Tag
Copyright© 2025 by A Well Traveled Man
Chapter 18
Early Monday morning, Tag was in the kitchen drinking his brew while going to the gym. He did a full workout with Sensei’s routine and a weight training session. Then he dressed in black and visited the forest. Before he knew it, Tag was walking back to the house. He goes upstairs, showers, and sits in the lotus position and center. Tag wakes at 7 a.m., goes downstairs, and fixes a big breakfast of eggs, sausage, hashbrowns with wheat toast, and plenty of water. He cleaned up and returned upstairs, checked his email, and found a message from my friend, the former Japanese ambassador in LA.
Tag calls CAA and asks to speak to Mr. Lovett. Richard takes his call, and Tag asks if he’s called Nintendo yet? He says no, but he will in the next few days. Tag tells Richard about an email from his friend, the former ambassador here in LA, who set up and attended the meeting with Nintendo. Tag recommends we get our stories straight so as not to ruffle feathers. Richard agrees and asks what his idea of a story would be. Tag said he was going to call his friend in Japan. He also said he was so busy with acting and programming that he hired an agent to handle all the daily correspondence, scheduling, and business negotiations.
That way, he could concentrate on acting and programming. Richard agreed to the story. Tag informed him that in Japanese culture, saving face is paramount. And it would be a good idea to record the calls. Tag told him they will talk to their business associates in Japanese and then switch to English when addressing you. If you hit a roadblock, he could listen to the section to see what he can hear of their conversations. Richard liked that idea, and we ended the call.
Tag called his friend Mr. Sato in Japan. Tag explained the email and told the story of doing a movie, and after the premiere, he received over 200 emails requesting his response. He had no idea who to call, what to say, or ignore the mess completely. A friend recommended a highly respected man in the industry, so I checked him out. Everyone he spoke to wished he would represent them. We met, and he hired him on the spot. He handles all requests for interviews, auditions, and contract negotiations. Mr. Sato understood, and we updated each other on our lives. Tag asked how Mi was doing and said the promised horse would arrive on Christmas. Mr. Sato was laughing and swore he would end my life if I did that. We extended well wishes and ended the call.
Tag had to rush to meet Rob on time, but made it. Rob weighed, measured, and checked his body fat. Rob told him to increase his weight but keep the same reps, and he wrote the routine for him. Tag paid him and asked if Candy was still holding auditions for strippers. Rob broke out laughing and said he’ll ask. He headed to GNC to get ingredients for my brew and headed home by playing hide and seek, but he found no one following. He pulled into the new house, parked in the garage, locked everything up, and went up the tunnel home.
He made lunch and headed upstairs to program Deception Vol. 2, England. Tag was working hard, and the flow was there, and he realized it was dinner time. He cooked some ribs marinating in the fridge for 2 days. Tag barbequed ribs with corn on the cob and baked beans with dinner rolls. He finished and drank his brew on the way to the gym. Tag did the night routine, hit the heavy bag hard, moved to the speed bag, and then went upstairs, showered, and centered. And he woke
Not much happened over the next two weeks. The progress was slow, but we were making headway on the truck and Harley. He hauled the truck to the engine and frame builder. The old Harley’s frame was finished being altered, and he delivered it to the paint shop. Tag called the Sands and asked if his account was good in Vegas. They said yes, gave him their casinos’ names, and wished him luck. Tag finished Vol. 2, England, and started on Vol. 3, France, and was at the troubleshooting stage. For some reason, France was giving him a problem. Go figure, right? CAA and Nintendo had reached an impasse, and Mr. Lovett had called him to come in on Monday. Oh, his cooking is getting better, and he purchased a crock pot, and he’s looking forward to trying it.
At 2 a.m. Monday Tag was in the kitchen drinking his brew, and he headed to the gym for a full workout. Sensei and weight training. He dressed in black and entered the forest, walking back, not realizing what had happened. Tag entered the house and headed upstairs, showered, and centered. He woke at 7 a.m., dressed, and noticed his clothes were tight. He went to the kitchen and cooked a Denver omelet with hashbrowns and wheat toast. Tag returns upstairs, gets his suits, tux, and dress shirts, hops in the Cuda, and drives CAA.
