Chapter 117

The plane touched down at LAX in the middle of a sweltering California summer day. Hailey was excited. She had thought she was worldly when she started college. She had visited opulent ski resorts and amazing beaches while she was in prep school. Her mother had paid for her to visit several places with her classmates.

But now she understood that she hadn’t seen any of the places that she wanted to see. She had not been to New York. She had never seen Paris or Rome. And she had never been farther west than Indianapolis. Now she was ushered to a chauffeured Lincoln as soon as she and Phil had collected their luggage.

She found a bottle of champagne in the back and picked up the card.

“Congratulations on your engagement,” it read. It was sent from the staff at Lambswool Studio.

“Christ,” Phil muttered. He was in town for the sole reason of putting the brakes on Lambswool’s spending. He was positive the $200 bottle of bubbly came from the company coffers.

“Oh, relax,” Hailey said as she popped the cork and pulled out the crystal flutes that accompanied the champagne.

“You’re the one who is always bitching about spending money on stupid stuff,” he pointed out.

“I bitch about the company spending money on stupid things for other people,” Hailey said with a laugh. “I’m perfectly fine when they spend their money on stupid things for me. Keep that in mind.”

“Duly noted,” Phil said as he accepted the glass from his fiancée.

“Why doesn’t Barton have a corporate jet?” Hailey wondered. “I’ve often wondered why Beth flies commercial.”

“We used to,” Phil answered. “Grandpa had a Lear but Mom got rid of it when she took over.”

“Why?” Hailey asked.

“She said it was cost prohibitive,” he explained. “The private pilot had to be kept on salary all year long and he didn’t come cheaply. The same was true with the flight crew. That was close to $300,000 each year for six or seven trips. Then there is the upkeep for an aging airplane. I think Grandpa spent close to half a million on the plane, its crew and the storage space to house it. Mom saw the line item and sold it first thing.”

“So we won’t be getting another one?” Hailey inquired.

“Not if I have anything to say about it,” Phil answered. “Didn’t you enjoy flying first class?”

“It was nice,” Hailey admitted. “I guess I just heard all the bigwigs talking about their private planes and they made it sound so cool.”

Phil shrugged.

“Lambswool has one and so do some of our subsidiaries,” Phil told her. “If you find you need to go somewhere on a private jet, I think we could arrange it with one or two phone calls.”

“It’s not that,” Hailey interrupted. “I guess I just saw all those corporate jets as we taxied in. They had private cars waiting for them and everything. Here you are, the son of probably the most influential female corporate executive in America, and you fly commercial. If it wasn’t for us, you’d still be driving a seven year old car and living in a rented apartment on campus. You dress like a hobo around the house and I’m pretty sure your sneakers are the same ones you’ve worn since you were 16.”

Phil laughed.

“Well, I have nicer clothes,” he noted.

“Oh, I know,” Hailey said. “I’m being silly. The private car was such a nice touch.”

“The only reason we got a private car is because neither of us is old enough to rent a car in California,” Phil informed her. “Look, I guess this is something we haven’t really talked about on a personal level. Think about what Mom says about resurrecting an unsuccessful firm. I’m sure you’ve heard it.”

“‘Keep the expenses to a minimum until you build up capital and then re-invest in the business,’” Hailey repeated.

“Exactly,” Phil said. “It’s the same with a company’s headquarters. This is a corporate trip. Yes, we’re going to sightsee and do fun things but this is on the company dime. It just isn’t Barton’s dime this time. This is for Lambswool – and they can’t afford it. So it’s my dime. We could take 200 flights out here for the cost of a private plane. We could rent 20 cars for the cost of having this one available to us for a week. Hell, we could probably purchase a decent used car for what this is costing us. Now, sure, we have plenty of personal funds we can dip into. We have plenty of corporate funds we can dip into if we really need to. But why should we? The first-class trip was nice enough. The car Mom rented out here was nice enough.

“Neither of them are as nice as a private plane and a private driver but they are nice enough. We could stay at the Four Seasons Beverly Hills but the Plaza works just as well – and it costs a thousand bucks a night less. This is the way Mom operates. We expect our corporate executives to watch expenses when they travel. It wouldn’t make much sense for us to do it differently than we expect them to. So by doing things less opulently than we could, we would have saved Barton $5,000 or more this week. If we could have rented a car, it would have been more like $8,000.

