Write Me a Love Story

Write Me A Love Story

By

Retta Michaels

Disclaimer:

If you are under the age of 18, or you are in a locale which it's illegal to read these sorts of stories, then please leave and come back when you can do so legally.

Brief Note From Retta:

This story is fiction. Nothing in it is true. How much more can I say than that. Yes, there's a Branson, Missouri, and I'm pretty sure there's even a business like this there. I've never been there, and the last time I was in Branson was when I was 16 years old. It's fiction!

Chapter 2

After doing the dishes, I went to get my jacket and told Gypsy we'd be back in a little while.

Stu said, "She really acts like she understands what you're saying to her!"

I said, "She's smart. The only people she doesn't like are mail men and that's because one stomped at her on my front porch. Since then, she's passive with anyone, but let a mail man come up the street in his uniform and she's definitely letting him know she's not letting him on her property. It's so bad, I've had to get a post office box because they refuse to deliver mail at my house!"

He laughed and said, "Gypsy, you guard the cabin and we'll be back before long and I promise to have you a treat when we get back."

Gyp gave him a look like, "Well, be gone then because I sure want to see you come back!"

He laughed and said, "She knows the word treat!"

I said, "Yeah, that's what I use to get her to learn her tricks. She knows over 40 of the one word commands."

He said, "Wow, you really must've taken the time to work with her."

I said, "Well, it's been a labor of love and she's been there for me through a lot."

We went out to the car and he said, "Could you stop by my cabin and I'll get my jacket. It's going to be a bit cool when we get back and I'd rather not catch a chill."

We pulled out of the driveway and I pulled up to his cabin. He said, "Just wait right here and I'll be back."

In no time at all, he was back and directing me to where his building was located. It took a few moments as we had to drive up the strip, but soon, I saw the marquee and pulled into the parking lot.

The strip looked deserted and said so. He nodded and said, "I keep a scooter handy as when it's in season, it serves me better. I park down the strip and then jot through traffic on it."

We went to the front door and he unlocked it. He said, "In just a moment I'm have the lights on which will allow you to see each better. It's going to be cold in there, but I keep the heat on in the panel room so it's always ready for me to work."

Soon, I heard him yell and say to come on in. I entered and saw the place was different than what I expected. Instead of seating like a concert hall, the seats were stackable chairs. He said, "It's not the same as the others because the humidity in here would cause the expensive seating to mildew."

I nodded and and he said, "There's 80,000 gallons of water up there under the stage. Come this way, and I'll take you to the control room."

We climbed to the control room and when we got up there, I could see he could see easily over the heads of everyone in the crowd. He turned on a few switches and said, "Let the pumps get up to speed and they'll be ready. I'll have the house speakers off for this and we'll have the ones up here on. That way, no one will hear the bass and be drawn in the front door. Due to my personal policy of never locking a door when I'm in a building, the front doors are left unlocked in case of emergency."

He turned to me and smiled and said, "Are you ready?"

I said, "Yeah, what will I be looking for?"

He laughed and said, "Just watch!"

He flipped a switch and suddenly classical music began to play. His voice came over the music welcoming everyone to the show and explaining the production. The music faded and the lights went down and suddenly, a soft chorus sounded throughout the building. The lights exploded to full bright and fountains began to burp water in all directions. The sight was beautiful."

He said, "What do you think?"

I said, "Oh man, this is nice."

The show continued and suddenly, I saw a man up near the stage. Chills went down my spine and I said, "Stu, there's a man down by the stage."

He looked and said, "You're probably seeing the resident ghost. A few people each year see him and most of us can't see him. I've never seen him, so what does he look like."

I said, "He's watching the fountains, so all I can see is from the back, but he's got on a plaid jacket...brown, and he's got on blue jeans... and it looks like he's got dark hair...either brown or black."

The guy walked towards the right and about ¾ of the way across, he just faded.

I said, "Stu, he got about ¾ of the way over to the right of the stage and just disappeared."

Stu said, "Jeremy, don't be alarmed, but he's been seen lots of times. I have no clue who he is, but he always shows himself to some and yet, others never see him. What's uncanny, is he always wheres the same thing, but he doesn't always appear and it doesn't matter what song plays it's not like he's got a favorite piece of music."

