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He got into the rear seat beside her, his expression unreadable. “I hope I look okay,” he said.
Je
“That’s not for me to say,” she replied stiffly.
She saw him glance at her curiously, but he kept silent.
The drive to the mall was short, for which Je
She looked at Lee, who was craning his neck unhappily. “What are all these people doing here?” he muttered. “Why aren’t they home painting their garages, or something?”
Je
He hesitated a moment, and then said, “I don’t deserve such adulation. These little kids, they should be looking up to, I don’t know, Jonas Salk or Neil Armstrong or Sandra Day O’Co
Je
He turned on the seat to face her. “In the first place, I don’t have a manager, because I don’t want one. In the second place, I only do the appearances required by my contract, like this one, and the charity stuff. That’s all.”
Je
His lips twisted. “Really.”
“What about the product endorsements, the commercials?” Je
He shrugged slightly. “I endorse the products I actually use, I see no harm in that But if I think the stuff is junk, I won’t go for it, no matter how much they’re offering.”
Je
“You wouldn’t believe some of the approaches I’ve had,” he added musingly. “Most of the pitches I’ve turned down play on my background, which I won’t allow. One cooking oil outfit, which shall be nameless, wanted me to deck myself out in buckskins and a headdress and talk about how the ‘braves’ in my ‘tribe’ used to harvest the same com used for their oil.” He shook his head. “Blackfeet live in the Northwest and Canada. They harvested about as much com as your average Eskimo. But I’ll tell you something, even if my people had grown enough com to float the continent in the stuff, I still wouldn’t have done it. I’d rather hawk dog food.”
Je
The driver negotiated his way among cars until he reached one of the mall police. Then he rolled down his window and identified his passenger. The cop peered in the tinted rear window at Lee, who gave him a small half wave. The cop nodded and cleared a path for them up to the mall manager’s office, where Je
They were behind the mall, out of view of the crowd, but a few stragglers still caught sight of Lee. They shouted and waved. He raised his hand in acknowledgment and kept moving. Just like royalty, Je
Inside, a contingent was waiting for them. It was composed of the mall manager, the general managers of the anchor department stores, the president of the development corporation that had built the mall, the local councilman, and the mayor. There was even a county beauty contest wi
The mall manager, a Mr. Vance, led them to a central lobby where the crowd was gathered behind ropes cordoning off the corridors. A dais, covered in red velvet, had been placed in the center. The group paused before reaching it and received some preliminary instructions from Mr. Vance and then proceeded outside to the reviewing stand.
The mass of people erupted when they saw Lee. He gri
Je
Mr. Vance made the usual appropriate remarks, ending with a spiel about how lucky they were to have with them today that giant of the sports world, a great humanitarian and a true gentleman, etc., etc., Lee Youngson!
Lee stepped up to the microphone during a thunderous ovation. He lifted his arms to ask for quiet and then launched into his talk.
Je
When he finished and sat again to more enthusiastic applause, the others took their turn and spoke briefly. The mayor was up last, thanking everyone as mayors generally do, and then Lee and he cut the ribbon to open the mall officially.
Je
It was one in the afternoon by the time it was over, and Je
The driver arrived to collect them shortly thereafter, and Lee slipped out a side exit with Je
“No, thank you,” Je
He glanced at her. “Why not? Aren’t you hungry?”
In point of fact, she was starving. I’d like to get home, I have a number of things to do today,” she said.
“Can’t they wait a little while? We’ll go someplace where I won’t be bothered.”
“Where might that be?” Je
He shot her a look and then said quietly, “Two hours, Ms. Gardiner. Is that too much to ask?”
Je
“All right,” she said. “Just tell the driver where you’d like to go.”
“Is that permitted?” Lee asked, smiling slightly. “I wouldn’t want to break any of your rules. He can drop me back to get my own car if you think that would be advisable.”
“I’ll take the responsibility,” Je
“Well, if you’re sure,” Lee answered. “I just want you to be sure.”