CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY TWO – LARRY THE CREEP

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away back in New York, Gordon Barrett was getting increasingly uncomfortable just watching Larry's unwanted advances towards Jasmine unfold on the live Weekly Housing feed. With a deepening scowl, he took another swig from his beer bottle as the Wizard of Truths once again sidled up beside Jasmine as she lounged by the mansion's pool. "This can't honestly be his idea of flirting," Gordon muttered to himself in disbelief. "She looks like she wants to clobber him with that beach read every time he opens his mouth." On screen, Jasmine was giving her usual polite but firm reply to whatever delusional rant Larry had just finished spouting off. The amateur detective felt a reluctant pang of sympathy - while he adored her wacky spirit and compassion, he could also see it manifesting in her overly patient responses to the increasingly off-putting behavior. Gordon had half a mind to buy a ticket to California himself if this kept escalating much further. As un