Chapter 28: Heavy Meddle

Sunday April 2
I looked forward to going home. We had a ten o’clock flight that would get us to Chicago by eleven-thirty. That meant I would get home by one or two. With that in mind, I was up early, and Adrienne found me making a bagel.

“You about out of here?”

“Yeah. I appreciate you letting me crash at your place again.”

“Before you leave, I wanted to thank you for working with Jill yesterday. I also want talk to you about renting your condo in Tribeca,” Adrienne said.

“My mom handles all of that for me. I’ll have her call you,” I said to get that off my plate.

“Cindy dropped off some concepts for floor plans. Do I talk to her about the changes I want?” Adrienne asked.

“Nope, talk to my mom. She would kill me if I cut her out of remodeling something. Plus, Cindy isn’t an architect or contractor. Mom will call someone to make sure it gets done right,” I assured Adrienne.

“Did you want to look at Prom dresses?” Adrienne asked to remind me of the stupid promise I’d made.

The look that came over my face must have been priceless because Adrienne laughed.

“At least let me show you the ones they picked out. That way, you can say you did what they asked,” Adrienne suggested.

Cassidy’s dress had no back, and I suspected it would show butt crack if she moved wrong. Then I flipped to Brook’s, and it had a slit up the front from the bottom that would come all the way to her navel. I tried to imagine in what universe she would get away with showing up to prom dressed like that. I gave Adrienne a look.

“Show me the ones they really liked, not the dresses that were meant to wind me up.”

“Tyler owes me a buck. She bet you wouldn’t even look at them,” Adrienne said as she revealed to me the ‘real’ dresses.

I liked all of them except Brook’s. It didn’t look like it would suit her body type. The dress was designed for a bigger girl and would do nothing to show off Brook’s slim figure, in my opinion.

“What were Brook’s other choices?” I asked.

Adrienne showed me. One was a short formal dress that looked perfect for someone Brook’s age to wear to prom. It was off the shoulder with a sweetheart bodice. The top was covered with navy lace appliqués, while the skirt was made with navy tulle over a contrasting powder-blue lining. Her other choices were longer dresses that were narrow at the bottom. It would be hard to walk, let alone dance in them. The short dress looked much more fun to wear.

“I like this one,” I told Adrienne.

She checked it out.

“Of her choices, I agree,” Adrienne said, making me smile. I think Adrienne wouldn’t have picked any of Brook’s choices. “I’ll send it to her to get her confirmation and then order it.”

“Hang on. They sent me the other dresses to get a reaction out of me. Tell them I thought they looked fine and already paid for them,” I said as I rubbed my hands together.

“Fine, I’ll help you get your revenge. They’ll be both happy and relieved when the dresses arrive. Remember, I need pics,” Adrienne reminded me.

“How could I forget?” I asked, reminding her this wasn’t my first rodeo getting discounts on designer clothes.

The girls would have to sign releases so the pictures could be released on social media. I was confident Adrienne would work all that out.

“Thanks, Adrienne,” I said.

“Before you go, I wanted to have a word on a more serious matter,” Adrienne said.

I gestured for her to continue.

“Would you be open to doing a few short shoots while you’re filming your movies?”

“I doubt I’ll have time, but if you needed me for something, I would see what I could do. I’d prefer you not be actively looking for jobs for me until I have a better handle on how much free time I’ll have,” I said.

“Can you model once you go to college?”

“That’s an excellent question. I’ve been fighting the NCAA about that, and we’ve reached a compromise. They’ll allow me to fulfill my obligations to my current movies or anything else I am under contract for before I step on campus. In return, I can play both baseball and football.

“It’s actually turning into a big mess for the NCAA. States are beginning to introduce legislation that will allow athletes to keep their image rights and make money from that. In my case, I already make a living modeling and acting and was able to show that those activities had nothing to do with football or baseball. Because of that, they’re granting me an exemption,” I explained.

“Could you possibly be a sales rep for me?” she asked, taking me by surprise.

“I’m not really looking for a nine-to-five job while I’m going to school.”

