Chapter 21: Monte Carlo

Thursday March 23
Instead of running this morning, I was rushing around, packing for my trip. Last night, I’d come home to find that the package from Chubby had arrived as promised. In it was the ticket to the charity masquerade ball/Red Cross fundraiser, along with a mask. The mask was black with an intricate floral design in red on the outside edges and covered me from nose to forehead. It looked expensive. When I tried it on, Duke growled at me, and the boys weren’t sure who I was, so it did its job of hiding my identity.

Chubby had also included two tickets to Monte Carlo’s opera for Saturday night. They were playing the Der Freischütz, which meant nothing to me. That was until I Googled it and learned that it was the opera that was supposed to have inspired ― Phantom of the Opera. Once I knew that, it still meant almost nothing to me. Among the movies Rita James had given me to better my education on good filmmaking was the big-screen adaptation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. While I was in Cuba, no one else wanted to watch it, so I waited until I got home. After viewing it, I understood why they didn’t want to tackle it: it was two-and-a-half hours long. I did love the music, though, so I was excited to see what its inspiration was like in its original format on stage.

Paul scared the crap out of me when he suddenly appeared at my bedroom door.

“Sorry,” he chuckled. “Are you taking all this?”

“We’re going to be gone over a week, and I need clothes for different occasions,” I said to defend myself. “I can explain it all to you, or you can start hauling it downstairs.”

I knew that would stop him. No guy wants to hear about all the different outfits that were needed. I had to pack a wide variety that ranged from the tux I would need for the formal events, to sports jackets, to casual, to swim trunks and exercise gear. Inside, I cringed that I even thought of all that.

I was using this trip as a dry run for when I would travel the world shooting my movies this coming summer and fall.

When I was finally done, I took the last two bags down and put them in the back of the SUV. Duke had joined Paul when he went outside, and I found him romping around with Precious. I came in the back door to hear Paul bellyaching to my parents, Cassidy, and Peggy.

“Now I’m starting to worry I didn’t pack enough. I’m only taking a duffle bag.”

“The boy is a clothes hound. He’s the daughter we never had,” Mom said.

“I thought you were being nice to me,” I said, surprising them.

“Well, I always wanted a daughter,” Mom tried lamely.

“That’s how you win him over,” Dad offered and received a glare from my mother in return.

Paybacks are hell.

School was a blur. I was focused on my travel plans and wasn’t listening to my teachers drone on.

The JV baseball team members were all excited to play in the varsity game tonight, since the entire varsity team had been suspended for fighting at St. Joe. Yesterday, there had been a half-page article in our paper talking about the fallout from that game. St. Joe had let go of most of their coaching staff, and their athletic director had stepped down.

In this morning’s paper, there was a follow-up story. It seems my buddy, Jeff Delahey, had interviewed the coaches and players at two of the schools who’d been involved in the campaign to hit me. There was a lot of “no comment,” but I was intrigued that he’d also talked to the High School Athletic Association that governed high school baseball in our state. Jeff inferred that they were looking into it.

I wondered if Jeff did this on his own or if my dad had a hand in putting him up to this.

I’d gone to practice last night. My dad and I had agreed that I wouldn’t make a final decision about whether I would play the rest of the year until I returned from spring break. I’d talked to Moose about that, and he was on board with our plan.

I also finally found out what Dare was up to. He wanted to replace the drone we used for the car with a flock, similar to the one he’d created for the house security system. They would be stored in the back of the SUV, and the tailgate window opened to release them.

Fritz had tweaked the design because he would rather the drones be stored on the roof when not in use. He reasoned that if bad guys watched what we did, they would know that the back window would be opened at some point. Once the two of them had worked out the details, Fritz had called Megan and given her the go-ahead to provide Dare with the money he needed.

Personally, I thought the little shit just wanted something to do over the break.

When school was finally out, I said hurried goodbyes to my friends and wished the JV team good luck. I was quickly on my way to the airport. Paul had Megan with him. I noticed I wasn’t the only one who’d brought more than a duffle bag.

“Hey,” Megan said shyly when I got in.