Stu came over and stood behind me and put his hands upon my shoulders. He said, "Jeremy, that didn't alarm you too much, did it?"

I said, "No, it didn't. It was just that I didn't expect it as I've never seen a ghost before."

Stu said, "You might never see one again, so I'm sorry."

I said, "Stu, you didn't do anything, so don't apologize."

He said, "Jeremy, it's not that. What I'm worried about is someone seeing him one day and being so alarmed they have a heart attack. How am I going to explain that to my insurance agent?"

I said, "Well, as long as he's not doing anyone any harm, don't worry about it. Maybe if it's a woman, he'll be so entranced with her he'll go home with her!"

Stu laughed and said, "That'd be giving them more than they paid for, that's for sure!"

I laughed and said, "Well, I got the show for free and so did he, so we're both lucky!"

Stu said, "You got a few minutes? I'd like to show you something I've got going on in my mind that is a partial show I'm working on."

I said, "Sure."

He said, "Watch this."

He went over to the computer bank and punched in something and suddenly the music was playing again and it was church music. The fountains began spraying and behind the fountains a cross appeared and the fountains looked like they were bowing to the cross.

He said, "Jeremy, every year we get a crowd in for Easter which find the strip mostly abandoned. Shows. I'd like to take advantage of that by filling this place during those days."

I said, "How much more do you have left for this show?"

He said, "Well, I need to re-tape the beginning and then choreograph a couple more shows. I like to give the crowd about 45 minutes per show."

I watched and the show was really well done. I kept looking for the man and didn't see him. It got to be comical because I'd look to where the water was spouting and then would catch myself looking to where I saw him first and not see him.

Stu said, "Jeremy, does your laptop have DVD?"

I said, "Yeah, why?"

He said, "Here, I'd like for you to have this DVD of the show and if you come up with any ideas, I'd like for you to give me some input on what affect would go good and if you have any music you'd like to incorporate into the show, then let me know and I'll get it in if it will hold water."

I laughed and said, "That's a good joke for this show!"

He smiled and said, "I wished I'd thought of it, but someone whom trained me told it to me many years ago."

I said, "Stu, could I ask you something?"

He said, "Sure, go ahead!"

I said, "Stu, presentation is key to getting the people in the door, why don't you have fountains outside?"

He said, "Jeremy, I'd love to have them, but in order to have the fountains ponds year around, the pools would have to have anti-freeze in them which would corrode the equipment. The way I'm working with the water in here is it's filtered and absolutely no chemicals get into the water which is why anyone who's allergic to anything can come in."

I said, "O.k., so why don't you pipe the water from the holding tanks out to the pool and drain it back in the off season."

He said, "Jeremy, I'd hate to say it, but that'd be an excellent idea, but the cost involved is prohibitive. When I started off in this, I started with a shoestring budget. Now, I could probably afford it, but now can't afford to have the parking lot ripped up and the piping laid.. Otherwise it'd be a great addition."

I said, "Stu, maybe I can help with that, in case you forgot, pools are what I did for a living. The biggest part of a pool is the labor. I know how to run a backhoe and I know how to run a trencher. With the flexible pipe they have now, I can get a pipe in the ground with about a 3 inch wide seem. That means we can go from your holding tank to the outside and then up next to the sidewalk and straight on out to the parking lot. Once we get there, I can trench out to the pools which would be out by your marquee sign."

Stu looked at me and said, "Jer, I really forgot about you being in the pool business. How much would the pools cost out front?"

I said, "Stu, that's the easy part. The piping is going to run you 30 cents a foot. There's about 300 foot to the pool and then a return line, so double that. Out at the pool, it'd be a double line which would be the length of whatever size you wanted. Now, the plus side of that is a trencher cost about $160 a day to rent. I could probably get the use of one a whole lot less by going to the rental place and using your business license as a professional courtesy....let's say, $50 a day. So, let's say you go expensive and put in a pool which has a hard plastic liner. The outside of it could be anything from concrete block to earth berm. You could landscape it with flowers, trees, or whatever. The cost of that would probably be high, let's say $1.50 a square foot. If you go with latex liner, it goes way down to about a dime a square foot wholesale."

Stu looked at me and said, "Jeremy, so what you're saying is how much?"

I said, "Well, for about $5000, I could have it looking real pretty out there and that's including plants and landscaping."

