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did a much scarier regarding. Amanda looked about to wet her pants. “I think so,” Miranda said. “At least, she’s much better than the other possibles.”
    I had no idea what Miranda was talking about. Then again, she didn’t know what I was talking about either. We were making this up as we went along.
    â€œSo, Amanda,” I said. “Where’d you go to school?”
    â€œUCLA,” she said. “In Westwood,” she added. After she said that I could see the thought travel through her head: Moron! We’re in LA! He KNOWS where UCLA is! God! I’m an idiot! Panic can be truly endearing when it’s done right.
    â€œReally,” I said. “I’m a Bruin myself. How’s the high-speed life of an agent treating you these days?”
    â€œWell, really well,” she said, with obvious fervor. “I mean, I’m just getting started, so it’s a little rough. I think it’ll be a few more months before I really get my legs.” She smiled brightly. She was so new that she didn’t realize that admitting weakness was a mortal sin among agents. I wondered how she got past the screening process. Beside me, I could feel waves of pity emanate from Miranda. Now I knew why she had suggested Amanda—she was trying to keep this clearly noncynical young
woman from having the stuffing kicked out of her by her more vicious compatriots.
    â€œWell, I hope your legs are ready now, Amanda,” I said. “The officers of this corporation”—I always thought that phrase sounded dramatic, and I was right—“have instructed me to inaugurate a pilot mentor project for our newest agents, a sort of helping hand to get them up to speed more quickly. Now, I have to emphasize that this is just a pilot program, and highly experimental. In fact, it’s a secret—”
    Amanda’s eyes actually widened. If I were just ten percent less jaded, I think I might have fallen in love.
    â€œâ€”so you’ll have to keep it that way. It’s officially unofficial. Understand?”
    â€œSure, Mr. Stein.”
    â€œCall me Tom,” I said. “Amanda, what do you think of Tea Reader?”
    Her eyes got even wider. Make that five percent less jaded.
    Two hours and a Starbucks latte each later, the Officially Unofficial Mentor Project was underway. Under my “supervision,” Amanda would take over the day-to-day representation needs of Tea Reader, Tony Baltz, and my undercard clients. For the first month, Amanda would make detailed weekly reports on “our” clients, which I would read and comment on. That would decrease to twice monthly the second month, and monthly thereafter. During this time, any money made from representing these clients would be split between mentor and student. After six months, pending mentor approval, Amanda could represent up to six of these clients full-time, with all commissions and fees going to her from that point forward. To myself, I figured that any clients she didn’t want to keep after six months I would drop in any event.
    Amanda was happy because even with a reduced commission
rate, she stood to make far more money over the next six months than she could have off her own clients, and would get an automatically expanded client list at the end of it. Plus, of course, my invaluable mentoring services. I was happy because I off-loaded my clients. The only one who might not be entirely happy with it was Miranda, because she knew that the reports I was supposed to read and comment on were actually going to be read and commented on by her. But she didn’t say anything about it. I was going to have to get her a raise soon.
    Amanda went off in a haze of blissfulness and promises to “get right on it.” She was like a Mouseketeer on “Let’s Represent Someone” day. I could almost see her skip to her pod. I hoped her first experience with Tea Reader would not send her