“Hey, yourself.”

After a few minutes of awkward silence, I could tell she had something on her mind.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“I’m not sure I should be going on this trip.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I understand why Cindy is going; she’ll be working on your condos. Ashley and Scarlet are sort of family, while I just work for you,” she said and then looked away.

“What about Kevin? He doesn’t even work for me,” I said as I hid my smile.

“Scarlet said he gets to go because it’s your way of paying Cindy.”

“Did Scarlet say anything that would make you think you shouldn’t be going?” I asked.

“No. She’s been super nice to me.”

“What about Paul? Personally, I like Manaia better. We could drop him off and take Manaia instead,” I suggested.

I saw Paul give me an evil look in the mirror.

“No. Scarlet and he ... well, you know,” Megan said as she blushed.

“Oh, my,” I said in mock disbelief.

Megan blushed when she thought she’d just outed their relationship.

“What does the HR manual say about that?” I asked.

“Um,” was her witty comeback.

“When we get back, talk to my dad and find out for me,” I suggested.

You’d have thought I just told Cassidy she had to off her kitten by the look that came over Megan’s face.

“Sorry, I was just pulling your chain. I actually suggested that the two of them become ... ah ... friends.”

“Oh ... Oh!” Megan said and suddenly had a smile.

“Now, you’re happy?” I asked, clearly confused by the sudden change in her demeanor.

“No one ever takes the time to tease me. It means you like me, right?” Meagan asked, hopefully.

“Yes. And that is why you were asked to go on this trip. So, quit worrying about whether you should go, and just plan on having fun.”

She seemed reassured. I would have to make it a point to tease her some more. I couldn’t have anyone around me left out when it came to that.

Once we arrived at the airport, I discovered that Paul was a little miffed at me for saying Manaia was my favorite. He made me carry my own bags. What was he thinking? I was an Academy Award winner, after all. My uncle would say that and five bucks would buy me a cup of coffee at Starbucks. When I had to make two trips, I realized I might have packed too many bags.

After I’d hauled my load to the plane, Roy Tyro, the owner of my flight school, waved me over. He was talking to three men dressed like pilots.

“David is one of my star students. Would it be okay if he followed you around while you do your pre-flight check? In fact, he’s a rated pilot and could legally get a little right-seat time on the trip over if you’re willing.”

I appreciated Roy thinking of me, and I was pumped by the idea that I might get to sit up front part of the time. The pilots walked around the plane and explained the difference between what I usually flew and the jet we would be taking. It was a Bombardier Global 8000, designed to comfortably carry more than ten people on long flights. Our trip would be almost ten hours long, hence the need for three pilots. With the time difference, we would land in Nice, France, at around eight in the morning. The seven-hour time difference was going to kill me.

When I finally got on the plane, I saw that they had one side set up with two tables, each with seating for four; two facing front and two facing aft. Paul, Scarlet, Cindy, and Kevin had claimed one of them. Across the aisle, there were narrower two-seat tables that only sat one across. Megan and Ashley were sitting at the one across the aisle from the other four. In the back, there was a big white leather couch with my name on it. I planned to sleep so that I wouldn’t be wiped out when I arrived in Europe. Though now I thought that if I became restless, I might go up to the cockpit for a little while. I’d found that sleeping on the overnight flight was the quickest way to get acclimated. That was what I’d done both times that I traveled to the UK.

About an hour into the flight, Cindy came back to join me.

“I wanted to update you on your houses.”

I turned off the movie I was watching on my tablet so I could give her my full attention.

“The remodel of the house in Malibu is almost done. We still have the pool area, pool-house addition, and garage to finish. They think it will all be ready by the first of June.”

“That’s great. Anything I need to do for that?” I asked.

“No. Your mom has it all under control,” Cindy assured me.

My parents planned to move there this summer. After my mom’s cancer and my dad’s heart issues, they’d confirmed they wanted to enjoy the California weather. The house there was also large enough that all the kids and baby mamas could be in one place together. The logistics of watching my group of little ones would be much easier.

