Free The Idea of Him by Holly Peterson Page B

skirt. “We’ll soften your look a little or something. I promise he’s just around the corner. Let me just deal with the monster down the hall first.”
    I grabbed a pen and paper and quick-stepped down the short hall to Murray’s corner office.
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    SELENA, A CURVACEOUS Colombian woman, and one of the only beings on the planet who didn’t fear Murray Hillsinger, nodded me in with a roll of her big eyes and a pursing of her huge shiny lips lined in dark pencil. My boss was clearly not in a good mood. All I needed.
    â€œI don’t give a shit who he thinks he is,” Murray roared into his phone as I entered. He waved me to the straight-backed chair next to the black leather couch where he tended to hold court. I crossed and recrossed my legs while his tirade continued. His yellow tie dotted with little purple crowns didn’t quite cover his belly, which protruded in a horizontal glob over his belt. “You gotta say what I tell you to say publicly or you’re screwed. Plain and simple. I hate to state the obvious, but the cover-up is always worse than the crime, buddy. Just admit your mistake and move on. Otherwise you’re toast. Trust me, that’s what you’re paying me for. I’ll get a good reporter to take your mea culpa. Someone important. I know: I’ll get Delsie Arceneaux to do it for you. Sound good? She’ll be gentle.”
    Arrayed on the coffee table was Bouley Bakery’s freshest assortment of chocolate croissants and buttery Danish and muffins, delivered daily the minute Murray arrived. As he listened to the diminished soul on the other end of the line, he gestured toward the coffeepot for me to pour him a refill. I felt like a stewardess.
    Murray suddenly threw the phone down the length of the couch, grabbed a giant blueberry crumb muffin, tore off the top, and bit a large section from it, spraying balls of sugar everywhere in the process. “I’m so happy Delsie is ready to emcee the Fulton Film Festival media lunch, and some panels. It’s like some light went on for her after your pitch and she’s excited. But now we gotta create even more buzz. Remember I got Max Rowland to invest in the festival, so he’ll have his jail buddies break my kneecaps if we mess this up.”
    â€œOkay,” I said and wrote more buzz on my notepad. Murray always liked people to take notes, no matter how simple his demands. He knew damn well the buzz we were going to find was already in the pipeline. The Fulton Film Festival was practically running itself.
    â€œWhatever you have, I’m not impressed, it’s not enough for Delsie or Max—”
    â€œMurray,” I interrupted. “Why did you get that criminal Max Rowland to invest in a do-gooder festival like ours and put extra pressure on us to please him as well? I’m managing so many projects I don’t know if I have the time to . . .” My home situation was sapping so much energy out of me that I could barely listen to his commands, let alone execute them.
    â€œBullshit. You got spunk and intelligence.” He counted these attributes on his fingers without releasing the raspberry pastry in his grip. “You like to argue. Delsie likes that. I like that. I need to be told when I’m off base.”
    For the past ten years, Murray had never once listened to me when I told him he was off base. I put down my pen.
    â€œSo what do you want me to do?”
    â€œI want you to promise me everything will go okay with the festival.”
    â€œFirst of all, as much as you’d like me to be, Murray, I’m not your mommy. And second, why do I have to go it alone? Why can’t you be more involved?”
    â€œYou are to deal alone with Max on festival business; I’m not doing it anymore. Have a pastry. You’re too goddamned thin.”
    Why was every man in my life acting like a little child who had to have everything the way he wanted just