Tag walks in, and the receptionist waves him through the door, and he meets Mr. Lovett and his assistant. He pulls out the recorder and hits play. Tag listened to the whole tape and asked to rewind it to the break where they talked in the meeting. He hears it again and tells Richard to stop the tape. Tag explained that they are in real trouble. Several games they invested in were flops, and their market share is shrinking. They need to do something to move them to the top again, or when the earnings report comes, the stock will dive. They are arguing about whether the hardball tactic was the right choice. A few have agreed to our offer and to get him and the games on board, but they were censured.
Tag explained that in Japanese culture, the team is first. No one wants to stand out. Mr. Lovett asked what strategy he would recommend. Tag thought for a few minutes, smiled at them, and said to withdraw and dodge their calls for a week. Then, tell them we will wait until next year to see how we want to go. Let them absorb that and say Tag was the one who wanted you to negotiate with Nintendo first. But he was insulted by their offer.
Let them know I’ve instructed you to seek bidders for my games. Richard looks at him questionably, and Tag adds that it puts you as the person to change his mind. They will look to you for guidance on what it will take to change my mind. Richard shakes his head and says he would never understand that culture. Tag said to think about the poor soul who devised the hardline strategy. He will probably be assigned an office without windows and given nothing to do for years.
Then Tag asked about travel and lodging, and they had a packet ready. He picked up his packet and left. Tag went to the tailor and had him adjust his suits and tux, but I needed to buy new shirts, which he did. Then he went on a shopping spree to get new clothes that fit. He was carrying bags and more bags to the car. Tag figured if he forgot something, he could get it in Vegas. He checked the postal center box, played games, drove around, and went home. Tag loaded all his purchases in the cart and rolled it up the tunnel home.
He left everything in the laundry and started the first load. Then he went to the kitchen, fixed lunch, and read the mail. There wasn’t anything interesting, and then he thought if the jackals were that bad to go through his trash, and he had his answer. Look for a good commercial shredder or a good burn barrel. Tag heads upstairs and to finish Vol. 3, France. He worked until dinner, and it hit him, and he checked and found the error was in the base program. He’ll have to get this to the patent attorney tomorrow.
Tag head downstairs, put a load in the dryer, fill the washer, and fix dinner. This was his first time using the crockpot, but the roast and veggies came out great. He’s going to do this more. Tag put the leftovers away, cleaned up, drank his brew, moved the laundry loads, and went to the gym. He did his nightly routine, stopped, emptied the dryer, moved the washer load over, carried the finished clothes upstairs, and put them away. Then he hit the shower and centered. He woke up
Early Tuesday morning, Tag was in the kitchen drinking his brew and headed to the gym. He did his off-day routine, headed to the shower, and centered. Tag woke up at 7 a.m., went to the kitchen, and made a Spanish omelet with hashbrowns, wheat toast, and water. Tag spent the morning doing laundry and putting his old clothes in garbage bags. He finally finished and called the guy the movie was based. His name was Joe Hardy. Tag asked if he could come up tomorrow and spend some time getting to know you and the business. We agreed to meet at a coffee shop off the strip at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
Tag packed his bags and his illegal duffel bag with his BE backpack just in case. He walked into the garage, hooked up the Mustang battery, set his bags in the back seat, and put the duffel in the truck. Then he went through the house and down the tunnel to the new garage. He disconnected all the batteries from the vehicles and put them on tenders. He disconnected the garage door openers and locked them from the inside, and headed back up the tunnel and into the house. Tag checked all doors and windows, set the closet bomb, armed the house, pulled the Mustang out, locked the doors, and was off.
He was excited to meet this living legend of an era long gone. Tag pulled into Vegas 3 ½ hours later and arrived at The Venetian. He handed the valet his key and a gentleman loaded by bags on a cart. We went inside to the reception desk and gave his name. Tag was comped a suite, a very nice suite. He tipped the porter and organized his room. Then he took the audio/video detector, swept the suite, and it was clean. Tag stashed his illegal duffel, ate an early dinner in the hotel restaurant, returned to the suite, showered, and centered.
He woke at 9 p.m., and the phone rang with an invitation to a game. He dressed and located the room. Tag scanned inside, and cameras all over the room. He went inside, looked at the players, and walked around the room. Tag located a hotel employee and asked in a low voice if it was the policy of the hotel to have cameras pointing at the table. He stood back, watched the game, and a few minutes later, four large, gentle men entered and escorted three card players and the dealer out.
