“Now, some items I totaled up without putting another price on them because the prices were reasonable even though the activity might have been a bit out there. For example, the skydiving costs are pretty much the same on each sheet. We can likely deduct those because the expenditure helped you get the part in the Bond movie and your attempted commercial with Range Sports. But you still need to see how much you spent.
“Oh, and costs for hookers for you and your friends and expense for a party bus are not reasonable on either set of data.” She smiled sweetly at me.
We went through both stacks, and the numbers were eye-popping. Even though the spur-of-the-moment activities I did and paid for didn’t seem like too much at the time, they added up in a hurry! I could see in one sense how I wasn’t being very responsible.
On the other hand, damn it, it was my money, and I wanted to have fun with it!
“So, what do you want to do?” I asked.
“When you get back from vacation, I want to sit down with you and Brook for a working session. We’ll work out budgets you can live with and still have fun. But the budget will help you learn to keep track of what you’re doing and what it means to your bottom line,” she said. “For you, I’ll use the numbers from these sheets to put together a proposed budget that I consider reasonable. I’ll also include a reasonable amount of money for discretionary spending. But the main thing we need to do is to get a process and discipline in place for you. Those will help you keep better track of what you’re doing with your money. I’ll get Brook’s numbers from her parents and propose a budget along similar lines for her as well.
“Your proposed budget won’t be a final one. It will be something we can discuss and work on, and it’ll likely change over time. But it’ll give you a guide and a way to track what you’re actually spending, which I think you’ll seriously come to appreciate over time.
“Something else I want to do is to sit down with you each Sunday for an hour to update you on the various business ventures you have going. As well, we’ll check where you are in relation to your finances and your goals.”
Then Caryn looked at me almost pleadingly. I was about to make a smart comment but realized in time that she was dead serious about this.
“David, think of it like this. You have a lot of discipline when it comes to modeling, football, baseball, acting … yet you still have fun with each activity. Don’t you think you should exercise a little discipline and forethought when it comes to your money and your businesses as well? I’m not talking about taking the fun out of life at all, I’m just talking about having fun and being smart about it at the same time.”
How do you say no to a girl making serious puppy-dog eyes at you, especially when you realize it’s important to her, and that she’s right?
“Why include Brook?” I asked.
“Because she’s a bad influence on you. I don’t mean she’s evil. What I mean is that when you’re with her, you just
“I hope you don’t expect me to tell her,” I said as my eyes got bigger.
“No, I’m a big girl; I’ll talk to Brook.”
“She’s best friends with Cassidy. I’d be careful,” I warned.
“You’ll protect me,” Caryn said confidently.
She was right; I would.
“All right. We’ll do this your way,” I conceded.
I thought for a second.
“This is different from what we talked about a few weeks ago about ‘having a plan,’ right?”
“Yes,” she said. “We need to do that too, but I was thinking more about the end of the summer to do that when we might actually have a bit of time.”
I wasn’t sure if I’d have ‘a bit of time’ ever again, the way my life was going.
◊◊◊ Wednesday March 23
A six-hour time difference sucked balls. I decided Saul should die for scheduling a 10 a.m. meeting with Art Faulk (director), Joyce Heart (producer/president of Lucasfilm) and Mark Philpott (casting).
I’d forced myself awake and walked downstairs for coffee. We apparently had a butler today; it was something Rita had set up. He made me tea and ordered me breakfast. Both Caryn and Rita looked rough this morning. I probably didn’t look any better; the time change was playing havoc with all of our sleep patterns. It wasn’t even 4 a.m. at home.
I checked the news while drinking my tea. I’d set up a Google Alert on Brandon Rigby; it was something Frank had taught me. I’d also set one up on me. If there was a story about me, the alert service sent it to me.
It was reported that Brandon had implicated two other guys who were in his club or fraternity or whatever it was. He had also hired a real attorney when he was extradited back to Massachusetts. It seems Thomas Fox was back to chasing ambulances.
