Chapter 4: The Plot Thickens

Monday December 5
Yesterday we resumed shooting the J-drama. They seemed to think we had to go late into the night. We were meeting today to do the read-through of the second episode of College First.

Dad had invited Adrienne and Tyler to stay longer, and they’d accepted. Adrienne was originally from California, and she and her partner decided to reconnect with some old friends. Sarah had to get back to school.

Bill and Ai had stayed the weekend. I worried they would drop from lack of sustenance and sleep. Maybe you could live on love alone. Bill had classes, and Ai was needed on set today, so they parted ways for now.

Lexi showed up this morning and promptly decided she was not staying in her old room. She said it smelled funny. I almost bit off my tongue, trying not to laugh. She immediately got the job of finding someone to come in and clean. I hadn’t anticipated the long hours and was almost out of underwear.

The party Saturday night had gone late. I guess the neighbors and my castmates decided it was time to leave when we ran out of booze. I was glad I hadn’t bought my dad a $200 bottle of scotch.

We were all gathered in a large conference room when Mr. Otsuki whisked in.

“The plot thickens this week. This week’s first major event is that Jiro’s character asks Haru’s character out on a date. As you know, we are using the tried-and-true second-lead ploy. This is where she should have fallen in love with Jiro’s character, but she’s too stupid to see it. Said another way, ‘nice guys really do finish last.’ Jiro is always polite and caring, and he’s wealthy and good-looking. However, he won’t get the girl. In this case, that is Haru.

“David’s character will continue to be oblivious to Haru’s interest in him. This week he will go on a date with Ai. Jiro’s bad luck is that he takes Haru to the place where David has taken Ai, and Haru will obsess about what David is doing. Jiro will suffer in silence.

“Any questions?” Mr. Otsuki asked.

“Yeah. Ai, will you go to lunch with me tomorrow?” I asked.

She blushed but nodded. Everyone else found it amusing.

Over lunch, Dad and I drove to Cal Bell’s office to talk about the civil lawsuit I wanted to file against Zander Lewis. Zander was responsible for the injuries I’d sustained when he ordered his security to ram our van.

I’d been simultaneously looking forward to and dreading this meeting. I wanted some payback for what Zander had done to me. At the same time, I still had a deep loathing of Cal for what he tried to do to me when he found out I had fathered his daughter’s baby. I think my mom still wanted to get him in a room alone for five minutes for threatening to put Coby up for adoption.

The only reason I’d agreed to let him represent me in this was that I knew if things got ugly, Cal would get down in the dirt and fight. Well, that, and I trusted Ms. Dixon to watch him.

His offices were in an upscale building, and I was impressed when his secretary didn’t make us cool our heels in the lobby. We were sent to Cal’s office as soon as we arrived.

“I don’t think we need to shake hands,” Cal said to acknowledge our animosity towards one another.

It seemed to bother my dad more than it did me. In business situations, he was always polite, regardless of his feelings for someone. He seemed to take it as an insult to his ideals of how business should be conducted. I put my hand on his arm to tell him to let it go and just sit down.

“I wanted to talk some sense into you and go after the deep pockets in this whole circus, the studio that employed the security for Zander. They’re insured, and I’m sure we could negotiate a nice payout from them,” Cal said.

“We already made a deal with them to acquire the filming rights to Love Letters,” Dad said.

“I’ve read the documents, and I don’t see anywhere where it talks about this being compensation for David’s medical bills or his pain and suffering. You did have some pain and suffering, right?” Cal asked.

I could see he took a little joy in asking that. This time Dad was the one to touch my arm. When I didn’t respond to his goading, Cal continued.

“Not going after them is a mistake. I’d also like to talk to Halle James and convince her to let us file on her behalf for the workplace sexual harassment. I know that this is just the tip of the iceberg on this topic. This could even become a class-action lawsuit that would end up setting her up for life.”

“Stop right there. Yes, I have personal knowledge that trading sex for roles does happen. It probably happens more than I want to even think about. However, I don’t think my friend needs to get into the middle of something like that. She would never be able to get work in this industry again,” I said.