“Now what we would have saved this week might not sound like much but when you figure we have hundreds of executives making hundreds of trips each year, it adds up. Barton has better uses for the money. They’ve paid for the exercise centers in our regional headquarters with the savings from these trips. On a personal level, it’s the same. We have better uses for the money. Look at my old car – your car, now. It’s a perfectly good car for a college student. The apartment I rented my freshman year was a perfectly nice apartment for a college kid.

“And my clothes are perfectly acceptable for a college kid. And, at the end of the day, we’re college kids. Sure, we’re playing dress up this summer but we’re going back to being college kids in a few weeks.”

“I understand all that,” Hailey said. “It just seems like there should be some benefit for all the crap that we have to put up with.”

“Is there somewhere you’ve wanted to go that we haven’t?” Phil asked.

“Not really,” Hailey said, looking at her champagne glass.

“Oh, I get it,” Phil said in a lighter voice. “You want to go shopping in Beverly Hills!”

“No, I don’t,” Hailey said quickly. Then she blushed. “Well, yes, I suppose I do. We’re supposed to go to that premiere in New York this winter. Collette said I might want to look for ideas while we’re out here.”

“I’ve already made arrangements for you to go on a shopping spree while we’re out here,” he said. “I think you will enjoy your shopping companions. I asked Courtney Hollings if she was available but she’s shooting all week. Instead she managed to enlist Randi Raver and one of her friends, the wife of a guy on the Dodgers, to take you shopping. They were already planning to make a big shopping event this week. Randi’s friend is six months pregnant and she’s starting to show. So you’ll have to go to a few maternity boutiques with them but they were more than happy to include you in their trip. Collette cornered me as soon as she learned of our planned trip out here.”

Hailey lifted her eyes from her champagne flute but she didn’t speak for a long moment as she processed the information.

“I am going shopping with Randi Raver and Meredith Miller?” she asked. She knew from following the singer-actress on Twitter and Facebook that she was best friends and roommates with the baseball player and his wife.

“If you want,” Brock said.

“That would be so cool,” Hailey told him.

“The press will be up your ass with a microscope,” Phil mentioned. “I guess those two can’t go outside without having a dozen photographers.”

“Up my ass with a microscope?” Hailey asked with raised eyebrows.

“Well, you know what I mean,” Phil said. “I know that you’re no fan of having your privacy invaded like that.”

“I don’t like the Calder City press,” Hailey rebutted. “I don’t like them because they have an agenda. They want to use me to humiliate you – and by proxy, your mother. The press out here won’t have any idea of who I am.”

“Believe that if you want,” Phil said. He decided that the paparazzi might not know Hailey Warren right now but they would by the end of the week.

The executives from Lambswool put out the red carpet for Phil and Hailey. A parade of the studio’s highest-profile stars greeted them when they arrived. Courtney Hollings was there, of course, but the list also included Randi Raver and her co-star, Tiffany Wells, and several male stars from a series of zombie movies that were huge with college students – but that neither Phil nor Hailey had seen.

“Christ,” Phil muttered again. Only Hailey heard him and she laughed.

“Yep, nothing fake about this,” Randi said, with an eye roll. She extended her hand to Hailey and, unnecessarily, introduced herself.

“Thank you for the wonderful gift you sent me,” Hailey said, slightly star struck. “I have listened to it a hundred times. My friends and I absolutely love your new sound.”

“It’s a work in progress,” Randi replied. “Those are the songs that didn’t make the cut for my new album. The stuff that’s on there is actually a little better, I think.”

“I will be standing in line the day it’s released,” Hailey assured her. “I love you on ‘Iconoclast.’ I was so surprised when you took that role.”

“It’s been fun,” Randi said. One by one the rest of the group came by to shake hands with Phil and Hailey – and to make sure that the projects about to be cut didn’t involve theirs. Phil had gone over Lambswool’s books several times. Many of the movies made profits but not all of them. The company’s losses overall were staggering.

