Chapter 7: Directional School Drama

Monday December 12
I was on set when Lexi found me.

“I’m sorry, but you had an urgent call from Duane Morris. He needs you to call him back,” Lexi said.

“We can shoot around you,” Mr. Otsuki assured me.

“I’ll make this short,” I promised and went to find a quiet spot to make the call.

“Mr. Morris, please,” I said when his assistant answered, and she put me right through.

“David, it would seem I spoke too soon about the NCAA going smoothly. They’re sending an investigator to monitor your meeting with that directional school.”

“You mean Southwest Central State?” I asked.

“Yes, that’s the one. I guess the meeting is set for tomorrow evening,” Mr. Morris said.

“Didn’t anyone think to either consult with me or my PA? I’m shooting a TV series tomorrow. There’s no way I can just pick up and leave.”

“Actually, Lexi scheduled it. She told us she cleared it with them. Do we need to reschedule?” he asked.

I wasn’t sure.

“If we do, I’ll get back to you,” I said and then focused on the NCAA. “Why is an investigator involved?”

“My guess is that your videos caused them some heartburn. They’re sending the investigator to determine what, if any, infractions have occurred. I’m actually catching a flight as soon as we hang up. I need to be there when you talk to them.”

“Do you think this will affect my eligibility?” I asked.

“No, but that’s why I’ll be there. Some of the investigators can get a little overzealous.”

That wasn’t reassuring at all. Mr. Morris would know because he worked for the NCAA before he went into private practice.

“Did you get them to agree that we would only be willing to assist them once on this?” I asked.

“We’re meeting with the investigator tonight. I’ll remind him of what we agreed to and get him to confirm it.”

“You’re sure I don’t have anything to worry about?” I asked.

“We’re helping them. They’re doing their job to discover how shoe companies are being used to help schools pay recruits. When I was there, we always suspected universities had figured out how to funnel money to the players, we just didn’t know how they were doing it. It looks like it has gotten pretty sophisticated.”

“Okay, I’ll see you when you get out here,” I said and hung up.

My gut told me that this was more serious than Mr. Morris was letting on. I’d heard what happened to the teaching assistant at Missouri who’d reported improper assistance to scholarship football players. The school and NCAA had pinned it all on her. It was partially her fault because she looked mercenary when she tried to sell her information to help pay for school and books.

My gut also told me that the NCAA knew more about this than they were telling Mr. Morris. They would almost have to—or they were incompetent. I never got that impression of them, so I was betting on their having some idea.

My next task was to coordinate with Lexi, who’d been listening in to my side of the phone conversation with Mr. Morris. We would have to talk about her eavesdropping after this was all over.

“Do I need to get you up to speed?” I asked.

“No. What do you need me to do?”

“When I get done with what Mr. Otsuki needs from me, I want to have a meeting at the house with my dad, Frank Ingram, and Fritz. I want to fill them in on what’s going on. Dad should be there to make sure I’m not missing anything,” I explained.

“Do you want me there?”

“Yes. See if you can get me out of filming for later today and all of tomorrow. I can make up the scenes I miss on Saturday. From looking at the storyboard, I’m mostly on my own or talking to cute girls. They plan to use those sections as cutaway shots.”

“Will do,” she said and left me to my thoughts.

I was reasonably sure I was reading too much into this, but I wasn’t taking any chances.

We worked through lunch to make up for my leaving early. There were some scenes where I was with the group while they said their lines. Those couldn’t be done on Saturday.

By the time we were let go, I was starved. I assumed Manaia was also, so when I got home, I made lunch for both of us as well as Lexi. We were just sitting down to eat when Frank Ingram arrived. About five minutes later, Dad and Fritz came in.

“Why is the NCAA sending an investigator?” Dad asked.

“I don’t really know. I expected we would meet with the coach from Southwest Central State and record it like we did with the shoe company guy. No idea what this guy wants.”

“I did a background check on both the investigator and the coach,” Frank said. “Stewart Chadwick has been an investigator for the NCAA for four years. His most recent assignment involved the Notre Dame violations by a student-trainer, which were just announced. They had to vacate victories from the 2012 and 2013 seasons.

