Just a Geek

Chapter 4. Stop Me If You Think That You’Ve Heard This One Before

IT WAS EARLY OCTOBER, and a thick blanket of gold and orange maple leaves covered the grass outside my office window. I looked up when I heard the phone ring, and saw Anne playing catch with Ferris, who seemed to have as much fun bounding through the piles of leaves as she did chasing the ball.

From the kitchen, Nolan shouted, “I’ve got it!”

“Hello?” he said. “No, this is Nolan. Do you want to talk to my mom?”

I laughed, and remembered all the times when I was his age that I was mistaken for my mom on the phone.

“Okay. I’ll get him.” A moment later, he stood in my office doorway.

“Wil, it’s your manager and he wants to talk to you . . . and he thought I was mom!" He laughed, and ran back out of my office.

“I love how he’s still got two speeds: running and sleeping,” I thought as I walked out to the kitchen and picked up the phone.

“Hey, Chris. What’s up?”

“Well, please apologize to Nolan for me. I should know better, but he sounded just like Anne.”

“I’ll tell him,” I said with a grin.

“Have you ever heard of a show called Win Ben Stein’s Money?”

“Of course I have. It’s hilarious! Do I get to be a contestant?”

“Better than that. Their cohost, Jimmy Kimmel, is leaving the show, and the executive producer wants to meet with you. If he thinks you’re funny, you’ll do a dry run of the show with him and some other executives, then a test for the network.”

Prove To Everyone, who had been quietly slumbering for over a month since I came ...