DANNY Chapter 55 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he ends up as the female lead singer for a high-school cover band as well as a radio DJ and the country's newest fashion icon and idol. Never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang. Note to the reader: this chapter may be a bit slow or tedious, with a lot of background stuff and other details - that's because Chapter 55 is setting up things for all the chapters that will follow. I hope you guys won't get too bored.

 

  Chapter Fifty-Five: Dannie, the Fashion Plate

 
***** (Danny) *****

Tyler and I were flying back from Minneapolis-St. Paul, and should be back home in a bit. Tyler, as per usual, was behind me and keeping an eagle eye for, ummm, unfriendly sorts. And, I suppose, I was so confident in Tyler that I found myself starting to doze, and napped all the way back home.

Since I was "Dannie" at the moment, everyone was free to openly meet me at the airport, except for the fact that it was a Sunday and the following day was therefore a school day. Even so, our folks were used to it, so the entire gang was there, though we were all expected to be back home before midnight.

The group was also bigger than normal since our bodyguards were with us, too. Not an unusual thing, but it was still a bit of novelty to it. Just as well, though, since a small group of hardcore fans had trailed the gang. But with our guards around us, none bothered us too much. Of course, mindful of how we dealt with our fans, we were very polite and signed our autographs on the books and photos they proffered, and a few reproduced mini-posters. They asked why we were in the airport, of course, and, as discussed, we revealed that I went to a meeting with Blumenfeld House for a possible job.

This, of course, had our female fans jumping up and down with excitement. Eventually, though they waved goodbye and left us alone (no doubt with firm, though undoubtedly gentle encouragement from our security).

This allowed us to have late dinner at one of the small greasy spoons by the airport. (If I wasn't mistaken, it was the same restaurant where Dr. Roberts and I had some coffee and a couple of slices of pie, and I told him of my troubles.)

Nikki was her usual beautiful self, and everyone else was as noisy as ever. Tracey and Mikey were clearly an item now - something we were all still trying to get used to, as was Mel and Jerry, and Morgan and Drew (I was't sure if June was part of their relationship, though). As for the others, no one else was partnering, including Danielle, but everyone seemed fine. Looking at Fallon, though, she was making eyes at Betsy. I don't mind that Fallon was gay or if she made a play for Betsy, but I didn't know if Bets would be open to that kind of relationship. Also, Fallon might not be too considerate, in view of that. But I swear, if Fallon hurt Betsy... But I think I should give Fallon the benefit of the doubt. I guess I need to talk to her.

I told them about my time in Minneapolis, and everyone seemed very interested. Joanne had a lot of questions, as did Danielle and Tracey, but they seemed satisfied with what the Blumenfeld people agreed to. The bigger topics they asked about were the "issue" with Robin, and my need to have a personal hairdresser, wardrobe girl and makeup girl. But they were relieved that the Blumenfeld people agreed to everything. Of course, the girls looked at Joanne in a sour way coz she clearly would be my hairdresser-slash-wardrobe girl-slash-makeup girl. Envy isn't a good thing...

The guys were more practical, though, and asked about salary and benefits and such, and everyone laughed their heads off when I told them about the signing incentives they were offering. And when they heard that part of it was a car, everyone was jumping up and down, and everyone had an idea about what car it should be. Danielle said it might mean Dad would have to extend the garage, but I could help pitch in to defer the cost of it - I can take it out of my Blumenfeld salary. Heheh.

We talked some more, and thought about what we had to go through to adjust to my new job. Or jobs. I felt a bit guilty - after all, this was all my fault, but then Tracey made the comment that all of us were going to benefit from this.

"And it'll be fun!" Nikki giggled.

 
***** (Tracey) *****

Hearing Danny talk about her adventures, i mean "His!" Dammit!. Well, anyway, hearing HIM talk about his adventures in far-off Minneapolis made me jealous. Well, I think "envious" might be the better word - though both words mean the same, I think "envious" implies a less angry kind of vibe. I mean, some just had it and some didn't. And it boots nothing to be angry at that person for it. So, I guess I feel kinda sad and melancholy, thinking about my friend Danny, and wishing I could be like her. I mean him. *sigh*.

But then I felt a someone sneaking in and holding my hand. I looked up and saw Mikey's smiling face, and he gave me a wink. And that changed my mood completely.

I decided to take a chance, so I boldly pulled him closer, put my arm around his waist and rested my head on his shoulder.

He didn't try to pull away, and actually snuggled into my hug. I sighed in relief and gratitude, and felt just a bit of love. Who am I kidding. I mean a lot of love.

I turned my face around a bit and gave Mike a little kiss on the cheek, and tried to pay attention to Danny.

Listening to Danny, his little trip to the Twin Cities seemed to have been a big success, and he seems to be well on his way to becoming the next fashion idol. Or rather Dannie was. And, for that matter, "Robin" as well. Which was worrying.