“Someone needs to be the brave one who stands up and starts this,” Cal said.

“If you want to do that on your own, feel free. You should find an actress with a well-established career who won’t face the same backlash as someone like Halle, who is just starting out. Someone who can withstand the pressure and possible end of her career better than Halle could,” I said. “As for your class-action suit idea, from what I’ve read, the plaintiffs seldom make out that well. It’s the lawyers who get rich.”

“What about the two security guys who were with Zander? Do you want to sue them too, or are you going to wimp out on that as well?” Cal asked, ignoring my comment.

“Cal, you’re about to get punched in the mouth. You’d better start showing some respect,” Dad said. “The question you should also be asking is whether baiting either of us is worth our snatching the lawsuit we are willing to file out from under you.”

Cal blinked as he realized he’d gone too far. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“Sorry, I was letting my frustration show. I think you can understand that I have reason to be unhappy with your son. I do realize that he stepped up and made the best of the situation with my grandson, but in a perfect world, it should never have happened.”

“Yes, I agree, but we’re living in the real world where life isn’t perfect, and shit happens. You need to let it go,” Dad said.

“Just say the word, and I’ll punch him,” I said.

“David! You’re not helping,” Dad warned.

I wanted to remind Cal of our last physical confrontation. He got the first punch in but soon found that I could handle myself.

“I think we got off track,” Cal said.

“If it helps our case, then, by all means, go after the security guys. They stood by while he tried to rape both Halle James and Brook Davis. Those guys were both in the car that hit us, and one of them in fact drove it into our van,” I said.

Cal seemed happy with that.

“Let’s talk strategy. I’ve arranged to meet with Zander’s legal team on Thursday. I would like to intimate that we might also go after the security people and the studio. Zander does not want the studio involved in this. He has the same worries that Halle apparently has. If Zander gets a studio sued for something messy like this, he won’t get work. I’d bet he’ll have a hard time the way things stand anyway,” Cal said.

“From what I heard, he’s well-connected. He’ll get work,” I predicted.

“Maybe,” Cal agreed. “I still don’t understand how he got the sweetheart deal for the criminal charges.”

“Would you seriously expect a wealthy client to get the same treatment as a regular Joe?” Dad asked.

“I would hope not,” Cal said with a smirk. “If that were the case, there would be no need for overpriced lawyers.”

That made me smile. Not that the justice system was fair; it wasn’t. It was that Cal admitted it and his role in the inequality.

“Let me go into the meeting with the threat that I’m willing to go after everyone. The two security guys already turned on Zander when they gave statements against him to the police. It might be best not to file against them to start with because we don’t want all three of them to be united in this,” Cal explained.

“We’re going to give you free rein on this, with one overriding goal and one condition. David wants Zander to feel it when he’s done,” Dad said. “Our goal is to make sure that Zander understands in his bones and his wallet that messing with David or his friends has consequences he really doesn’t want. The condition is that you are to communicate fully with Ms. Dixon regarding everything that’s going on. You will make any information or documents she wants available to her. From what she’s told me, I think she can actually go on the paperwork as your co-counsel, even though she’s from out of state.”

Cal didn’t look happy that Dad had just told him that Ms. Dixon was in charge.

“I know what needs to be done. I don’t need someone looking over my shoulder and questioning my every move,” Cal said.

That sealed it; this wasn’t going to work. I shook my head and sighed. Uncle John had been telling me to trust my instincts; I should have done that from the start. Heck, I should have used the tools Uncle John had given me, primarily the Circles of Trust. Cal fell into the realm of people who would actively try to harm me. I’d wanted a shark to go after Zander, and there was no one I knew who was more shark-like than Cal. I’d let my hatred for Zander cloud my judgment.

“I want to thank you for your time. It’s clear this isn’t going to work, so we’ll find other representation,” I said.

I didn’t let it show on my face, but it felt good to see the look on Cal’s when he realized I’d just fired him. I don’t know why, but I got the impression he didn’t think I had it in me to actually do it.

“You little...” Cal began.

