“Because David can then make the appropriate SEC
filings, repurchase his stock on the open market, and pocket the profit or buy more stock,” Grace explained.
“Wouldn’t that both piss Ron off and be insider trading?”
David asked.
“He has a point,” Rob said.
“Sorry, you’re right. I was just letting my irritation get the better of me. If you didn’t know the income projections, his deal is more than fair,” Grace said.
“I don’t want to hurt you by selling. If you want me to turn Ron down, I will,” David said.
Grace chuckled.
“I’ll be fine. Now that I’m forewarned, I can make a move myself or let Ron take over. If he steps out of line, I can stop him. I was retired, if you remember,” Grace shared.
“And I wanted out of running businesses while in college,” David added.
“While I can work on my golf game,” Rob said.
“Don’t forget about the drone and VR businesses,” Grace reminded David.
With Grace’s assistance, David had helped Darius make some money on his inventions. Word had gotten out about the VR use in football, and universities and professional teams were inquiring about the technology. David’s one
requirement was that it not be sold to any team in the Pac-12 or any school on their schedule for the next few years.
The other issue was that Dare and Corvus were not satisfied with the software yet. USC and Western Michigan both acted as beta sites and sent the two nerds bug reports. Grace looked into a couple of companies that could produce the product and its parts, install it, train the end users, and provide customer support.
Personally, David found the software invaluable.
“Those are more passion projects than businesses,”
David said.
“What did I tell you? If you find something you love and can make a living, you’ll be a happy man,” Rob said.
“Listen to your father,” Grace advised.
Duke caught his attention. Someone had to go for a walk.
“I’ll call Ron tomorrow and accept his offer,” David said to end the meeting.
As he took Duke out, David still couldn’t believe that no one had complained about him having his dog in the dorm or taking him to class. In his critical thinking class today, Duke had dropped his tennis ball, and it rolled to the front of the room. His professor had simply picked it up and handed it to Duke when he charged down the aisle to get it.
◊◊◊
The next day, David received a new script with a note from Kendrick that he’d read it and thought David would be happy.
The setup for his character read: ‘Nikki and Mick have a history together. They were lovers and friends before Mick left to join the military. Mick’s return rekindles feelings that Nikki thought were gone. But if history dictates what will happen next, then Nikki will toy with the idea of a
relationship with Mick but then head straight into Vic’s arms after a while.’
The director would be on campus tomorrow to scout locations and wanted to meet David. It was arranged that they sit down at Doreen’s coffee shop first thing in the morning. Professor Blum would attend to represent the university.
◊◊◊
David and Duke went for a leisurely morning run and then showed up at the coffee shop.
“I see you brought your friend back,” Doreen said as he walked in.
“You remember Duke. He needed a break from my little ones, so he’s here for the week,” David explained.
“Little ones?” she asked with a sideways look at him.
“I thought everyone knew. I have five kids.”
David went on to explain his five children. He had Doreen get Duke a bowl of water, which the dog slopped all over the floor. David was cleaning it up when Professor Blum appeared with two young women.
“David, I would like you to meet Abigail Barnes and Moira Lim,” Professor Blum said.
David stood up and shook their hands. Abigail would be his director, while Moira would be her production assistant.
“I wanted to thank you for agreeing to join our cast. We don’t normally get movie stars,” Abigail said.
“If you’re looking for more talent, USC has a whole host of budding actors who would love an opportunity,” David said.
“Quite right. Please let me know if you need extras or more,” Professor Blum interjected.
“Have you seen our show?” Moira asked.
“No, but one of my best friends loves it. When I told her I would be on it, she failed to mention that it was geared
more toward adults.”
He planned to have a word with Cassidy later, if for no other reason than to give her a hard time.
“It’s sort of a cross between Spartacus and As the World Turns,” Abigail said.
David remembered that his parents’ cable parental controls had prevented him and Greg from watching Spartacus. Tami’s mom wasn’t as watchful, so he and his friends had been able to watch an episode or three. It had a lot of nudity, sex, and gore, which made them all love it.
“Does that mean I get to use a sword on Vic when he poaches my love?” David quipped.
The women looked at each other and broke out in laughter.
“I would love to see that,” Moira admitted.
“Don’t you like Vic?” David asked.
“He’s a bit of a pompous ass, but he looks good and is a decent actor,” Abigail shared.
“What’s Nikki like?” David asked.
They looked at each other again and had tiny grins.
“Oh, you’ll like her,” Moira predicted.
They got down to business, and David shared his schedule with them.
“That doesn’t leave much time for filming,” Abigail complained.
“For me, this is a school internship, and my primary objectives are my family, school, and football. I was told you would work around my schedule,” David said, prepared to pull the plug if they weren’t on board.
“No, we’ll take what we can get. I just hope you’re as good as I’ve heard so we can get through your scenes quickly,” Abigail said.
“Have you ever been involved in a J-drama?” David asked.
They gave him a curious look.
“I have. To be exact, what they do is basically one take, period, because they don’t have the time or resources to do multiple takes. I had to do most of those in Japanese, which meant learning my lines and the proper voice inflections and having my acting ready to go.
“Doing this in English will be a piece of cake compared to that,” David assured them.
Professor Blum snorted, which he had to explain.
“David recently did some commercials for USC. One of the directors wanted to do multiple takes, which David put up with. Obviously, he’d nailed it the first time, so after something like nine, I shut it down. David will do fine,”
Professor Blum agreed.
They wrapped up their meeting. Filming would start next week.
Before they left, David introduced them to Doreen and suggested that the coffee house would be a good film location.
As he walked out, Doreen smiled at the possibility of free publicity.
◊◊◊
Chapter 11
David took Sadie to see her sister. Duke was happy when he didn’t have to give up shotgun as Sadie climbed into the back. The trip went well until they got to her school, and she spotted a girl standing outside the front.
“What’s wrong?” David asked when the smile suddenly left her face.
“That’s Hailey. She makes fun of my hair and says I’m a freak.”
“Does she do other mean stuff?”
Sadie wouldn’t look up at him but gave a slight nod.