I knew all about the plan: Danny made it appear to the Blumenfeld people that "Dannie" and "Robin" were not getting along, so the two weren't willing to appear in the same show at the same time. In fact, he did it so well that part of the contracts of the two models was that they will not appear on the same show, shoot or event. Also, Dannie would require her own dresser and a make-up and hair person. This would mean there would be no Blumenfeld person that would be working on "Dannie," thereby minimizing the possibility of anyone working closely to both Robin and Dannie, and thereby minimizing the possibility of recognition.

Of course the details - the mechanics of how to do that - is still up in the air.

Earlier, while we were hanging at Joanne's mom's hairdressing place and waiting for the time we needed to leave for the airport, we talked about that a little bit.

It was a foregone conclusion that Joanne would be Dannie's hairdresser and makeup artist - something that didn't endear her to the girls (or maybe I should say, us girls heehee - my therapist sez to do that more often, that identifying with my chosen gender at every opportunity was essential to the success of my RLE).

I can understand that. I mean, the opportunity to travel, to attend concerts and fashion shows, and to have a chance to meet and rub shoulders with celebrities and fashion icons - who wouldn't want that? But our envy was tempered by the fact that it was hardly a glamour job, and that Joanne was the only one in the gang who had the makeup knowledge and skill to do it. She would be working and wouldn't be able to have time for fun.As for being a dresser, that was not really needed since Danny's outfits would be selected and sized by some of the world's best fashion experts. And Joanne knew enough to dress Danny since "Dannie" and "Robin" would only be modelling ready-to-wear or "prêt-à-porter" clothes.

Mel did say, however, that it might be too much for Joanne to be both Dannie's personal dresser as well as her hairdresser-slash-makeup artist. She took Betsy's computer and found a clip. And after seeing the video, Joanne reluctantly agreed. So we needed another warm body to be part of Dannie's "entourage."

Nikki then brought up the problem of school.

"School!" Joanne reacted.

"Yeah, Joanne," Nikki giggled. "School." And she explained that, as far as she knew, minors can't miss school regardless whether they have a job or not.

"Wait a minute!" Betsy said. She pulled her computer towards her and then pulled up a page from a government website.

"According to this, per Minnesota law, kids fifteen and below can't work over forty hours in a week, and can't work from nine PM to seven AM, but for kids that are sixteen and seventeen years old, no maximum work hours but they can't work from eleven to five, except if there's parental permission."

Joanne sighed. "That's a relief." (All of us, as was Joanne, were sixteen or seventeen.)

"How about for us?" Nikki asked.

"Let's see..." Betsy scrolled. "In our state, the requirement for kids fifteen and below, maximum work hours is forty per week. For sixteen and seventeen-year-old kids, they can't work from eight PM to seven AM, and a maximum of eight consecutive hours of work per day."

"Ahhh," Joanne said.

"I suppose the laws that will apply will be the laws where you'd be working," but as far as I know, the bulk of the work will be in Minneapolis-St. Paul, so the Minnesota laws are the relevant ones."

This was all hashed over again when we met with Danny, and he bought out his laptop and scanned through his new contracts.

"Well, I don't know about Joanne, but Dad's made some restrictions for me: maximum of fifty work hours, and the schedule has to be pre-approved - special events and such have to be pre-approved a month before, and no work during holidays and exam days. How does that sound, Joanne?"

Joanne grinned. "Sounds good. Sounds great, actually."

"But, Dan," I said, "Nikki brought up another issue - Joanne can't be both your dresser as well as your make-up artist and hairdresser."

Danny looked thoughtful. "You're right. But... who?"

Betsy was clearly thinking about it. "Well... the most fashion-savvy among us is clearly Danielle..." and Danielle was about to whoop for joy, but Betsy interjected, "... but! ... But clearly there are issues if it was her - looking like Danny is clearly an issue here..."

Danielle looked dejected. "Darn..."

"So the next best among us would be Nikki..."

Nikki had a comical, surprised expression on her face, like she couldn't believe she'd get to work with Danny.

"Really?" she asked.

"Well," Danielle said, "if you want..." Danielle wasn't looking too happy, but she was agreeing.

"But you guys have to know," I said, "I can't give you top dollar. At best I can give you is like twice the hourly minimum wage... maybe fifteen dollars an hour at most, and that won't include travel time, I'm sure, and I can't give you any sort of benefits. So, are you sure?"

"Wait!" Joanne exclaimed, and turned to me. "Tracey, do we need to give up our KRPQ gigs?"

I shrugged. "I don't see why you should. So long as you don't neglect your work, then you can stay on the station's website staff."

Nikki and Joanne high-fived each other.

One of our bodyguards came over and tapped Danny on the shoulder.

"Hey, Tyler. What's up?"

"Danny, we saw a bunch of fans starting to gather near the airport lobby. I think we'd better go."

"Damn... Okay. Guys, time to book."

In short order, we all started for our cars, and Danny, Nikki, Danielle and Betsy rode with me. The consensus was that we'd all go home and just get together again after school tomorrow at the station or at Betsy's.

