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“Welcome to my world,” Billy said.

“I was hoping we would do the lip sync challenge,” I complained as Sheela tried to jump off my lap. “Since I don’t even know what a takin is, and I’m a little sketchy on where Bhutan is … I will guess ‘C.’”

There was a dramatic pause, and I was suddenly handed two more puppies. As I said, they were big, so they had to stack them on each other. I now had a wiggling mass of rowdy mutts who either wanted to lick my face, bark, or escape. One of them managed to bail off and make a run for it. Allen had to rescue my wayward pup and put him on top of the rest.

“You’ve fallen behind, Billy. You need this one to keep the game close. What brush should you never use on a horse? ‘A’ … Fitch Curry Comb, ‘B’ … Dandy Brush, or ‘C’ … Mane Brush?”

“A Curry Comb and Mane Brush make sense. I think it’s the Dandy Brush because it sounds made up. But I’m betting they’re trying to trick me. I say ‘A’ … Fitch Curry Comb,” Billy said.

“You are correct!”

They dumped two squirming fuzzy-butts on Billy.

“You guys are getting big,” he said as they both wanted attention.

There was a barking sound again.

“You know what that means. It is time for Final Puppardy! I will ask you each a question. The one closest to the right answer wins all the puppies. How many trees, on average, do beavers cut down for their winter supply of food?”

We had marker boards to write down the answer. Both Billy and I had to contend with squirming puppies while we wrote. I lost two of them as they made their escape. I wrote down 500.

“Billy, what is your answer?” Allen asked.

He turned his board around, and it showed 25.

“Billy, you said 25. David, what is your answer?”

I flipped mine over.

“David, you said 500. The correct answer is 100. Our winner is Billy! Congratulations!”

Damn!

◊◊◊

The trip to the set of Today’s Wrapup Starring Steve Priest was a quick one. They began filming an hour after Billy Stein’s show in the studio above his in NBC Studio 8-G. I only had time to change clothes before they needed me on set.

“Congratulations on your new movie, and for a couple of reasons. I heard they plan on doing two more. I read the book, and I would have thought it was impossible to adapt it for the big screen,” Steve said.

“Yeah, I’m sure it had to be a daunting undertaking. But they’ve made so many advances in CGI that when I see the final product, I am simply amazed. Of course, we had an awesome director in Jessup Fields, and our producer was Janice Utley, who was astonishing in how good she was. They assembled a team that brought it home with the support of the studio. They made me and my fellow actors, Craig Wild, Bree Steno, Elizabeth Jenks, Ben Doman, and the always amazing Lori Winnick all look good,” I said.

I seemed to be practicing my awards speech.

“From what I’m hearing, it’s a wonderful movie that may rival the recent Star Wars release,” Steve exclaimed. He didn’t give me a chance to refute his bold prediction. “You originally read for another character, at the request of Lori Winnick. But you blew Bree Steno away in your audition, so much that they offered you one of the lead roles.”

“I do owe Lori for getting my foot in the door. She was the reason I even received an audition. When I walked in, I was surprised to learn who my audition partner was. Bree and I had met before at a photo op for some of the modeling work I do for Range Sports. The script said to seduce her,” I said to some chuckles.

“I’m sure you know who Adrienne is,” I continued.

“The Sports Illustrated and Victoria’s Secret model,” Steve said.

“I’d worked with her and learned to do sexy. I figure if you need to know something, go to the best to have them teach you. So, anyway, Bree was simply not prepared for the moves I put on her. So, if anyone’s looking for career advice in acting, it’s that you just never know how far a good kiss will take you.”

“Too bad you weren’t around when I was getting into the business,” Steve said.

“I’m sure, from what I’ve heard, your wife wouldn’t really go for that, now would she?” I asked.

“You also mentioned being a model. Has that helped open any doors for you?” he asked.

“In fact, it has helped tremendously with my acting, but unfortunately, I still have one huge disappointment from my modeling career.”

“Really, what’s that?” Steve asked.

“I’ve always had a crush on Hannah Minacci. I’ve modeled with her, and she’s in my upcoming movie, The Secret Circle. Even with all my charm, I’ve yet to get her to go to Prom with me,” I said, and the audience gave me sympathy.

“Hannah, if you’re watching, give the boy a break,” Steve said, playing along.

“It would help if America would get on their social media and send a quick note to Hannah using hashtag David’s Prom Date. I think she just needs a gentle reminder that she might want to get started picking out her dress and all that stuff.”

“She might kill you for that,” Steve said with a big smile.