. He'll be back tomorrow."

Later that day Meghan called Will, who had to excuse himself with Charlotte and step into

another room.

"Am I still fired?" asked Will. "If so, I'll hang up."

"You are a total pain William Moorland and I hate you," said Meghan, "and I should keep

you fired."

"People have told me I'm a pain over the years," said Will. "I thought for a time there might

be something to it, and then I thought 'nah', I'm Will, I'm not a pain. Anyway, what's up?"

"I wanted to go over the NFT thing again," she said.

They talked for a time then Will got back into bed with Charlotte, who had been waiting not

very patiently for her lover.

"You still fired?" she asked. Will had told her as much of the story as she needed to know.

"Seems not," he said. "Back to work tomorrow."

"That's good. In the meantime you and I have business tonight," she said and pulled him to

her.

As Meghan had suspected would happen her dinner date at a top Hollywood restaurant with

Robin turned sour when she told him she would not be investing in NFTs. Instead, she would keep

her money in dull but reliable mutual funds.

"The returns from those things are tiny," exclaimed Robin. "You're way too young and hot

for dull investment. You want the exciting stuff with big returns."

"I tried exciting and lost my money," said Meghan. "I like to be dull and keep my money."

"Don't you trust me?" said Robin.

"It's not that," said Meghan. "I just don't understand these NFT things."

"What's to understand?" said Robin. "It's an asset. You buy and sell and make money."

"Or lose money," retorted Meghan. "I looked up these things online and I still don't

understand them. I don't think I should be investing in things that I don't understand. Anyway, I'd

be giving a lot of my money to two guys in an office in New York, and the paper you gave me

doesn't say much about them."

"Two guys? No, it's a consortium."

"Maybe the investors call themselves a consortium, but the business part is just two guys in

this office, trading these things," said Meghan, trying to remember what

Will had said. "And taking fees as well as a slice of the profits. I don't like it at all."

"Two guys trading?" said Robin. "Where did you see that?" He had not actually read the

information pamphlet he had given Meghan.

"It's in that paper you gave me, down the back. There's a sub-head 'trading strategy'. It's

under that."

"You read the paper down to there?"

"Of course, I looked through it," she said. "I've had so many investments go bad on me and

my family that I now get someone to look at these things."

The last sentence had slipped out.

"An accountant?"

"Well, no," said Meghan, regretting what she had said. "He's just this advisor I have."

"An adviser?" said Robin sharply. "You never mentioned him before."

"He's the one that told me to make that remark that Connie should trade her jet in for a

bicycle. He also suggested the benefit we're holding and he's organising it."

"I thought that was being organised by your team."

"He is on the team. I pay him per day, although I fired him today. I didn't mean to, but I

fired him."

"How can you fire someone without meaning to?" asked Robin.

Meghan explained the circumstances.

"He should stay fired," said Robin. "You need someone looking out for you, honey, and that

someone is me. Invest in this consortium and you won't need to do endorsements and

commercials."