Danielle made a short comment that Mike should have ridden with us. I saw everyone grinning ever so slightly, and I blushed. "You guys..."

As per usual, I dropped off Betsy first, and then Nikki, and then the twins. Danny said for me to wait, and he rushed into their house, coming out in a while with a sealed envelope.

He handed it to me. "Here's Robin's contract, Trace. Can I ask a favor, and if you can send that off from the office? I can't have it sent off from here because of the address."

I nodded.

Danny and Danielle gave me big hugs and walked to their house. I waved and I proceeded to our condo.

- - -

As I got in, mom was there to give me a hug, and asked how everyone was. I said fine, and I told her everything that Danny told us. Mom nodded in the right places, which proved she was actually listening, lol.

After a lull as I took a drink of water, as well as downed a couple of my hormone pills, Mom asked something.

"Danny told me a little bit about your plans for the station," mom said. "Does the news fit your plans?"

"Oh, sure! As soon as Dannie and Robin's contracts are official, I'm gonna promo the heck out of it, and maybe look into getting our programs block-timed in some of the stations that asked about syndication."

"What do you think about becoming part of one of the networks from the east coast?"

"What? No way! we'll lose most of our shows, and..."

"But I'm sure our Nighthawk show is going to be..."

"Ummm, mom?" I began. "I have an idea about that..."

"An idea, dear?"

"What if we start up our own network now? I know it's in the plans, but I think now's the right time for it."

"You realize that we're basically putting all our eggs in one basket. Everything's on Danny. Not that I think something will happen to Danny, but what if we lose him for some reason?"

"Well, I do have some ideas for some more programs. For example, that new market that we unearthed with Dennis and Lou - maybe we can start building them up, and maybe start syndicating their program. And maybe we can start streaming our signal on the web more regularly. Also, maybe we can start building up Sally - with her upcoming gig with Blumenfeld, I think there's a target-of-opportunity there, not to mention her known to be be a close friend of Robin's."

Mom was nodding at that. "What about Harry and Talia?"

"Well," I said, "Harry hasn't really developed a following, though Talia has some solid rating numbers. I guess we need to build them up, too. Maybe we can get Harry to do some man-on-the-street stuff, and maybe we can make up a gimmick for Talia..." I started to think.

"I know that look," mom said, and looked at me suspiciously. "What are you thinking, Tracey?"

"What if we got Talia a helicopter? She could do an eye-in-the-sky kind of thing?"

Mom looked irritated. "Tracey, we don't have the money for a helicopter!"

"Oh..." I wracked my brain for an alternative. "But what if we used a drone?"

"A drone? What's a drone?"

I got out my laptop and browsed a bit. "These are drones," I said, proffering my computer with pictures of drones on the screen.

Mom looked. "Ahhh! Drones!"

"I'm sure there are some issues in terms of permits, plus drones don't have much flight time, but let me research it. I'm sure I can find some answers for us. Or we can use a van or something, and have her go around town when she airs her program. And I really think we need to start up our..."

Mom gave me me a big hug. "Those are great ideas, honey. If you can get all of our staff's ratings numbers up and establish some good presence, and drum up some interest from our neighboring radio stations, maybe I could be persuaded to start up our plans for the Piper Radio Network."

"Is that a promise, mom?"

"Hey! Who do you think you're talking to, my dear?" she smiled at me delightedly.

- - -

 
***** (Danny) *****

When Danielle and I got home, we found our folks still up.

I got big hugs from both my mom and dad, and wondered what I did to deserve that.

"So how did it go?" Dad said.

"Score!" I exclaimed, and we fist-bumped and high-fived, which dad and I did all the time.

"Did they accept it?"

"Lock, stock and barrel, pop!"

"Coolness!" Coolness? It's funny when it comes from my dad. Anyway, we did the fistbump-plus-high-five again.

"I did have a question, dad - something that we didn't think of this afternoon."

"Which is?"

"Well, I did mention that, ummm, 'Dannie' will want a make-up and hair stylist plus a dresser, but they said they can't cover their cost. Although they did add a little to the compensation package to help me cover that, but we forgot to specify that travel and accommodation costs will also be covered."

Dad thought it through. "Well," he said, "most probably they'll cover their travel costs, but I don't know if they'll take care of accommodations for them, too. But it won't hurt to ask."

"Ummm... Can you ask them for me, dad?"

"Well... chances are, they might not want to make changes to the contract since they already signed off on it... but they might be open to making other arrangements, like maybe an addendum or supplemental agreement. Don't worry, kid, I'll email them about it tonight and ask if they can reply by tomorrow."

"Dad, that sounds like we're pressuring..."

He waved his hand. "I know, I know. That's because we are pressuring them. But they'll know we're pressuring them. And they'll know we know. They won't take it against us. Besides, I can say you're gonna sign the contract regardless, so it's not like we're trying to pull a fast one."

"Okay."

