Jordan

Jordan

By

Retta Michaels

Disclaimer:

If you are under the age of eighteen, or live in a locale which doesn't allow you to read these sorts of stories legally, then please don't. Come back when it's legal for you to do so and it will be great with us who are here legally. In fact, we'll support you and in the right circumstances help get you laid. Now, skedaddle and shut the door on your way out!

Now, for the rest of you who are supposed to be adults, act like it!

Chapter 9:

Opening up Pandora's box and delving into show business other than performing music hadn't been much of a desire of mine. Personally, having someone tell me one time wasn't good enough when I'd given my best just wasn't something I saw myself to doing over and over and over like they do in television.

Don't get me wrong. I could go on an interview show and I could even get my timing down to get what I had to say in the time afforded. It's just something which came along with the territory. After so long of doing interviews, we learned. I guess that's what I can say about television.

We asked to do a certain show and once RJ requested them to allow us to be on an episode, they wholeheartedly accepted us and that left open the door for us to do others while we were out there. One interesting show was an episode of a popular crime show which had me laying dead in a pool of blood apparently dead from a self imposed suicide jump off of a hotel balcony...someplace I wouldn't normally go if one was in a room we had due to fear of heights...but, there I lay with all sorts of blood all around me and it turned out it was murder.

All I had to do was lay there and do two scenes in which it supposedly happened on the sound stage and one scene inside of an actual hotel room so the exterior scenery could be scene. It took a morning to shoot and while I was doing that, Chad was over at another sound stage doing a shoot 'em up gang crime shot where he was in a Latin crime gang. I'm sure his face stood out in that scene!

At lunch, he looked at me and said, "Babe, you know what? I love you so much."

"What brought this on?"

"Remember when we talked about me doing television and you said you would go solo?

"Yeah, don't remind me. Just as soon as I can get off this Merry Go Round, I'll....oh shit....there's another song coming on..."

He laughed and said, "Here we go giving birth again..and you were saying!"

"Well fuck Chad, I can't stop it and you can't either. We're gifted and we're in a spot now where we can fulfill our dreams. We can step out of our world into this one and it's great, but if you wanted to ask me to do this every day, I'd be raving about not being able to get off this merry-go-round too. So, I'll sneak over here to do it because it's fun and it's an escape, but if given my choice, I'd do a ton of singing before I'd want an ounce of this. This sucks and it's so stressful."

He laughed and said, "Remember when you used to say the same thing about singing?"

"Yeah, but that was different, I've got that stuff learned now."

"No, this is the same thing. It's something you learn and soon, you'll be an actor. I bet ya."

"Oh don't say that....you know it's true and then I'll be busier than hell. What I'd really like is to be able to stay at home and see a house that I could say I'm knowing I'm going to be there more than a week."

"Babe, how about if we go house hunting out here and have it so when we come out here, we'll have it."

"How about if I go house hunting with you and you get yourself a house I can live with you in. I'm not really wanting a house babe."

He looked at me and said, "You know how that sounds. Chad, I'll shack up with you wherever you go, but I don't want to own a piece of real estate at all. Your name can go on it, and I'll help pay for it, but you put it into your name."

"Well, that's how I feel."

"Don't you see it as it being a lack of commitment?"

"What?"

"Commitment, You...Me...Forever?"

"Yeah, we're committed."

"No we're not. For me, commitment means you and me are joined and share. To you, it means I go and get and then share it with you. You even pay for it, so it's not like you're sponging off me, but for me it means your name goes on the line with mine."

"We do that."

"When?"

"Our name's are on every record we sell as a duo and our names are together are on every song we write together."

"Yeah, but babe, I want a house with your name on the line with mine."

"Why?"

"So I can say, this is our house and not feel like you can run out the door and go on to someone else."

"So, to settle you being insecure about us, which is stupid because there's no other man in the world I want, you want me to invest with you in real estate?"

"Yeah."

"O.k., let's see...We fly the Cardinal and it's mine and you're o.k, with that."

