Hearthstone Entertainment
PART II: Breaking New Ground
19 Social Conscience
THE DAY OF THE CHEERLEADERS was an experience! Ten of IU’s hottest coeds in their little cheerleader outfits. Elaine’s monologue was a parody, complete with pompoms. Two of the cheerleaders shared the guest chair as they talked about the philosophy of team spirit and the role of cheerleaders in controlling fans at a game. I expected some kind of airhead nonsense, I guess, but these girls were really smart. I don’t know why that always surprises me. I had smart beautiful women around me all the time and I still managed to apply stereotypes to every new one I met. Cheerleaders were supposed to be dumb airheads who married equally dumb jocks. Except none of the jocks I knew were dumb, either. I really needed to get my head adjusted.
It didn’t take long for them to get shifted over to the exercise set. Rose and Brenda sat out and a different two cheerleaders joined Sora on the platforms. The other eight did the routines in their uniforms. It was all dance and these girls were used to doing routines. They weren’t used to keeping them going at that pace for twenty-five minutes. Afterward, they all wanted a shower before they came to the kitchen set. Sora took them upstairs to our big bathrooms. Every hetero and bi guy in the studio got a dreamy look on his face at the thought of Sora with ten cheerleaders in the shower upstairs. I wondered absently what they thought of our bedroom area.
“You look like you need stress relief,” April giggled quietly. “Should I go get Maggie?”
“Oh God, April. Please! I can’t even tell anymore if she’s serious. I do not need any more problems!” I said. At least with April, I knew it was a joke. At least during business hours.
The cheerleaders returned from their showers after nearly an hour, during which Hannah was pacing around. Talk about needing stress relief. She was worried about the schedule for the day’s shooting. Today was the day Jason was out with the handheld and Rhiannon, touring the Nappanee plant. And we’d promised the cheerleaders a photo op with Heaven. Jennifer was in charge of that and was becoming pretty accomplished with a camera. All photos would be staged in front of the fireplace setting and the ladies had changed from their red uniforms to their white ones.
ME: Hello, girlfriends. [Air kisses] This is every man’s dream. To cook for an entire squad of cheerleaders. Welcome to Young Cooking.
CARLY: Thank you, Brian. We’ve been working up quite an appetite today and you are looking pretty good.
BECKY: I definitely hope you’re not tough and stringy.
ME: Tough? I’m an absolute pushover. With me in front of the stove are Carly Johnson and Becky Huffman. Carly, besides jumping around and yelling like crazy, what are you studying at IU?
CARLY: Astrophysics.
ME: Oh. How about you, Becky?
BECKY: I’m in pre-med, neurology.
ME: So, do you two know the one about the rocket scientist, the brain surgeon, and the cook?
BECKY & CARLY: No.
ME: That’s too bad. I could have used a punchline right now. How about we cook some salmon instead. I’ve been very fortunate to have my in-laws visit from Seattle and bring with them some incredible salmon filets. We are going to use one of the simplest and most flavorful ways to cook this delectable dish. We’re poaching it with fresh vegetables from the ranch garden.
The taping went well and, in the background, Mary managed to put half a dozen huge salmon filets in the oven while we prepared two more. Susan and Pam had rice in our rice cooker backstage and had most of the vegetables prepared. When we came to the point of serving, we had enough for all our cast, crew, and clan. That’s when Heaven and Adam came in. The cheerleaders went a little crazy.
“Did you really meet in Paris?”
“Adam, why have you kept quiet about this so long?”
“We thought you were stuck up.”
“Tim Rubens? You’re dating Sora? You make such a cute couple.”
The cheerleaders were surprised when Lamar, Lionel, and Whitney all came in, as well. The focus was on Jessica, of course, as she chatted with the cheerleaders and Jennifer snapped candid pictures. I looked up and noted that Maggie was on a headset and the two cameras we’d used for filming Young Cooking were still lit. The key thing was that Jessica was feeding out more information as if she was just chatting with girlfriends. There might not be any usable footage, but who better to spread stories than cheerleaders? It turned out they wanted photos with both Heaven and Adam. And they were good at posing. Finally, Hannah got our attention.
“I’m sorry to have to send everyone back to work, but Elaine’s next guest and audience have arrived. I understand that you cheerleaders have a different kind of uniform you want to do the next workout show in, so I’m sending you all back upstairs to change. There are additional refreshments up there and we will keep it off-limits to men. But please remember that area is not soundproof and we will be recording down here. Don’t make Mommy come up there.” Heaven, Sora, and Maggie went with the girls. I figured a lot more of our planned information leakage would take place in the privacy upstairs.
ELAINE: Our guest today is Dr. Reuben Sanders of Riley Children’s Hospital. Dr. Sanders is one of the few doctors in the world who has performed a heart transplant on an infant. His work in pediatric circulatory systems is not only in the area of transplant, but he is an outspoken advocate for children’s healthcare, both in the United States and abroad. Dr. Sanders. [Applause. Sanders enters and shakes hands. They sit.]
Dr. Sanders, I’m known for tossing off one-liners and jokes during an interview, but frankly I can’t find anything funny about today’s topic.
SANDERS: They say laughter is the best medicine, Elaine. I certainly believe that it makes for a healthier heart.
ELAINE: In our conversation before the show, you described heartrending situations. Let’s start with the most horrific and work our way to happier things. What is the hardest part about performing a heart transplant on a child?