- - -

It turns out dad was right - in the morning, Mindy, Sarah's assistant, sent off an email with a conforme letter: in it, they said Blumenfeld was willing to cover transportation costs and things like meals for my hairdresser-slash-makeup artist and my dresser, but they won't cover hotel costs. Seems this was a common thing since there was a form letter.

But there was a note in the e-mail from Mindy - since Blumenfeld would usually be billeting me in two-bed hotel rooms, she said my people can just bunk with me.

I signed my contract and the conforme letter right away (I had Danielle's signature down pat by now), and had dad co-sign, and mom witnessed it, and dad said he'll make sure the papers are Fedexed as soon as he gets to the office.

As for Robin's contract, I signed it and gave it to Tracey last night so she could have it sent to Blumenfeld today. I guess, by tonight, I should be getting Robin's notarized copies as well.

I hadn't been able to wake up early enough this morning, so I wasn't able to practice with my musical instruments, but I rationalized that I could afford to miss a day, and just proceeded to get ready for school.

Mom and Danielle had been poring over the contracts, and I could feel a bit of jealousy emanating from Danielle, but nothing major, I'm sure. But it was her and the other girls' fault that I was in this position in the first place, so she had no one to blame but herself.

As I was finishing getting ready for school, Mindy texted, and asked for pictures, details and the full names of my hairdresser and make-up artist, and my dresser. She certainly was a hard-working girl.

So I sent her Joanne's and Nikki's profiles from the KRPQ website, and I promised to send her their personal cellphone numbers and email addresses in a bit. I texted the girls and asked them if it was all right. As I was putting on my shoes, the girls replied, so I sent Mindy their contact details. She thanked me and said to contact her at anytime if I had any questions, especially if it had something to do with my contract. I said I would and hung up.

- - -

Everyone in the gang had the same lunch period, so naturally we would have our lunch together. It was known that we would usually have lunch at around this time, at a specific table in the cafeteria, which is now known as UB's table, and it would always be available for our use. And if there were people there during lunchtime, they would politely let us have the table - a big difference from the time me and my buds would be stuck in one of the smaller tables on the sides, or have to eat outside in the bleachers. Gone were those days.

Only the middle tables were the ones that had enough seats for all of us anyway - at the moment, the gang was about ten, and all the tables only had room for eight except the ones in the middle, which seated twelve. And this was how I rationalized our monopolizing our table and displacing people. Still, we were one of the better-behaved groups in the cafeteria - not the quietest, but were better behaved than the JDs or the jocks or the cheerleaders - so none of the teachers or the cafeteria ladies had any issues with us.

When we get to our table, sometimes there's stuff on it - gifts for one or other member of UB, and sometimes for Drew, Mel, Nikki or Morgan, and, lately, I've started getting some, too. Jerry and Mike haven't gotten any yet, though, but they didn't seem to mind.

The gifts were nothing special - usually just little notes or cards. But some of the more forward and courageous fans would leave gifts of fan-art, CDs, little recordings, photos, poems, clothing items or even jewelry. We thought that it would be impolite to not accept the notes and little gifts, but we made it known that we wouldn't be accepting gifts of food (no one knows if they're safe or not), used or soiled clothing items, or super-expensive stuff (usually jewelry), non-family-friendly pictures, or items of questionable... quality or style or content (if you know what I mean). Eventually, this became known to everyone, and since we didn't make any exceptions, not many left those kinds of gifts anymore.

We, or whoever the gift was meant for, would post a note or something on the band's website to thank them for their gifts, and would also email a personal note to those who left email addresses. But for those gifts we didn't accept, we would leave them on the table with a little note of apology taped to them (we used to attach personal notes to them, but when I found these little notes being sold on eBay, I asked Mike to make some of those little 2 inch by 2 inch gift cards but said "We're sorry," and we would tape them onto the gift itself - totally generic with no resale value at all). Mickey would also take pictures of them, and we'd leave an automated thank you post on the band's website, and an explanation about why we couldn't accept them. If the gift was taken back by some person other than the one who left it - well, we couldn't help that.

This particular morning, there were a lot of them, and though there were a few that we knew not to accept - actually to not even touch - everything else was okay. Danielle, of course, got loads again, as did the rest of the band, and the others got a few as well. A couple of the cards, though, sealed in envelopes, was addressed to me, and I was delighted to have some Danny fans - most likely classmates who wanted to remain anonymous.

We didn't open or read any of them at the table, and Mel just put them all away in a see-through plastic hobo bag as usual (so people can see what's in it) and we'll open them later at the office or at Betsy's. It was better that way. Mike attached the "we're sorry" cards to the ones we didn't take, took pictures of them, and left them in the middle of the table.

Fallon brought some girls from of the Glee Club, but there were no seats available so they found seats at the table next to ours, which were presently being occupied by the cheerleaders. The cheerleaders didn't put up a fuss tho (probably because there were only three of them today), so Beatriz, Edna, Kalista, Ramona, Valentina, Phylicia and Eileen were able to sit. Fallon decided to sit with them.