“Stop right there,” Dad said sternly. “Even I was surprised when David agreed to you being his lawyer after the crap you pulled before Coby was born. He was a better man than I would have been about it when he gave you a shot.”

“You’re making a mistake,” Cal tried.

“No, I think I finally made the right decision,” I said, feeling defeated. “Look. I think it’s best that we just act like we can tolerate each other for Pam and Coby’s sake. Maybe in twenty years we can look back and be able to have a beer and laugh about this, but right now ... I can’t see us working together.”

Cal took a moment to think it over and then looked me in the eyes.

“You’re right. I don’t like you, not even a little. Honestly, I wish I could represent Zander in this matter,” he shot back.

I snorted out a laugh. If my dad hadn’t been there with me, I would have probably kicked his ass. Gawd! He was such a jerk.

Dad and I took that as our cue to leave. I sent a text to Manaia that we’d finished, and he picked us up outside. My next scenes involved playing golf, and I was already dressed for them, so we drove straight to the golf course.

“What did you think?” Dad asked.

“That we won’t be having that beer in twenty years.”

“Want to go back? I’ll hold him,” Dad offered.

“The last thing I need right now is to give that man an excuse to come after me.”

“Do you have any ideas on who to hire?” Dad asked.

“My luck with California lawyers hasn’t been great. Why don’t we put Caryn on it? She can coordinate with Ms. Dixon. I bet if Caryn called Ari, Frank, and Kent, they would have some ideas as to the lawyer we need for this. Thinking outside the box, we could have Caryn contact Chubby Feldman. He always struck me as someone who gets stuff done. I bet he knows a few sharks,” I suggested.

Dad agreed and said he would put Caryn on it with Ms. Dixon’s help.

When we got to the country club, Misaki had waited for me.

“Ai is nervous about her lunch with you. Make sure you take her somewhere nice,” she ordered.

“Would it be tacky to take her to where we ate? I could go for sushi again. Plus, the view at Nobu is supposed to fantastic for lunch.”

“No, that is our special spot. If you want to go back, you have to take me,” she teased.

“When the rest of my family and girlfriend get here, I’ll take all of you,” I promised.

“Good boy. We are on the fifth fairway. I’ll meet you there,” she said and left me.

Dad had already gone into the clubhouse. Lexi lurked by the front door, looking pensive as she waited for me.

“What’s up with you?” I asked.

“Misaki is taking my job,” she complained.

“Don’t make a big deal of this. I need Misaki to be happy, so she does her part better in the J-drama.”

“I know ... It’s just ... never mind. I did find someone to clean the house,” she said to change the topic.

“How did you do that so fast?” I asked.

“I put a flyer up on a bulletin board. I had three calls and met with them at lunch. One of the girls is your neighbor and said it would be convenient to come over before or after school a couple of times a week. I had her contact Caryn to do all the paperwork and get her on the payroll,” Lexi said.

Caryn would make sure everything was done correctly.

“Great job. You keep that up, and we’ll work well together,” I assured her.

She acted like Duke when I told him he was a good boy. If she had a tail, it would have been wagging.

“Don’t forget to call Brook,” Lexi threw in for good measure.

I didn’t comment on that. Best to just take the win and move on.

The plan was to film us hitting golf shots today. We would do dialogue somewhere else. The golf course didn’t want to have to divert golfers from holes for the next several weeks, so this was the compromise we made.

“Nice, easy swing. Don’t worry about hitting the ball. The clubhead will do the work if you have a consistent swing,” Dad coached me.

I took a deep breath and let it out to help me relax and block out my surroundings. Dad had suggested that they film each actor hitting five straight balls. He would step in and put a new one on a tee between shots, and then we would go again.

On my first swing, I could tell I hadn’t kept my head down. That caused me to top the ball. I didn’t worry about it as Dad put another ball down for me to hit. The next few were better, and I began to relax. The last one felt different and sounded more like what you heard on TV when a stroke was good.

When I looked up, the ball was sailing down the middle of the fairway like I knew what I was doing. It felt good. After they called ‘cut,’ I turned to my dad.

“This is bad. I might have figured out why you like to play,” I admitted.

He just smiled.