"Yeah"

"And, we live in your house and that's o.k."

"No."

"No! You throwing me out here!"

"NO!!! What I mean is I want your name on what's mine."

"Oh, so you want half the Cardinal?"

"No."

"SO, I'm to take half of what's yours and you don't want half of what's mine. That's a fucking Latin man statement Chad."

"Babe, if you want me to have half the Cardinal, I'll take it, but you don't have to."

"So, why do I gotta take half of what's yours if I don't gotta give you half of what is mine."

"You don't."

"So, this whole conversation comes back to me not having to buy a house with you for me to love you....that's what I was saying in the first place."

"Oh, I'm so confused!"

"Yes, and you're so beautiful when you get that way."

"Can we just go shopping for a house?"

"If you want to dear."

He gave me a look that would kill and I just smiled.

As things went, we did arrange to go shopping for a house, but in L.A., that takes time. It's not a thing where one can call up someone and just drive on down and go looking sort of thing apparently. One had to have an appointment and it could only be after searching through a database of houses and passing a security clearance or some sort of bull.

What we ended up doing was Chad and I sat at a computer and they had us fill out a questionnaire online. We did it and it was pretty good because we learned what we wanted in a house. Chad, I learned had an ideal house in mind and none of them were like what we had now, or even his mom had in Miami. What he wanted was a house up on a hillside which had a great view. Yes, it's nice, but as I said, I'm afraid of heights. So, we agreed to look at houses and we agreed that if I didn't feel comfortable in a house, we'd get me the hell out of there before I was on the floor clawing my way towards the door and solid ground.

He thought it was a figment of my imagination, but panic is something that's very real when it hits. What's strange is I can be in a high rise apartment building and I can even look out and see the beautiful panorama out there, but if I go to the window and look down, I'm a nut case. I'll end up running to the interior wall and doing everything I can to get out of there.

When we got to one house in the hills, this thing was huge first of all and it was all glass. Don't ask me if they ever heard of a hail stone, because the cost of repairing that thing would have been astronomical, but to be honest, I just felt like the thing was going to slide off the hill. It was all up there propped so pretty and then, I walked in and looked out and I nearly knocked over ever piece of furniture in the place to get out of there. Chad told the lady walking us around the place what happened and she was ready to cancel our appointment.

So, she took us to like thirty of the things until I saw one way up on the hill which had a foundation which looked like a bomb could go off under it and it'd still stand there. I said, "Whose house is that?"

"Oh, it's (a name of a popular singer), he hardly ever stays there but he won't sell for any amount of money."

Chad looked at me and I looked at him and said, "One moment"

Chad got on his cell phone and called RJ. RJ wasn't too keen on calling the guy up and harassing the guy about looking at his house much less offering him money for a house he didn't want to sell, but he did because we're mutual friends. What ended up happening was we went up there and under a stone in the front yard was a key. We entered and then punched in the code for the security system.

Now to say I felt like I was home was a whole new dimension for me. This house was straight out of Tuscany, it was so Mediterranean. We walked around the place and everywhere I looked out a window, I could look straight down and see a beautiful patio, which made me feel secure.

When we got down to the patio, I looked down and there was the swimming pool which really made me feel nice because I knew we could have company out here and it'd be wonderful. We went to the swimming pool and the railing around it was so thick and strongly made of ancient wrought iron, I just felt like the place was meant to be.

I turned to Chad and said, "This is it. Offer him twenty for it and if he doesn't take it, then we'll build our own just like it."

He looked at me and said, "Babe, RJ said he'd take eleven for it and that includes all the antiques."

He caught me I was running so fast to catch him to hug him.

That's when I found out we not only got the house but nearly the whole hilltop so privacy was ours. The other house up there was owned by a studio head who was so private RJ said we'd not even know if the guy was there, or not.

That's how Chad got me on the dotted line with him. The advantage of it was once Chad saw the difference in what made me feel secure and didn't in houses, he admitted he liked our house better. He said our house just felt warmer inside due to it's solid feel. Personally, I think it was the eighteen inch thick walls.