As we had our lunch, today's topic du jour became the car that I, or Dannie, would be getting. The guys clearly had some ideas about it. They suggested cars like a classic 1965 Shelby Mustang GTO, a Dodge Charger, a Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am, a big Buick GNX, and so many other big muscle cars. But the girls nixed all of them. The closest that the girls came to liking was a yellow 2010 Camaro - like Bumblebee from the movies, or a 1982 Trans-Am like the car from the old Knightrider TV show, but they didn't really like those either. Morgan tried to lobby for the Shelby Mustang, but this time I was the one who didn't like it.

"But, Danny," he said, "I thought you like Mustangs!"

"That's the thing, Morgan," I said. "I already have my Mustang. How would it look like if Danielle also had one?"

"But this is a Shelby GTO..."

I stood my ground and shook my head no.

"Dammit..." Morgan mumbled.

"Well, how about this one," Jerry suggested, and he showed us his smartphone. On it was a 1969 Chevy Corvette Baldwin GTO.

"That's super sexy," Nikki enthused.

"You like that one?" I asked her.

"Yeah. Pretty sexy." And she gave me a kiss. "Just like you."

Typically, everyone went, "oooh!" and laughed when I blushed.

"Wait, wait," Mel said, and took back Jerry's phone. After a second, she showed us another car.

"I think this is the right one. A total winner." We looked, and it looked real feminine and cute. I sorta got the feminine vibe of it, and maybe it'd fit Dannie's image. What it was was the Fiat 500 Spiaggina ’58 concept car from the 60th anniversary of the Fiat 500 back in 2018, and it used the 60th anniversary model as the base car.

I looked to Danielle and Nikki, and they were nodding like crazy. I turned to my guys and shrugged. "Sorry, boys," I said apologetically. "It's been decided." I showed them the picture.

After a while, Mike nodded and reluctantly said, "it's cute."

And it really was. The one in the picture was in sky-blue, with white accents, and it didn't have a top, making it look like it was meant for the beach, and had only a tiny smidge of an A-pillar and a vestigial windscreen. It did have a white hoop above the seatbacks, it presumably was acting as a rollbar. There were also no rear seats as the rear end was meant for storage only, complete with a fold-down tailgate. And it was tiny - it was a two-seater Fiat 500 after all, and the lines echoed the original, tiny 60s car. Plus, the chrome hubcaps and the whitewall tires emphasized the wheels, giving it a retro touch - all-in-all a cute and sexy girl-car.

As it was decided, I called Mindy, and said I had picked out a car. I then sent her the pictures Mel found as well as the website, and she said she'll look into it. I told her that classes would be over by around three so she could call me then.

- - -

After school, we went to Betsy's as usual, where we were met by Tracey, Fallon as well as the rest of the band. Tracey said there was word from Blumenfeld, that they received Robin's signed copy of the contract, and they'll be sending back my signed, witnessed and notarized copy of Robin's contract, and that I had a photoshoot this coming Sunday. Yayyy... not...

Tracey said that, given this'll be a regular thing, I needed an official apartment - somewhere where my mail can be sent, and where the IRS and the government can send mail and whatever. "I mean, you're welcome to keep on using the station as your mailing address, but eventually, you'll need a real address.

I sighed and nodded at this inevitability, but there were some practical considerations. "I guess you're right, Tracey," I said. but the place has to be reasonably near my folks' place so it won't be too difficult ducking in an out of Robin's place and then to my house."

"Yeah," Danielle agreed. "And we have to find a way to keep, ummm, unwanted folks away from the place. Like fans and such."

Betsy interjected that her folks might be able to help find me one, and left us in search of her folks.

"Well, that was helpful." Tracey commented.

Fallon nodded and smiled. "That's Betsy for you."

My smartphone beeped and I checked who it was.

"It's Mindy texting, asking if she can call me."

"Go on, Dan," Nikki said, "call her."

I dialed her number and she picked up right away. "Hey, Dannie," she said.

"Hey, Mindy. What's up?"

"I just wanted to say, we got your contract and we are having the first of your, ummm, care packages now," she giggled. "We're gonna ship it to your house and, if everything goes well, you should be getting it in a couple of days."

"Yayyy!"

"We have a problem, though. There's a bit of an issue about your car," she said. "The particular car you chose is a concept car. It was specially designed by ac company called Garage Italia for the Fiat 500's 60th anniversary last 2018, meaning it's not something that's available for sale."

"Oh, darn.." I tried to make my voice sound more disappointed than I actually was.

"Ummm, but, if your heart's really set on it, I have a suggestion."

"Yes?"

"There's a small garage near your town that one of Sarah's friends from the Tate Corporation raves about. It's a small place called Otto's Garage, and they specialize in creating custom one-off cars. Sarah's friend has had his daughter's car customized there, and they apparently do good work. Mr. Nance, Sarah's friend raves about his daughter's car all the time.

"So if you really have your heart set on that car, I can contact Otto's Garage and have him replicate that car."

"But, Mindy, that's too much work! I can just pick another..."

