Chapter 44

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday afternoon had been set aside for me to take my exams for the State of California to see if I would graduate from the ninth grade. My first one was Biology.

I headed over to the set to find Mr. Wayne to show him the portfolio of faucet pictures. He wasn’t there but I was told that he would be in the cafeteria. He was, but sitting with a woman whose back was to me. I was hesitant to interrupt but Mr. Wayne saw me and waved me over.

As I approached the table I heard the woman say, “John, I’m so bored I have to find a new direction.”

As I neared the table I saw the woman’s profile. It was the most elegant face in the world. At least that is how Time Magazine had put it. The raven-haired beauty was none other than Anna Romanov the actress.

Miss Romanov was the actress of choice if you needed someone to play a noblewoman or woman of great personal power. She was versatile acting in comedies, and dramas, she had performed on stage and screen.

It had been written that she was a cross between Katharine Hepburn and Grace Kelly. She was perfection. She was also my Mum’s age. Dang!

When Mr. Wayne made the introductions I managed not to stutter and stammer or otherwise make a fool of myself. It was close. She was gracious in acknowledging me.

“Rick, what brings you here?” Mr. Wayne inquired.

I don’t care how many times he tells me, he will always be Mr. Wayne to me.

“I wanted to share the faucet photos with you,” I replied while opening the folder.

“Faucet Photos?” inquired Miss Romanov.

I handed her the file. She leafed through them, and then went back through them slowly. These are pieces of art, where did you get them.

Mr. Wayne said, “Pull up a chair Rick and share your whole story.”

I told her about owning an interest in a faucet company, seeing these old pieces on the set and in the prop room here at the studio, my thought on doing a direct placement in the movie, tying it into the TV special planned around me, and then having Detroit Faucet sponsor.

I then told her how DF had just hired an award-winning designer to bring designs of this nature to our product line, and that we would also be updating all of our catalogs. I sort of crossed my fingers on all of this because it was all in my head. I hadn’t discussed it in any detail with Dad. To make matters worse I had never had any conversation on any subject with Mark Downing the majority owner.

Miss Romanov asked Mr. Wayne, “How old did you say this young man was?”

“I didn’t but he is fifteen going on forty.”

“I was just telling John that I’m getting bored and that I need a new interest in my life. These pictures give me some ideas. I would like a few days to think things through and I may have a presentation for you and your partners. May I have these photographs please?”

“No!” Of course, I didn’t say no, what I really said was, “Why certainly Miss Romanov I can get another set easily.”

I did resolve to bring my parents and business partner up to speed as quickly as I could.

Miss Romanov stood up, Mr. Wayne and I also rose.

“It was very nice to meet you, Richard. I will be in contact with you.”

She then walked away in that regal fashion of hers.

John Wayne said, “When she asked for those pictures I almost thought I heard a no.”

“You’re kidding, she could have asked for my heart and I would’ve ripped it out then and there.”

“Yeah, she has that effect on men. I wonder what she is thinking of.”

“I don’t know but I have some ducks to get in a row.”

My first stop was Mr. Grey at the photo lab. He actually had ten more sets of prints. Overkill was the name of the job. He told me if I went over a hundred sets he would have to have a charge code.

From there I borrowed an office with a telephone. I did have to tell them to charge it to Sir Nicklaus. My first call was to Dad. I was in luck he was about to leave for Dayton to pick Mum up at the airport. I filled him in on everything up to my conversation with Miss Romanov. He gave me Mark Downing’s phone number and told me to bring him up to date on everything.

When I called Detroit Faucet I told them this was Rick Jackson of Jackson Engineering calling for Mark Downing. I was put through immediately. Mark and I spent a few minutes getting to know each other. Dad had told him the patent holder was a teenager and was currently working on a movie with John Wayne. So it wasn’t all a shock.

When I told him about the photographs of the specially designed faucets he was impressed. When I told him about the direct placement in the movie he got excited. Then I added that it would also be part of a TV special he was starting to stutter.

On top of that, I would provide the money for DF, as we both were now calling the company, to be a sponsor for the special. He was speechless at this point. When I suggested we update all the catalogs and have a special design section put together by our new design engineer I could hear some strangled sounds. I decided to wait on what Miss Romanov had to say before I told him. He sounded too young for a heart attack, but you never know.

I apologized for moving so quickly without consulting him, did he have any problems with this plan. He managed to get his voice back and tell me that it sounded fine to him. Would I please send him pictures of the faucets?”

I told him that would be no problem. I asked if he minded if I talked to the Warner Brothers CEO about using the faucet designs as is, or would we have to come up with variations.”

“Can you get into see him?”

“I’m dating his daughter and will be at his party at their house tomorrow night so I will have a chance to talk to him, probably not at the party, but somewhere along the way.”