“The trainer committed academic misconduct by completing coursework for two football players. Those two players, and another, also committed individual academic misconduct. Notre Dame ruled they violated the school’s academic integrity policy as well. Six other players were also found to be in violation.”

That sounded an awful lot like the Missouri deal, but on a smaller scale. I wondered why it had been handled so differently.

“Tobias Foster was an assistant at another university where he was suspended for unspecified reasons and decided to leave. He took a job at Southwest Central State this fall and has been instrumental in recruiting for them,” Frank said.

“Who did he coach for before?” I asked.

Frank told us; they were on the list that Gordon Parker, from Springbok, had given us of the schools they sponsored. That was suspicious. They must have moved him over when he drew too much attention at his last stop. It seemed he wasn’t lying low if the list of recruits he’d already gotten commitments from was any indication. Southwest Central State currently had the twenty-fifth-best recruiting class in the nation. That was quite a jump up for a school that had just entered the Division I ranks. To put it into perspective, that would put them in the top half of the Big Ten, as far as recruiting classes went.

Fritz told us he would put together a surveillance setup similar to what we’d used for Mr. Parker. We wanted to record both meetings. Lexi arranged to have the meetings at local restaurants so they’d feel more relaxed and be more forthcoming. Plus, it was a public venue, which gave me a loophole around the two-party consent rules in California.

The meeting broke up at that point.

I found I had a free afternoon.

“Want to go surfing?” I asked my dad.

“That sounds like a good idea.”

I had my board at Rita’s beach house, so I called her to see if we could borrow boards for my dad and Manaia. She gave me the code for the front door and said she’d warn Trip that we were coming over. I asked to borrow a couple of boards for the duration, and she graciously agreed. I wanted to be able to go surfing with my dad when we had free time.

On the way to the beach, we stopped at a surf shop to get Manaia and Dad board shorts and surf vests. Even though we were used to it being freezing this time of year, surfing in the winter in LA could be a little chilly.

Trip wasn’t home, so I showed the guys where they could change and went to the storage area to get the boards out. I met them on the back deck that led down to the beach. We’d missed the morning surf crowd, and school was in session, so the afternoon high schoolers weren’t out yet. We pretty much had the waves to ourselves.

I leaned my head back and felt the sun and wind on my face. The smell of the ocean and the sound of the waves and seabirds completed the perfect day at the beach. The waves didn’t look to be too big, which was perfect for our rusty skills. It seemed like there would be nice, easy runs.

When Manaia and Dad were ready, we paddled out and started taking turns catching waves. Manaia admitted that he hadn’t surfed in a couple of years, so we all had our mishaps as we relearned how to get our feet under us. It didn’t take long, though.

While I waited for my turn, I paused to take it all in. I could understand why people fell in love with surfing. This was what I should have done instead of agreeing to act through Christmas break. The ideal vacation would be Brook and me traveling the world in search of the perfect wave.

We were out doing something physical, the three of us were goofing off, and everyone was having a good time. For that moment, I was happy. Everything else melted away; all my worries, responsibilities, obligations, expectations. I allowed myself to be in the moment and have fun.

Dad and Manaia started to tire, so we decided to go in as the high school crowd began to arrive. I recognized some of the guys and stopped to talk to them. Dad went on into the house to shower. That was when the fun went out of the day.

“I thought we ran you off.”

I turned and saw Al ‘Baby Dick’ Faulkenburg. He’d tried to leech onto me to look good with his classmates. I’d invited him to a party against my better judgment. During the party, I’d hooked up with one of his classmates, and Al had tried to join us. That was when he got his nickname. He’d exposed himself, and she’d taken one look at his tiny penis and said, “Get that baby dick away from me!”

He, in fact, had the smallest one I’d ever seen on a guy since middle school. It didn’t take long for the high school gossip machine to spread the word about his new nickname. Al decided to get revenge on me, even though I wasn’t the one who labeled him. Okay, I might have laughed when he said, “I thought size didn’t matter?” to which the girl responded, “I at least want to feel it.” Somehow, he’d focused his upset on me.

