Left, right, right left—I move my feet quickly. My hands pommel the little punching bag hanging on my veranda in the same rhythm. Little beads of sweat are forming at the base of my neck.

The ding on my phone lets me know I’ve done five minutes. I stop, take a sip of water, and start again.

Another twenty of these and I’ve done my workout for the day. I might even go for a bit of a run.

It takes me some time to realize the strange sound I’ve been trying to ignore is someone knocking at my front door.

I bounce through my apartment, trying not to lose my momentum. I’m not expecting anyone, so I know I’ll be short and quick. If it’s religious recruiters, I’ll be short and rude, and if it’s charity collectors, I’ll be reasonably polite and short.

Either way, I’ll be short.

“Hey, man. How’s it going?”

I stop dancing on the spot. I’m not going to be quick after all.

“Not bad. And you?”

Brad pats me on the shoulder.

“Great.”

“Do you want to come in?”

He nods, and I lead the way.

Brad looks at my punching bag.

“Those any good?”

I nod and take another sip of water.

“They’re great for letting off steam.” And boy have I been letting off steam. I could have powered an entire steam train for a hundred miles or so over the last few days.

Brad throws little punches at it. The bag barely moves.

I walk over and give him a demo.

“Nice moves, showoff,” Brad says and sits down. “Seen Kayla lately?”

The question throws me off.

“I see her everyday…like you, at work.”

Brad laughs. “Come on, man, I know she’s hot for you. I mean, after the punch-up the other day and the fallout.”

“She said she was okay.”

Brad nods.

“She’s a tough one. But I think she’s really suffering the way Ed treats her. And that dead shit Ian.”

“Don’t get me started on those two.” I hold up my hands. “They don’t deserve to be working with someone like Kayla. She loves her job and takes it really serious.”

“I know.” Brad nods. “I think we need to help her.”

I look at Brad.

“Really? What’d you have in mind?”

Brad leans forward and stares at his hands.

“We need to find stuff on those two.”

“What sort of stuff?” I hadn’t heard anything bad about Ed or Ian, except that Ian was fucking hopeless and Ed a dickhead. It’s hardly the sort of thing you can use against someone.

“You know we need to find their weak spot. Get someone to dig up some dirt on them.” Brad seems to have given this a lot of thought.

I scratch my head.

“I guess. But what if they don’t have anything?”

Brad laughs.

“Trust me, dude, they’re bound to have some dirt on them. We need to dig. He who shall dig will find.”

We both laugh.

“You just made that up.”

Brad nods.

“Duh, but it sounds good.”

“Drink?”

Brad looks at his watch.

“Suppose. It’s after lunch.”

When I come back with two beers, Brad is standing in the living room, studying my music collection.

“Does Kayla know?” I ask and hand Brad his beer.

Brad looks over at me.

“Know what?”

“Your plan of digging up some dirt.”

Brad takes a drink before he replies,

“Nope, she wouldn’t agree to it anyway. You know what’s she’s like—too nice for her own good.”

I nod.

“She’s great, isn’t she? Gorgeous, sexy, smart, and so goddamn hot.”

“Not to mention a fantastic fuck.”

We toast Kayla with our beer bottles.

“We need to look after her.”

I agree. “We all want the same thing. Kayla wants us to stay on the show, and we want to stay on the show and want Kayla to stay as head writer.”

“And we all want Ian to piss off and for Ed to disappear off the face of the earth.”

“So how do we get rid of Ian?” I persist.

I think Brad has more of a plan than he’s telling me. If this is the case, I think he should share. After all, two minds can be better than one.

“I haven’t worked out all the details yet. But I think the first step is to find someone to get any dirt on both Ian and Ed. With any luck, there’s some kind of connection.”

I cringe at the word connection.

“You’re not suggesting a connection as in Ed and Ian, are you?” I’m not against two blokes at all. I’ve even played a gay guy once, but the thought of those two gives me the creeps.

Brad laughs.

“No way. No man or woman would want either of those jerks.”

I think to back on everything I’ve read about Ian. I draw a blank.

“I think we’ll be scratching to find something on Ian. He’s so dull I’ve never read anything about him in any of the gossip columns.”

“Me neither, but there must be something there.” Brad takes another swig out of his bottle. “It’s odd that Ian only works on series or films Ed has something to do with.”

I hadn’t picked this up. Smart man, our Brad.

“Okay, so let’s see what we can find.” I agree.

“I’ve got my assistant trying to dig up as much as she can.”

I scratch my neck.

“I know this PI. He’s good, very good. I’ll pay him a visit, and we’ll see what he can find.”

“To Kayla,” we both toast again.

“Let’s vow to make sure nothing happens to our Kayla,” I say.

Brad echoes, “Hear, hear.”