“Well, it sounds like you had a bit of luck too.” Hayes replies with a warm smile. “Have they caught the suspects yet?”
“No, but I’ve heard they are following up on quite a few leads,” Rory states, looking toward the ground for a moment as he speaks.
“What was the ethnicity of the suspects?” Senator Sherman asks with an inquisitive smile.
“There was a black man, a black woman, and a fat white guy.” Rory replies with an uncomfortable smile.
“If I name a library after you,” The Senator asks Rory with a devious stare, “would you be willing to say that they were Hispanic instead?”
“Not so much,” Rory exclaims with a chuckle watching Senator Sherman snap his fingers as though he just lost an opportunity.
“So your blood has the ability to cure: HIV, Hepatitis, and a few forms of cancer, right?” Congressman Graham asks with a sincere smile.
“Yeah, that’s mostly right,” Rory agrees, “but my blood only has an 80% chance of curing cancer. There is also a 2% chance that my blood will induce an allergic reaction that will destroy your large intestine and bladder.”
“Wow,” Hayes says, raising his eyebrows. “That’s some allergic reaction. So these people held you at gunpoint and basically… Just stole a pint of your blood?”
“That’s right,” Rory confirms, “I won’t be able to give blood now until I’ve had four to six weeks to recover.”
“Well, son, that’s one hell of a scary story,” Senator Sherman admits, “but you can still enjoy your life, and do a lot of good for people.”
“How?” Rory inquires in a cocky manner as he leans back and folds his arms.
“Well, you have a commodity in your blood,” The Senator begins, “the laws of supply and demand are already on your side. For example, what you have in your blood is not available anywhere else, which means that you’ve literally got these precious diamonds rolling around in your veins.”
“I don’t understand how that gives me control,” Rory admits in frustration.
“Are you kidding?” Senator Sherman asks with a wink. “Every wealthy person who is sick with one of these illnesses, or cares about someone who is sick with them, is going to be knocking on your door. You can literally tell them to write a check for five million dollars to the charity of your choice, and a lot of these people will pay you.”
“Yeah, but I can only produce one to two pints a month.” Rory declares as his reasonable side begins to take over.
“Then come up with a waiting list,” The Senator retorts quickly. “The important thing is you can ensure that whomever you save with your blood is also saving dozens of lives with their money. You can call it blood-anthropy.”
“That’s true,” Hayes adds with an intense stare, “You wield a lot of power and influence when your body is full of something that can give lives back to people. As a matter of fact, I’ll bet you’ll be approached by a few people at this banquet who are asking for a second chance.”
“I’m sure we’ll have a lot of great opportunities to help people,” Rory agrees, “and I’m on board with that concept, but I really need to get protection for my girlfriend and I when we go out in public.”
“I don’t blame you.” Hayes speaks with sincerity. “After what you went through the other day, it would be a good idea to remain exclusive to private parties. If you want, I could be in charge of setting up all your public engagements for the next little while?”
“Setting up my engagements?” Rory asks with discomfort, feeling like an Indian bride whose parents want to arrange a marriage for her.
“No, Rory,” Hayes smiles again, “I meant that I would be sending you invitations to a lot of secure social events and you could either accept or decline. There are no commitments. My office could help you to better vet your interviews, and we could use our political influence to get you in front of the right people. You can think of it as free public relations management.”
“You think I need a public relations manager?” Rory questions with more than a little skepticism.
“Oh, hell yeah, you do!” Congressman Graham exclaims with a face full of concern. “You’re famous now, Rory, and not just in the states. You are becoming famous worldwide. Did you know that your name was trending on Twitter for three days after that first press conference? And are you aware that the hashtag for ‘The Golden Goose’ has not stopped trending since that appearance on Our World Today?”
“That’s right, Rory,” Governor Hayes begins with a deep smile as if talking to one of his kids. “You have become someone noteworthy. When you open your mouth from here on out, you’re not just talking, you are ‘making a statement.’ If you and Kelly get into a fight, it will be in the tabloids. If you say something about Justin Bieber’s hair, such as that it looks like a patch of fur from a bear’s ass, you’ll soon see that comment on CNN. Your name, and your words, both carry a lot of weight. I may be out of line, but I think it was a mistake to let Corba Strong control the narrative, which landed you in the middle of The Redwood Forest with a bunch of psychopaths… I encourage you not to go it alone this time; work with people who understand the dangers of your situation, and who know how to protect you.”
Although he knows a lot of this speech is false and that Governor Hayes only likes him for his blood, Rory feels flattered nonetheless. He looks at Kelly who just stares blankly waiting for him to say something.
“Why don’t I talk it over with Kelly?” Rory says with a charming smile. “Can we call you back in a few days?”
“Absolutely,” Governor Hayes replies, pretending that working with Rory and setting up all his public engagements is not of interest to him. “Please call my office and work out the details with Michaela if you want some help.” He reaches into his jacket pocket and retrieves a white business card with red lettering, and then casually passes it to Rory with a bright smile. “Thank you both so much for coming tonight and we hope to see you again.”
After saying their farewells to the three Politicians, Rory and Kelly retreat indoors to enjoy some food. Soon after their hearty meal, they are slow dancing on the ballroom floor, finally able to relax and just be themselves for an evening.
“I’m glad we came to this,” Rory says, kissing her gently on the cheek.
“Me too, baby,” she agrees with glowing eyes.
“I’ve been thinking about what they said, and it makes a lot of sense.” Rory states, as they complete the turn on the dance floor.
“Yeah, but you know they have an agenda?” Kelly asks with suspicion.
“What agenda?” He asks with a fearless smile. “To parade me around and make them look good? Sweetheart, everyone is going to be using us for that; maybe even for the rest of our lives. I just think this is a great opportunity to help people; to stay safe, and to spend more time together.”
“Yes,” Kelly responds after a few seconds of deep thought. “Lets go for it. It sounds like exactly what we need right now.”
The young couple holds each other tight on the dance floor as they continue to float on thoughts of exclusive parties and fascinating projects. They are both certain that this path will be far safer than the last; a public relations tour where they control the narrative and call the shots.
VII. Let the Games Begin
Things move quickly after the couple contacts Michaela Sordova at The Governor’s office. She gets the ball rolling on their public relations efforts with a flattering picture of the Governor shaking Rory’s hand which is subsequently sent out to The Associated Press for full syndication. Within just a few hours of that, a studio in Burbank contacts them about making a documentary to tell the story of Rory’s life-saving blood. After just a few hours of negotiation, the documentary deal is done with Rory getting 7% of the royalties and 8% going to help starving children in Africa. They experience a serious hiccup in their plans when the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center tries to issue a cease and desist order for their efforts, but the Governor’s attorney quickly swats it down by demonstrating the hospital’s non-compliance in several sections of their agreement.