When we got back on tour, things were really cooking. We didn't let up for the next six weeks and then, Chad said, "Babe, tomorrow, if you don't mind, I'm going to take the Cardinal west."

"Do you mind if I go?"

"No, I was hoping you'd get the hint, but the grind's starting to get to me and I'm really about to pop."

I nodded because I really felt it myself. The guys, I don't know what they used to relieve themselves of pressure, but for us, it was a chance to get away that kept us sane.

What's interesting was although we got away for two days, we packed enough into it we really felt like we got a huge vacation. Another interesting thing was when we were out walking one day hand in hand, we inadvertently strayed onto the neighbor's property and low and behold, met the man who didn't want to know anyone.

At first, he was really gruff with us and we explained calmly we owned the house next door. He called us liars as he knew for a fact someone else owned the property. We told him who we'd bought it from and he said, "How much did you give for the place?"

"Eleven million"

"You know how much he bought it for?"

"No, don't rightly care. It was worth it to us."

"He paid three. You know who sold it to him?"

"No, don't rightly care. It was worth it to us."

"I sold it to him and I paid thirty thousand for it back in the sixties."

"Lucky you. Why'd you sell it if you owned the whole top of the hill?"

"He was family, so I sold it to him."

"The guy we bought it from is Latin and you're white." Chad said. "How are you related?"

"You don't get it son, he's family..."

I looked at Chad and said, "You're not getting it Chad, you're thinking in red and yellow, black and white, when you should be thinking in rainbows."

The man smiled and said, "At least one of you's smart."

"He's smart, he's just afraid to show it. He picked me."

"Well, I'll give him credit for one thing. What you boys do for a living you can pay so damned much money."

"We sing."

"I've never seen you. What do you sing."

"Pop, what station you work for, I'm sure we've been on it."

"I own a studio."

"Lucky you. Which one."

He told us and I was impressed.

"We've worked there a lot."

"I've never seen you."

"Well, the next time we're in, we'll drop by and say hi."

"O.k., do that, now if you don't mind, the gate's over there. You guys are welcome on the property, just keep the damned gate shut and if you see anyone in here, you shoot first and ask questions later because only us three are welcome here."

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it. You're family."

"Thanks, and glad to be a part of someone's family that's so reasonable."

"You wouldn't think so if you did business with me."

"Well, maybe some day we can invest in something together, like a t.v, show."

"IF you have an idea, bring it to me directly. I'll get it on for you."

"O.k., we've got one, but we don't have time to even think about it." said Chad.

"Oh! What would that be?"

"Chad ran the concept down of a show like our concert tour and said, "Each week, we'd perform and have on someone famous like some of our friends."

He looked at us and said, "You don't have enough friends to keep it going. Pretty soon, you'd be scraping the bottom of the bucket and you'd piss off your audience."

"Well, maybe, but we'd have a helluva run until those ran out."

"You don't get it son. You're in a career now and the people you're in it with are all flash in the pan, by the time you've got a chance to do a show like that, you'll be history and the world will be onto someone else. The key to it would be you'd have to do interviews and hear people's agendas. They'd always be trying to sell something or you'd never make it. The shows you go on now. The only reason you go there is because you're doing the same thing. The day that stops, you're going to wish you had enough money to keep that house over there."

Chad laughed and said, "Dude, you really have no clue as to who the hell we are, do you?"

"No, and don't rightly care who you are."

"Well, do us a favor and Google us just like we'll Google you and then you'll see we can afford to keep that house and a hundred like them at least."

The guy took a look at us and said, "Who's your manager?"

"Which one, Jill or RJ?"

"RJ Shaw is your manager?"

"Yeah, one of them."

"He's doing real good with a boy band. Say's they're the next Beatles. Is that you?"

"Well, we've made probably more money than them, but we don't feel like we're that famous."

"Well, you're doing ok. I talked to RJ the other day and he says he's a billionaire because of you guys. He says you're going to be one's yourself before the end of the year."