Plus, it was too nice to just rent it out. My renter had let us know that he’d taken a job in San Francisco and wanted to break his lease. I was just happy he’d stuck it out so long and lived in the construction zone. The timing was working out almost perfectly.

“I also have some plans for your condo in Canada,” Cindy continued and showed me a floor plan.

It was a four-bedroom unit. That was one of the good things that Zander had done: he’d bought places that could handle a crowd. Each bedroom had its own bath. The plan Cindy showed me combined two of the bathrooms into one. With the new layout, she was able to get three showers, three toilet stalls, and a large sink area into the new combined bathroom.

“I debated about putting in four showers, but they would have been tiny,” Cindy shared.

With two of the bedrooms having bunk beds with a trundle bed underneath, you could comfortably sleep three in each room—six if you wanted to pack them in. The other two bedrooms had queen- and king-size beds, so you could get ten people in the unit comfortably. Five showers and toilets should be enough.

She showed me the changes to the kitchen. The eat-in area had been lost to make room for the commercial-sized appliances you would need for the larger crowd. Where the eat-in area had been, she’d put an island with a sink and two dishwashers. There was also room for six stools on the island’s end and back side for extra seating. That would be a great place for eating a quick breakfast or somewhere to send the kids.

“I’m debating whether to open up the dining and living rooms so it’s all one room. What do you think? I don’t really see a need for a formal dining room if you’re on vacation,” Cindy explained.

“I say open it up. We have a formal dining room, and we’ve only ever used it for special occasions.”

She gave me a hint of a smile.

“Kevin said it should be designed like a man cave,” Cindy said and then showed me her design.

By the front door, there was a place to store skis and gear. Along one wall was a bar with a table that could be converted into a poker table. At the other end was a home theater. It was all done in wood and stone to give it a rustic look. If I planned to use it as a vacation rental when I wasn’t using it, it would command top dollar. What she had designed blew away staying in a suite at a hotel.

“Get Scarlet the numbers and run it past my mom. If they’re good, I say go for it,” I said and then focused on the condos in Monte Carlo, Greece, and New York. “Have you started working on the three we’re going to this coming week?”

“I’m a little worried about the one in Monte Carlo. They converted an old mansion and turned it into four units. The building is over a hundred years old. I talked to some of my professors, and they worry it might have lead pipes for the plumbing, and the electrical might need a serious looking-at.

“From the pictures Chuck sent, I also see some water stains around the windows. Before I get too deep into decorating, I want to make sure it’s structurally sound,” Cindy explained.

“I agree.”

“The place in Mykonos is brand new. It just needs some minor sprucing-up. The guy that owned these has no sense of style.”

“And New York?”

“It’s a blank slate. It’s in Manhattan’s Tribeca. They recently converted the building from factory space to condos. Right now, it only has a small bathroom and kitchenette; the rest is wide open. With the twenty-foot ceiling, I’m thinking it needs a second floor for bedrooms or one large master suite. Even if I do that, I would love to have the living room situated so it still has the high ceilings to give it an open and airy feel. So I think it would only be a partial second floor. I also don’t want to mess up the exposed brick.

“To be honest, I haven’t really tackled that one yet because my imagination has gone in so many directions. I want to get into the space and look at it before I come up with concepts,” Cindy confessed.

“I’ve loved everything you’ve done so far, so I trust you’ll figure it out. Thank you for helping me with all this.”

“I’m sure I’m the one who should be thankful. You had several other options for decorators. I wouldn’t have blamed you if you’d kicked us all out when those idiots tried to plant cameras in your house.”

“If it had been literally anyone else...” I said and left it hanging.

She nodded her understanding. While she and I had our issues, I felt I understood Cindy. She wasn’t someone I would ever consider part of my inner circle because Cindy was mostly concerned with Cindy. That being said, she also had my best interest in mind when we had a common goal. Getting my places decorated was one of those instances.

Helping me with Scarlet was another. I guess sex, in general, was one of those things we both had in common. Cindy was just a bit more out there than I was currently ready for. I was sure that I might be prepared for a lot of activities Cindy might come up with, as far as sex went.

