The Rock
25 Producer
I CAME HOME from class Friday afternoon with Rose. Senior exams were finished. The rest of the casa planned to join us by the end of the evening. We had ‘senior week’ ahead of us. Oh, there were things we had to attend, like picking up our gowns, commencement rehearsal, and the awards rally but everything else was done. As Mr. Darnell told us in our class meeting Friday morning, our job now was just to stay alive until commencement. Please. And not to go out and screw up our scholarships and college admissions. It was really a passionate plea for us to take care of ourselves this week and not get into trouble. I could see already that some of my classmates were planning an all-week bender. Where the hell do they get their booze?
Jen met us at the door. There were tear-streaks on her face. I pulled her to me in a hug.
“What is it, baby?” I asked. It was very unlike Jen to let anything upset her to the point of tears.
“Hannah,” she whispered. “She’s in her room crying. Court’s trying to talk to her, but she won’t let us in. I don’t know what’s wrong.”
I patted Jen’s back softly to comfort her and sighed.
“There might not be anything wrong,” I said. “The week might have just overwhelmed her. I’ll see if I can help. Sometimes she just needs to be held.” I released Jen with a kiss on her head and Rose hugged her as I headed for Hannah’s door. Court was sitting on the floor in the hall crying. She jumped up to hug me and I knocked on the door.
“Go away!” Hannah cried.
“Precious, I need to talk to you,” I said calmly. “Will you let me in, please?”
“No. You’ll hate me.”
“I don’t and I will never hate you, Hannah. I need to come in and make sure you are all right. I’ll leave right away if you don’t want me to stay.”
“I can’t.”
Those were magic words. I grabbed the key we kept above the doorframe and shoved it in the lock on her door. I don’t think any of the girls knew it was there and none of the rest of us had ever used it. But if Hannah couldn’t let me in, I wasn’t going to stay in the hall. I rushed through the door and took in the sight. Her normally clean and spotless room was a mess. Her clothes were thrown all over the room. Her books lay scattered. Her dresser drawers were open or fallen on the floor. The posters she had on her wall were ripped down. Even her bedding was piled on the floor. Hannah was curled in a ball on her bare mattress like a prisoner in some South American B-movie. I crawled onto the bed with her and pulled her toward me. I was looking for any signs of damage to her body. I dreaded the thought that she might one day try to kill herself again. There was no sign of blood or sharp objects.
When I looked into her eyes, they were bloodshot and frightened, but not dilated like I’d expect if she’d taken pills and I didn’t see any empty bottles in the rubble. Rose climbed onto the bed on the other side of Hannah.
“I failed,” Hannah cried. She turned away from me and buried her face in Rose’s chest.
How could that be? We’d tutored her. We’d helped her every step of the way. How could she fail? She had a wad of crumpled paper in her hand and I pried it away from her. Rose was busy. While holding Hannah with one arm, she was stripping off her top and bra with the other. As soon as she had a nipple available, she pulled Hannah’s face to her breast. Rose gasped as Hannah latched on to the offered oral pacifier. Rose held her like a baby and panted beneath the assault on her nipple. She nodded to me, catching her lower lip between her teeth. I opened the wadded paper.
It wasn’t from the school. In fact, it took me a minute to figure out what the series of numbers were that I was looking at.
It was the lighting bid for our kitchen studio in Bloomington. I swallowed hard. We’d never be able to afford a quarter of a million dollars to produce a little cooking show. That’s what she’d failed at. It was worse than not graduating. Seeing these numbers must have taken the hope away from her.
I stretched out next to her and Rose and I held her between us as Hannah continued to suckle and sob. Jennifer and Courtney slipped into the room with glasses of water and a plate of cookies. They stopped long enough to just touch each of us lightly and then left the room, closing the door behind them. Hannah’s sucking slowed with a little hiccup as she drifted into sleep and Rose breathed a sigh of relief. She smiled and reached across our sleeping girlfriend to touch my face.
“It’s the bid for the lighting for our kitchen studio,” I whispered. “It’s really high. She must feel like she failed as a producer. I know she passed all her high school tests.”
“What are you going to do?” Rose asked. “She’s been looking forward to producing that show more than anything else.”
“I just… this seems impossible. I need to talk to Harvey. Can you hold her while I make a call?” I asked.
“Yes. It was pretty… um… intense at first. It’s okay now. In fact, it’s really nice.” Hannah’s sucking had slowed to the point that her lips were against Rose’s breast but her cheeks only pulled once every little while. Each time they did, Rose sighed.