SANDERS: Sacrifice. I want to heal every child I see. I can’t. Oh, how I wish I could. Even when we perform transplant surgery, in any age group, the survival rate over one year is only about eighty percent. Over five years it is about sixty-five percent. And, though we have little data accumulated over this timespan, we have not yet reached fifty percent survival over ten years. Operating on an infant or a child, I am constantly plagued with the question of whether that child will see his tenth birthday. But there is a chance. A chance that each one of them can live a happy and fulfilling life. But the sacrifice. When I handle a living heart and implant it in a child’s chest, I have to understand that another child has died. A mother has held her baby for the last time and, in the interest of saving a child she has never met, she offered her child’s heart. I can’t think of any other word for that than sacrifice.
There was not a dry eye in the studio when Dr. Sanders told of his work. Elaine did a phenomenal job of drawing him out, even when the stories choked him up. Theresa would deliver her baby within a month, my sister and Doreen in four or five months. We were bringing children into the world. Any of them could be on either side of the donor equation. I needed to talk to my cónyuge.
ELAINE: Dr. Sanders, we have a representative from Gamma House at IU with us. I’d like to invite Dawn Vargas to come up here with us. Josh, can we have a chair for Miss Vargas?
Of course, everyone was ready and while Dawn’s chair wasn’t a deep leather chair like Elaine’s, she sat quite delicately.
ELAINE: Dawn, I understand Gamma House has a special relationship with Riley Children’s Hospital.
DAWN: Yes, Elaine. Gamma House is devoted to providing an atmosphere in which young women can create bonds and engage in services that will change the world. Five years ago, we adopted Riley Children’s Hospital as our special service project. That includes a number of activities, like organizing weekly visits to children in the hospital, an annual toy drive to take hospital-appropriate toys to children in long term care, and active fundraising through our Annual Auxiliary Auction and our Fun Run in July. We are happy to present Dr. Sanders with this check to the hospital from last week’s event, along with our commitment to continue supporting the work of Riley Children’s Hospital in any way we can. [Presents check. Applause.]
When the cheerleaders came back downstairs for Sora’s afternoon show, they weren’t in uniform. At least not in cheerleading uniforms. Everyone, including Sora, Rose, Brenda, and Jessica, was in bright red hot pants and white crop tops. NCAA has rules regarding cheerleader wear at sporting events, but there was no rule regarding what they could wear at other events. I had heard it mentioned that one of the girls had actually posed naked for the Playboy ‘Girls of the Big 10’ issue that would be out this fall. I hadn’t figured out which one. I was going to keep an eye out for that issue, though.
Maggie, Jessica, and I were meeting in Stall One as soon as we got rid of the cheerleaders. It was cool in there with the window air conditioner turned on.
“I still think we need more of a theme to develop the show with,” I said. “Who is going to watch a show that just follows somebody around in their daily life? You might as well set up a camera in the living room and just let it run. People don’t want to watch reality. They want a plot, a story, a theme, or something.”
“I agree,” Jessica said. “I really don’t want to think about a camera just following me everywhere I go. I’ve got that now.”
“I know I’m in the minority here and I’m willing to go with you on this, but for the record, I just think you are a fascinating person. And if you set up a camera in this living room, I’d probably be glued to the TV. I just think it’s a coming thing. It’s part of Elaine’s new Egotarian religion,” Maggie said. “But… I’m not suggesting something that is pointless. Unscripted, yes. And even that is a little bit of a misnomer because you have the basic points to try to make and we have come a long way from Allen Funt. We have to have releases from people before we jump out and say ‘Surprise!’ so everyone knows they are going to be on television and what we’re going to do.”
“But to just go pick them at random?” I asked.
“No. I don’t think so. I think it has to be more like you with your daily girlfriends,” Maggie continued. “We need to seed the first few episodes with people we know and then advertise for participants. As soon as it hits the air, we’ll have people falling over themselves to get Heaven to consult with them on their wardrobe.”
“But I’m not a fashion consultant,” Jessica complained. “I wear clothes. I don’t design them. What we did on Elaine’s show with Kevin was well-practiced. The advice I gave was simple and classic. There was nothing earthshaking about it.”
“How about working with that designer? You should act as the host and personality,” Maggie said. “Instead of going shopping, he could design something for the lucky girl. Then you take her to an event and show her how to model the new outfit.” Maggie was becoming animated. “Yeah! And then for a season finale, we could have all the guests come back for a runway show.”
“Leonard is still in high school. I know for a fact his mother is not going to let him quit school so he can sew. Next year, he’ll probably be down here in the fashion design program,” I said. “I thought of him first with all the work he’s done for Elaine. He already said he couldn’t do it until next year.”
“How about if we chose a designer for each episode and he sewed for Heaven?” Maggie said. “What’s cool about that is that we could line up several different student designers, have them meet Heaven one week and talk to her about what she needs, then each of them design a dress or outfit for her. When she comes back, we have her model each of the outfits and choose which one she likes best. That designer would be the week’s winner.”
“If you are going to win, there has to be a prize. But I like the way you’re thinking.” I heard the cowbell ringing outside. Oh, no. They were sounding the all clear and Maggie was still here in the office.
“I’d have to check with my manager on any contractual issues with that, but I like it,” Jessica said.
“I hate to say it, but we need to break up so Maggie can go home. The bell just rang. I know by the time I open that door, I’m going to be seeing naked butts.”
“You don’t even have to open the door,” Maggie said. She pulled her shirt over her head and stood there in a lacy bra. “If April can do it, I can do it. Mind unfastening my bra, Brian?” Jessica started laughing. She still had her hot pants and crop top workout clothes on. It took her exactly no time at all to have them off. And Maggie was…
Oh shit!
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