Chapter 42

Sean and Rachelle, much to Walt and Mary's amusement, practically raced up the hill from Allie's apartment, both eager to call her father to give him the news. Rachelle won by deftly tripping Sean then hip-checking him at a convenient moment into the shrubs that lined the walkway.

Walt, being a gentlemen at heart, stopped to retrieve his fallen friend, although Mary had simply shot him a pitying look and continued on her way up the hill.

"Cheap shot," Walt claimed as he offered Sean a hand up. "You had the lead so she went for the knees."

"I was planning to let her call anyway!" Sean protested with a laugh as he brush off his clothing. "There was no reason to get nasty."

A sly smile crossed Walt's face as he checked to make sure Mary had gone inside.

"Give me your arm," Walt said, crushing one of the nasty purple berries that grew on the bushes. He broke two or three and rubbed them from Sean's elbow to halfway to his wrist. By the time he finished, it looked, from a distance, like Sean had received a nasty gash on his arm. At first glance, one might think he would require perhaps two or three dozen stitches to close it.

"Don't say a word when you get up there," Walt advised. "Just hold your arm like you landed on it. But make sure Rachelle sees you walking past her. She won't miss the back of your arm. If she asks, just look confused or shake your head. But don't get too close to her or she'll figure it out."

Sean checked out the back of his arm. From up close it was evident that the 'injury' was a purple-red mixture of berry juice.

"It'll work, I promise," Walt said. "The best part is, you're blameless. For all she knows, you landed on the berries when you fell or knocked them from bush on your way down. You're in the clear if you don't pretended like you've lost your arm but just as though landed awkwardly."

"That much is true," Sean said. "I could've broken my wrist."

"That would have showed her, huh?" Walt joked. "This will give her a couple of seconds of shock and then a couple of minutes of guilt when she realizes it really could have been blood. I call them a 'reality check.' Just because nothing happened didn't mean it shouldn't have."

Sean laughed and followed Walt up the hill to the house. As Walt had suggested, he didn't say anything or look angry, he just started to walk down the hallway. Rachelle was already on the phone with her father and Mary was sitting at the table. Ironically, it was Mary who noticed first.

"Jesus, Sean!" she said, drawing Rachelle's attention. Rachelle stopped in mid-sentence.

"I'll call you back, Dad," she said. "I hurt Sean."

She closed the phone and hustled down the hall where Sean, again following Walt's advice to the letter, stood looking confused.

"What's wrong?" he asked, innocent as a newborn kitten.

"Your arm," Rachelle said, clearly worried. "Can't you feel it? Oh, shit. What did I do to you?"

Sean looked down at his forearms in puzzlement then back up at Rachelle, who was now close enough to see it wasn't blood dripping down his arm but squished berry. Still, she rushed forward and hugged him.

"What's up?" Sean asked. Walt had gone back outside to make sure he didn't laugh.

"I thought I really hurt you," Rachelle said, tears in her eyes. "Look at your arm."

She turned it over to where he could see the end of what Walt had accomplished.

"That was so stupid of me!" Rachelle lamented. "I meant it to be funny but you could have really gotten hurt."

"It's only berries," Sean said, suddenly feeling guilty himself. "That little bush is full of them. Don't worry about it. It'll wash off."

"It looked like blood from over there," Rachelle claimed. "I thought we were going to have to rush you to the hospital because I shoved you down. Just to make a call you would let me make anyway. I'm sorry for doing it. I'll make it up to you later. Do you want to talk to Daddy first?"

"Go ahead," Sean replied, somewhat surprised by the turn of events. It was deceitful but Walt had a point. No real harm was done to anyone. "I'll wash off my arm and change clothes. You should be done by then."

Rachelle kissed him firmly and hugged him again.

"I am sorry," she told him.

"Don't worry about it," Sean replied. "I'm sorry you got upset over berry juice."

Mike Cunningham was a bit stupefied when Rachelle had hung up on him. She was in the middle of regaling him with what had transpired that day when she announced that Sean was hurt. He wasn't sure how someone could get hurt traversing the few hundred feet from one place to the other. He supposed he could have been hit by a car or jumped by a gang or something. But that was a nice quiet apartment complex with speed bumps in the parking lot.

"Is Sean OK?" was his first question when she called back a few minutes later.

"False alarm," Rachelle said with chagrin. "We were pretending to race up here to call you first. I kicked his feet out from under him then shoved him into the bushes beside the walkway. He landed in one of those bushes with the little berries. It looked like he had cut the hell out of his arm but it wasn't. I saw a couple of scratches but the rest was just berries. Still, I feel like crap for taking the chance."