He’d gotten a couple of his friends to attack me with baseball bats. Thankfully, Cassidy had taught me enough to be able to defend myself, and I was able to turn the tables on them.

Since then, I’d started calling them the ‘Baby Dick Gang.’ There was no love lost between us. To be completely honest, the little rat fart and I despised each other.

“How’s it hanging, Al? Your balls drop yet?”

Everyone roared with laughter as Al’s face went crimson. It was like waving a red cape at a bull. Baby Dick charged me. I fully intended to allow him the first punch and then would kick his butt up and down the beach—in self-defense. Manaia ruined my fun. He grabbed Baby Dick around the waist and stopped him in his tracks. Al tried to get loose, but Manaia had about a hundred pounds on him.

I might have felt bad when Al burst into tears if he hadn’t turned out to be such a douche last year. The other guys didn’t help when they started to make fun of him for crying. That wasn’t something guys our age did. Their derision was partially because they all thought he was a douche, too, and this gave them an excuse to give him a little back.

Al decided he would be better off just leaving. Maybe I could have handled that better, but f-him.

I told the guys I had to go and promised I would make an effort to surf with them.

“What was that all about?” Manaia asked.

I told him about Baby Dick.

“Hmph. I should have let him go,” Manaia decided.

“I’m liking you better all the time.”

“But I am supposed to save you from yourself,” he reminded me.

I rolled my eyes. He was probably right, but that didn’t mean I had to admit it.

We packed up our surfing gear and took it with us so we could surf in the morning.

We had some time before our meeting with the NCAA. It was time to track down Lexi and talk about what happened last night. Unlike Brook, I had a better appreciation of having sex with people who worked for you. I wanted to make sure Lexi understood that I would never expect her to do something because I was her boss.

The only reason I hadn’t freaked out yet was that Lexi had come to me and initiated our encounter. I wanted to confirm that Brook hadn’t made her feel like she had to have sex with me. In this day and age, sexual encounters between coworkers were frowned upon, especially if one party had to report to the other.

That didn’t mean that workforce romances and even hookups didn’t occur. There were too many examples of the boss marrying his assistant for that to be true. The problem seemed to be when the relationship didn’t end well. It was becoming evident that these types of grudges could linger for years. It seemed that half the time someone was accused of misconduct, it was a relationship in their past that had ended badly that came back to bite them in the butt. This was especially true for someone like me who was in the public eye.

I’d only had sex with one other person who worked for me, and that was Cassidy. That was different, in my estimation. She and I were friends first and had built up a level of trust. We also knew what it was at the time we got together. There were no expectations that we would be in a long-term relationship or that it would lead to more ... for now.

The only other one that fell into a gray area was Adrienne. As my agent, I guess she technically worked for me, even though she wasn’t on any organizational charts. She owned her own company. It never felt like she worked for me, though. If anything, I felt like she was in charge, or we were equals at best. I think that was because she was older and acted more as a mentor and friend to me.

I hated that common sense had gone out the window. It was entirely wrong to tie an employee’s income, advancement, or anything else to them acquiescing to the boss’s demands. If it were mutual and didn’t interfere with work, who did it hurt? The question was, how did you know? How could you tell that there wasn’t something that had made one person think they had to submit? That was why I was worried. I didn’t know if Lexi felt pressured.

I could see a logical case being made against me. After all, I’d removed Lexi from her role as my PA, and her replacement had offered sex to get me to take her back. At the time, I knew Aubrey meant what she said. We had a history and had a lot of fun together before I even thought of employing her. I’m not sure I would have gone through with it, though. But Lexi didn’t know that. Lexi’s a bright girl and knows how things work out here. It wouldn’t be too big of a leap to think that using sex to get what she wanted was not only a good idea but probably just what she would need to do to get ahead.

I could see why the best policy was not to have a relationship with an employee. With that in mind, I put on my belly-cam and went to find her.

Lexi was in her room.

“Hey,” I said.

“Come in and close the door,” she suggested.

“I better leave the door open.”

“You’re worried about last night.”

That confirmed that she was a smart girl. I nodded.

“Let me put your mind at ease. While I did that to help you and Brook, I wanted to do it too. If you must know, I wish it had gone further, and Brook was okay if it had.”