Dad came up to me during the hour off I had that afternoon.

“Your mother was approached by a representative of Southwest Central State. She emailed me the video,” Dad told me as soon as we were alone.

They were one of the schools on Gordon Parker’s list. Southwest Central State was a new addition to Division One, the highest division in college athletics. They had been attracting some recruits that made my eyebrows rise. Now I wondered if I’d discovered the reason why.

Dad played the video.

“How can I help you?” Mom said as she motioned for a man in his fifties to have a seat.

“I’ve asked to meet you under false pretenses. I’m Tobias Foster, the quarterback coach for Southwest Central State. Everyone calls me Toby,” he said as he sat down and handed Mom his card.

“I take it you have no interest in buying or selling real estate,” Mom said.

“No, I was in the area and thought I might talk to you for a minute. I wanted to see if David would have an interest in setting up a visit to our campus. We think that if he gave us a chance, he would find we are a fantastic fit.”

“Mr. Foster...”

“Call me Toby.”

“Toby, I honestly have never heard David even mention your school as a likely destination for when he graduates. What makes you think I can convince him to consider you?” Mom asked.

“I know that your husband and David are in California right now. They met with someone who I think convinced them that we are a good destination for him. Other top recruits have had similar conversations, and they are now strongly considering us. All I’m asking is that he gives us a chance.”

“I’ll pass your information on. If David is interested, he’ll be in contact. Now I need to actually make money.”

“We support those who support us,” he said cryptically and then left.

The video stopped. It seemed that Fritz’s adding more security cameras to Mom’s office had been a good move.

“That last comment was a little creepy,” I said.

“Your mom agreed. I forwarded the video to both Ms. Dixon and Mr. Morris. I told Ms. Dixon to get with Lexi and set up a time when we could all discuss what to do about this. She and I had a long talk, and I’m worried about what could potentially happen with your eligibility.”

“Ya think?”

“Ms. Dixon will have someone on the call who handles this type of law to watch for possible legal pitfalls.”

“I can’t play college ball if I’m in jail,” I said.

“It might play havoc with a lot of things. That’s why we’re paying her and her team,” Dad assured me.

“Did you tell her about our meeting with Cal?” I asked.

“Yep. She didn’t seem all that surprised that he didn’t want her watching him. Ms. Dixon said it was for the best that we look elsewhere if Cal wanted complete control. She trusts him about as much as we do,” Dad assured me.

“I made a mistake on that one. If I could do it over, I would never have allowed Cal to be involved. In my gut, I knew we shouldn’t have hired him.”

“It’s on me too,” Dad said to help share the guilt. “I didn’t say anything because I thought you were trying to mend fences for Coby’s sake.”

“No. The truth is I wanted the meanest, most evil SOB I could find to punish Zander. The only reason I agreed was that Ms. Dixon was going to watch him. When Cal wanted to go it alone, I knew he would do whatever he wanted and not follow our directions. He wanted to blow this whole incident up for his own benefit. If it were just me involved, I might be okay with that. But I don’t need Halle to get blackballed because my lawyer decided to start going after studios for more once we got what we wanted from them. A few dollars more would have just pissed them off,” I reasoned.

Lawyers tended to have bad reputations for a reason. Cal could be the poster boy for your worst nightmare. There was no doubt in my mind that if turning on me benefited him, and he could get away with it, Cal wouldn’t hesitate. Ms. Dixon was well aware of that. That was why she had insisted that Cal report to her before he did anything. When he pushed back, I couldn’t allow him free rein.

I was sure most lawyers were decent human beings. It only took a few to sully the whole industry. Then again, most politicians were lawyers. If that was the case, I started to wonder how many good ones there were.

We were let go shortly after midnight. Manaia was terrible security. It scared the shit out of him when I knocked on the car window for him to unlock the door for Lexi and me.

“Working hard, I see,” I teased him.

“I didn’t expect you for...” he said, checking his watch, “another hour at least. I set my alarm to wake me.”

In truth, I didn’t mind because he’d worked too many hours so far. Fritz had promised that he would take up some of the slack, but he had other clients who needed attention and couldn’t always get away.