"No, no... I already asked Otto and he said he can get his hands one of those 2018 Fiat 500 anniversary production cars and modify them to be like your concept car."

"Sounds expensive, Mindy..."

Mindy laughed. "What do you care, Dannie - it'll be on us!"

"Well..."

"All I need is a go-ahead from you. So what do you say."

"Hold on, lemme get some opinions from the guys here."

"Guys?"

"Some friends from school, and the guys from my band."

"Ahhh! Tell them hi from me."

"'Kay. Call you back in a bit."

I hung up and I told the guys about the issue with the car.

"What?" Dale said. "What car?"

The girls explained and got the Dale and the others up to speed. Drew excitedly showed them the picture of the car, and June was all for the custom Fiat 500, but Mongo and Dale weren't too excited about it.

"But, hey," Dale said, "it's your car - we don't get a vote, and that's okay. Go for it." He hit me on the shoulder in a friendly way, as a kind of apology.

"Dale's right," Mongo said. And that's all he had to say about it... Typical Mongo. Lol.

"Okay," I said. "So, should I call her back?"

And the consensus was yes.

"Hey, Mindy," I said.

"So, what's the verdict?"

"Well, apparently, so long as Blumenfeld House is okay with it, then I'm okay with it."

"So... it's a go?"

"It's a go."

"Great! I'm gonna tell Sarah, and then I'm gonna call up Otto and green-light the project."

"How long do you think the project will take?"

"Well, Otto told me earlier that it should take about two weeks."

"For everything?"

"Yes, and Otto said he'll add a couple of extras at no cost, and he says they're easy - he's already done that for someone else's car so it won't make the build longer."

"Okay. I'm all for extras."

"So I can report to Sarah and Mr. Blumenfeld that we've fulfilled the requirements of the contract, and we'll be expecting you this coming Sunday."

"Ah, okay." As friendly as Mindy was, she clearly had an objective - that of fulfilling the provisions of the contract.

"Ummm, Mindy," I said, "I have to ask, though... is Robi..."

"No worries, Dannie," Mindy interjected. "Ms. Tibbles will be asked to report on Saturday, and she'll be leaving for home just as you're gonna be doing your thing on Sunday."

"Ahhh. Okay, then."

"Thanks, Dannie. I'll be emailing you your itinerary tomorrow, as well as your plane tickets and your people's plane tickets."

I tried to be casual when I tried to find out who would get tickets. "So, how many tickets is that?" I asked as breezily as I could.

"Well, let's see - there's yours, your makeup artist Joanne, your dresser Nikki, and your bodyguard Tyler. That makes four in total. Why? Are you worried about the transportation? Don't worry, honey - the car we'll be sending to pick you up will be big enough.

"Thanks so much, Mindy. See you in six days."

See you, then!"

I hung up and told everyone about the phone call.

- - -

 
***** (Tracey) *****

With Mike's arm around me, I listened to Danny. and it sounded like the plan was working like clockwork. But as I listened, I was thinking of some of the other details that we didn't think of in this super-complicated plan of ours.

For example, if we really intended to use Danielle as a decoy, we have to find a way to make the process more smoothly. And then we were caught by surprise by Robin's and Dannie's need for mailing addresses. Which highlighted Robin's need for her own place. And the need to get her school classes set up. And all of this just to maintain her identity.

And then I thought that Dannie has all of these benefits that Robin didn't. Doesn't really matter, actually, since she was actually the same person. But, again, for the purposes of image and identity, she should at least have her own car - a car appropriate for her persona.

Betsy might be able to help with the house or apartment. And I had some thoughts about the car. As for the school angle - that's all a problem as it's more a problem of time - that Danny didn't have time for it. Guess we have to figure out how to make it happen somehow.

I remember the cars we were browsing from last night - and I thought the corvette we looked at. That one seemed to match Robin's image. I also remembered that place they were going to have Dannie's car made - Otto's Garage. But then the people ad Blumenfeld might smell something fishy if i called them up. Then I remembered Dino Cars. They owed my mom's company so maybe I can get a good deal. I think I'll call them up.

Betsy came back.

"Dan?" she said. "I think I can help you out with the house."

"Yeah?"

"Mom and dad have just finished a small gated little community a couple of blocks from your house."

"You mean that construction project near the water tower on Maple? That's your family's project?"

"Yeah. It's gonna be a gated community, and about a fourth of the houses are still available. Dad says he can get reserve one of the houses for you, and give you a good price for it. He'll even be able to put you in touch with the project's financing company and facilitate things.

"And since it's a gated community, no one can just enter, which will mean fans, or anyone else for that matter, can't just get in, which solves all of Robin's fan problems. And - get this - there are three separate powerhouses or electrical rooms at the wall boundary. They're meant for power, telephone, cable TV and Internet cabling coming into the community. But apparently two were sufficient, even considering future expansion. So, because of that, one of the electrical rooms are unused and empty."

"Ummm... so?"

"These electrical rooms have a door to the outside, so one can get in and out of the little village without being seen. So you can sneak in and out whenever you need too."

