An obnoxious Valley Girl drawl brayed across the hospital hallway like the sound of Satan farting. Staff shuddered. Patients quailed. Mirrors didn't shatter, but only because the budget didn't allow them to be glass.
"I'm sick of everyone treating me like I'm some dumb bimbo airhead!" Jennifer Love Hewitt flounced along, jugs almost bouncing out of her low-scooped neckline. "That's sooo not true! My IQ is 140!"
"Is that so?" Peter Langowski, her agent, matched her stride.
"Yeah, I had it tested on a website called 'Free-Online-IQ-Test dot biz'. I had to download an antivirus scanner before they showed me my score. Did you know computers can catch viruses? I thought that was only for people."
"Good to know someone's getting ahead of the problem." Peter checked his watch, counting down the nanoseconds until he was free of the Ditzney Princess for another afternoon.
"It's so unfair!" Jennifer said. "I'm actually super smart, but everyone misunderestimates me, just because I'm hot! I'm NOT a has-been! Like, hello? My career is on
fire
. Last year, I was in
The Garfield Movie.
And next year, I'll be in the sequel to
The Garfield Movie.
I even got a part on
Family Guy
--it's this show like
The Simpsons
, but it's, like,
way
funnier."
"A hot streak Brando would envy."
"Who's she? The point is, my career's a rocket and that rocket's exploding on the launch pad!" Jennifer proudly ticked off her professional accomplishments. "I have
two
Golden Raspberry noms. That's one of the most presti-digious awards in Hollywood. And this 'Harvey Weenersteen' guy says I can have a starring role if I privately audition in his hotel room! Isn't that cool?"
"And they say there are no nice guys left in Hollywood," Peter said, checking his watch again.
I swear,
he thought,
Bud o'Clock takes longer to arrive every day.
"...And now I'm here, doing..." She tilted her head quizzically, like a dog trying to learn a difficult trick. "...what am doing?"
Peter ground his teeth. He'd already printed his client's itinerary--for all the good it did, considering he was unsure Jennifer Love Hewitt could read--but repeated it from memory.
"You are working in a hospital, on behalf of Touch of Love. They are a government program that sponsors female celebrities to provide...relief for men in hospitals."
"What kind of relief?" Jennifer Love Hewitt, uncharacteristically sensing a trap, narrowed her eyes in suspicion.
A group of children were scampering past their ankles, forcing Peter to describe Touch of Love in G-rated terms.
"You are helping injured men perform a...bodily function."
"You mean I'm wiping their butts?" She wrinkled up her nose in disgust. "No way! Gross!"
"No, a
male
bodily function. Look at it this way: their spirits are down, and you're raising them."
"Like I'm cheering them up with balloons?"
He glanced down into the cleavage exploding from her dress's dangerously overloaded front. It seemed as deep as the Marianas Trench. The front of her strapless top could barely contain Jennifer's enormous, wobbling jugs.
"Something like that, Jen."
* * *
Peter Langowski followed his client's fat butt as it waggled down the hall.
So, it comes to this.
He did not particularly want his client working for Touch of Love. This wasn't what booking agents put at the top of their resumes. Or at the bottom. Or in the middle. But due to an unfortunate situation (wholly of her own creation) Jennifer Love Hewitt urgently needed cash.
For years, she'd paid her taxes by dumping old clothes in front of the IRS headquarters. "They can sell these on eBay!" she'd explained to her horrified accountant (who had taken an early retirement soon after). "I bought most of this stuff at list price! Some of it's couture!"
In a shocking turn of events, the IRS did not regard boxes of used clothes as a valid form of tax remittance, and were now insisting that Jennifer pay
seven years' of back taxes
using actual money. How inconvenient! Until the coveted
Garfield 2
paycheck hit her account, Touch of Love was the only source of liquidity available to Ms Hewitt.
He prayed Jennifer wouldn't find a way to fuck this up. She couldn't afford to.
Literally
couldn't afford to.
Touch of Love had set up a temporary office at the orthopedics wing of the hospital. Jennifer checked in at the desk, and was told that she would have to complete an entrance exam. Because Jennifer Love Hewitt and exams went together like gerbils and high-speed blenders, Peter filled in the test while Jennifer got briefed in the next room by Touch of Love's chief executive.
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ON PRESCRIPTION MEDICATION? Y/N HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ARRESTED, ARRAIGNED, OR PROSECUTED? Y/N DO YOU HAVE ANY FORM OF COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT THAT WOULD MAKE YOU INELIGIBLE FOR THIS PROGRAM? Y/N
Peter dutifully went down the list, ticking the right answers. Which usually meant ticking the
wrong
answers.
"Um, you're not allowed to do that," the assessor said. "Ms Hewitt must complete the form herself."
Peter smiled, ticked the final box, flawlessly forged JLH's signature, folded up the test, and placed it in the assessor's hand.
"I'm sure that if you
look closely
, you'll find everything in order."
The assessor unfolded the sheet of paper. A hundred dollar bill slid out into his fist.
"Mr Langowski..." he said as he pocketed the money, "Ms Hewitt has passed the entrance test with flying colors! On behalf of us all, please welcome her to the Touch of Love program."
* * *
"Our organization is founded on a growing body of
very
legitimate,
very