The problem was with the TV shows that appeared on cable. Several received rave reviews but they didn’t make money. The stars saw the reviews and expected pay increases at the end of each season. The cable series couldn’t be sold to syndication. They only produced 13 or 15 episodes per year and no one would touch a syndication deal without 100 episodes in the can. That meant a show had to run seven to nine years and that just wasn’t feasible.

Phil hadn’t mentioned it to Hailey, but Randi Raver’s series, “Iconoclast,” was one of the studio’s biggest losers when it came to the bottom line. The production costs were extremely high and the stars of the show all came with a pedigree that required substantial compensation. Because the show was set in the 1950s and 1960s, the studio couldn’t recoup their losses from product placement by having the stars of the show surreptitiously advertise a particular item by using it on-screen. The cable outlet that ran the show paid handsomely but it wasn’t enough to offset the high cost of the show.

Unless the producers could find a way to make it less costly, “Iconoclast” was one of the shows that might cease production in the next year or two. He was certain Hailey would see the fiduciary benefits but he doubted he could convince her of the necessity of shelving production. He supposed that she would have to have an introduction to the harsh reality of business at some point.

It took several minutes for the room to clear out and by the time Phil and Hailey were left with the studio executives, Hailey had a cell phone number for Randi Raver and a planned shopping date set.

Lewis Steinmetz headed the movie section at Lambswool and he directed everyone into the boardroom.

“I know we’re running a little high on costs for the year,” Steinmetz began.

“A little?” Phil interrupted with raised eyebrows. “I will assume you haven’t checked your books in the past few weeks.”

Steinmetz had planned to wow the youngsters by introducing them to famous people and then convince the guy to cough up enough money to cover their losses. He had even convinced a young actress to “entertain” the guy if it became necessary. Now he saw that plan wouldn’t work.

“OK, we’re running a lot high on costs,” Steinmetz corrected.

“Right now, I project this studio will lose almost $100 million this year,” Phil said. “And that number only goes that low if ‘Kismet’ is a blockbuster. If it tanks, you’re looking at a $140 million deficit. Gentlemen and ladies, this cannot – it will not – continue. Are we clear on the parameters of this meeting? We are not here to justify your expenses. We are here to discuss ways to cut those expenses. If we cannot come to an agreement on how to do this, then I will make those decisions on my own. I can assure the people in this room that their salaries will be among the first things cut. In fact, the salary structure here is as good a place to start as any. Mr. Steinmetz, how do you justify a $45 million a year salary when this company doesn’t make money?”

“I...” the corporate president stammered.

“You also have, at last count, 21 executive vice presidents employed here,” Phil continued. “Of course, that was last week so you might be up to 30 by now. By the time I leave, that number will be substantially lower. We will not have $100 million tied up in executive salaries unless you can justify to me why we should. And let me be clear: It will take a great deal of justification for me to allow this situation to continue.”

“Young man, you need to understand how this industry works,” another man said.

“It works because people like me funnel money into it,” Phil said. “May I assume that you are one of the executive vice presidents whose job is on the line?”

“I am the executive vice president of project development,” the man said.

“Ah, good,” Phil said. “I will want to talk to you anyway. You have consistently underestimated your costs and overestimated your profits. You, sir, are among the first to be replaced unless you can give me a reason to keep you.”

“Is your foray to Los Angeles solely to threaten our jobs?” a woman asked.

“Threaten?” Phil asked. “Not at all. My foray to Los Angeles is to eliminate several of your positions and replace many others in the jobs remaining. I have no intention of threatening. I intend upon doing. We will meet again Wednesday morning. I will compile a list of people who will need to seek employment elsewhere or accept a lower-paying position here. The rest of you will have until our next meeting to come up with reasons to maintain your extravagant salaries. Oh, and knock off the dog and pony show. We’re paying those entertainers to entertain the public. We’re not paying them to prance around at your beck and call. Have a lovely afternoon.”

“Wow!” Hailey remarked as they departed the studio for the SUV Phil had insisted stay in the lot. Now she understood why. “I wish I would have known you planned to kick some ass.”

“I should have told you how today was going to go,” Phil said. “I knew it from when Mom and I were out here a few months back. Technically, Lambswool isn’t part of Barton. It was purchased privately by my grandfather. He gave it to Mom when he retired and Mom passed it off to me last summer. I’m the primary shareholder in the studio.”