Chapter 55: Fame

The ballroom in the Ritz hushed as they waited for my response to the female reporter’s question.

I spoke openly, “Donna, thank you for remaining civil in the midst of these heathens.” I gestured to the other reporters in the room and at least got a few chuckles. “I am married to Crystal, and I have made similar commitment of love to Carol, and more recently to Elynn and Jean. We’ve been careful so that the government has no beef with us about anything, but we do ‘feel’ married and engaged. This is my intentional nuclear family, and I also have a large extended intentional family – people I choose to be with. We are unique in many ways, and that all calls for an innovative approach to problem-solving and communications, and great awareness and understanding of our environment and each other.

“It’s hard to say exactly what triggered the ideas in my brain or in the brains of my cohorts that proved valuable in the resolution of the Satanic Virus, but I guess we said the right things to each other, ate the right pizza, drank the right de-fizzed colas and cold coffee, and so on. What happened to resolve the virus was a team effort. I could NOT have done it alone, and even if I could, it certainly wouldn’t have been in five days, maybe in five months or five years. We were very synergistic in our approach to eliminating the virus. My home life is that way. The others deserve equal credit for the solution. I guess I’ve become the figurehead for them.”

I could tell from the attitude in the room that my deflection of fame to the group was not a welcome option. They’d already made up their mind that -I- was the great defender of civilization and our technology-based world.

Donna looked satisfied, so I said, “Next question?”

Again, a dozen reporters shouted out questions. I stood and said nothing until there was silence. This was a learning exercise in my brand of civility. When the room was quiet, two dozen hands were still up. I picked on another reporter who’d seemed to mind the rules I’d set.

“Mark Windham, Washington Post. A review of certain adult videos indicates that you have been an active player in that industry for a couple of years. Would you please confirm and comment, and do you plan to continue?”

I’d thought of how to deal with this. “I confirm my past actions. I don’t believe that segment of our society is as bad as some make it out. It does need management to keep it from the hands of youngsters unable to accurately interpret what they are seeing. What are called protections on the Internet at this point are a laugh, and invite any inquiring teens to simply lie that he or she is over the age of eighteen. More parental involvement is needed, but I don’t see that happening either. Someday, there’ll be a major scandal of some kind, and only then will some protections be mandated.

“As for my participation, yes I did some enjoyable videos. I got into that business by doing what I’ve come to call ‘private porn’, specifically videos that women chartered to later present to their spouse or partner. Later, some of those women also went public by selling or licensing rights to their video for public consumption on the Internet. Thus, I gradually became more of a public commodity. I also moved into the public domain.” I shrugged. “I still do something every now and then, less these days than in the past. I have been busy saving the world economy, you know.” After a chuckle, I just said, “Next question?”

There was silence this time and many raised hands. I picked on another woman.

“Bonnie Zukoff, Boston Globe. How much of a relationship do you have with Kim Stanley?”

I actually laughed. My reply drew laughter as well. “How much? About $80 to $100 million much, so far. I’ve known Kim for several years, and we’ve worked well together in many situations.” I loved my own double-entendre. “We’re in the process of building a new international networking solutions company – Cyber Solutions or CS. We will take that public soon, and she expects to recoup her investment handsomely as do I. She is a venture capitalist, and her success in that field is a matter of public record. I also expect some of the blood, sweat, and tears that I’ve put into this will pay off. Kim and I are great friends and remain that way. She also has a personal relationship with my father.”

Bonnie quickly tossed in, “Is she part of your harem?”

I laughed again. “No comment. You’ll have to ask her whether she considers herself harem material.” I shook my head as I laughed, showing, I hoped, that the question was ridiculous.

The next few questions drew the reporters back into the brainstorming atmosphere of the solution team regarding defending against the Satanic Virus. I answered each one of the questions with as many details as I could truthfully. Occasionally, I left the door open for another obvious question, leading them further from my personal life.

After an hour, Alice came up and slipped me a note. The note said, “‘You have a very important meeting with your Sarasota office administrator – me! You can end this press conference, if you want. You’ve been good.’

