“I have a bone to pick with you. That cat you gave us is a terror. His yowling sends the dogs running to the house. Even the cows think he’s a menace and clear out when he decides to be a bully.”
“I hear it’s supposed to be a nice day,” I said to try to change the subject.
I hated to say it, but no take-backs for that cat. My mom would do unspeakable things to me if he were returned.
Lexi scoffed at my blatant attempt. I rubbed my temple with my middle finger to signal her to back off.
“David,” Aunt Bonnie scolded, and then asked, “Will you be home for dinner?”
“He’ll be late tonight. He might get home around three in the morning, based on what they need to film today,” Lexi shared.
I’d learned to trust Lexi’s estimates. She had a knack for looking at the daily storyboard and figuring out how long we would be. While I loved that she could do that, it depressed me when she said I was in for a marathon day.
Manaia came strolling in and found the bagels. I had to get my bread fascination over with before going home. To get into top shape, I would soon be cutting back on the carbs.
“Make me one, too. Then we need to get going,” I said as I looked at my phone to see what time it was.
The principal benefit of staying just five minutes from Pepperdine was the lack of a commute. Besides it being a great house, the location made the rent on this place worthwhile.
I’d been educating Manaia on the more delicate points of bagel eating. Lexi was a lost cause: she put butter and grape jelly on hers. I’d adjusted the toaster so it now browned the bagels to perfection. With just a schmear of cream cheese and a sprinkle of red onion and capers, we were good to go.
We’d included a California flair by adding sliced avocado and sprinkling it with a little salt and pepper to enhance the flavor. I was starting to understand why everyone here ate so many avocados. Besides being full of ‘good fats’ that helped with your cholesterol levels, they were tasty.
◊◊◊
I had time to myself in the afternoon. There were a series of scenes with Haru and the other cast as they discussed my character; that gave me a chance to return a few calls. One was from my mom, saying I had to call Caryn. When I called the office, Megan answered.
“I was about to call you. We got a bill from a Pádraig O’Malley,” she said and told me for how much.
Fixers weren’t cheap.
“Pay that one right away. He helped resolve the Zander mess,” I said.
“What did he do, break his legs?” Megan joked.
I barked out a laugh. She’d come pretty close to it.
“No. He’s what’s called a ‘fixer.’ He helps move negotiations along,” I explained.
“Dare is mad at me,” she said to change the conversation. “He wanted me to just give him the money. At first, I thought he wanted to buy stuff from those Russians, but I talked to his mom.”
“Oh, my God! You told on him?” I asked.
“You do realize what a pain in the butt he can be?” she asked.
“No, I get it. I just love that you called his mom. I bet he wasn’t happy about that.”
“He wasn’t. He finally admitted to her that he had found a guy who worked at State in their engineering department. The guy has some parts that Dare wants to buy ‘off the books,’ so to speak.”
“Where does he find these guys?” I wondered aloud.
“All I know is that he’s a persistent little shit. I’m about ready to hand him the money out of my pocket just to get rid of him.”
“Well, I’m starting to get intrigued by what he’s up to. I’m also not happy that he keeps bothering you. Give him the money,” I said, and suddenly had an evil idea. “You can make him jump through as many hoops as you want to get the cash. Have some fun with it.”
That seemed to make her day. Megan was a great gal, but I had a feeling that Mr. Dare should have played nice with her. I’d just given her permission to jerk him around. He needed a lesson on how to get your way in a business setting. I was confident that Megan would ‘teach’ him a few of those lessons.
She finally put me through to Caryn.
“We finalized the details for the sale of the business to Mrs. Davenport. I’ve sent it to Ms. Dixon and her team to review. One issue we have to resolve is they want you to have a seat on the board of directors due to your holdings. Grace said you can designate someone until you feel you can devote the time needed. My first thought was your dad.”
“That works for me. He has been involved since the beginning, and I’m sure he’d be helpful with the transition. My only hesitation is his health,” I said.
“We just need to identify who it will be for the initial filings. If we have to change it later, that’s fine,” she explained.
“Then put him down.”
“While I was talking to Ms. Dixon about the business, she had some news about the Zander settlement. There’s more to transferring property overseas than simply changing the name on the deed and filing it,” Caryn said.
“Like what?” I asked.