Speaking of which, her boyfriend, Kevin, came back to join us.

“Hey, Babe. You asked him yet?”

Cindy gave him a pained look, but Kevin either chose to ignore it or was oblivious. I tended to think it was the latter. Kevin was a strange dude in that he just happily went along, and nothing seemed to bother him. While I would have a problem with another guy having sex with my girlfriend while I watched, Kevin thought it was hot.

I was a little worried about what he wanted her to ask me. That was when I discovered my newest superhero power. I, David A. Dawson, am a man-whore. How did I know this?

“David A. Dawson, you’re a man-whore!” Kevin announced.

See what I mean?

Cindy swatted Kevin’s arm.

“What? It’s true, though,” he said to her and then turned to me. “I’ve heard stories of how you attract unbelievably hot tail. We were hoping you would use your mad skills and we could have a wild party where everything would get a little out of control, if you know what I mean.”

I looked at Cindy.

“He is convinced you’ll find a bunch of models or movie stars who will come back to your place,” Cindy explained.

“What makes you think I would want to share?” I asked, confused.

“Dude, so uncool. If you bring back enough, you can’t possibly handle them all. Do a bro a solid,” Kevin all but pleaded.

“Does he even know who I am?” I teased Cindy.

She closed her eyes and shook her head. Kevin was like a brain-damaged puppy. I knew Cindy cared for him because they’d been dating since her freshman year in college. I would have to roll up a newspaper and swat his nose if he tried to horn in on someone I might pick up. If he was anything like Duke, he might pee on the floor if that happened.

“Come on,” Cindy said, grabbing Kevin’s hand.

“Hey, are we doing that whole mile-high thing you promised me?” Kevin asked.

I let out a chuckle as Cindy blushed.

“Yes, Kevin. Let’s get that out of the way,” Cindy said.

He got an overexcited look on his face.

“Dude. You want to join us?”

Frick!

“No, I’m good for now. Maybe later.”

“Bummer. I was hoping to watch you two again.”

I decided I needed to get my sleep before everything got ‘a little out of control.’

Friday March 24
We landed in Nice, which was twenty miles from Monte Carlo. As it turned out, I slept through any chance at cockpit time. After a quick trip through customs, we discovered another gift from Chubby waiting for us: a helicopter ride instead of having to drive. Ten minutes later, we were in Monte Carlo.

The view from the helipad was spectacular. It overlooked the Port De Fontvieille, which was lined with luxury boats. We were whisked away in a large van provided by the helicopter company to take us to my condo. As we wound through town, I was struck by the mix of old and new. Monaco was about the size of Central Park in the heart of New York City. That meant that once the land had been filled up, they’d had to build higher. It was starting to look like New York’s skyline with all the high-rises.

Kevin and Megan cracked me up by how they were rubbernecking to take everything in. If you hadn’t been to a big city, seeing one for the first time was an experience. Then we began to wind our way towards the water. Mom always said that real estate was all about location, location, location. If that was the case, Zander had made a great buy.

The condo was located on a street lined with old mansions on the water side and high-rises on the other. When we stopped, I noted there was a hotel across the street that looked to have a restaurant. It was past nine in the morning, and I could eat.

Paul had the keys and opened the condo. There was a funky smell, like a mixture of damp and old people. I noted that there were black marks on the door frames at the height a wheelchair would make. From the look of the décor, the place hadn’t been updated in fifty years, and some of the furniture might have been antiques when they were bought back then. I knew that Cindy could fix that, so I pushed through to the back door.

This was why Zander bought the place. The back opened to a stone patio that overlooked a park-like area, and you had an unobstructed view of the Mediterranean Sea. My first thought was I had to grab my camera. I couldn’t wait, though. I pulled out my phone, snapped a picture, and posted it to my social media to let everyone know that I’d arrived.

The rest of the group hadn’t followed my lead, and all stayed awake on the flight, so they wanted to crash.

“I’m going across the street to grab something to eat,” I announced.

Paul looked defeated.

