“I suspect that I might be short with people at some point. I’ll bet that either the pain or frustration might cause me to be a jerk. Can you do me a favor, and if you see me acting up, call me on it? I might not act like I appreciate it at the time. Just remember that I get over things quickly and know you have my best interests at heart,” I said.
“That’s what Cassidy’s for.”
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. Cassidy doesn’t have the social skills that you do.”
My parents came out of the conference room.
“You about ready to go?” Dad asked.
We all rode to the airport where Brook and my parents were dropped off. Fritz was given detailed instructions about looking after me. I was sure we’d be fine.
◊◊◊ Monday October 10
Before I left the hospital, they’d given me instructions on how to rehab my hip pointer. They called the first few days the ‘acute phase.’ I assumed that meant pain level because I agreed it was ‘acute.’ The suggested treatment was to rest, ice it down, take the pain and anti-inflammatory meds, and to wrap it. They warned me not to try to do too much until the pain subsided some. My instinct was to stretch and exercise, but they’d warned that I had to let my injuries heal before I began to do that.
I could have ditched the wheelchair and used crutches if my arm and ribs didn’t hurt. At least the swelling around my elbow had gone down. That was frankly my biggest concern. They’d thoroughly examined my elbow, and a sports medicine doctor, who was also an orthopedic specialist, had assured me that it was all soft-tissue injury, and nothing structurally was amiss. Besides the scare of possibly not being able to throw a ball, it frustrated me not to have the use of my right arm. Simple things you take for granted, like tying your shoes, are a major hassle when you essentially lose the use of your dominant arm.
Something I discovered was that being in pain is exhausting. I’d managed to hobble around enough to take a shower and get dressed, but when I was done, I was ready for a nap. It was like I was ninety years old. I had to move slowly and worried that I might tip over at any moment when pain would radiate from my hip if I moved wrong.
I ordered room service for breakfast and got the guy that delivered it to tie my shoes. When Fritz finally came to pick me up, I was ready to go.
“I expected I would have to help you get ready.”
“Yesterday, you would have had to. I hate feeling helpless,” I admitted.
Fritz helped me ease into the wheelchair and grabbed my bags. It was a little awkward because his wrist was broken, but we somehow managed to get downstairs. I was glad that they had express checkout so I didn’t have to get in line to do that.
Today, the plan was to go to IDC – Public Relations’ offices and prep for our press conference. Frank pulled Fritz into a meeting for him to have his own prep. Rita and Halle hadn’t arrived yet.
I found Caryn in the conference room where she’d set up shop for the week. We got all the ‘how are you feeling’ stuff out of the way, and then she wanted to talk about Lexi.
“I had Kendal reread your contract, and she confirmed there is a provision for you to hire what they term as ‘staff’ for the ‘duration’ of the movies. I’ve got a call into the studio to clarify what that means and what our budget is. It’s unclear whether the contract allows us to hire them or if the studio has to, so we have to get that resolved. Kent said Craig was able to hire people directly, but I want to make sure that applies to us as well.”
“What does Kent plan to do with Lexi?” I asked.
“We need to hire some support staff to assist the managers and help with the day-to-day operations. Until I meet with her, I won’t know where she’ll fit in. Kent is hopeful she might make it easier to open some doors for our clients. I also want to find out her long-term plans. She’s just out of high school, and I would guess that at some point, she plans to go to college. I’d hate to assume anything. If she’s only here for the short term, it will limit how much training we would invest in her.”
I had no idea whether Lexi even wanted to go to college. I’d assumed that this would be her first ‘real’ job. There was a soft knock on the door, and Caryn told the person to come in.
“Speak of the Devil. I bet your ears were burning,” I said as Lexi came in.
“I’m here for my interview, Ms. Buckley. If you need to finish up with Mr. Dawson, I can wait.”
I suppressed the urge to laugh at Lexi being so formal. I had to remember this was a business situation and allow Caryn to handle it.
“As a matter of fact, I was just leaving. Good luck, and if I don’t see you before I leave, it was good seeing you again,” I said.
Lexi showed that she was nervous when she wiped her palms on her pants before she shook my hand. Caryn told her to get comfortable and then helped wheel me to where Frank was holding court.
◊◊◊