Stu smiled and said, "That's all wholesale and you've not included you any cost in it."

I said, "Stu, let's just say I've got a friend I'd do the favor for as a way of possibly drumming up business for myself in the future if I chose to go into that line of business."

Stu smiled and said, "I've got that much, do you think you could do it after Easter and before Memorial Day?"

I said, "Sure, it's only going to take about a week when I get to moving on it"

I paused and said, "Stu, can I say something which will probably have you thinking I'm using your pocketbook as a way of staying in your graces?"

Stu smiled and said, "Jeremy, I'm not broke, so please don't think I'd think that. You're coming up with some excellent ideas."

I said, "Stu, there's a way you can have nice seating in here without worrying about mildew."

He said, "Really?"

I said, "Yeah, you might not be interested, but an air curtain up in the ceiling could blow downward and put the moisture out of the air. You could even have carpeting up to the blow point and then just leave the first 20 feet without carpet."

Stu said, "I'm not following you."

I said, "O.k., imagine a 6 inch plastic p.v.c. pipe up across the building. In the pipe are drilled holes every inch or so. The air blowers could be back in the back behind the building and they'd blow air into the pipe from both ends. What you have is a lot of jets of air blowing out the holes. Now, the colder the air the better, as cold air falls and warm air is where you get mold and mildew. You'll also get mold from dark areas. You probably have mold spores here already but just don't know it. By using infrared lighting, you'd be able to clean the air in the building and have a return positive air vent for the negative which comes off the water. I imagine you've not realized it, but when those pumps are blowing the water around in here, the front doors are probably never able to open. It's called a venturi effect."

Stu looked at me and said, "You mean I could be endangering people's lives and not know it!"

I said, "Stu, not really, I'm sure if an emergency happened you'd have the fountains shut off and the vacuum would be be alleviated."

Stu looked pale and I said, "Stu, every time the fountains have been on, you've been up here, right?"

He nodded and I said, "Well, there's no way you could have known. Just figure it was a good theft deterrent system."

Stu smiled weakly and said, "So, you're telling me this and I've been ignorant all this time and now, you're telling me I've got an out and I'm going to ignore you. Not likely. I don't care how much it costs, get it in the building. I'm really surprised no one's thought of it before."

I said, "Stu, most buildings breath somewhat, it might be you've heard whistling of the building sucking in air someplace and not known it. I bet you never thought of it being the way things just naturally occur. Have you got a gas furnace?"

Stu said, "No, fortunately I get a real good deal on electricity here and knew that coming in."

I said, "Well, then you had no real clue. If you'd had a gas furnace, you'd probably gotten told by your furnace technician because your pilots would have repeatedly been sucked out."

Stu said, "Where can I get the pipe and how much are the blowers going to run."

I said, "Stu, the pipe is easy to get and the blowers only take about 24 hours to get delivered from a car wash supply company. You'll want the one's which are the largest for the blow dry feature of an automated car wash. I'll get you the number when I get to the cabin and get on the laptop."

Stu said, "Jeremy, I'm really glad I've met you as I had no clue."

I said, "Stu, you're panicking over something that probably would have never occurred."

Stu said, "Jeremy, I sure don't want to be the business down here that kills off a bunch of people and makes a national name for myself."

I smiled and said, "Stu, you wouldn't have."

He shut off the controls and I said, "Stu, keep the house lights up. I'd like to walk around down there and see what we'll need."

I left the control booth and went down to the main floor. The place was really huge without any seating in it. I walked forward until I thought I was 20 feet out and took a look up. Right up above me was a cross brace for the support of the building and I knew it could easily hold the weight of the pipe. I did a rough measurement to the front of the stage and then hopped up upon the stage and took a look at the pool. It was interesting what the designers could do with so little. I had no clue what they had charged him for this but I bet it was a pretty penny and probably could have been done for a whole lot less than he paid.

He was still in the booth and hit all the stage lights so I could see. I went behind the curtain and saw the holding tanks he was holding the water with was really the pool itself. What one saw in front of the curtain was really only about ¼ of what the pool size was consisted. There was a whole lot of wasted space and immediately, I had several ideas going on in my mind at one time.

