Page 99 of Something Like Hail

“That’s one way of scaringhim off. Now if you don’t mind, we have a ton of work to getthrough.”

“Understood,” Marcellosaid, strolling the rest of the way into the room. He placed thetie on the desk, nodded cordially at Noah, and took a seat next tohim. “Let’s get started, shall we? We asked you here tonight, Noah,because I sense you are ready to make a difference in theworld.”

How could he know about that already? WasNoah bugged? Or was Felix a spy? Then it hit him. “Pete toldyou.”

Marcello’s expression remained neutral.“Told me what?”

“That I’m going tovolunteer at the shelter again.”

“How wonderful! And what acoincidence. Helping the homeless is exactly what I had in mind.We’re holding a benefit on Saturday evening. A charity ball. Allproceeds will go toward renovating a local shelter, and we werehoping you would see fit to participate.”

“Sure!” he said.

Nathaniel grunted. “You might want to readthe fine print before making a deal with the devil.”

“Or not,” Marcello said.“It’s really quite simple. I find myself in a predicament. Thecatering service I normally use has switched ownership, and mypreference for an all-male staff sits uneasy with him.”

“Marcello wants shirtlesswaiters,” Nathaniel explained.

“Which wasn’t a problempreviously, but now I’m told I need an even mix of men and women,and while I personally have no issues with nudity, no matter thegender—”

Nathaniel interrupted. “Picture a room ofrich gay guys faced with the first boobs they’ve seen up closesince they stopped nursing.”

“Can’t you have them allwear shirts?” Noah suggested.

“That’s precisely what thenew owner suggested,” Marcello said, looking baffled. “Someideological differences are too vast to overcome. I’m left in apickle, because tomorrow is the only day we have left forpreparations.”

Noah looked to Nathaniel. “Maybe it wasinstinct that drove me to take off my shirt.”

“Meaning?” Marcello asked.“Did I miss something?”

“He knows what you wantfrom him,” Nathaniel answered. “Some of it, anyway.”

“I see. Do you haveexperience waiting tables?”

Noah shook his head. “Nope.”

Marcello sniffed. “No matter. If you have asense of balance, you can perform this task.”

“Just me?” Noah asked,still confused.

“Heavens, no!” Marcellodeclared. “We have quite the guest list. While it would already behelpful if you agreed to wait on them that night, the biggesthurdle we face is convincing your fellows.”

Now he got it. They wanted him to call theother escorts of the GAC, but he didn’t know most of them, justHarold and two guys he had been in threesomes with at the behest ofthe respective clients. That was it. “I’m not a secretary.”

“No,” Marcello saidunabashed, “but these are unusual circumstances. You’ll becompensated, both for that night and this one. There’s anotherfavor I would ask of you. For this particular fundraiser, I thoughtit would be amusing to host a date auction. Are you familiar withthe concept?”

“I’ve seen that episodeofSaved by the Bell, yes.”

“Oh!” Marcello said,leaning toward him. “Tell me, are you Team Zack or TeamSlater?”

“Gentlemen,” Nathaniel saidimpatiently. “The clock is ticking.”

“Very well,” Marcello said.“All proceeds from the date auction will go to charity, and sincethis one is on the books, it means you shan’t be allowed to sleepwith the winner. Officially, anyway.”

His entire job wasbased on what he did unofficially, so that didn’t bother him. Noahjust needed to decide if this was something he really wanted to do.He thought back to earlier in the day, when Edith had bemoaned howJerusalem was always filled to capacity and was often forced toturn people away.

“Which shelter would thisbenefit?” he asked. “Have you chosen one already?”