“I’m not asking you to. We could set up a deal similar to the one we currently have in place where you get a portion of the revenue generated from your contacts. I was hoping you might go to a few events like the fashion show you went to with me where you got us in the door, so to speak.

“I was talking to Tyler the other day, and she made the offhand comment that our business was ahead of what she anticipated. She showed me the client list, and your name as the initial contact was next to more than we expected. That got me to thinking that if you were open to it, we could both make some money,” Adrienne said.

“I’m not sure how much business I could help generate in Norman, Oklahoma. I don’t think they have many businesses that would need high-end models.”

“What if we had you come to New York or LA for a fashion event, and you and I worked to generate business?”

“My family is moving to Malibu. I could combine the trip with spending time with them,” I offered.

“I know it’s not something we can set up yet, but I wanted to plant the seed. I can see you someday involved in marketing or sales. If I could afford you, I would hire you today to be a sales rep for me. You’ve already proven you can be a rainmaker,” Adrienne said.

“I’m not sure I deserve that title just yet.”

“David, I’m serious. Do you have any idea of how hard it is to find someone who isn’t afraid to go up to a complete stranger and ask them if they need a product or service?”

“I’m sure there are a lot.”

“You’re probably right, but there aren’t that many that do it as smoothly as you do. Your dad did you a great service when he taught you how to work a room. Most people aren’t productive while doing it. I know many social butterflies, but they couldn’t get their foot in the door if their life depended on it,” Adrienne pointed out.

“I guess.”

“Just think about it. All I’m trying to say is if I can’t get you to model for me, I still want to do business with you.

“I’d like that. I don’t know when I’ll see you next, but let’s stay in touch,” I said.

“I plan on it.”

On my ride to the airport, I replayed our conversation in my head. It made me wonder if I could combine a solid business education with an emphasis on sales and marketing. It would fall into the wheelhouse of my strengths of leadership and people skills.

On the flight home, I had Cindy sit next to me in first class. The rest of my crew all got to sit in the ‘back of the bus,’ as the saying goes. I wanted to talk to her about why she was on the trip: the design of my condos.

“I agreed to sell the condo in Monte Carlo, so I guess your work is done there,” I started out.

“I could help you with the design of the new units,” Cindy offered. “Have you decided if you will combine the two or not?”

“Talk to my mom about that. I’ll want my people to figure out if it’s better financially to sell them individually or combine the units for sale. And I’ll want the same information for renting, too. I need to look at this as a business deal rather than a personal one. No matter how much I may wish otherwise, I can’t see when I would be able to get back for a vacation in the next several years. I have a hard time justifying tying that kind of money up for something I’ll not use. Plus, I can just stay at a hotel like everyone else for a visit,” I explained.

“What about the one in Greece?” Cindy asked and then added her opinion. “When I was out, a lot of people told me that other parts of Greece were much cheaper and just as nice.”

“I heard that, too,” I agreed. “I’m leaning towards selling that one.”

“That leaves New York.”

“I’m going to rent it to Adrienne to use for her younger models. It makes sense to have a house mom to watch over them. She said you have some ideas?” I asked to prompt Cindy to show me.

She got up, grabbed her carry-on bag from the upper storage, and pulled out a sketch pad. In the back half of the unit, she’d added a second floor where four bedrooms would be. These would be used by the models. Downstairs there was a master bedroom for the house mom, as well as a kitchen, a dining area, and a small office. The twenty-foot-high front half of the unit, with its large, loft-type windows, was kept as an open living area. It looked perfect for New York.

We talked about our trip and how much fun Cindy and the rest of my travel-mates had had.

“I wondered why you didn’t spend more time with us,” Cindy said.

“Did Ashley or Scarlet say something?” I asked.

“They told us yesterday. That’s messed up.”

“What is?” I asked.

“That Scarlet was worried about you seeing her with Paul. Poor Kevin thought this trip was going to be one orgy after another with you leading the charge. He seemed to think it would be more like what he and his football team get up to. I kept trying to tell him that you really weren’t focused on sex all the time.”

I did want to dig deeper as to why I was excluded for almost the entire trip. In particular, the stated concern about me seeing Scarlet with Paul didn’t hold water if you asked me.