I went out to the phone and dialed Harvey’s number. The station administrative assistant answered his phone, but after I said who I was, she put me through.
“You caught me just before I was ready to leave the office, Brian. Good timing. What’s up?”
“Harvey, we got the bid for lighting the kitchen in Bloomington and it just seems way out of line. Did you go over the list of equipment that we’d need with Hannah?” I asked.
“No. We never talked about what was needed for the studio. Except that I suggested that she contact the University broadcasting program to float the idea of students getting credit for filming and editing. What’s the lighting bid?” he asked.
“A quarter million dollars.”
“Holy shit! Is she trying to set up an entire broadcast studio? That’s probably as much lighting as we’ve got here at the station.”
“You don’t suppose that’s what she did, do you? Do you think she might have tried to duplicate everything that you have on Miss Polly’s set?”
“If she did, well over half of what’s there is overkill or just plain wasted. Can we get together tomorrow and go over your equipment list?”
“How would you like to see the setting?” I asked. “We could make a little fieldtrip to Bloomington. Harvey, this would mean a lot to us and to Hannah. She’s really upset and thinks she’s failed as a producer.”
“She’s a good kid, Brian. We haven’t even begun her education in this business. What I’ve seen so far is that she’ll be great at it. I’ll be ready to go at eight.”
“Thanks, Harvey.” I hung up and immediately dialed Rhiannon’s number. When I didn’t get an answer, I called Doug’s house. He picked up after about six rings.
“Hey, Doug. Sorry to bother you, but is Rhiannon there by any chance?”
“No. It was not by chance. She’s here very much on purpose. We were just… um… celebrating.”
“Shit! Sorry to interrupt. This is really important. Could I speak to her?” There was a little shuffling and a breathless Rhiannon answered.
“Hi, Brian. This better be good. I’m trying to set a record for how many times in a row I can get Doug off in twenty-four hours.”
“Uh, didn’t need to know that, Rhiannon.” I quickly explained our situation. “Could you go down to Bloomington with Hannah tomorrow to go over the plans and specs?”
“Can I bring my boy-toy with me? He’ll probably need a break by then.”
“Always glad to help a buddy.”
“There’s one more cost to this trip, Brian.”
“What’s that?”
“I want a night with you this week to see if I can get you off as many times as I do Doug.”
What could I do but agree to her terms.
I went back to the room and discovered that Hannah was still sleeping. Rose had managed to get her own jeans off and finish stripping off her shirt now that Hannah was no longer attached to her nipple. I stripped to my briefs but before I could crawl onto the mattress with them. Rose shook her head and pointed upstairs. I scooped Hannah up into my arms without her waking up and carried her to my room. I heard Rose asking Jen and Court if they could straighten Hannah’s room. It would be a lot better if she woke up in a nice comfy environment than to the mess she’d made in her own space.
It didn’t take too long after all the jostling around for Hannah to wake up. She looked at us and was on the verge of breaking down again.
“Stop!” I commanded. “Harvey says you can’t fail a course you haven’t taken yet. He also says that your class starts tomorrow. He wants you to pick him up at eight o’clock to go to Bloomington and go through the right equipment list for what we need. Rhiannon is going, too, so she can draft up new plans and specs. You might want to choose another hearthmate to go with you so you don’t have to endure the entire trip with just Harvey in the front seat while Rhiannon and Doug make out in the back.”
“But, aren’t you going with me?” I shook my head.
“Honey, you know that I will do anything at all in the world for you. I love you. Rose loves you. But producing ‘Young Cooking’ is your job, not mine. Harvey is your mentor. I’ll help when you need my help, but tomorrow you don’t need my help. You need to be the producer and get the right information from Harvey,” I said.
“It seemed so impossible. There isn’t that much money in the world.”
“There certainly isn’t that much in my bank account. But Harvey doesn’t think we need that much. Work with him and start learning. Honey, high school is over, but your education is just beginning.”
By seven, most of the casa had arrived. By ten we were all in my room and naked. Sarah still had a week at Oberlin but would be with us for graduation next weekend. Elaine had already started her summer session at UIndy. Sora had come home with us last weekend and was leaning back against me between my legs with one hand behind her back grasping my cock.
“So, I need a hearthmate to come with me tomorrow,” Hannah explained. “I’d like to have someone who can drive Brian’s car because I haven’t been driving much in the past few months and I might get distracted talking to Harvey.” She was sitting between Courtney and Sam and leaning back against Jennifer. I was a little surprised she hadn’t asked one of them already. There was a little silence.