“Are you running tomorrow?” Manaia asked.

“I think I need to, with me getting home early.”

I’d been a total slug over the weekend, and then again this morning. It would be easy to make excuses and not run.

“I’ll be here at 7:30.”

“I need to run, too,” Lexi said.

“I won’t take it easy on you,” I warned.

“Good. I need to be pushed.”

When we got to the house and stepped inside, it looked like the place had been cleaned. Checking my dresser, I found I had clean underwear. Score! The room smelled a little of perfume, and some of my things had been moved around. I wondered if someone had been searching through my stuff.

Then I realized that the drone was in a different spot. The good news was the camera was pointing toward the room. I’d purposefully positioned it so the camera didn’t capture the bedroom. Teenage boys need their privacy sometimes, and I didn’t plan on recording anything.

I pulled the memory card and plugged it into my tablet. My video editing software asked if I wanted to download it, so I said yes. It had a better way to scan video quickly than simply playing back the entire recording. I powered through, fast-forwarding while looking at the wall until the drone moved.

When I saw who our new cleaning lady was, I about swallowed my teeth. It was the younger version of the woman I’d lusted after Saturday night. I had debated whether they were sisters or mother-daughter. They were a big part of the reason I’d turned the drone toward the wall.

I put the video on four-time speed and watched her clean and take my laundry out of the room. I marked the time on the video so I could come back and have it start at the part where first I saw her. When my new housekeeper came back into the room, she wore some headphones and was listening to music. I chuckled as she danced around the room while she put away my laundry and made my bed.

I shook my head as she rifled through my stuff. She found my stash of cash, and I was a little surprised when she just put it back. I hadn’t thought to secure it because that was something you didn’t worry about too much where I was from. Though even back home, temptation can make people do stupid stuff.

Then things took an unexpected turn. The neighbor’s daughter pulled perfume from her fanny pack and sprayed it on my sheets. Apparently, she wanted me to know she’d been there and what she smelled like. She crawled up onto my bed and laid back. It took me a moment to figure out what she was doing. Actually, the old bird dog—Mr. Happy—figured it out first. He became rock hard as I watched her push her hand down her shorts.

When she got close, she began to talk.

“Oh, yes, baby. Do me that way. Yes, yes, oh, YES! DAVID!” she screamed as she got off.

I watched in stunned silence as she slowly came back to life. Then she hopped up, looking re-energized, and almost bounced out the door.

I stopped the video and used the software to cue up to the part when she came back to my room with my clean clothes.

Tuesday December 6
Manaia and Fritz met me out front.

“I’m going to let Manaia go with you on your run. I want to meet with you and your dad before you leave today,” Fritz said.

“Hey. Get my tablet and watch the video I created yesterday.”

I gave him the login password. I’d given it to him at some point but didn’t want him to have to find it.

Today we ran downhill to start. Lexi did well at keeping up. She was more athletic than I gave her credit for. I wasn’t out to kill myself, so I kept a pace I saw Lexi could keep up with. It was back up the hill where she died on me. She finally gave up and rode in the golf cart. I admit I felt it and was breathing hard when I got back.

I went up and took a shower, and then came down to the kitchen. I found Dad with Manaia and Fritz, and they all looked up at me like they’d been caught doing something.

“I didn’t do it,” I blurted.

“Not yet,” Dad admitted.

“Oh, Fritz showed you the video,” I said as the light bulb came on.

At that moment, both Adrienne and Lexi walked into the kitchen, looking for coffee and something to eat.

“So, is she a stalker or just hot for me?” I asked quietly so only the guys could hear.

The three guys blushed. Both Lexi and Adrienne suddenly had their mom hearing set to ten, and their heads snapped around.

“Who’s a stalker?” Lexi asked.

“That new girl you hired. Personally, I think she’s hot for me. Adrienne, you’ve had both stalkers and true admirers. Maybe you could tell me.”

For some reason, the guys had something to do in the other room as Lexi and Adrienne watched the video.

“She would die if she knew you had that,” Lexi said.