The reality was that at this point, what was done was done. In the end, it had turned out for the best. The trip also had opened my eyes to how Scarlet and Ashley really saw me, which was as a kid. In the future, I would rather hang out with my friends and family.

I’d also been confident enough to strike out on my own. I would be very willing to bet I’d had more fun on my own adventures than they’d had spending the majority of their time in clubs or recovering from them. I’d be able to club all I wanted while in college. For me, swimming in a hot spring, playing tourist, cave diving for treasure, and the newer aquatic sports were more in line with what a vacation should be.

New York had been a mixed bag. I’d enjoyed The House of Yes, if for no other reason than to see so many people feel free enough to fly their freak flag and have a good time. The downside was getting roped into doing a couple of gigs. Who wants to spend their vacation working?

I’d also accomplished my main goal of dealing with the condos I’d acquired in my settlement. The only two I hadn’t been to yet were in LA at the USC campus and the Canadian ski resort. I knew I would make time to go skiing, and Tracy and Pam were moving into the LA condo, so I didn’t have to make a trip to decide whether to keep them or not.

Zander was supposed to be out of the LA one soon, so Cindy could get it ready for the upcoming school year for the girls. She’d also shown me the plans to make the Canadian condo into the perfect ski-lodge rental that I could easily offer as an Airbnb.

“Tell me about the football team,” I said to circle back to the real reason I’d asked Cindy to sit with me.

“What do you want to know?”

“A couple of times, you’ve made some comments that have me ... I don’t really know the best word for it. I guess I’m worried for you,” I admitted.

Cindy gave me a confused look.

“What does that have to do with the football team?” Cindy asked.

“If I’m reading too much into this, stop me,” I tried.

“I’m lost. What are you trying to say?”

I took a deep breath and thought about the best way to say it. After a moment, I decided to just say what was on my mind.

“I think there’s a reason you didn’t want to go with Kevin on spring break with the football team. You just said that Kevin hoped this trip would be sex all the time, like with his teammates. I’m worried that with Kevin not having any ... I don’t know what the best word is...” I stalled.

Cindy put her hand on my arm and gave me a sad look.

“Kevin discovered he liked to watch me have sex with other men the time we got together over Thanksgiving. At first, I was in total control of who I slept with,” she said and then stopped.

“He pushed you for more?” I asked.

“When I say it out loud, I realize how bad this sounds,” Cindy said, looking ashamed. Then she took a deep breath and looked me in the eye. “This is all on me. College is when you should experiment...”

I’d told myself that just a few days ago.

“When did it get out of control?” I asked.

“When we started school after I got back from LA. Kevin and I went to a party, and I cut loose. It started as fun. Three of Kevin’s friends...”

“I get the picture,” I assured her.

“Then, there were more. Kevin invited his fellow linebackers to join in. At the time, I thought I was having fun. It was something new I could check off my sexual bucket list. But Kevin wanted me to do it again...” she said and then almost whispered the rest, “and I liked it.”

“No one forced you or hurt you?” I asked.

“No. No, nothing like that. It’s just that word got out.”

The light bulb went on. A girl who did stuff like that was sure to get a reputation, even in college. I could see myself judging Cindy if I didn’t really know her. That didn’t make it right, but it was what it was.

“Can I stick my nose in where it’s not wanted?” I asked.

“This is rich. My student wants to give me advice. Meddle away, David,” Cindy said with a half-smile to let me know she was okay with me saying what I was about to say.

“I know I would have a hard time listening to me if I were in your shoes, but I care enough to tell you some hard truths. You know what I’m about to say comes from a place of love, don’t you?” I asked.

“I can probably already guess, so go ahead. I promise I won’t kill the messenger,” Cindy assured me.

“First, all the role-playing, tying people up, multiple partners, well, I get ... sort of. None of that is really something I’d want, but I’m not into telling people what they can and can’t do in the bedroom so long as no one gets hurt. Some of it is actually fun,” I conceded.

“I hear a giant ‘but’ in there.”