“I’m just going to the hotel across the street. I’ll hit the panic button if I need you,” I assured him.

“If it didn’t feel like it was the middle of the night, I’d go with you,” Paul assured me.

It was after two in the morning back home. We made a pact not to let Fritz know, and I left to go eat.

The restaurant was small and packed. I figured that at this time of day, it would be after the breakfast rush and before the lunch crowd showed up. When I heard it would be a fifteen-minute wait, I had all but decided to find somewhere else to eat.

“David! David!” I heard across the room.

I had to think for a minute because the guy calling my name looked familiar. Then it hit me: it was Lord something or another, the aristocrat I’d put on his butt when doing a photo shoot for Range Sports. When I didn’t immediately go to his table, he jumped up to come talk to me. He hurried over and shook my hand like we were old friends.

“Last time I saw you, you were an upstart model. Now I can say I knew you before you became famous.”

“I was about to leave. They say it will be awhile before they can seat me,” I asserted, trying to extricate myself as cleanly as possible.

“Nonsense. I’m here with my mates because Oliver is getting married. He was gobsmacked when I said I knew you. It would be brill if you’d join us and let him do a little elbow-rubbing with an Academy Award winner.”

I felt like I was being invited to a knife fight on the premise of it ‘being a laugh.’ If the whole place hadn’t stopped what they were doing and were staring at us, I would have been rude and walked out. Instead, I let him lead me to the table.

Once we sat down, he introduced me to his friends: Oliver, the groom; Liam; and Henry. I decided to take control of the conversation so I didn’t get badgered about acting.

“How do you all know each other?”

“We were housemates in Manor House at Eton,” Oliver shared.

I remembered Tami talking about running into some Eton boys when she went to school in the UK. Eton is a private all-boys boarding school.

“Isn’t that where Prince Harry went to school?” I asked.

“Yes, fifteen members of the British royal family have attended Eton, including Prince William and Prince Harry,” Liam said.

“So, you have to be part of the British upper class to get in?” I asked.

“Actually, Liam was a King’s Scholar,” Lord Whatshisname said.

I gave them a confused look.

“He’s saying I’m poor,” Liam explained.

It sounded like being poor was something to be ashamed of, but that Liam had come to grips with it. I decided to change the subject.

“Why are you all eating so late?” I asked.

“We went to a club last night and are a little worse for wear this morning,” Henry said.

“They thought it would be funny to take me to some dodgy place,” Oliver complained. “Some arsehole thought we should do shots, and before you knew it, I was arse over tits drunk. This morning, I have thrown up more times than I can bear to count. And several of those times were through my nose, which until now I hadn’t even thought possible.”

“This bloody fool drunk-dialed his fiancée last night. Now the girls in the wedding party are all coming here for the remainder of the weekend to keep an eye on us,” Henry shared.

We all chuckled when Oliver flipped his friend off. Lord Whatshisname suddenly brightened.

“You actually know one of the girls. My sister Beth is one of the bridesmaids.”

Then it came to me: Lord Whatshisname was really Lord Harry Smyth.

“I still can’t believe Eleanor is in the wedding party,” Liam said and then turned to Harry. “Are you going to give her up once you get married?”

“You’re getting married, too?” I asked.

“He got himself in a pickle, and his parents arranged for his marriage,” Oliver explained.

“They still do that?” I asked.

“It’ll be okay. I’ll be able to keep my mistress on the side. All I have to do is get my wife pregnant with a male heir and the requisite one extra for just in case, and we can live separate lives,” Harry said.

It took me a moment to wrap my brain around that one.

“Do you even know her?” I asked.

“Oh, yes. The only problem is that for sporting, let’s just say she will be a proper English lady. If I want to have a bit of fun, I’ll have to look elsewhere,” Harry said, making me like him even less.

Our breakfasts came, and all conversation stopped because they needed to get something in their stomachs. Monaco is located on the French coast near Italy, so their cuisine was heavily influenced by both countries. I ordered pain perdu, which was French toast.