“If no one else is available, I’d kind of like to go,” Whitney said. “And if you don’t actually need me at the house while we’re there, I could go into campus and maybe get a chance to talk to Lou about summer training. I’d rather stick around Bloomington than go off to a basketball camp out east if I can.”
“That would be cool, Whitney,” Hannah said. “I know you like Brian’s car.”
“Truck is more like it. It’s so roomy. Can I be your chauffeur?”
“I think you bit Rose’s nipple when you latched on yesterday,” I chuckled as I made bread in the morning. I wasn’t sure if Hannah had followed me downstairs or not. I’d spent most of the night with my cock in Sora’s pussy. Even after I was sure we were both done, she sucked on me until I was hard enough to get a condom on and then planted her pussy on it and went straight to sleep. I’m sure I shrank during the night, but I woke up half a stroke from coming in her again. She kissed me as I pulsed in her tight little cunt and sighed with a smile. I came down to cook and have my morning chat with Hannah, whether she was there or not.
“Don’t worry about it. Rose said she thought she came a little when you sucked her with such intensity. Isn’t she a love? Watching you with her made me wish I had breasts. I’m afraid if you did that to me, I’d come more than a little, though. We just wanted to hold you and let you know we were there for you. We’re always there for you, sweetheart. Just like we know for a fact that you are always there for us.”
I pulled a cloth over the bowl of bread dough to let it rise. I kept my back to the kitchen table so I couldn’t tell for sure if she was there. It was easy for me to imagine she was there when my back was turned, even if she wasn’t. If I turned and saw she wasn’t there, I’m sure I’d clam up and not talk out loud.
“I don’t think the bread is going to be finished in time for your breakfast. How would you like a popover? I can mix up a batch quickly and make you an omelet before you leave.” I whipped up the batter while the oven heated and poured it into the muffin pan. In ten minutes, they were in the oven and I figured I’d better go call the girls who had to be on the road by seven-thirty. I turned around.
Hannah came through the door with sleepy eyes and tousled hair. She was still naked. I held my arms open and she hugged me. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to having her naked body in my arms.
“Popovers will be done in forty minutes, love. Plenty of time for you to get a shower and… uh… dress.”
“Oh yeah. I’m naked,” she giggled. What a difference from yesterday. “Brian? Could you… Would you suck on my nipple a little before I get ready? I kind of want to know what Rose felt when I did that yesterday.”
I did my best to help her understand. Hannah’s eyes never left my lips as they fastened on her nipple. My hand held her other breast and I lightly thumbed her nipple. She gasped the first time I sucked and flicked her nipple with my tongue. I could feel her heart speed up and a flush crept across her chest.
“Oh!” she cried. “I didn’t think… Thank you.” She pushed me away and caught her breath. “I guess I don’t feel as bad about doing that to Rose as I did.” She headed for the shower and I went back to the kitchen to make coffee.
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Rose asked as we watched Whitney and Hannah drive off in my car to pick up Rhiannon, Doug, and Harvey. I stood behind her and slid my hands up under her T-shirt to caress her boobs.
“Yes.” I said firmly. She wasn’t used to me answering so strongly and let me keep playing with her nipples while she looked up at me. “I’m caressing the most luscious orbs known to humankind. I’m teasing their nipples to hard little points. And then I’m carrying my cónyuge back to bed so I can make passionate love to her for the next couple of hours.”
“With all our hearthmates surrounding us?” Rose squeaked. Usually it was her initiating sex in front of the others. She wasn’t used to this at all.
“As far as I’m concerned, they can join in,” I said. I scooped Rose up in my arms and carried her to my room. I could hear footsteps on the stairs behind me as our hearthmates followed.
“I’m going to have another cinnamon roll first,” I heard Nikki shout. We all laughed, but Samantha, Jen, and Courtney reversed flow and went to join Nikki.
“Save some for me!” I heard Liz yelp. I wasn’t sure if she was talking to Nikki or to Rose.
I got to the top of the stairs and stopped short. I got bumped and had to step out of the way so the others could see what was happening.
My bed was in use.
Cassie’s legs were wrapped around Josh’s waist as he moved in and out of her. We watched speechlessly as they made love. It was beautiful. Their eyes were locked on each other as they reached their peak and pressed their lips together as they shuddered. They were quiet but incredibly intense. I set Rose on the floor and she peeled her shirt off then stepped out of her panties. She grabbed my hand and led me to the bed. The other girls were dropping whatever clothes they’d put on to go downstairs for breakfast.