"Well, he's OK now, though, right?" Mike wondered again.

"He's fine," Rachelle assured her father. "He didn't even realize what happened, I don't think. Still, he could have been hurt. I realize it now. It was a stupid risk for no gain. Anyway, what were we talking about?"

"You've set up the company," Mike said. "And you voted to authorize Sean to 'negotiate' with me about the property and to try to ensure a closing by mid-May. You started on something else and then hung up."

"Oh!" Rachelle said, the enthusiasm she felt before returning in full force. "Mary has developed something she can imbed in movie files to prevent their copying or uploading and Walt has drawn the specs for a prototype of something he wants to build to lower the cost of Sarah's movies."

A part of Mike had hoped that Rachelle would find the adult industry was not the money-maker she assumed it to be. But his own preliminary research told him the opposite; there was a lot of money to be made.

"You mean Mary has found a way to stop piracy?" he said, using a word he had learned that very day. "Even with file-sharing, P2P applications?"

Rachelle's eyes widened. She had no idea her father had any knowledge of the computing or video fields – and if she had spoken to him 24 hours earlier, she would have been correct.

"So she says," Rachelle told him. "She knows it's not a permanent fix and that others will find a way to break it eventually. But it is far better than what everyone is using now – which is essentially nothing."

"That could be worth millions!" Mike exclaimed.

"I was thinking more along the lines of billions," Rachelle said calmly. "My research shows that at least $4 billion was lost last year in the adult industry alone. I won't even go into how much mainstream studios and recording studios lost. That runs upwards of $20 billion a year. Celina is putting together a patent application for her. But since right now, she is the only one who knows how she did it, we think she is pretty safe."

"Damn," Mike said, shaking his head. The realization of what these kids could do was just settling on him. "That is amazing, honey. I mean absolutely amazing. I spent part of last night and some of this morning looking into the viability of what we talked about Saturday. If what you say is true – or even close to true – then you've jumped from a start-up company to the big leagues in one at-bat."

"There's more," Rachelle replied. "Allie is going to be hired as the face of Daystar Studios, one of the biggest names in the business. Sarah is going to be hired to do the same for Dazzle. Daystar and Dazzle are forming sort of a cooperative. We're going to use things – along with some other skills we possess that they are short on – to try to convince them to make us their third partner. That's where we'll need your help, Daddy, financially I mean."

Mike pursed his lips. The concept of making films didn't seem like a sure-fire profit-maker to him. But a partnership with two of the best and – more important to him – two of most reputable and stable names sure did. If Mary could patent her technology, never a given, the company would be viable in almost no time.

"You'll have it," he said, coming to a decision. "If you can set something up with Daystar and Dazzle, we'll put together an initial investment package to get you going. Even if you can't and just want to market Mary's product, I'll help."

"No, you'll invest," Rachelle stated firmly. "I'll discuss the final numbers with Sean but I think you can expect a serious return on your investment."

"Honey, I already am seeing a huge return on my biggest investment," Mike said. "You. You have turned into the young woman I always hoped you would. I am so proud of you..."

He felt a tear on his cheek.

"Well, I can't even start to tell you how proud I am of you," he continued. "All of you, really, but especially you."

"Thanks, Dad," Rachelle said, choking up. "I really learned it from you. I knew what I wanted to do and I found a way to do it. Just like you taught me. Is everything still ready to go for Friday?"

"Yep," he said. "The first vacation I've taken in three years is set to start at noon. I'm planning to work from home that morning just so there is no chance of anyone needing me. We'll be on the highway before you know it. It's too bad Sean's sister can't come with us. I don't understand why all the schools don't have Spring Break at the same time."

"Because the tourist industry likes the money spread out over several weeks instead of in one lump," Rachelle explained. "They are booked to capacity with college kids and older high school kids from the last week of February through early April. It's worse on the East Coast, I've read. Places like Florida and some resorts in Mexico are flooded for six weeks then turn into ghost towns until school lets out in May and June. Can you imagine some of those resort towns in Mexico if 100,000 kids descended on them at once instead of 20,000 each week for five weeks?"

"That might be fun to watch," Mike said. He had met his ex-wife at one of those resort towns and he still harbored a slight amount of bitterness. "Well, I'm just glad you and Sean are too old for such things. I think it will be fun to travel without much of an itinerary. I still think we should have used an RV. I could have picked one up at auction last month for almost nothing. But I passed because you were so adamant."