“The but is that you seem to want to take the adventure a step further each time. I’m open to trying new stuff, but I think you might have gone too far out of your comfort zone. I think you see that even though we do these behind closed doors, word always seems to get out. That’s something I’ve learned the hard way more than once. Hell, I was all over social media because I hooked up with a princess.

“I’m also worried about how things are going between you and Kevin. He reminds me in one way of a big, goofy puppy. The problem is, he’s wired in a way that’s going to be disastrous in the long run. Kevin has no limits, no boundaries, and he just doesn’t pay attention to the consequences of some of the stuff he gets into. Even worse for you, Kevin doesn’t think at all about the effects on you of what he drags you into doing.

“Kevin will be able to get away with it for a few years, especially if he makes it to the NFL. But even then, he’s likely to get a significant suspension before his first contract runs out. You, on the other hand, don’t have that cushion, even in college.

“You have to start thinking about your future. At some point, ‘college fun’ impacts us later. I know for a fact that my HR department checks potential employees’ social media accounts. I’ve read articles about people who have been shocked that they didn’t get jobs because of their social media past. For my companies, I think of these people as representing me. If they do things that the general public will turn their noses up at, how will the public look at me for hiring them to represent me?

“So, my concern is threefold. The first is, I don’t want to see some ‘college fun’ collide with the real world for you. The second is, I think you need to slow your roll. I’m not saying to stop having fun, I’m just saying that sometimes regular sex is pretty dammed nice,” I said with a smile.

“I agree,” Cindy conceded.

“Finally, you need to dump Kevin.”

“What? Why?”

“He’s a great guy; don’t get me wrong about that. But he’s too much of an enabler. He is never going to think anything is too much or has gone too far. You need someone who will tell you ‘no’ every once in a while,” I explained.

“You’re saying Kevin’s a doormat?” Cindy asked with a scowl.

I shrugged.

“I wouldn’t use that exact word. In fact, now that I think more about it, I believe Kevin’s more than an enabler, he’s an instigator. He doesn’t mean anything bad by it, I’m sure. But the fact is, he’s been steadily leading you into more and more troublesome situations.”

“If you ever start a rock band, you should name it ‘Heavy Meddle.’”

“You know me. I don’t do many things by half measures.”

She gave me a sidewise look that told me she was trying to decide if she was mad at me or not. Before we could get into a fight, I put my earbuds in and left her alone to her thoughts.

Fritz met us at the airport to drive us home. I called shotgun and let everyone else ride in the back two rows. On the roof towards the rear was a box. When I got in, I asked Fritz about it.

“When you called about the problems in Greece, I happened to be in town because Darius has a new drone idea that we decided to implement.”

“I knew he was going to play around with that over break, but I had no idea he was so far along,” I admitted.

“He calls it ‘The Swarm,’ Fritz shared with a smirk.

I saw a theme starting. The drones we’d installed to watch the house were a ‘flock.’ Now we had a ‘swarm.’

I didn’t take the bait and just gave Fritz a look.

“It’s actually worked out well. In the box on the roof of the car are two stacks of four small drones and one larger control drone he calls the ‘queen,’ for a total of nine. The battery life on the smaller ‘worker’ drones is shorter, so when the swarm launches, you only do four at a time with the controller. Then you swap them out when their power starts to drop,” Fritz explained.

“Do they do the same sort of tasks his original drones do?” I asked.

“He claims they do, but he bought some upgrades. I guess the Russian programmers have been working on new features. I plan to be here this week to test them out. I had to promise Dare that I wouldn’t reveal all his gadgets before he’s ready to show you,” Fritz said.

It sounded like Dare had spent money, and he hadn’t shared that info with either Megan or me. He and I would have to have a talk about that when I saw him next. I would wait until I saw what he bought before I took his head off. There was always a chance it was something I would like.

To be honest, I considered what Dare was doing as fun research. If he went over budget, I was fine. I just wanted to make sure he had some constraints in place, or he could spend money faster than Brook on Black Friday. Especially just like Brook if he thought he was getting a deal.

On the ride, we caught up. Fritz was based in California and said that my Malibu house was starting to come together. I’d been told that my parents would move after I graduated, with everyone else joining them this summer. Greg was going to live in our house. Our cook/housekeeper, Melanie, had agreed to move into my apartment to help my brother with his kids.