“It was hard for me to stop.”

She smirked at the ‘hard’ reference but refrained from commenting.

“I’m not sure if we should ever do something like that again. I don’t want you to think that you’re obligated in any way.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t, but that doesn’t mean that we won’t,” she said confidently. “We’re both healthy, young, and attracted to each other. I have no desire to take Brook’s place; I’m not interested in a relationship. What I would do is hook up with you. I think Aubrey said it best: you give me good orgasms. I’ve yet to find anyone else who does.”

TMI!

“If I ever cross a line or even make you feel uncomfortable, please let me know. You’re right when you say we’re young and attracted to each other. Sometimes I say or do things I shouldn’t. What I want you to know is that I’ll take whatever you say seriously. I would rather we talk it out and resolve things than end up on bad terms.

“That’s a two-way street, though,” I continued. “I need to know that you work for me with my best interests in mind.”

She paused and looked thoughtful for a moment.

“That whole revenge thing wasn’t my best moment. The trip to visit with Brook helped me realize that I was being foolish. I’m glad you’re not the kind of guy who holds grudges.”

Tell that to Zander and Baby Dick, I thought. Lexi had crossed a line, but for some reason, I felt we could work together. That didn’t mean I wouldn’t be watchful. It was a case of ‘trust but verify,’ and frankly, I didn’t entirely trust her yet. I should never have let anyone manage me to the point where I didn’t control my relationship with Brook. That would not happen again.

“So, you want to knock out a quick one?” I teased.

“If I thought you were serious, I wouldn’t say ‘no.’”

That backfired.

“I better not. Maybe next time,” I suggested.

“Until next time.”

I stepped out into the hall and closed the door. As soon as it was closed, I let out a deep breath. Was I crazy to leave the door open just a crack that we might hook up in the future? Only time would tell.

I downloaded our talk from the camera and sent the video to Fritz with a note to save that conversation.

We met Stewart Chadwick; he’d waited for us outside the Marmalade Café. Stewart wasn’t what I expected. I’d guessed he would be an older ex-FBI or big-city-detective type. He was in his mid-twenties and looked like he was fresh out of college. I would bet that the NCAA was his first job. When he saw me get out of the car, he had a big smile and came up to me.

“I have to admit that I’m a big fan,” he said as we shook hands.

Fritz sorted out the parking while I introduced everyone.

“I feel a little outnumbered,” Stewart said in a self-deprecating way.

“David wanted you to know that he’s taking this seriously,” Mr. Morris said.

“I have no doubt he is. Why don’t we go in and have a nice meal together and then strategize for your meeting tomorrow?”

I looked at my dad, and he shrugged. This might not be as bad as I first thought.

Lexi had picked the Marmalade Café when Mr. Morris had suggested somewhere casual. He explained that investigators were based out of Indianapolis and had caps on how much they could expense for meals. I knew all too well how expensive Malibu could be.

Over dinner, we talked about everything but what we were there for. Stewart wanted to know all about my acting and what I was working on now. It felt more like I was talking to a fan. If his goal was to put us at ease, he’d done an excellent job of it.

Over coffee, the tone of the conversation changed.

“Did you intend for this meeting to be a dry run for tomorrow?” Stewart asked.

“What do you mean?” Mr. Morris asked.

I smiled.

“He means he spotted our bodycams,” I said.

“You mean there’s more than one? I only spotted Mr. Dawson’s,” Stewart said, and I nodded. “If that’s the case, I would say that if you changed his, you should be fine.”

Stewart smiled at us.

“Just so we’re clear, I consent to you recording me. I was a little surprised that you suggested an informal meeting. That was what made me suspicious,” Stewart revealed.

“As long as we’re being open about this, what exactly do you expect from tomorrow’s meeting?” Mr. Morris asked.

“I doubt that you’ll get Coach Foster to admit any links between Southwest Central State and Springbok other than their shoe and apparel deal with the university. What I would like to happen is for you to open a dialogue with him and gain his trust. It will take a while before he’s comfortable enough to open up to you. It might take a commitment on your part,” Stewart said.

“David only agreed to the one meeting,” Mr. Morris warned.