"Ooohhh..."

"How come you know so much about it, Bets," Fallon asked.

Betsy shrugged. "My dad brings me along to see all of his construction projects, and he likes it when I ask him things."

"Well, Bets, I don't have a good portfolio," Danny said. "I doubt if I can get the financing."

"What do you mean, Danny?" I said. "As Robin, you're gainfully employed, and you have this brand-new modeling gig. I'm sure the banks will approve any kind of loan you apply for."

"But Trace, it's not just the cost..."

I could sense what he was worried about. "Danny," I sighed. "I already told you - your identity papers are totally backstopped! It's totally covered. 'Robin Tibbles' is a completely authentic person insofar as the government is concerned - you can pay taxes, drive, vote, make loans, travel anywhere, buy whatever, and do anything else a normal person can do, including buying a house, and the government nor anyone wouldn't find anything wrong!"

"Well, then -"

"Yeah?"

"Pick me a nice, small place and tell your dad I'm game."

"Yesss!!!"

- - -

Over a mess of nachos and sodas, we discussed how how Danny's weekend would be managed, and after that was sussed out, Mel brought out the transparent hobo bag.

"Lots today!" I commented.

"Yep!" she nodded. "Let's see - let's start off with a big one. Here's one addressed to the band." She brought out a gift-wrapped box roughly the size of a bread bin.

As per usual, Mike took a picture and Jerry, wearing a pair of blue disposable nitril gloves (I know, I know - it's overkill, but I was the one who suggested it, k?,) opened it. Inside was a portable DVD player - and not one of those cheap ones, either - plus a DVD.

"We have to return that DVD player..." Danielle said. Jerry nodded and put it away for the usual thing, while Betsy took the DVD and plopped it into the DVD player attached to the room's TV. It turned out to be a very nice copy of the concert as well as the TV show, with a cute note from one of our fans at the end. Clearly, we'll keep this.

There was also another box, which turned out to contain a bunch of very-well-drawn portraits of all the band members, and we were surprised that there were an extra ten portraits (which makes fifteen in all) - that's because it included the rest of the gang, plus me and Janet. The only one missing was Robin. (Morgan's and Danny's portraits were especially well done, by the way.)

There was a little note, and, apparently, the girl (for it was a girl) was equally a fan of Morgan and Danny as she was a fan of UB. That was a little bit unusual. I suppose it's because Morgan is a jock in their school, but according to everything I've heard, Danny has not been anything but a geeky nerd at their school. So I had to wonder why. Hmmm...

Anyway, Mickey said he had a friend that can have the pictures framed, and with urging from me, he called his friend.

This time, "Robin" also got a couple. This had started happening after the fire over at the Jackson Building, and after Robin came out on Youtube. Most of Robin's fans send their little gifts and things to her directly care of the radio station, but sometimes some kids send them through Danny and his gang, like today. Today, it was a couple of framed pictures of Robin - one from her hosting the KRPQ launch, and another of her carrying firefighter Lucas Hoskins down the fireladder during that fire.

And so it went, as each of the packages were opened. Our "clubhouse" (actually a room in Betsy's house) was starting to accumulate a lot of these gifts from fans. But that's fine.

The last one to we opened was this little gift-wrapped packet of 2R-size photos - it was all of Danny, and Danny-as-Dannie and Danny-as-Robin. But as we leafed through them, there was a sinister tone throughout - most of the pictures were obviously taken surreptitiously and some of them were from places only the gang knew about. What was a bit creepy were pictures of "Robin" and "Dannie" on their trips to Minnesota, like pictures at the airport, or Dannie walking in the park, and of her or Robin entering an office building, as well as of Dannie's afternoon meeting with Sally, where they discussed their contracts. The pictures were clearly taken with a telephoto lens through the restaurant's picture window while "Robin" and Sally were chatting and eating.

Some of the pictures were scary: in some of the pictures of Robin and Sally, Sally's face was burned off, like with a cigarette or a match, and there was one that was taken at a little coffee shop, presumably in Minneapolis, where Dannie was chatting with a girl behind the counter at the coffe shop: the girl's face had been burned off, too. There were also a few pictures of the entire gang having dinner or something, and Fallon's face had been burned off, too.

"Oh, my god!" I exclaimed.

"Janet," Danny said in a chilling monotone. "It's got to be..." I've only heard Danny talk like that a couple of times. She was mad. Really mad. I wouldn't want to be the target of that rage, that's for sure.

I picked up the picture - the one with "Robin" and Sally, and contemplated it.

"Oh, my god..." I said again.

- - -

Later that night, before mom got home, I looked up Dino Cars in my mom's files and called them up. It turns out that they had a franchise nearby, and I called them. Despite it being a little late, someone answered. When I dropped mom's name and mentioned PiperCorp, the guy in charge, someone named Charlie, took the call.

