CHAPTER NINE
By the time her Tuesday prep period came, Mandy’s students had mostly returned to their less-active selves. Today she’d brought a sandwich for lunch so she could eat at her desk. When the lunch bell rang, she continued working on the windows of the mansion.
Near the end of the hour, her phone rang. She struggled to understand the excited voice on the other end.
“A new lens and camera were donated?” Mandy resisted the urge to recheck the phone to make sure the call was really from Professor Christensen.
“It showed up this morning in the dean’s office by special carrier. No return address. Campus security swarmed the place, thinking the package might be a bomb since it wasn’t delivered to central receiving.” Dr. Christensen chuckled. “They were ready to send it through the X-ray and a bunch of other tests until I pointed out it was an original Nikon box with the seals still intact. They still cleared the office while the one officer volunteered to open it.”
“Any idea who sent it?” Mandy tossed the remains of her lunch in the trash.
“No. Since it wasn’t a bomb, security stopped trying to find the guy who’d made the delivery. Did you get any of the grant requests out?”
“I only finished writing them this morning. I was going to email them for your approval.” Mandy closed the mansion photo.
“It is odd that someone would donate to the university in a way that wouldn’t get them a tax deduction. Eighty thousand isn’t exactly a small gift.”
“Eighty? I thought the replacement cost sixty.” Mandy jotted the number on a pad. So many circles.
“Newer camera and better lens.”
“Wow.” Mandy sat back in her chair.
“Since we have no idea where it came from, the dean decided you don’t owe the school any money. I think he is happy not to have to aggressively pursue the insurance claims.”
The bell rang.
“Thanks for calling, Dr. Christensen. My next class is going to begin. I’ll see you Thursday.” Mandy disconnected the call as the first few students bounded into the art room.
Candace removed the black plastic microwave tray from Mandy’s hands and replaced it with her tablet. “Check this out.”
Daniel’s face filled the screen. Mandy set the tablet on the couch next to her. “I’m not interested in seeing any more of Daniel Crawford.” Maybe if she ignored him, the microscopic crush would shrivel up and die.
“Read the headline.” Candace sat down next to Mandy and picked the tablet up.
“If You Can’t Beat ’em, Join ’em: DC Buys Paparazzi-Worthy Camera.” Mandy took the tablet from her roommate’s hand.
Daniel Crawford was spotted exiting a high-end Chicago-area camera store Monday evening. According to our sources, he purchased a camera and telephoto lens valued at more than $80k after spending approximately an hour talking with the store owner, who declined to comment.
DC has been rather vocal about his distaste for the paparazzi since the Summerset Vandemark incident last December, calling for stronger ethics and privacy guidelines for the industry, including those who buy and publish photos.
Several of the photographers who took pictures of an apparently inebriated Summerset Vandemark after her fall at a New York City hotel before New Year’s are facing charges for assault after blocking emergency medical personnel at the scene. The trial is set for early April, as well as a suit against the hotel by Miss Vandemark. Mr. Crawford is expected to be a key witness in both trials. Close sources claim she was at the hotel with Mr. Crawford, who was not present at the time of her accident but arrived in time to render assistance.
Rumors persist that the couple has not separated. Despite the fact, Daniel has been seen publicly with several women since mid-January, including Summerset at an Academy Awards after-party where witnesses report she dumped Daniel in a drunken rage.
Is Daniel trying to maintain his relationship with the socialite, disguised as one of the photographers who follows her every move, or is he doing research for the upcoming trial? We hope to have all the answers for you as the trial begins next week.
Mandy handed the tablet back.
“Well?” asked Candace.
“Well, what? He bought a camera. He is a billionaire; he buys lots of things.” Mandy tried to shrug off the question.
“The night before, a camera of the same value is mysteriously donated to the Art and Design school?”
She refused to be baited. “Coincidence.”
Candace huffed. “Seriously? Are you blind? He bought the camera for you.”
Mandy shook her head. “I told you, when he left Saturday evening, friend zone, remember?”
“Uh-huh. You keep telling yourself that.” Candace got up. “New topic—first date with the law student I met last week. Scarf or wig?”
Mandy pondered the options. “What did you have on when you met him?”
Candace tugged on the ends of the scarf she wore. “I think I wore the short brunette—no, the blonde.”
“Go with the redhead. It will be a big enough change but not shocking. It should get you into the conversation if you want to go there.” Mandy picked her meal back up. “I guess I am on my own tonight. Bless the woman who invented frozen dinners.”
Candace turned on the news while she dressed for her date. Mandy finished the last couple bites of chicken, chucked the empty microwave-meal container into the trash, and moved to her combination studio-bedroom to work on her project. Her giant Wacom screen was her version of Nirvana. Before the first song finished playing on her feed, Mandy was in the zone, replacing overgrown weeds with green lawn—and reminiscing. Flying kites, running on the perfect lawn in bare feet.
Candace popped her head in the door. “Guess who is on TV next?”
“I don’t want to hear it.” Mandy covered her ears in jest.
The doorbell rang.
“That’s my date. Don’t wait up.”
Mandy sat back and studied her work. The notes of a popular entertainment show drifted in from the other room. Candace had left the TV on again.
It took Mandy a minute to track down the remote. The bleach-blonde announcer started into her first story. “Is Daniel Crawford joining the paparazzi?” The same photo of Daniel carrying a bag with the photography-store logo used in the story she read earlier flashed across the screen. The blonde turned to her cohost. “What do you think DC will do with an $80,000 camera?”
Mandy shut the TV off. Candace was probably right. The camera at the school was purchased by Daniel last night. Her phone chimed Candace’s tone, then stopped. Mandy checked the screen. Pocket dial. She double-checked her text messages just to be sure. Daniel’s name appeared at the bottom of the screen from the Saturday text exchange. She opened a text window.
Hey, did you give—
Delete, delete, delete.
There was a camera donated to the uni—
Delete, delete, delete.
Thank you for donating the camera. I can graduate now. Thanks.
Send.
She waited a moment, then pocketed her phone. It beeped.
How did you figure it out?
Tabloids are often wrong. Mandy left off the question mark.
Good call.
Thank you. I was really worried about how I would pay for my portion.
Hey, if I hadn’t scared you . . .
Eighty thousand and he was taking the blame? Still, it wasn’t your fault.
It’s all good.
Mandy stared at the screen. How should she answer that? She sent a smiley emoji.
No more messages came. Just as well. She slipped the phone onto the desk and returned to her project. She needed to finish the base restoration work before she moved on to the “could be” versions. Halfway through the roof restoration, her phone rang. She looked at the screen, her stylus slipping from her fingers. She hit Control+Z to undo the damage while answering her phone.