L.A. Success Read Online Free PDF Page B

going to be away for several months. I don't know exactly how long. With all the stress from these changes, I need to get away for a while. Ignacio does a lot of business in Spain, so he suggested that I take up temporary residence in his apartment in Ibiza. He's arranged his schedule so that he'll be with me there a couple of weeks every month. While I'm gone, I need you to take care of my house. Come by in the evenings and turn one light on somewhere so that it looks like I'm home. The difficult part will be Manolete. I'm not sure how he'll do on his own. Plus, he'll need to be taken out three times a day, at least once for exercise, or else I'm worried he'll destroy my place. The ideal situation would be for you to take him with you most of the time—assuming you're a dog person?”
    “Oh yeah. I'm great with dogs. They think I'm one of them.”
    “I get that impression,” he said. “You can even hang out here if you want. Watch a movie, relax in the yard, whatever. That'll really make it look like someone is at home. Plus, every couple of weeks I'll need you to start up my cars and let them idle for a few minutes. Will all that fit into your schedule?”
    “Oh yeah,” I said. “I live less than two miles from here, plus I have a lot more time now that I've become a landlord. My job does itself.” I was hoping that last part didn't sound as pervy to him as it did to me.
    “Great. I'll get your contact information so I can check in with you from Spain.”
    He gave me a piece of paper and I wrote down my phone number.
    “So, how much were you thinking?” I asked.
    “Oh, yes. Sorry. I'll send you a check every month for...” and here he told me an amount about as much as Tommy was paying me for rent. “Is that okay?”
    “That works.”
    He started taking me on a tour of the house. He showed me where he kept all the food and products for Ballsack. I didn't understand why the dog had so much stuff, but I nodded a lot like everything was cool. He pointed to a toothbrush and explained something I didn't pay attention to. I'd never brushed dog teeth in my life and I wasn't going to start now. But I knew dogs were supposed to have dog shampoo, and I didn't see any here.
    “What kind of shampoo do I use on the dog?” I asked.
    “I have an account at Pet Co. You'll have to take him there for grooming.”
    I guessed he was lazy or something, but me, I wouldn't mind washing and combing him myself. Like that, he wouldn't shed all over my couch when I brought him home.
    He told me I'd be starting next week. I zoned out through the rest of what he said. I followed him silently around the house as he pointed to stuff and explained things. I think he realized I wasn't paying attention anymore, because he started nodding yes and pointing to some places and then shook his head no and pointed to others. One of the places he shook no to was his bedroom. The other was the basement. Okay, I understood. Don't go in those places.
    All this being social was zapping the energy out of me.
    “All right Dennis. Thanks again for letting me take care of your stuff. I've got to run and look after one of my renters now. We'll be in touch. And you,” I said, giving that crazy giant poodle's afro a tussle, “see you next week.”
    “I'll leave you some instructions and contact numbers on the coffee table,” he said.
    Dennis and I shook hands. He gave me a set of keys and then I was off.
     
    10
    When I got back to my place, I went straight to my bedroom. I felt like taking a nap, and since I had no pressure about my immediate financial future, I figured I'd fall asleep fast. I took off my clothes and was giving myself a good scratching when my hand arrived near my belly button. I reached into it, plucked out a little wad of lint and looked at it. This stuff was strange because it was bluish. I hadn't been wearing anything but Arnold shirts for some time, and they were white. How did this blue lint get into my belly button? I had a real