I looked at Chad and he looked at me and we hugged.

The guy smiled and said, "It doesn't feel any different, does it?"

"No, but just hearing it makes me feel weak in the knees."

"It does that. Pretty soon, you get used to it and you try to stay away from people because they'll throw themself in front of your car just to get some of it."

"Is that why you're single?"

"A huge part of it. I never could find someone that would put up with me that long."

"Well, we'll work on that for you. You just make yourself presentable when we call you to tell you we got you a date."

The guy looked at us with squinted eyes and said, "You guys are sincere, aren't you?"

"Yeah, what's not to be sincere about. We don't know you and you don't know us."

He looked at us and said, "Guys, I'll tell you something. For too damned long, I've fought hard to find people who are sincere and I just gave up looking. In this town, everyone's got an agenda or they're doing something for you just to stab someone else in the back. None of those snakes down the hill are your friends. They're all snakes. Don't trust 'em further than you can shoot them with buckshot. You'll get along better out here."

Chad looked at him and said, "Well, what we do is we go out and perform and we only come out here to get away from the grind. The day we can leave the grind, we'll be out here for good. It's my hope I can go down there and act, but if not, then I'd like to do soundtracks for movies. That's my agenda. To be honest, I don't need to do those things, I want to do those things. The money's already made. All I want to do is showcase what I can do."

The guy smiled and said, "You've got freedom and it feels good. Everyone down there don't know that freedom. They're too busy scratching and clawing trying to be something to someone so they can be a little on the pecking order. I learned a long time ago, it's not about peckers, it's about fucking them before they can fuck you.."

I chuckled and the guy cracked a smile. Chad just looked at us and just said, "Well, that would make you a top." and then really busted out laughing.

The guy said, "Guys, you're what? Twenty years old and you're already billionaires? I'll tell you now, that one was the toughest. The next ones roll in like waves. My advice is to not go out seeking to do something from someone and just go out and buy yourself a studio and then tell them you're going to do soundtracks. They'll be sure to let you do it. Then, you can pursue whatever you're heart desires."

Chad looked at him and said, "Is that what you did?"

"No. Not no, but hell no. I did it for the wrong reasons. I did it because I wanted to invest my money in something and to try to change the world. I'll tell you now, people won't change simply because you want them to change, they do it because they want to do it."

"Well, then why are you still in it then? I mean if you're in it to do something you can't do then that's fucked up."

"Too God Damned old and too set in my ways."

Chad said, "Then sell us half and you do what you want and still try to change it."

He looked at us and said, "Seven hundred million and not a penny less."

Chad looked at us and said, "Hold on a second."

He took out his cell phone and called RJ. He got through and said, "RJ, how much am I worth? And, Jordy's worth that much too? O.k., so we're standing here with ....................... and he says I can buy half his studio for seven hundred and not a penny less. O.k., then get on it and I'll tell him it's a deal."

Chad got off the phone and looked at me and he said "Babe, if I go broke on this deal, will you support me?"

"How much are we worth Chad?"

"RJ says we're each worth about eight hundred and fifty million"

"So together, we're like real billionaires already."

"Yeah, if you're putting your money with mine."

"Are we a couple, or not?"

"If you say we are, then we are, but I don't know how to answer that because you confuse the hell out of me with that blond headed logic."

"Well, we're partners until the end, so if you want it, buy it. If not, then stop wasting this man's time."

Chad looked up the hill and said, "Deal."

The man smiled and said, "Son, you know how much I bought this thing for?"

"No, and don't rightly care. It's worth it to me. Now, we're friends, right?"

"You could have been a friend for a helluva lot less."

"Well, that's your call, but RJ says it's worth it and I trust him."

"RJ knows what it's worth and he'll give you advice to really make money. What I'll do is sell you eighty percent for seven hundred and keep twenty for myself so I can sleep at night. I paid twenty million for that motherfucker."

"Lucky you, I won't sell it."