I turned to the group. “Ladies and gentlemen, I think we’ve pretty well covered all there is to cover. If you want to submit questions to my office at Cyber Solutions, I’ll be sure they get answered to one degree or another. We have nothing to hide, but I think you’ve all beat this into the ground. A bunch of guys got together and solved a tough problem that had widespread implications; that’s all that happened. I have a couple of meetings that I promised to make. Just so you know, I will talk to NO ONE that comes to my home or neighborhood, so save your breath. Thank you for your indulgence. Good day.”

The shouting of questions resumed, but I ignored it and walked out of the room with Alice. She was babbling networking buzzwords at me that really didn’t make any sense, but someone hearing fragments of our conversation would think I was getting briefed on some international networking situation also deserving immediate attention. She kept referring to her steno pad. Alice was a good actor.

We walked straight through the hotel to the entrance and into the waiting limousine. We headed home, only about ten minutes way. I asked Alice, “Do I still have a business?”

Alice burst out laughing. “Are you kidding? Cyber Solutions is the most sought-after company by ANY information technology manager now. They ALL want to say they have CS under contract to their company when their board asks who they use for network control, security, and technology management. CS’s marketing group has hired an outside firm to help close some of the business with the new companies. They’re begging to be our clients. Our marketing types are focusing on the expanding business with existing clients.

“Moreover, Meg told me an hour ago that all the CS offices or subsidiaries are flooded with resumes and applications from candidates all over the world. A lot of the people are prime candidates that we plan to hire. Success begets success. We have the cream of the crop to choose from. Hundreds of people want to work for us – maybe thousands, by now.

“Lastly, several other companies have contacted us wanting to know whether we would buy them out. Jean and I referred those to Kim Stanley’s company since her investments and research are required to even respond. I recognized the names of a couple, and I think there might be some good deals out there.”

I was dumbfounded. This was like ‘success on steroids’.

I pulled Alice into the house with me. The place was abuzz with activity. The phone kept ringing, but no one was answering it.

Crystal flew into my arms and gave me a kiss. She said, “They televised your news conference, at least locally. You were wonderful. I loved how you managed the unruly members of the paparazzi.”

“Thank you. What else is happening?”

Crystal’s cell phone went off in her hand. She said, “I am getting an outrageous number of calls for ‘private porn’ videos with you. I’ve had to ask them to apply via email. I think your popularity demands at least $25,000 per performance – maybe more. I have to test the elasticity of that price point.”

“$25,000? Are you crazy?”

“No, I’m up for making money for us. I’ll keep to your schedule so you have time.” She turned to Alice. “Right, Alice?”

Alice rolled her eyes. “Yes, Crystal, darling, but as we discussed no more than six hours a week. Try to keep it to the weekends, too.”

I asked, “How did my office manager get in the business of scheduling my ‘private porn’ time with Crystal Blue Photography? What’s that about?”

Crystal said, “We’re only kidding ... sort of. Since the wedding, she handles a lot of things you don’t know about?”

“I sense there’s a play on words there.”

The group laughed. Alice put her index finger aside her cheek, “Let’s see, I’ve handled Russ and Ben, and they actually required two hands each. When I had to handle both at the same time, there was a lot of uncovered territory. I’ve also handled Derek, Cory, and Steve, and all those were just at your wedding party.”

My eyebrows had rotated upwards through my hairline. “Alice! What’d you do?”

“I wanted to belong to your clique, so I took the necessary steps. Crystal gave me permission. I knew if I asked you, you’d disapprove. You can be a stick in the mud, sometimes.” She gave a little harrumph to drive the point home.

I rolled my eyes.

Alice said, “I have an idea about the ‘private porn’ videos, too. Why don’t you hold a silent auction? You could put it up on the dark web and if someone wants a piece of Dave, they have to place a bid. That would cut down on the number of responses you have to make. Accept the top bid or maybe even the top ten bids.”

Crystal went, “Oooooh, I like that idea. Does that work for you, honey?”

I harrumphed, “Yeah, I guess so. Give the money to charity, however. I can’t go through life like this. I did my job and now everyone is all over me. At least the company seems to be benefiting greatly because of it all.”

Alice said, “Play it as it lies. Accept your fifteen minutes of fame, and move on in the new motif that society has given you.”