I explained why I was calling, and he said he had a line to some classic Corvettes. It seemed that 1969 Corvette coupes ran to as high as twenty-five to fifty thousand, but Charlie said he could get one for twenty-five. However, he also had a line to a fixer-upper that he could get for fifteen. And to get it up to showroom condition, it'll only cost about five. I had some ideas for some changes, though, and he said that would cost an additional five thousand or so. So a total of twenty-five in all. Essentially, the change I asked was to make the corvette a 2+2 instead of keeping it as a two-seater, but preserving the car's body-lines. That means there would be two small seats at the back, allowing four people to sit in the car instead of just two. The changes also included replacing the tires with 70s era vintage-style rims and tires, and a different kind of paint job - something stock but unusual; something people don't see Corvettes in a lot.

Charlie said he had a complete set of pristine rims from a junker they got which could easily be rechromed, and he also said they could change the color of a car to a tangerine-kind of paint job, similar to the factory "Monaco orange" (the most uncommon of the Corvette's stock colors) but flashier and brighter: there was this off-the-shelf "kandy copper" paint from FLX Paints that was excellent for it, and since it was off-the-shelf, it would be cheap, and there would be no need to mix colors. I also asked if he could upgrade the electronics so it'd have the proper kind of radio, a charger for gadgets, an all-electronic dash and so forth. Charlie said all of that would be available off-the-shelf, too, and it'd be easy to retrofit all of that.

I was confident they'd do a god job since I name-dropped mom's name and PiperCorp: I knew Charlie and his people won't be pulling any fast ones.

All-in-all it'd be twenty-five thousand. And if I can convince mom, then that means "Robin" would be set up with a car in two weeks. I left my name and number with Charlie, and promised him I'd call him up either later tonight or tomorrow morning, and let him know if it's a go or not.

Soon after that, mom came in, and gave me a big kiss on the cheek.

"How was your day, honey," she asked and i told her everything - about Danny's new contracts, especially about Danny's mailing address issues and how Betsy can set her up with a place of her own.

"So complicated, this modeling thing of Danny's..." mom said.

"I know. But it'll help me out a lot if Danny pushes through with it, mom! It'll give the station a leg up, and maybe open up new franchising and syndication opportunities, and..."

Mom raised her hands in surrender. "I know, honey! I know."

"Oh, mom... also..." Then I explained to her about the car. I showed her a picture of a Corvette.

"How much is it again?" she asked as she looked at the picture.

"Twenty-five grand?" I cringed.

"Hmmm... that's a lot of money, Trace..."

"I know, mom, but Danny needs it. Or, rather, Robin does. And I think it's a small investment in our biggest asset."

"I will agree to the car if you can get... Robin to sign a three-year contract with us."

"Mom..." I said, worried that Danny might feel pressured, and think that the things we did for her might have strings attached.

"Wait a minute, Trace," mom said. "I know what you're thinking. And it's not about Danny owing us. The car is like an incentive to get 'Robin' to sign with us. Because we need him - just like the signing bonuses 'Dannie' was offered by Blumenfeld. And you have to tell it to her that way, because that's what it is."

"Mom..."

Mom gave me a hug. "I love Danny, too, Trace. I would never hold over her anything she's done, much less let the cat out of the bag. You know that. This is just business. And 'Robin' is free to not sign the contract. And we would never make a big deal of it. And we'll just be here in this same position we're in now."

"Well... well..."

Mom giggled. "What - made you even think I'd do something like that?"

I sighed and gave her a smile.

"Sorry, mom."

"And, like I said - this is business. So you better think up a good contract that is fair, that your station can handle, and that Robin will be okay to sign."

"Okay, okay. I will... wait... 'My' station?"

Mom smiled widely. "I checked with our lawyers. And they said it's okay to make you KRPQ's new station manager, as well as the assistant vice-president of the new Piper Communications Corporation in charge of new business development."

"Ohmigod..."

"Now, as the president and CEO of Piper Communications, I am giving you instructions to proceed making plans for the establishment of PiperComm's new business lines and...

I grabbed her around the neck and hugged the stuffing out of her.

- - -

 
***** (Mrs. Piper) *****

I was so pleased to see Tracey so excited, and was glad I made the decision. I knew she could do the work, but I was worried about the timing, and that she needs to not let her schoolwork slide. But that's a topic of conversation for another time.

I got the lawyers to get the paperwork for PiperComm going, and, maybe, in a month or two, PiperComm is going to be a reality, and then we can start with the real work.

In the meantime, I better help Tracey get the foundation for PiperComm ready, and make sure her plans for KRPQ come to fruition.

As I watched Tracey babble on in excitement, it was like she was channeling the stereotype flighty teenage girl, an I knew, in my heart of hearts,I've finally, one-hundred percent accepted that she was a real girl. And I watched my girl chatter on in both amusement and pride.

And then she stopped.

"Honey?" I said in some concern. "Is something wrong?"

"Mom," she said, "I better tell you about these pictures the gang got this afternoon..."

to be continued...

 

click here to read my old Working Girl Blogs, click here to read all of my blogs, click here to read my stories in BCTS, and click here to see my profile & know more about me.