I measured off the distance needed to the back wall and figured we'd need at least 250 feet of pipe. For that length of pipe, I decided to give him bad news and tell him I thought another two blowers were going to be needed. I'd rather do the system with overkill than to have him spend money and discover it wasn't as effective as it could be.

I was headed to the front again when I got to a spot which immediately made me really cold. About that time, I heard a voice which said, "You're good for him. He'll listen to you."

I said, "He doesn't deserve the amount of unhappiness I'd bring to him."

The voice said, "You're wrong. He needs you."

I said, "I'd love to believe you, but I can't."

I walked quickly away and told myself to not be back there alone in the future.

When I got to the front curtain behind which the fountains, I felt it and it was black polyethylene. The man was definitely afraid of mold. I bet he sprayed it down with bleach at least once a season.

I got up to the front of the stage and said, "I've got good news and I've got bad. Both are going to cost you some money."

He smiled and said, "Jeremy, a lawsuit for a lot of lives would cost me some money, so what's on your mind?"

I said, "Could you come back here?"

He came back and I said, "Stu, whomever designed this had good thoughts, but they're only letting you utilize about ¼ of the pool. You could use an automatic roller on that curtain and give off different scenes by putting the fountains on a roller conveyor which would allow you to move them backwards or forwards. Or, you could install more fountains and not have to do the conveyor which could break down."

Stu looked at me and said, "Jeremy, that's not possible. That system there cost me over a half a million dollars."

I said, "Stu, you got raped."

Stu looked at me like I'd grown two heads and said, "It's state of the art!"

I said, "Stu, I'm going to ask you how much replacement parts are for certain parts of the fountain and then I'll build you a fountain all the way back to the back of the building which will cost you about a third of what you spent up there."

Stu laughed and said, "You mean it's not as good as I thought?"

I said, "Stu, here's the deal. You paid a half a mil for a fountain you thought you needed and I'm sure it's brought in a lot of money, If you'd paid more, it would have still brought in the same amount of money. So, the only thing is that you could have spent less and you would have made more profit. I know piping and I know pumps. I know the capabilities of each. There are some effects I've found by accident which you'd probably never thought. It's not that I'm gloating, it's just you never had a clue because no one's showed you. You're basically the machine operator and they're the maker of the machine. I'm the maintain ace man and I'm the one who installs them, so I can speak freely. I'm not trying to make a penny off you."

Stu said, "Is that the bad news or the good news?"

I said, 'That's the good news. The bad news is I think you're going to need two more blowers,.and a couple of Y connectors."

Stu smiled and said, "Jeremy, let's get out of here and I'm going to treat you to dinner tomorrow night."

I said, "Stu, stop a second."

Stu looked at me and I said, "Right here, I heard a voice."

Stu said, "What'd it say?"

I said, "Stu, if I tell you, then you'll really think I'm crazy."

Stu said, "No, because everything you've told me so far has made sense."

I said, "Stu, it told me I was good for you and you needed me."

Stu said, "I do."

I said, "No, Stu, it said you'd listen to me and I was good for you. I'm not any good for anybody."

Stu said, "Jeremy, you're wrong."

I said, "Stu, it told me I was too."

Stu laughed and said, "Jeremy, then don't fight it, because it's obviously agreeing with me!"

I laughed and said, "Well, you and your ghost are both ganging up on me."

He laughed and said, "Jeremy, let's get out of here."

We left the building and when we were locking the front door, Stu turned to me and said, "Jeremy, let's walk out to the street."

I walked with him and he said, "I'm allowed everything on this side of the sidewalk. I imagine if I really pushed it, I could get permission to put in shot tubes and have water bouncing from tube to tube on both sides of the side walk. From here to about there, No one can park. It's basically a no parking zone. The city has it that way for right of way. As you can see, up and down the strip, other businesses have done different things in the right of way. We all understand if we build something here, if the city needs the land, we will have to remove whatever is built there before the city does construction. So, that's the amount of space I have available to use for fountains"

I said, "Stu, come over here for a second."

He went over and I pointed him towards the front of the building. I said, "Stu, I'm not trying to hurt your feelings, but here's what I see. The building itself isn't anything to brag about. It's real generic. So, what I think is this. The production is up here."