“I’d move your money, but I think she’s harmless. If you want, I’ll invite her over this afternoon and sort this out,” Adrienne suggested.

That brought too many images to mind. I decided I should just go to work.

I never found out what Fritz wanted. My dad would deal with it. The beginning of my workday found me in Pepperdine’s Payson Library. Mr. Otsuki had an extensive list of scenes he wanted to shoot in this location. It was a gorgeous backdrop and it had many sites that would show well on film. Throughout the day, we would switch from one section of the library to another. We started in the Reading Hall on the first floor. They’d recruited several students to play extras as we worked.

The storyboard had scenes from different episodes that needed to show us studying. Each time, we would do a wardrobe change, and another group of students got their fifteen minutes of fame. I was amused when I discovered what the extras were being paid: they received a ten-dollar gift card for Starbucks. There was one attached to the library, and it was busy. I knew because I followed a few students there to get coffee and something to eat. The gift certificates seemed to work because we never ran out of extras.

I was starting to see why Pam wanted to go to school here. The Malibu campus was beautiful, sitting on the hills overlooking the ocean. Their business school was top notch. Pepperdine University was a private school affiliated with the Church of Christ. I’d mingled with a lot of students and found them friendly. It wasn’t huge, with only about eight thousand students. I couldn’t see Pam going to a big school like USC, where Tracy planned to go next fall.

I’d decided she wanted to come here because their school colors were orange and blue, like Lincoln High’s were. She would already have her wardrobe set.

The only drawback to Pam going here and Tracy to USC was that they wouldn’t be able to live together. It was just too far to drive between the two locations. They would be able to keep in touch, though.

I became a little sad as I finally accepted that not all my friends would be going to college with me. I missed seeing Pam and Tracy; Pam especially, even though Tracy was probably my best friend. I was used to seeing Pam almost every day, even if it was only to see her smiling face; that had always been enough.

Since I’d come to LA, I’d been on the go continuously. I wondered if I was getting a glimpse of what my life would be like this coming summer and fall. That was when I would be shooting the James Bond movie and the second and third Star Academy movies.

Despite being called a ‘stupid boy,’ I wasn’t an idiot. There was no way I would turn my back on the opportunity to do the movies. I’d merely underestimated the time commitment that would be required, especially on this trip. I’d agreed to do a photo shoot, work on a second movie, and do a live TV special—where I would sing. And all this was in between all the other stuff I had going on. The big one was, I had a girlfriend who deserved my time. God only knew when I was supposed to fit everything in.

My five minutes of musing were over. Lexi found me and told me they were ready for the next scene.

Lexi had arranged for me to take Ai to Kristy’s Village Café, which sat on a bluff overlooking Zuma Beach. It had a rustic feel from the outside, as it was covered in weathered vertical wood boards. It gave it a hip old-barn vibe. By Malibu standards, the prices were reasonable. We were seated in the prime location where you had an ocean view.

Ai was from Osaka, the largest component of the Keihanshin Metropolitan Area, where 19 million people lived. That was hard to imagine when you considered that in comparison, New York had eight-and-a-half million residents. Ai said that there were many problems with where she lived, with its high crime rate being the biggest one. But there were reasons why people lived there. Ai loved that she could go out her door and find just about everything she wanted within walking distance of the high-rise she lived in.

Ai was a city girl through and through. She was tough, worldly, and street smart. She was nothing like the wide-eyed college girl she played in the J-drama. Ai teased me about being a farm boy at heart. She admitted to feeling a little uneasy with the open spaces. Osaka had parks and places to go like the Malibu hillsides, but she was used to people being everywhere.

I admitted that when I traveled to New York, I sometimes felt overwhelmed by the sheer number of people. LA didn’t give me that same feeling because it was much more spread out. LA felt more like many suburbs that had all grown together into one giant ‘burb that just went on and on.

By the end of lunch, we agreed we’d had a lovely time, but we would probably never be more than castmates, or better yet, Bill’s friend and girlfriend. I did enjoy working with her, but we had vastly different outlooks.

During a break, Lexi told me to call Chubby Feldman, the director of my upcoming James Bond movie.