In those words, Chad and I began a whole knew dimension of the business. In doing the purchase of the studio, we inadvertently bought our own record company that we worked for. What was interesting was we later found out RJ had been trying to get the guy to sell to him, but whenever he'd try to pin the guy down, the guy would talk to him about business and get RJ sidetracked.. RJ felt the guy was a racist, but when he sold out to Chad, he couldn't say the guy was racist any longer.

Me, I didn't mind owning a studio because I didn't care if television got made or if it didn't. I didn't watch it and didn't care for it. To me, it was a waste of time. I'd let Chad do what he wanted with it, but just having Chad happy was what mattered to me.

When we got back to the tour, We found ourselves in New York City. Now, the city is beautiful and the city is loud and I like it, but to me, our house was better and the solitude and beauty was what mattered. On the way to the tour, I called my parents and told them what we'd done. They were congratulatory, and wished us well. Mom said, "Well, I'm guessing we're not going to see you guys much in Florida anymore."

"You'll see us when we're there, but the house in the hills is where I belong mom. To me, when I'm there, I'm home. It's with him and I'm satisfied."

"You're in love and I'm so happy for you. Sometime, you'll have to take us out there."

"You can visit, but you can't change a thing."

"I wouldn't think of it dear."

"Mom, I mean it. You're a guest and we're not in the mood for any redecorating. It's beautiful as it is."

"I'm sure it is hon."

Well, I'll get off here now. We're about to land and we're performing these shows at Carnegie hall. You all want to come up and see us?"

"Is the show any different from all the other times hon?"

"No, not really."

"No, but have fun."

"O.k., Love you mom."

When I hung up, I had no idea that would be the last conversation I'd ever have with my mom. I didn't even ask to speak to dad and if I'd known I'd never spoken to him again, I'd asked to speak to him. Little do we know what a year will bring and little do we know how long we'll have someone in this life."

We landed and the limo took us to the Carlisle. Every time we went to New York, RJ insisted we stay there. I didn't ask why, all I knew was it was nice and the treatment we received there was world class.

Today, when we got there, RJ met us and gave us hugs. He said, "I don't know whether to call you bosses, or just to treat you like normal."

"Treat me normal and treat him like he just blew a bunch of money"

RJ laughed and said, "You guys just don't know what you bought, do you?"

"No, why?"

"Well, for one, you're now my boss. For two, you now own a bunch of radio stations, television stations, property and shares in just about everything imaginable. That old guy really thinks he gave you a royal fucking, but he just made you guys multi billionaires."

Chad stood there and said, "RJ, we need to talk because when I was on the phone with you, it was fifty percent for that much, but he then gave us eighty percent."

"Oh my God! The man has no clue what the hell he has!"

"Well, tell me what I bought, o.k.?"

"RJ said, "Chad, Jordy, here's what you got."

He sat down and said, "The Flagship is really a bunch of corporations. They all report a profit or a loss. The man bought the company because he wanted the studio out there. Everything else, he runs by having people report to him. He really doesn't care if a company breaks even, or loses money just as long as the end result is he has his original investment which he knows what the studio is worth out there. So, you bought a company thinking you were getting a studio which you did. But, you also bought a privately held corporation which also owns lots of other companies."

"Yeah, so I bought this company and I bought television stations and radio stations."

"Yeah, but the reason you can is because you bought the company. You bought grandpa which means they're all grandfathered in. If you attempted to buy one of the children, and he broke it up, then the government would come in and make you sell all the other kids. So, that's what you can't do. What you can do is run the kids like they're supposed to be ran instead of just ignoring them"

"Didn't he do that?"

"Oh hell no. He never put a dime into them and he never pulled a dime out. They rolled over and some of them are so bloated, they are drunk for over expenditures."

"What do you mean?"

"Here's what I mean. Since the nineteen sixties, television was ran one way. Huge stations full of a lot of energy inefficient machinery. Nowadays, everything is digital and a whole television studio can be ran out of the back of a van. He doesn't know that nor does he care. He's not put any money into it because the people running it haven't dared go to him to get any money."

"So, how am I going to make money if I have to invest money into it?"

