Mad Boys (Blue Ivy Prep, #2)(76)

“Do you have a system?” Jonas asked, looking at us.

“Usually, we just each take a crate and start working. Some just want signed pictures. Some want actual notes. We kind of read them all to see what they need and then we answer them.”

“All of them?” His eyebrows climbed.

Shrugging, I claimed my coffee to walk over to where he studied the crate. “All of them.”

“We like responding to the fans that took the time to do this. Emailing or tagging on social media is super easy and fast. We appreciate them, too,” Aubrey said. “But the kids that take the time to write these? They deserve an answer. The creepy dudes deserve paper cuts on their nostrils.”

The corners of Jonas’ mouth dipped at the mention of creepy dudes.

“You take the good with the bad. Management also went through a lot of these before they sent them over.” The envelopes were all slitted, having been opened, read, and then sent on.

Our “Forever Fan” had triggered new protocols. Though I had to imagine the guy was just a creeper.

“And,” Aubrey said as she joined us and slid off her shoes before walking them over to set them inside the door to my room. “I think we should finally concede to the stock response for some of these. “

When I opened my mouth to respond, she held up a finger.

“I know you hate it. I know you prefer the handwritten responses. So do I. Being farmed out to assistants is never fun. However, I think we’re getting an ungodly amount of mail these days. We can still respond to some of them, but the generic requests can get generic responses…you know?”

Sighing, I studied the crates as I chewed my lower lip. “So we do what?”

“We sort,” Jonas said. “We make three stacks…one that’s generic for generic responses and those go back into a crate to be sent wherever. The second stack will be the ‘might be generic, might be personal.’ You can decide when you’re done.”

“And the third will have all the ones who need a personal response. We can start on those today and get as many done as possible. Did you pick up more band pics when you were in L.A.?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Yvette signed a chunk of them, so we’ll use those first. Let me grab them.” I headed for my room.

“Perfect.”

“How do you determine what needs a personal response?” Jonas asked.

“We read the notes,” Aubrey explained. “It’s easier to show you, ‘cause sometimes it’s just having a feel for what they’re saying.”

Fifteen minutes later, we’d found examples of three different kinds of those that needed personal responses, a couple that were just straight up generic. Then a third that we were so-so on.

“Okay,” Jonas said. “You two do responses. I’ll sort. Anything I’m not sure on, I’ll put in the second stack and you girls can check it when you run out of personal responses.”

He checked his phone.

“Pizza will be here in fifteen. I’ll go down and get it once it’s here. I told Ramsey to be on the lookout for it.” With that, he set his phone aside and literally picked up one of the crates and turned it upside to dump everything out. In fact, he dumped out three then set up the crates with sticky notes on them and went to work.

“He’s kind of bossy,” Aubrey said idly as she took one of the “needs responses” and signed one of the pictures before writing a note and sliding it over to me.

I took a sip of coffee as I studied him. All that intensity he used to focus on me with such baffling force was now on the letters.

And he was fast. He opened, skimmed, and sorted.

“I don’t mind it so much,” I murmured when Aubrey elbowed me and I made a face at her.

“Clearly,” she said, then grinned.

An hour later, we’d made a real dent in the “needs a personal response” and had a huge stack ready to be mailed out, one full crate to go back to management, and more waiting for us to tackle after we ate. As it was, the pizza tasted incredible and so did the soda.

Jonas was searching for a movie while Aubrey threw out some helpful suggestions, and it was just—nice.

Really nice.

Even if my fingers ached from the signing.

Maybe we really were becoming friends. Granted, he had a long way to go with Aubrey, but he’d get there.

Not that I thought he cared all that much. Thoughtful, smart, and talented. He was also dedicated as hell. By the time we called it quits for the day, we’d done most of it. We had a handful of responses to write out, but we split those up to do the next day.

Then Aubrey claimed the remote, and I ordered out for the Chinese. “What are we watching, Jonas?”

He scrubbed a hand over his face. “What?”

“It’s your turn,” I told him as I filled in the order on my phone. “You let me and Aubrey watch Love is Blind, so what do you want to watch?”

With a snort, he twisted to look at the television. “There were more episodes…we can watch those if you want.”

“See,” Aubrey said. “Now you’re just sucking up.”

“Maybe,” he agreed and I nearly snorted soda out of my nose. “But I don’t see how any of those couples end up together. Like… ever.”