Stewart looked surprised.

“From reading his letter of understanding with the NCAA, I thought that he agreed to assist us in the future in exchange for us granting him eligibility. Was I wrong?” Stewart asked.

“David neither...” Mr. Morris started, but I put my hand up to stop him.

I could tell he was about to go off on a rant. I was getting better at reading body language. Stewart Chadwick was used to people underestimating him, and Mr. Morris was about to do just that. Mr. Chadwick was testing our resolve. He was also baiting my attorney.

The other side of expecting everyone to underestimate you was that you sometimes overplayed your hand. Stewart was in no position to compel me to do anything. He looked around the table to see who was in charge. His eyes settled on my dad, who just stared back at him.

Mr. Morris wasn’t used to silence, being a lawyer. I could tell he was about to blurt something out, so I grabbed his knee under the table. The first one to talk would lose this round. Finally, Stewart broke.

“I think you need to consider your position.”

I barked out a laugh in triumph. Mr. Morris wasn’t sure what to do.

“Suck it. I’m not doing anything for you,” I said.

That was when Stewart realized he was looking at the wrong Dawson. The ‘suck it’ had been said intentionally. I wanted to see him react for a change. I’d acted like a naïve, petulant teenager. Two could play this game.

Stewart started and stopped his next thought a couple of times before he smiled.

“I was certain you’d go for that,” he finally said and then got serious. “We’ve suspected that something like you brought us has been going on, but we haven’t looked at it very hard.”

“That was until it was Springbok and the upstart, Southwest Central State,” Dad said. “I would bet that you’ve gotten calls from the big schools complaining about what they think are underhanded recruiting practices.”

“All ongoing investigations are confidential.”

He sounded like the FBI agents.

“That means ‘yes,’” Mr. Morris translated for us.

“Look. We’re a long way from getting what we need to do anything with what you brought us. I’m hoping your help will get us enough that we can open up a bigger investigation,” Stewart said.

It all became clear. Stewart was eager to make a name for himself, and I would bet he was willing to sacrifice me and my athletic career to achieve that. He’d just wrapped up a win by taking down Notre Dame. Following that up with nailing the upstart would be a good career move.

“We agreed to take one meeting with them. Let’s figure out what you need us to ask to help you. Then you’re on your own. I don’t want my name associated with any of this. We could have just ignored everything and walked away,” I said to remind him we came to them.

Stewart was prepared. He had a list of questions that he thought would get the information he wanted. We left Stewart and drove home. On the way, we talked.

“Do you think he’ll hold to the deal?” Dad asked.

“I’m sure he will. We have it in writing, and we have him on camera,” Mr. Morris assured us.

“I don’t think he’ll even come close to honoring the deal,” I said, surprising them. “Stewart is young and hungry. He sees this as a path to advancement.”

“What should we do?” Dad asked.

“Have the meeting tomorrow and play it by ear from there. David may be right. We need to be prepared,” Mr. Morris said.

“Did he really see my bodycam?” Dad asked.

“He made an educated guess,” Fritz said.

“I agree,” I said. “We’ll have to make a show of taking off bodycams for the next meeting.”

“I think he’s preparing for his role in the James Bond movie,” Dad said.

“If you work out where we meet him with enough warning, I can get everything set up so you won’t have to wear one. It might be a good idea for tomorrow night,” Fritz suggested.

“Bond, Ian Bond,” I said, and made a gun out of my hand.

When did my life get so crazy that we had to do these kinds of things?

When I got home, I sent a text to Brook, and she jumped onto video chat.

“Watermelon,” she said, and Mr. Happy was sure she’d said ‘pineapple,’ the signal for sexy fun.

There was a soft knock on my door, and Lexi was there waiting with two plates of watermelon. I looked over at my tablet, and Brook had a wedge in front of her.

Both girls thought it was funny when they saw I was aroused.

“Funny,” I said as I took my plate and then gave Lexi a look. “What, no salt?”

“Gross. You put salt on watermelon?” Brook complained.

Lexi looked confused.

“You poor thing. Brook, go get some salt, and I’ll be right back,” I said and ran to the kitchen.