“May we join you, hearthmates?” Rose whispered. Cassie and Josh looked at her with a bemused expression and nodded.
“There’s much more bed than what we’re using,” Cassie sighed. “This is so wonderful.” Rose had finished pulling off my sweats and pushed me down next to Cassie. She embraced Josh as she straddled me. Cassie turned to give me a kiss. In that moment, Rose sank her hot wet center onto my rigid cock.
“It was so beautiful,” Rose said. “I’m so glad you are with us when we make love.” Mary, equally naked, pressed against Josh and Cassie from the other side. Sora squeezed next to Rose and me and petted and kissed us both. “May I kiss you, Cassie? Just a friendly kiss,” Rose asked.
Cassie lifted her lips to Rose and the way Rose’s pussy started fluttering around my cock, I’d have to say it was slightly more than a friendly kiss. Josh groaned and I had a feeling he was getting the same message from Cassie.
“I promised Rose I was going to make love to her for the next couple of hours,” I whispered.
“What a nice idea,” Cassie said as she thrust up against Josh.
It was almost dark when Whitney and Hannah got back. Hannah gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and headed toward her room.
“Hey! How’d it go?” I asked.
“Good. Good,” Hannah answered. “I’m all hot and sweaty and I need a shower. Rhiannon and I are meeting tomorrow to re-draw and we have a meeting with the studio electrician Monday morning to cross-check the plans and specs. Good. I’ll see you in bed.”
I hugged Whitney and she flopped her head down on my shoulder.
“I need a shower, too. Will you come and scrub me and make love to me? I think even Harvey was affected by the pheromones in the car. Rhiannon and Doug reeked of sex. And I don’t mean they literally smelled. I mean that just looking at them you could tell that they were a heartbeat away from losing all their clothes and moving to the next position in the Kama Sutra.”
“How did your day go? Did you get to talk to your coach?” I asked as I led her upstairs. Hannah had gone straight to the downstairs bath. I think Sam followed her in.
“Yes. Lou said there was no reason I needed to go away for a basketball camp. There will be summer training at IU starting in July. It’s only four weeks, but then we will have a regular training schedule when we start school the last week of August. I’m so excited… Oh!” Indeed, Whitney was excited and after I’d found her pleasure center and began kissing and licking her nipples, it didn’t take long before she’d announced her excitement to everyone in my room.
Something strange was going on. I knew it was happening but the level of tension and excitement seemed to be higher than I expected. Hannah and Rhiannon had been gone all day Monday and Brenda and Rose went to join them in the afternoon. They came home with shopping bags, so I knew it didn’t all have to do with meetings at the studio. But Hannah wouldn’t show me any of her purchases.
“You’ll see,” was all she’d say.
We picked up our gowns and had a little parade while Moms and Dad snapped our pictures. We had commencement practice. I’d been told a few weeks ago that I’d just missed being Salutatorian. Damned ‘C’ in Debate. How stupid was that? But to be top in the class you had to take a lot more AP classes than I had. They didn’t count classes at IU the same.
Thursday, Rhiannon made good on her promise to try to milk a record number of orgasms from me. I didn’t make love to Rhiannon very often. Usually if I did, it meant Liz was with Doug. Doreen was far more likely to just show up in the evening and crawl in bed with me. I’ll have to talk about Doreen’s and my discussions later, but they were often as intense as the sex. Rhiannon, on the other hand…
If I ever stopped to consider it, the fabulous five who invited Doug and Carl and me to join their table weren’t all the most beautiful girls in our class, nor were they the smartest. They were probably the most socially facile. Although, by the time we got to high school—and there were close to 350 in our class—I couldn’t even swear to that. You just don’t know everybody in a class that size. Brenda was always the go-getter. She organized the girls, became a cheerleader, had parties. She was beautiful, blonde, and buxom. Rhiannon was a little plain by comparison, though when Brenda wasn’t around you realized how pretty Rhiannon was. She wasn’t a trim athlete like Brenda or Whitney. She didn’t have the striking Spanish-Italian beauty of Samantha. She certainly wasn’t skinny or freckled like Liz.
She was soft. She had a soft smile, soft boobs, and even a soft tummy. No one would ever call her fat, but she probably had twenty pounds on Brenda. Settling into Rhiannon was like settling into a feather bed. You just wanted to wrap her all around you and cuddle all night. When she really turned her attention on you, she was impossible to resist.
