Description: Glenn Sabine doesn't do well under pressure. He throws tantrums and clipboards when he's especially anxious, like today as he waits on result of his assistant Pike Setter's amateur attempt at placating the dangerous Juliet Jones.
Eve Goes to New York. PART 28.
All the next morning, Glenn Sabine was not himself. He was stomping around backstage, carrying a clipboard like somebody important, shouting to nobody in particular that the owners of the theater needed to get that carpet fixed and make sure the lighting and microphones worked on opening night. And oh, if they could fix those holes in the leaky roof that splattered like a broken fire alarm when the heavy rains came, that’d be great! And while they were at it, they could fix him up a sandwich and get him the ignoramus caterer on the horn who kept sending them carrot sticks and stale over-salted pretzels instead of a decent breakfast.
In a fit, he slammed his clipboard down because nobody was paying any attention to him. How come he could never afford a secretary so that he could have someone to blame? How come he could never afford anything except the donkey that he rode in on?
And speaking of asses (assistants, that is), where the freak was Pike Setter?!
Glenn’s blood pressure was through the roof. His sinuses were acting up. Quickly, he popped a few more pills – dry without water – from the medicine bottle he’d found on the street labeled “Tylenol.” Any given Miss Teenager contestant would have thought he’d lost his mind, rattling off inconsequential mumblings that meant nothing to nobody but him, yet none of the girls even noticed or cared. In Glenn’s opinion, they were all enjoying themselves way too much, like some day-camp for girls at the Y, socializing and cackling up a storm like they were preparing for a slumber party rather than a serious beauty pageant.
Okay, so maybe he was a tad bit anxious, waiting for the report from Pike on the status of Juliet Jones. Everything was riding on it! All his proverbial eggs were in one proverbial basket! If Pike had somehow used his dimwitted noggin for something other than poker and buying cigarettes, and made sure that Juliet Jones was effectively out of his hair, the man would deserve a raise. Well, Glenn was feeling out of his mind, but he wasn’t insane. A raise for anyone was out of the question.
All the girls were standing on stage and he was in the front, ready to address them and give them instructions for the rehearsal, when he smelled Pike Setter coming down the center aisle of the theater.
“Excuse me, girls,” he said to the girls, excusing himself.
He turned to the theater and saw Pike splashing rainwater off of his hat.
“Pike?” Glenn asked.
“Yeah, Glenn.”
Glenn trotted over to him and waited… and waited… and… oh my goodness, would this man ever get right to the point without the blasé disposition? Glenn was about to explode in anticipation. It was the single most important thing on his mind! That and wondering how the rain was able to drench Pike Setter’s entire body while keeping his cigarette perfectly dry.
“Well?” he blurted out.
As Pike pulled off his trench coat with the speed of a snail at a horse race, he spoke through his cigarette haze. “Juliet Jones seems momentarily placated,” he stated. “You can stop fretting, Glenn.”