"That's the brilliant part of it."

"What the hell do you mean?"

"The stations are huge wastes of spaces. They're prime real estate and they're just sitting there sucking power. Put in new shit and pull all the old out and then lease the space that's being wasted. Then, you've got tenants that will pay through the ass for the locations."

"How many are like this RJ?"

"All of them! He's not done a thing. Go to a company meeting and you'll hear people talking about going to station sales where other people are doing the modernization and they're going there to get parts for the antique stuff they're running. One of these days, the guy will have to pay attention because his shit's the oldest out there. But, he just sold it all to you."

"So, I go in and modernize and he claims twenty percent of the profit I paid for."

"Yeah, well, you're going to have to give it back to him, but he doesn't know what he's got, so he sells it to you for seven hundred million and you're sitting on real estate that's worth probably between ten and twenty billion dollars."

"O.k., those are television stations, and I'm hearing he's probably done the same to the radio stations. Is it legal for us to own those?"

"Yeah, because they're separate and owned by the parent corporation. Now if the old dude sells grandpa, he's screwed himself if he thinks he can hold onto the babies. SO, I imagine he's sold you the whole shooting match for the deal of keeping part of that studio out there."

"What did he buy the studio to do? Because he said he bought it to change the world and couldn't."

"He bought it to make gay movies."

"Porn?"

"No, Gay movies that were general main stream movies."

"Oh, like BrokeBack and La Cage and so on?"

"Yeah, but he tried one and it never went over. So, he basicly lets the company run itself and goes in and pays actors to do the acting for him so he can act like he's a director."

"Oh, So, as long as he can still do that, he'll let me have the rest."

"Well, you'll pay him twenty percent of the profit, but the old dude is going to think you're Einstein with the way he's suddenly making money."

"Well, as long as we're making money, that's cool."

Chad said, "Well, what about the radio stations?"

"They're the same way, but they're not sitting on prime real estate I don't think. But, what you'll save on electric bills will save what you've invested."

"Ok, so you said there's other real estate. Where are they?"

"Well, there's this hotel for one. It's beautiful and it's staying afloat, so I'd say they're doing a good business. I'm not sure what all else is in that portfolio and you'll have to see. But Chad, what you need to do is take a look at that studio and be careful of what contracts are out there. The same with any contracts of anyone newly hired in the television and radio stations. What I'd do is have a lawyer go in and take a look at all the contracts and get them redone. You're probably giving away rights and roylaties you didn't have to give away. Every day you do that, you're losing money, so I'd get someone on that."

Chad said, "Jord, why don't you do all that. All I wanted was a studio so I could act and so I could do sound tracks. Now, I find out we're into all this and it's just overwhelming me."

"O.k., when we get the papers all signed I'll send people out, but Chad, we're going to have to do this run here before it's all over for me and I can step in to do all that. All we can do is have a meeting with the heads of those companies and see what they'll need to update everything."

RJ looked at us and said, "I'll tell you right now our company's made money. This group has kept us in the black for years to come. Now if you want to pull money out of it, then you can, but it will put us on rocky ground."

"No, we'll do that if we don't have any other options. What I suggest is if it's not broke then don't fix it, but are any of the things that out of date?"

"No, when I took over, we'd had several real good years and the person ahead of me really just coasted through his run. He only wanted to better himself so he'd make a better retirement. So, when I took over, I used the money to update the equipment and make sure the facilities were good. What I do suggest is you put a branch office over there in Russia and get not only a foot in the door, but yourself through there too. I could go over and do it, or I'd suggest either Jill or a few of the other managers."

"What about Radio or Television over there?"

"You're friends with Putin, ask him."

Chad looked at me and said, "Don't look at me, you're the one he's hot for."

"No, he's straight. It's just because I love the country."

"Yeah, tell yourself that, you didn't see the man's wood when he got up off the floor with you in that apartment."

"Nah, he's an old dude."

"Jordy, face it, you're cute and he'd like to bone you."

"Chad, stop it. That's not even appealing to me."