I paused and really hoped I wasn't hurting his feelings. I began again and said, "Stu, Imagine if you will, a mound of earth up about the height of your sign there. On the front of it, in huge letters across it in underlit blue lit letters VIENNESE WATERS. Under the letters is a rushing waterfall. The water catches on the letters and it foams. It's looking like a mountain stream rushing and bouncing off pebbles, Up front here, we have the fountains that sway back and forth just about 4 feet high. It doesn't take much to make an impression, and basically what I just told you isn't going to cost a whole lot. Up the price of it to about $15000 and consider the pipework in the building to bring it to another $10,000. So, $25,000 altogether."

Stu said, "No, because the cost of the seatting inside is going to be another $500 a seat and the carpeting is going to be $30,000. The sound system being re-vamped because of that much material soaking up the sound is going to be another $50,000, so we're looking at a $200,000 remodel."

I said, "Stu, if you're going to do that, then I'd add on another $30,000 and re-skin the building with the metal which makes it look like brick."

Stu said, "Jeremy, here' s the deal. I'll spend the money if you'll do the work. If you do the work, I'll do press releases which state your construction company is doing it. I'll run full page ads in the paper weekly showing the proposed look of the building and the actual view of the completed work. At the end of the construction, I can guarantee you'll be set for a long time down here with business. We're like a family down here and I already know a lot of people want to remodel but they don't trust construction people. They've been screwed too many times before. Even you, yourself told me I got raped. So, I'm not a part of them. I trust you and what I'm willing to do it give you a firm boost down here by promoting you to everyone else."

I said, "Stu, let's go back to the cabin and I really have to think on it."

Stu walked with me over to the car and got in. He said, "Jeremy, what's not to like about the deal?"

I said, "Stu, you're not getting a few things.

First of all, I have a house up home which is home to me. The cabin down here is my parents. I can't possibly think they'd allow me to have personal use of it for that long.

Second of all, I have no business license which to operate that sort of company. Me going into construction and working for someone else, I could do, but there are sides of the business I don't even know, nor do I even pretend to know."

Stu said, "Jeremy, you're not dumb. You've already explained a few things to me that make sense...lots of sense. So much in fact that I'm wholeheartedly jumping on the bandwagon and supporting you on it because I believe you."

I said, "Stu, let me think on it."

Stu said, "If your parents complain about cabin, then move over with me. I've got plenty of space."

I said, "Stu, that's not possible. If I did that, it'd ruin a perfect friendship."

He looked at me shocked and said, "Why? Are you straight!"

I said, "Stu, no, I'm not straight! I'm queer as a bell, but consider the belle in this situation to be a hells's bell and you definitely don't need to involve yourself with anyone like me."

Stu looked at me and said, "Jeremy, Jeremy, Jeremy, them motherfuckers did a number on you I can't believe."

I looked at him shocked and said, "See, look at that! You've not cussed one time today in my precense and look what I've gone and done!"

Stu said, "Jeremy, let me be the judge of you and I'll promise you one thing. I bet by the time we're done, you'll really see yourself for the person you're meant to be and not what everyone else thinks you to be."

I looked at him and said, "Stu, I'd love to believe you but here's what I'm afraid of. I'm afraid if I were around you too long, I'd fall head over heels for you and I'd end up fucking up your life. You don't need me and you sure don't need someone to do that to you."

Stu said, "Jeremy, pull over here at Dairy Queen."

I pulled in and he said, "Come on, I'm going to show you something."

We went in and he stood at the counter and began to order a banana split. He turned to me and said, "Get yourself something as we need to talk."

I looked at the menu and ordered a peanut buster parfait. I got out my billfold and Stu said, "No, this is my lesson."

I said, "It's not a lesson. It's ice cream."

Stu smiled and said, "No, class hasn't started, so wait patiently."

The girl behind the counter got our order completed and Stu said, "Come on, let's go sit down."

We sat and he said, "O.k., class is started. Take the first bite."

I did and looked at him. He said, "The ice cream you just ate at one time was grass in a field probably in the middle of Wisconsin. Now please take another bite."

I did and he said, "The cow didn't think it fucked up the grass by eating it. Take another bite."

I did and he said, "The farmer milked the cow and didn't think it fucked up the cow by milking it. Please take another bite."

I did and he said, "The dairy company bought the milk from the farmer and although the farmer probably could have made more, neither thought they got fucked in the deal. Take another bite and then we'll wait a second because I'm getting brain freeze here."