He made no mention of Angie, so I let that go. I would ask my dad about it when I got home.

It seemed that my parents had firmed up their plans in the week that I was gone. Fritz was called in to help coordinate security. The idea was to remove a lot of the video surveillance and the drones from our current house when Greg moved in. If I were Greg, I would want the reduced security. Some security made sense, but he didn’t need the level I seemed to require.

It also sounded like I should start packing up my stuff for the move if Melanie was moving into my space. I would have to figure out what I wanted to take with me while I shot my films and what would go to the new house. Undoubtedly, some of my stuff would have to go into storage.

I had furniture at both grandmothers’ houses, including the walnut bedroom set, as well as the stuff in my apartment. On top of all that, I also had all my awards and trophies, most of which I’d not had the chance to even unpack, let alone put up. The big one was my Academy Award.

It was depressing to realize that when school ended, I really would be leaving home and not coming back. I hoped that someday I would, though. I could see living on the bluff overlooking the river on my farm. That would be a great place to raise my children.

When we got home, I ran into the house and found my mom and dad in the living room, watching the rug-rats.

“Daddy’s home!” I announced.

All the little ones looked up and cried out in happiness. I got down on the floor so I was at their level and was swarmed. Scarlet and Ashley followed me into the room shortly after that and were ignored. Before they felt slighted, my mom headed them off.

“They need their Daddy time. Let him wear them out for you. When you get back to your place with them, they’ll forget all about him,” she predicted and took the two of them into the kitchen.

It was overwhelming to listen to five little ones try to tell me about their week. I was shown booboos, which had to be kissed, and was told incomprehensible stories—one-year-olds don’t have the best vocabulary. Of course, I provided love and attention to all five.

At one point, I looked around, and my dad and even my trusty hound had abandoned me. Watching five one-year-olds was similar to keeping track of all of Precious’s kittens, but I was up to the task. The one advantage I had with the little ones over herding kittens was that my charges wanted their dad’s attention.

Monday April 3
When I came back from my morning run, I found my parents and Cassidy in the kitchen. Cassidy was getting a cooking lesson from my dad.

“You add olive oil to your butter for flavor. There’s a myth that the reason is that the olive oil will raise the smoke point of butter. The truth is that they both burn at similar temperatures,” Dad shared.

“Cassidy got some good news last week,” I said to interrupt.

“What’s that?” Dad asked her.

Cassidy gave me a look that promised a lot, none of it good. I might want to wait until Manaia arrived before doing this. He might be able to at least slow her down if she decided my life was to end today. I gave her a cocky look and smiled. I was asking for it.

“She got a scholarship offer from USC. A full ride,” I shared.

“Really? That’s great news,” Mom said and then turned to me. “It’s too bad my son wasn’t smart enough to pick them.” Then she turned back to Cassidy. “Your dad must be beside himself with joy.”

Cassidy mumbled something.

“What was that?” Mom asked.

“She hasn’t told him,” I interjected. “She thinks it would be a good idea to have him pay her tuition and go to Oklahoma. Maybe someone should explain how expensive college is for parents when they have two children in school. At least Greg has in-state tuition.”

“Is that true?” Mom asked.

Cassidy’s eyebrow twitched. That was all I had to see to decide I wanted to walk to school. I bolted out the back door and almost ran over Manaia.

“I’m taking you to breakfast,” I said as I ran for the car.

Cassidy wasn’t fast enough to catch me.

“Cassidy Hope! You get back in here right now,” Mom said.

“I can’t believe you told your mom on me,” Cassidy yelled and then went back into the house with my parents.

“What’s that all about?” Manaia asked as we pulled out of the drive.

“Cassidy was about to make a bad decision. My mom is straightening her out,” was all I said.

“You told on her?” Manaia asked.

That made me feel bad for a moment, but I knew if the shoe were on the other foot, Cassidy would have done the same. I sent Brook a text to let her know that the USC matter was handled. She sent a smiley-face emoji back.