"O.k., not maybe to you, but I bet the guy whacked one over you."

"Quit it, I'll have nightmares."

He laughed and said, "Jord, I'm not saying to take the guy to bed, but you know as well as I do he'd give you what you wanted."

"Chad, I don't want anything. Now, if I could get some radio or tv stations, that'd be cool."

RJ said, "Or, some recording studios or movie studios or some cell phone towers or some internet towers...should I go on?"

"You think he'd let us?"

RJ said, "Jordy, they're doing what they can to get companies to come in to invest in their infrastructure. They just gave away huge sections of Siberia in order to get people to come up there and mine it or pump out crude oil. I bet if you played your cards right, he'd let you have some of that."

"Well, their internet did suck over there, and the television only had eight channels even in Moscow. So, I'd say in the outlying parts, they'd need better facilities because the best they have in their biggest city isn't that good."

"You've given me a lot to think about. So, switching subjects, what is on the itinerary for today. What promo we doing first?"

"Well, there are several. But, let's not end this discussion just yet. I've got one more thing to say."

"O.k., but let's make if fast."

"If the guy doesn't want to do a press release, then don't. I'll be willing to bet he'll be content with just signing papers over to you and that will be cool. If he insists, then do it, but I'd go with less fanfare and not be putting anyone on alert. In fact, you could go to a lot of these stations and take a look at their equipment and see how they're run before they even know you're their boss. That'd be my advice."

"That's cool. Anything else?"

"Yeah, learn all you can about television and radio transmitters and see what's the future. You're going to have to take the stations into HDTV rather soon anyways, so I'd start there, but if you can transmit internet too in the updates, I'd do it."

"O.k., Do you know how much that stuff costs?"

"No, not my field of interest, but a casual question to a station manager would tell you what he'd be wanting if it were his station and if you get enough of them saying the same thing, then that's be what I went with. An investment in equipment would be rather cheap. Plus, here's another thing to throw at you."

"What's that."

"You're in the industry and have quite a few friends. When they're looking at having a huge concert, ask to have television rights. They'll probably let you and when this group goes to do concerts, you could do pay per views in that local area and do so nicely with the shut in crowd or the crowd that couldn't attend the concert because they had to work. Think of those things and the handicapped."

The first thing I thought of was Dolly and whether she would let us do live broadcasts from Dollywood. I thought to call her and said, "Would you ask Jill to call Dolly and see if she's allow us to do live broadcasts from Dollywood. That would help her tourism and would help us. We could feed into Russia and it'd help her record career and help her get out the message that the US has more than Disney over here."

"You're catching on. You might talk to Elton too. Or, some of the others you performed with. You're in good with Harry and I think you could get stations into England too."

"Wow, this is going to be awesome."

"Well Jordy, you guys got it, so I'd run it for everything I could."

I looked at him and then looked at Chad and said, "Chad, let's go so we can talk. RJ, I'd like to talk with you more, but my head's too full right now."

"I understand, I've had a lot of time to think about this, but you've only had a short time. I'm sorry I'm overwhelming you."

"No, you've got a lot of good ideas."

Chad and I went to our suite and when we got inside he gave me a huge hug and kiss. So, Mr. Johns, how does it feel to be a benny hillionaire?"

"Overwhelming."

"Well, we're here and we got lucky a lot of times. Some thing's on your mind, what is it?"

"Well, several things and I want to run them by you."

"I knew that when I saw the look in your eyes."

"Let's go to the bedroom and lay down so I can look at you and touch you while I talk."

"Ooh, this is getting better. I can see this is going to be a hard conversation to have."

We went into the bedroom and lay on the made up bed.

"Chad, RJ knows his stuff about this company. He really wanted this company and I feel bad."

"Honey, we stumbled into a good thing and he was trying for a long time to get it. I wonder why the old guy never sold to him?"

"I think it's one thing you never thought of."

"What's that?"

"Well, if I constantly told you something you had was worthless and I could run it better than you, would you appreciate me or think of me as being a smart ass?"