I figured if it had a French name, it had to be authentic. Unlike regular French toast, the batter cooked into a custardy, crispy coating that left the bread soft. They used house-baked egg bread. It was similar to the Hawaiian bread you could buy back home. I would have to see if I could steal the recipe to take back so we could serve this in our restaurant.

When the guys came up for air, I learned they were also going to the Red Cross fundraiser tonight. They asked if I wanted to go with them, but I told them I had already made other arrangements. There was more hope than fact in that last statement. I would have to ask Scarlet whether Chubby had arranged transportation. Even worse than hanging out with a lot of old people at a fundraiser would be to hang out with this group.

I thanked them for breakfast when Harry insisted that he would pay and beat a hasty retreat before they could rope me into spending more time with them.

When I got back, I found Ashley in my bedroom, rushing around like she planned to go somewhere.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I wanted to let Megan get her sleep.”

“No, that’s fine. What are you up to?” I asked.

“There is a qualifier poker tournament for the Super High Roller European Poker Tour event this weekend that I’m going to enter.”

“Two questions. First, why didn’t you tell me about it? Second, I didn’t know you played poker.”

“I told your mom I was planning to play. She said, and I quote, ‘even though the gambling age is 18 in Monaco, David is under no circumstances allowed to step foot into a casino,’” Ashley said. She actually did a credible imitation of my mother. “Oh, and ‘David is not allowed to go to any clubs while you’re on vacation.’”

“Even though I can legally drink here and in Greece,” I added.

“You do know that she isn’t our mother, and we plan to do all that stuff,” Ashley added.

“You plan to leave me at home?” I asked indignantly.

“Please,” Ashley said as she dismissed the idea that I would stay at home. “You already have plans to go to some ball and then the opera. I have no doubt you’ll find something to do. You don’t need us old folks to entertain you.”

I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. Part of the reason I’d invited Ashley and Scarlet was so I would get a chance to get to know them better. It sounded like they planned to go off and do their own thing. While I was sure I could find stuff to do, it felt weird that the people I’d invited just assumed I wouldn’t be part of whatever they did. It was off-putting to realize I was the kid whose mama wouldn’t let him do the things the rest of the older kids got to do.

“You’re probably right,” I said and left her to get ready.

I decided I wasn’t going to sit around and worry about them. Instead, I would go my own way and explore the city. I had just reached the front door when someone knocked. They almost fell down the steps when I opened it as soon as they stopped beating on the door.

“That was fast,” a woman dressed for business said.

“What can I do for you?” I asked.

“Is your mom or dad home?”

That just hit me wrong. It had only been two minutes ago that I’d been reminded I was too young to hang with my travel-mates. Now I was supposed to let this lady talk to my parents.

“No, they’re out,” I said and didn’t offer to take her information.

The woman was flustered when I stepped out of the condo with the plan to act like a tourist. I was almost to the sidewalk when she finally realized that I wasn’t going to stop.

“Hang on, I need to talk to one of them.”

I just gave her a teenage shrug, put my earbuds in, and donned my sunglasses as I walked away. As I glanced back, the woman stood in the middle of the front walk, looking confused. I momentarily wondered why she needed to talk to my parents and then put it out of my mind.

I went across the street to talk to the concierge about what I could do for an afternoon. He directed me to a historic district called Le Rocher, or The Rock. It was where Monaco-Ville, an upscale area, was located.

But I would have to do that later; I wanted to catch the changing of the guard at Place de Palais, Monaco’s palace, and had to hurry to make it. It turned out that the opera house was on the same square, but I knew I’d be seeing it later. Next, I took a stroll through St. Martin’s Gardens, a park that had views of the sea. I took a lot of pictures for my dad because the flora was so well-cared-for and varied.

At the far end of the park was the Oceanographic Museum. They were reputed to have the best aquariums in all of Europe. I would agree that they were impressive.

I had a late lunch at a little place with seating outside so I could people-watch. The server suggested I get pâté and a fish stew with French bread.

After lunch, I spent some time in Le Rocher, wandering the narrow streets. I discovered that this part of Monaco dated back to the 13th century when the principality was founded.