Dad told me to slow down. I showed him there was watermelon, and he made me give him the salt before I stole it. When I came back, I put some on mine. Both Brook and Lexi put a small amount on a little piece of fruit. Salt brightened the flavor and made it sweeter. It gave the watermelon a salty-sweet taste. I smiled when I saw both girls put more on the rest of theirs.

I let Lexi catch Brook up on what had happened today. It looked like the two girls had started to get comfortable with each other. It was interesting to hear Lexi’s perspective on what had occurred. She didn’t trust the NCAA guy at all. She also called Mr. Morris a ‘typical lawyer.’ I wasn’t sure what that meant but might be able to guess.

When we finished eating, Lexi acted shy. I didn’t buy it for a minute.

“If you need me to...” she began and batted her eyes at Brook.

“Slow down. We talked about my concerns, and they haven’t changed in the last few hours,” I interjected.

“It was worth a try. I noticed there was some swelling...”

“Out,” I ordered as the two girls giggled.

Lexi grabbed my plate and then dropped her fork. She had to bend at the waist with her legs straight to give me a great view of her delectable bottom. Rewind. Delectable? Brook HAD to get here soon!

“What did you two talk about?” Brook asked.

“Basically, it was the boss-slash-PA issue of my worry that she would feel like I’ve pressured her into sex. She said that she didn’t feel that way and that she didn’t want to replace you.”

“That’s good, right?”

“Yes, it is. Lexi did say that we were healthy, young, and attracted to each other, so she wouldn’t be opposed to just hooking up.”

“Wasn’t that what last night was?” Brook asked.

“Yes. I’m more worried that if Lexi gets pissed at me that she might twist it and make it look bad sometime down the road.”

Brook totally got that. She planned to go into politics at some point, and her dad taught political science. Brook’s family, on her mom’s side, was wealthy. She was aware of what people would do to try to pry money away from people like her.

“Maybe we all just need to be friends,” Brook suggested.

“Now, if it was someone who didn’t work with me, we might be talking,” I said, giving her my sexy-boy smile.

“You know that you just eliminated Halle.”

“Dang it!” I swore.

“What about that new girl? The one you claimed was ‘just a friend’ you were pictured with on TMZ.”

“Teresa?”

I might have overstated the friends-only angle to try to convince myself that I shouldn’t do naughty things. Teresa had the same effect on me that Lisa Felton once had. Jessica Rabbit famously said: “I’m not bad. I’m just drawn that way.” Teresa had the looks and body that got her noticed.

Let me elaborate. I had three dream girls that I fantasized about: Adrienne, Kate Upton, and Rita James. Real-world girls I lusted after were Tracy, Pam, and Brook. Brook trumped them all because we were in a relationship. Teresa was somewhere in that mix. What made me want her more was that she was shiny and new. The same as Kate Upton, but Kate had gone and married that worthless baseball player. Kate was hot enough that she was still on the list even after she went and did that.

Now for strictly lust-inducing mayhem, throw in Paulina, Teresa’s mother and local trophy wife. That woman was sex on a stick. If she wasn’t married, if she wasn’t a confirmed gold digger, and if I was single—there were a lot of ifs there—I would be up to no good right about now. You could tell that she just knew things that would mean no end of fun.

“David?” Brook asked in a sing-song voice.

“Huh?”

“I lost you there for a moment.”

“Sorry,” I said and blushed.

“I knew it! You do like her,” Brook accused me.

My first reaction was to backtrack quickly. That would have been stupid because Brook knew she’d caught me.

“She is a bit of alright,” I said, using a British accent.

Brook gave me a look I couldn’t read, so I thought I’d better come clean on everything.

“I invited the Japanese girls over to skinny-dip.”

“Whatev.”

Damn! I thought that would distract her from my infatuation with Teresa. Brook decided to ignore Teresa for now and caught me up on school. Her mom finally stuck her head into her room and made her go to bed. I was sure Teresa would be discussed again in the near future.

Tuesday December 13
Dad woke me before sunrise. The plan was to go surfing before he had to go back to work teaching the cast to look like they could play golf. Manaia was in the kitchen, drinking a cup of coffee with my dad when I came down.