"You think that's what that was about?"

"Yeah, and now, the old dude is seeing he's going to have to put out money on HDTV whether he likes to think about it, or not. He's worried about the cost and rather than putting all that money out, he'd rather sell it to us and have the cash infusion to do what he thinks is his return on his investment."

"So, he's made that back. What I'd do when we sign the papers is put in a clause that says if and when the old man sells it comes to us for a set price...say two hundred million. I'd definitely have a set figure in the paperwork so if he passes away, his estate won't be able to decide they really want to get the real value of the company. Or, you could also put in a clause that states there's a mandatory buy out if he dies, so only his successors get cash in that amount and nothing more. That'd be the smart thing to do."

"Why do you think he held onto the twenty percent?"

"I'll tell you, but you'll have a big one when I tell you."

"What's that?"

"I bet his house and our house is in the property of the parent corporation."

"So, he wouldn't sell out because he thinks we'd make him move out."

"Yeah and he thinks we'd make him stop making those movies. Hell, the way I have it figured, we'll start releasing those movies on DVD and start pulling in some money. There's no sense in sitting on what the film vault of the studio has."

"Ooh, you're smart. We'd go for worldwide rights of those and sell them on DVD and be able to update everything."

"Yeah, I wonder what they contain?"

"Don't know, we didn't ask."

"Well, what I'd like to ask you is if you would consider letting RJ be President of the company and run it for us. He's thinking about having him or Jill go to Russia and I'm thinking putting Jill into head of the music division and puttin RJ into head of everything. He'd make us money and he'd be doing what he really wanted to do in the first place. Then, as a gift of achieving certain goals, we'd hand RJ a percentage of the whole company, say five percent or ten."

"You're brilliant. Do you think he'd do it?"

"In a heartbeat. It definitely must've broke his heart when he found out we got it and he didn't."

"No, RJ's stronger than that."

"Chad, he's still human."

"True, let's ask to take him and Roger to dinner and throw all this out to him."

"No, let's take them to dinner and wait until our name's are on the dotted line."

"Babe, you're not getting it. Our name's on the line anyway. RJ sent the money from our accounts as soon as we told him. He said he was going to do it before the old dude changed his mind."

"Wow, so let's break the news to him."

"O.k., now here's the other news. We now own the music vaults of this company. You and I know what the contracts say and they don't have any digital or any of those clauses in them. If we re release them in digital media, we can release them and that money is ours."

"Well, we'll have to pay the artists still, but I think legally there's not a thing they could do to stop us."

"Yeah and the old concert footage or video footage of the performances is another thing we could sell as DVDs. My suggestion is to see who is the company that prints the dvds and cds and get one of those ourselves. It'd be cheaper to keep all that production in house rather than paying someone outside to do it."

"You're getting smart about this."

"Yeah, and think about this. The music vaults and the video vaults are worth looking at for possible internet broadcasts and phonecasts."

"Wow, this is getting good Jordy. There are so many possibilities"

"Yeah and we're now looking at so much more than what we did before."

"Well, let's concentrate on this afternoon before we think about anything else. We still work for a living."

From My Keyboard To Your Heart,

Retta

RettaMichaels@Gmail.com

Copyright Notice - Copyright © December 2007 by RettaMichaels

The author, RettaMichaels copyrights this story and retain all rights. This work may not be changed or duplicated in any form, media, ( known or unknown) without the author's expressed permission. All applicable copyright laws apply.

Disclaimer: All individuals depicted are fictional, and any resemblance to real persons is purely coincidental

-- From My Keyboard To Your Heart Rhett

Here is a list of stories I've written and where to find them:

With Love - Nifty - Beginnings Section Rural Love - Author Heading - DeweyWriter.com Write Me A Love Story - Author Heading - DeweyWriter.com To Love Him - Author Heading - DeweyWriter.com Military Zone - Nifty - Military Section Evan - Nifty - Beginnings Section Jordan - DeweyWriter.com If I Could Give It All Back - DeweyWriter.com