Before school, Dare spotted me and scampered off. He should have thought that through because we were in the same math class. I went to PE and found Wolf and Tim waiting for me.

“That video had me in stitches. I hope the pretzel was worth it,” I said.

Wolf took a swat at me but wasn’t serious.

“You two can eat shit and die. I bought that pretzel myself.”

Tim shook his head behind Wolf, which made me laugh.

“Get it out of your systems. I’ll give you through class, and then if I hear about it again, I’ll kick both your butts,” Wolf threatened.

“Because he was a guy, did he know how to do it better?” Tim asked.

Let’s agree that I enjoyed lifting that day.

Who I didn’t see was Cassidy. When I asked Joey, she said Cassidy wouldn’t be in until later. She was dealing with a personal matter. Frick! Telling my mom must have escalated. I sent Brook a series of texts explaining my brilliant plan and how it might be backfiring. When I heard that Coach Hope had left as well, I knew I was a dead man walking.

“Darius,” I said as I sat down next to the little shit in our calculus class.

“Fritz said I made them better.”

I raised both my eyebrows in response. Luckily for Darius, class started before I could grill him. He slid me a note that said he would show me after school.

“Dare! I didn’t just see you pass a note, did I?” Ms. Lowden asked.

“Yes, you did,” I said as I held it up for her. “I’ve told Dare he can’t do stuff like that.”

She took it and read it out loud.

“I’ll show you after school. What does that mean?”

“His girlfriend gave him a hickey. Since I’ve had one or two of them in the past, he wants my advice on how to cover it up so he doesn’t get teased,” I shared.

By him going from pale for fear of getting in trouble to flaming red from embarrassment, the poor dumbass looked guilty as hell.

“I promise to tell you everything in the future,” Dare whispered to me.

“What did he say?” Ms. Lowden asked.

I think Dare getting a hickey was big news for her, as it was for the rest of the class. They’d never thought of the little horndog in that way before.

“You can’t be serious?” I asked in mock shock and then turned to Ms. Lowden. “He said she gave it to him on his...”

“I don’t want to know,” Ms. Lowden said, holding up her hand to stop me. “Just don’t do it again.”

She began her lesson. Dare looked at me, confused, so I gave him a thumbs-up. He didn’t realize it, but I’d gotten him out of detention. I’d also made him a rock star as far as his fellow nerds were concerned. If Dare could get a hickey ... you do the math.

As I was on my way to lunch, Brook called me.

“You might want to hit your panic button. Cassidy will be looking for you at lunch.”

“Is she going to USC?” I asked.

“Yes, and telling your mom was genius. I would advise you never to do it again, but good job.”

I spotted Cassidy at the end of the hall. She saw me at the same time and started walking towards me with a look that promised pain. The only good news was that Coach Hope was behind her. I calculated how much damage she could do before her dad pulled her off me.

When she got within striking distance, “I love you” popped out of my mouth as I went to my knees and gave her my left hand to snap off.

“You ... you ... you ‘stupid boy,’” she said and twirled around and ran to the bathroom.

“That went better than I thought it would,” Coach Hope admitted.

“I’ll go after her if she doesn’t come out in a few minutes,” I assured him.

“Do I want to know how Brook got her the scholarship?” Coach Hope asked.

“Other than Cassidy being an excellent rower? Probably not,” I admitted. “I take it that you agreed with my mom that it was her best option.”

“It didn’t take much convincing. Cassidy knew it was a better school. She said she promised you that she would go where you went to help train. I explained to Cassidy that she still could, just that it wouldn’t be in person. She quit fighting it at that point and called and accepted the scholarship,” Coach Hope said.

“I better go in,” I said.

“I’ll watch the door,” Coach Hope assured me.

Cassidy was waiting for me when I walked into the girl’s bathroom. I’d worried that she would be crying or some other girlie nonsense. Standing there with her arms crossed caught me off guard.

“You told your mom,” she repeated.

That made me flinch. I sure hoped that Cassidy didn’t feel the need to get even.

“Brook made me do it,” I tried.

“You told your mother.”

“I know that was sooo wrong. It will never happen again,” I assured Cassidy.