Tag asked if the casino had a high-stakes table. He told me where it was, played until 1 a.m., cashed out, tipping the dealer a grand, went to the suite, showered, and bug-swept the room. He will sweep upon returning to the suite. Tag entered the bedroom and centered.
Early Wednesday morning, Tag woke, showered, dressed, and ate breakfast at the hotel restaurant. On his way to meet Joe, Tag called CAA and asked for Mr. Lovett. Richard answers, and Tag tells him where he was and what he’s doing, and he won’t need the airline ticket. Richard praised him for getting to the person you’re playing and said Keep the ticket and use it if you get a break in the production schedule. They ended the call as he pulled up to the coffee shop. Joe was sweet-talking a waitress as he approached. She slapped him on the arm and said something about being a pervert and left.
Joe Hardy invited me to sit down, and it started. Tag spent 4 hours a day with Joe getting to know his mannerisms. He coached me on how and when to lean heavily on someone. He was coached on how and when to speak or glare with the proper facial expressions; it was more effective than getting into a brawl in a place of business. Joe also coached me on how to avoid the four severe beatings he took while on the job. He coached on the proper way to approach a lady, show girl and hookers. Joe told him the difference was just language. A dame is a dame whether she is wearing diamonds or working the crowd for a living. We discussed how and when to swear or use hard language. By the end of the week, Tag had copied his mannerisms so well that he was impressed.
We parted ways Saturday evening with a firm handshake, and Joe said I’ll see you on set. Tag played cards every night and won a lot more than he lost. He didn’t want to call to attention or drive players away. One night, he lost $50k but made it back the next night or two. At the end of the week, he was up over $200k. Tag met the general manager, thanked him for his hospitality, and gave him an envelope with $5k. Tag told him he was working for the next month here and would visit occasionally, and then he left.
He chased bad guys, cars, and women for the next four weeks. It was a grueling schedule as we could only do street scenes during the night, and by the time we cut the final scene in Vegas, I think the entire crew was exhausted. Production gave us a two-week break to regroup and rest. Tag drove home after playing Ring Around the Rosy and Zig Zagging and parked in the garage. He entered the house, and a peace came over me. He ate an early dinner, showered, and centered. He woke
2 a.m. Monday, Tag was in the kitchen, drinking his brew, heading to the gym. He hit it hard with Sensei and weight training, dressed in black, and went to the forest. He felt welcome, like it was a whirlwind, and then he walked back to the house. Tag headed upstairs, took a long, hot shower, and centered. He woke at seven and went to the kitchen. He had a large Denver omelet with hashbrowns, wheat toast, and water. After cleaning up, it felt great walking nude around the house as he returned upstairs.
Tag checked emails, and CAA called and said they would like to meet at 11 a.m. With nothing pressing, He dressed, armed the house and the bomb, and went down the tunnel to the new garage. Tag hooked up the battery to Deep Blue and rolled outside. He locked up, put my backpack on, and rode to CAA. He was shown into the conference room and had just sat down when Mr. Lovett and his assistant came in, and we greeted and sat down.
Mr. Lovett said we have reached an agreement with Nintendo for the remaining six games in the series. They paid $ 30 million for the six, with the first right of refusal on any other in the series. We also negated a stock option that is triggered by a 5% rise from the current stock price 30 days prior. Language in the contract prohibits them from leaking release dates for 29 days before the release. Finally, we can shop for the other games, and he has Sony coming in tomorrow. Richard asked Tag to sit in the meeting with a pen and pad, listen, and see if we could pick up some information to help close the deal. Try to be here around 9 a.m. and wear slacks and a jacket.
Tomorrow we will set up signals to break if it’s important. Now, what did you do in Vegas that has Hollywood atwitter? Tag looked at him and said What? We just completed four grueling weeks of work, and the crew was totally exhausted. What is atwitter? Richard opens his briefcase, pulls out a newspaper called The Hollywood Reporter. It has a picture of Tag dressed as Joe Hardy with the hat driving down the street in a convertible Ford T-Bird with top down, and a dame in the passenger seat turned towards him. The caption reads “New Stud on the Block”.