I smiled.

He said, "The Dairy Queen corporation bought the mix from the dairy which had the milk. They sure didn't think they fucked that company.. You doing o.k.? Because I sure wouldn't want you to get brain freeze and have you thinking hell froze over."

I chuckled and he said, "The independent owner of this Dairy Queen bought the mix from Dairy Queen corporation and he sure didn't' think he got fucked in the deal."

Now, that leads me to us buying the ice cream from me who owns this Dairy Queen. Did I just fuck myself in the deal? Oh hell no. I just got myself a cheap date and no one got fucked in the deal!"

He smiled and I laughed. He said, "Jeremy, you are a good kid. For you to think I'm going to get fucked in the deal if I fell in love with you is pure bullshit which fertilized that grass. So, enjoy your ice cream and let me worry about me, o.k.? Besides I think you're damned good looking and if I offered to share my cabin with you, believe me, I've done a lot of soul searching and think you're pretty special. You know why?"

I said, "Why?"

He paused and said, "Because I think the guy who is the ghost you saw tonight is my lover. He died while we were building the fountains."

I stopped eating and said, "Oh, I'm so sorry."

He had tears in his eyes and said, "Jeremy, you didn't know. He doesn't show himself to me, but what you said tonight that he told you spoke a lot to me. Yes, I need you. Yes, I listen to you. And, Yes, you are just like him. You calm me and make me feel comfortable around you. You know why?"

I said, "Why?"

He said, "Because I can be myself around you and rather than you having a really bloated ego about yourself, you think you're not good enough for me. Most of the gays down here are from the artsy community which seem to have their noses up to here and then talk over my head all the time. Who the hell can imagine making love to someone who would have their heads in the clouds like them. Poppers wouldn't even get me high enough to be up where they are."

I chuckled and he said, "Jeremy, Dave is a dumb ass. He took someone who obviously knew how to have a relationship and he kept poking and poking and poking until finally in the corner, you bit back. Then, he went to the one source of joy you have in this life...your mom... and he flew a propaganda flag to beat hell because he could. He knew your mom would obviously fall for him because she thought he was good looking. Unfortunately, I don't think he would stand a chance up against someone who really thought good of themselves because they'd turn and tell him to shove himself up his ass."

Now, why haven't I cussed in front of you tonight? I'll tell you. It's because when I'm with someone I feel comfortable around enough to be myself, I don't have to. There's no insecurity there and it's not something I find natural. BUT, believe me, when someone is so obviously brainwashed with bad shit, I'll step in and say, Hey, you're brainwashed with bad shit...believe that."

I smiled and he said, "Jeremy, how old are you?"

I said, "I'm 28."

He said, "Jeremy, I'm 41. For you to think I'm good enough to be a potential lover is a real compliment. It means a lot to me."

I said, "Dave was 54."

Stu said, "Damned near double your age and acting like a complete ass. What a dil-rod!"

I started laughing and Stu said, "I haven't thought of that word in years, but it obviously applies. Do me a favor o.k.?"

I said, "What?"

He said, "Any time you catch yourself thinking about what Dave taught you about yourself, would you take the time to think about what I think of you?"

I smiled and said, "Stu, yeah, I'll try."

Stu said, "Jeremy, do more than try. Have faith in yourself like I do. O.k.?"

I said, "Stu, if I do, I probably won't have to be living in that cabin of yours to fall in love with you."

He smiled and said, "Jeremy, let's give each other some space and just grow to know each other. If at the end of the Summer, you and I feel like we can't live without the other, then let's do it and make a go of it, o.k.? I'd like for us to be absolutely sure it's not a mistake. I don't think it'd be a mistake to be with you now, but I want you to be absolutely sure about me."

I said, "Stu, what are you doing tomorrow?"

He said, "Nothing much, why?"

I said, "I'd like for you to come up to my house so I can do what I need to get it shut up for a while."

Note From Retta:

This story is going to run for more chapters. I'm not sure how long it will run at this point, because I definitely have a lot I want to happen. I'd like to get input on what you, the viewer think and then give me feedback.

Please email me and let me know your thoughts.

From My Keyboard To Your Heart,

RettaRettaMichaels@Gmail.com

Copyright Notice - Copyright © October 2007 by RettaMichaels

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

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