The Sauna Part 259

I called the lawyer first and he emailed me the new proposals he’d received. There were a few good ones that I approved right away, but I was really surprised to see all the garbage that had come in as well. People weren’t shy about asking for money and over half of the RFP’s I skimmed through weren’t even legitimate requests that fell within the guidelines we’d established. There was even a long letter from some woman in the midwest begging for money to send her three kids to summer camp because she needed a break from being a parent.

I logged in to Backstage and went straight to the new section and I was tickled to see how much activity there had been already. There were numerous threads and hundreds of posts and I scanned the titles rather quickly to get a sense of how it was going. A few of the thread titles made me laugh as I remembered the old days and the one titled ‘Gutter Dwellers Reunion’ caught my attention. I read through the posts and giggled as I saw references to Jon’s considerable a$$ets and I noted there were quite a few excellent shots from various concerts that I even downloaded into a folder myself.

I heard Jim return home as I continued to view all the threads and down near the bottom I began seeing titles that raised my concern. ‘Rip-off’ and ‘Devastated Fan’ were obvious red flags and I clicked in to see what was wrong. I felt my blood pressure skyrocket as I read through one complaint after another with no response from any staff or a moderator. Why hadn’t I been contacted about such a serious issue?

I picked up the phone as Jim entered to see if I was ready for lunch. I shook my head ‘no’ and explained there were some major problems I needed to deal with and he left me alone without asking any questions as he could see I was agitated. Matt answered immediately and I took a deep breath.

“Hello, Trish. How’s the tour going? You must both be glad it’s almost over, but I’m sure Jon’s looking forward to Japan next week” Matt began pleasantly.

“Matt, I’m home for a few days, but I’ll see Jon later this week in Australia. I just logged in to the new board and went to the adult section and I’m pretty disturbed. Are you aware that there’s a problem with people receiving their registration refund? And what’s worse, it seems that the fans are being charged for every post that they make on the new section! What’s going on? No one has even responded to the complaints!” I said heatedly.

“I wasn’t aware there was any problem as I don’t care to read the nonsense people write about Jon. As I’m sure you already know, I never felt this was a wise idea to begin with and I’m not surprised that there are complaints. People always complain about something and you and Jon opened the door when you encouraged people to share feedback” he said smugly.

“I don’t think you’re listening to what I said! People have the right to complain if what I’m reading is true. They aren’t getting what they were promised and they are actually being cheated. Who’s monitoring that section?” I demanded hotly.

“No one is monitoring it, Trish. It’s your baby and I assumed you’d be paying attention” he sneered.

I was furious, both with his attitude and his incompetence, and I was just getting ready to blast him when the other line rang and I saw it was Jon. He must have just seen the same thing that I did and I needed to let him know I would handle it.

“I’ll call you right back and make sure you answer that phone!” I hissed as I hung up and switched to take the call from Jon.


**************


Matt sat at his desk with a self-satisfied smirk that would have made even Jon blush. His plan had gone perfectly and he couldn’t have been prouder and he was anxious to call Carol and share the good news. He knew Jon would be furious with me once he found out and he wanted to offer his mother the opportunity to share this little triumph.

“Hi mom, it’s me. As you know, there’s quite an uproar on Backstage and our little plan couldn’t have been more effective. I just spoke to that bitch and she knows what has happened and she’s on the warpath. You’d better call Jon and tell him what’s happened while she’s still trying to figure out how to fix it. I thought I’d let you do the honors” he grinned maliciously.

“Oh, Matty, this is what we both have been waiting for! Now Jonny will see what a mess she has made and he’ll realize how much he needs us! I’m so proud of you, son. It’s a good thing Jonny has us. I’ll call him right now!” she purred gleefully.


***************


I picked up the call from Jon and took a deep breath. He wasn’t going to be happy at all and I couldn’t blame him. I felt horrible and I blamed myself for not paying attention and trusting that Matt was keeping an eye on things once we’d gotten through all the glitches.

“Trish? What the fuck? I just went into the adult section and things are a mess! Do you know what the fuck happened?” Jon demanded.

“Jon, I’m so sorry! I don’t know how this could have happened, but I have my suspicions. I just got off the phone with your brother and he acted like he had no idea, but I don’t believe him. He had to have set this up to make me look bad as there’s no way this could have happened by accident” I said hurriedly.

I knew it sounded like I was blaming Matt, but it was the truth. There was no way this could have been an accident. There had never been problems with billing before and I couldn’t conceive of how this had happened without intentional sabotage. I just hoped that Jon would believe me and that I could fix it without having to rely on Matt who I no longer trusted with managing a manicure, let alone the Fan Club.

“What are you saying, Trish? Are you saying that you think Matt did this on purpose? I can’t believe he’d do something so vile. Why didn’t you check it sooner?” he sputtered.

“Jon, I’m sorry, truly I am. I should have never trusted Matt without checking up on him. I admit I screwed up, but I’ll fix this. I promise, just…” I tried to explain, my heart racing with panic.

“Hold on, my mom’s on the other line” he interrupted.

“Jon, wait…” I tried, but he’d already put me on hold to answer the call from his mother.

Fuck! I knew I was screwed and I had no doubt I’d been duped. I knew Carol had to be calling to tell Jon what a mess I had made of the boards and to rub it in that she and Matt had warned us both against doing this from the beginning. Think, Jon! Think! Don’t let them manipulate you like this! I willed him my thoughts and prayed to the Goddess while I waited for him to come back on the line.


**************


“Jonny, honey, I hate to disturb you, but this is very important. I have some alarming information that you really need to know” Carol began, her voice dripping with concern.

“Mom, are you and dad okay? I’m in the midst of a mess here myself” he said, trying to stay calm and get to the point.

“Your father and I are just fine, but there’s a serious problem on Backstage. Matt just learned about it and he called me right away to see if I knew how to fix it. Apparently your wife doesn’t know what to do” she said smoothly.

“Mom, I’m on the other line with Trish right now and we both just found out. She doesn’t know how this could have happened and it certainly wasn’t what either of us intended. Do you know how to fix this?” he asked, desperate for answers.

“Jonny, if it were me, I’d shut down the board all together before any more damage is done and you lose any more fans. We can bring it back later once we’ve restored things to the way they were. Your brother and I both warned you that this wasn’t a good idea and your wife obviously has no experience with managing something so complicated” she advised.

“Mom, I don’t know…I just want this fixed as soon as possible” Jon said, faltering about what to do.

“Honey, why don’t you just tell your wife that you know she wanted to help, but that you need someone experienced running such an important part of your life and then just leave it to Matt and me and we’ll straighten it all out. You know I’m always there for you, Jonny, and we can take care of this mess” she offered sweetly, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

“Maybe you’re right, but I need to talk to Trish first. I’ll call you right back” he said, grateful to have a solution.

“I’ll be right here, Jonny, but don’t wait too long. The more we delay, the more damage that can happen” she cautioned, licking her lips with satisfaction.

“Okay, mom, you’re right. We shouldn’t wait any longer. Go ahead. Tell Matt to shut down the site. Thanks” he replied before switching back to tell me the plan.