I knew that in a sense this was going behind Clay's back – but I also knew that if I was going to agree to Clay's mad plan, then I needed to be absolutely sure I was doing the right thing. Decision made, I stabbed my finger downwards onto the screen. "Alicia?" Mike said upon picking up, a note of mild surprise in his voice. "It's not often I get a call from you. Everything okay?" "Yeah," I agreed, injecting a note of false cheeriness into my voice, "everything's fine." A pause hung on the line between us for a few seconds. Mike finally broke it. "Can I, I dunno, help you with something?" I agonized over how to begin, but finally realized I just needed to throw myself into what would, no doubt, be a very awkward conversation. "I need to ask you something, Mike." "Shoot," he agreed over the sound of papers rustling in the background. "You've known Clay for a long time, right?" "Since before he got famous," Mike confirmed.