"An RV is fine but then you're locked into where you can go," Rachelle said – for the thousandth time. "You can't just pull off to the side of the road. A lot of the parks have to be booked in advance, too. This way we are covered no matter what. We have camping equipment if we decide we want to go that route or we can stay in hotels along whatever route we choose."

"I know," Mike relented. "And it will be fun no matter what. I'm just looking forward to spending time with you. The fact that Sean and his mom are coming is good, too. But it's you I'm looking forward to seeing. I miss having you around every day."

"I miss being around every day," Rachelle admitted. "But we'll be almost neighbors at the new place. I bet it doesn't take 10 minutes from your place."

"A little less," Mike admitted, somewhat chagrined that Rachelle had figured out at least one of the underlying reasons he was so generous. "So that will be good. I mean, I don't expect you to show up for dinner every night. But it will be easier than driving an hour one-way to spend 20 minutes visiting."

Although Mike could well afford an ostentatious house in an affluent neighborhood – and his ex-wife had insisted upon one – he had moved to a nice quite northern L.A. suburb after learning of Rachelle's adolescent behavior. It had allowed his daughter a new start in a new school without the rumors that would have abounded at her old one. It gave him a place where he wouldn't feel lost now that Rachelle was on her own. The only drawback, from his perspective, to his daughter's relationship with Sean was how far away the young man lived. It took an hour to get for Sean's apartment to his house. Longer if the freeway was packed – which it normally was from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day.

"Another reason the house is perfect for us, Daddy," Rachelle said brightly. "I miss you even though I talk to you almost every day. It's not the same as visiting with you. It was really nice of you to come down Saturday. The rest of the group really enjoyed having you around. I'm sorry if we embarrassed you."

"I shouldn't have been embarrassed," Mike told her. "But I was, I guess. It will get better as I get to know the others. Those girls seem like really great people. I'm glad they found friends like you."

"We're glad we found friends like them," Rachelle commented. "They bring an added dimension to the group, you know. Shelly is really breaking out of her mold. Those two provide a nice balance to her exuberance."

"Really?" Mike asked, surprised at the revelation. "I, uh, well I supposed they were helping it along."

"They are – within limits," Rachelle replied. "It's nice because they've been there, done that, you know. They can give Shelly – and Mary and me, I'm learning – real-life examples of what can happen if you're not careful. They are so open and warm. It's a completely different atmosphere here with them around. We're all closer. I mean, part of it is because Eric is gone. Another part is because Lisa isn't around anymore. Those two, well, they deserve each other. They're both users. I think the moment they meet someone new, they instantly assess what that person can do for them and that is the only value they place on them."

"That seems to be the norm these days," Mike said sadly. "That's why I like your friends so much. Any benefit you gain from anything is because you put forth the effort to earn it or gave more than you got back. That's the way it should be. Has there been any news on the Shelly front? I mean with Eric or her parents?"

"Not yet but we're waiting," Rachelle said. "Shelly knows we're right with her. We might try to wait here for a while on Friday if it isn't too much trouble with you."

"No trouble," Mike said. "Sean said the landlord took Eric off the lease, is that right?"

"He did," Rachelle answered. "The new one arrived this morning. He must have taken care if it as soon as he got home. He lowered the rent, too, and backdated it to the first of the month. I think the guys really feel badly about moving out. He's been a good guy to rent from, that's for sure. I heard so many horror stories and got a glimpse at what Sarah's landlord was like. We left that place spotless. But she has $2,000 tied up there that she should get back. I'll bet the place is nicer than when she moved in. Hell, Walt even fixed the refrigerator."

Mike laughed. He recalled what the landlords were like during his college years – slum lords who charged Beverly Hills prices.

"Well, good luck with that," Mike answered.

"We took pictures of every room of the house and a video of Sarah calling to let him know the place was vacant," Rachelle told him. "We gave all that to Celina Gomez this morning. He has 30 days to return the damage deposit or to provide an itemized list of repairs. Celina said if he balks, Sarah will own the place before she is done with him. She said she will track down every tenant whose ever lived there and drop 2,000 lawsuits on him in a week. I don't think she was kidding."

"Doesn't sound like it," Mike chuckled. "Arthur really likes her. She was a rough and tumble kid, a gangbanger out of East L.A., if you can believe it. She went to college, clerked for Arthur as her internship and now is out on her own. Good kid, I've heard."