“I know we’ve made love and had sex before, Brian,” she said, “but I’ve never actually given you a full blowjob. I want to taste you. I want to drink you down. And I want to do it while you are seeing how far you can get your tongue into my pussy.”
My hearthmates gave us privacy for the first hour. From that point on, it seemed like every time someone walked into the room, Rhiannon and I were in a different position. I think she might have read the whole Kama Sutra. Maybe memorized it. She wasn’t quite as flexible as Brenda and Rose or certainly as Sora, but she didn’t have any difficulty getting her ankle against my neck while I pounded into her pussy. Instead of doggy, she did a reverse cowgirl position so she was riding my cock while facing away from me. I had a great view of her luscious ass in my hands. That is, until Samantha saw my face was unused and planted her pussy on my mouth. I think Rhiannon noticed the increased rhythm of my cock.
I don’t think I set any records, but Rhiannon managed to milk me dry five times during the course of the day. I was glazed over.
“We’re having a casa meeting with the parents tonight,” Hannah announced on Friday morning as I was making up a big batch of French toast. I glanced at Anna, Mom, and Dad. They nodded. Apparently, I was again the last to know what was happening.
“All the parents?” I asked. I was already thinking of what to feed everyone.
“Well, most of them. My father is at Annual Conference. I swear that fucking bishop moved the date just so it would continue to conflict with commencement.” Hannah looked at Mom and dropped her head. “I’m sorry, Marilyn-Mom. I’ll watch my language. Anyway, all the other parents of our casa will be here.” I started adding up. All? Even John and Bea Clinton? And Jen’s dad Arthur and step-mom Teri? What were Bill and Crystal going to do with the restaurant on a Friday night? What the hell was Hannah planning?
“Um… do I need to plan some food? Where are we all going to meet? That’s like, forty people,” I said.
“Other people can plan events,” Dad said. “It’s a combination graduation party for all our seniors. Rex Davis reserved a room for us at The Studebaker Center.”
“What’s the dress code?” I asked. “Are we in suits or gis?”
“Because of the environment, we’ve decided to dress for a party, not for the house,” Hannah said. “But when we come home, party clothes come off.”
Jennifer snorted. So did Anna.
“I mean… You know…” Hannah spluttered.
“We do know,” Mom laughed. “That’s the problem!”
It was nice to see Mrs. Gordon when she arrived Friday afternoon and I think it was made a little less awkward by the fact that Sarah had arrived just before her. I wondered if they’d had a signal set up. Hannah was calm and embraced her mother warmly, but perhaps not in as daughterly a way as Evelyn was hoping. They still had issues, but the ice was melting. Nikki arrived about four o’clock and took charge of getting me dressed. I obediently followed her upstairs. She started stripping immediately.
“Fuck me, Brian. Right now,” she demanded. Whoa! Nikki and I had been very oral, but we had never made love. This demand didn’t sit right.
“What’s wrong, Nikki?” I asked.
“Why should something be wrong just because I want to have sex with my boyfriend?”
“Nikki. What’s really happening in here?” I asked, touching her temple. She flinched a little from my touch and then grabbed my hand and held it to her. She looked at me and I could see the beginning of panic in her eyes.
“We’re going to graduate and you’ll go to Bloomington and I’m going to Rhode Fucking Island and I’ll never have another chance to be with you. Please don’t let me go without fucking me!”
“Come here, my loving anarchist,” I said. I pulled her to me and traced the black rose on her breast. “I’m going to make love to you, but I’m not going further than we’ve already gone before. If I did, you’d hate me and want to kill me. But I love you, Nikki. I don’t say that as much as I should, but I want you to know it. I love sucking your nipples and eating your pussy and having you suck me off. But I love the Nikki that’s inside here, too. I love the Nikki that writes to keep the fucking creepy things away. I love the poet who hides from me. And yes, I love the crazy girl who keeps me on my toes and corrects my accent when I read Shakespeare.”
“Really, Brian? It’s not over?”
“Really, Nikki. I meant what I said. That house in Bloomington is your new home. It’s where you’ll come on breaks from college. It’s where we’ll gather and hang out naked. It might be where you bring your boyfriend one day to introduce to the family. Or maybe it will be where we finally do make love. But either way, we aren’t breaking up just because we graduate.”
“You’ll make love to me?” It was almost the voice of the girl I’d grabbed off the balcony railing before she could jump. I guided her to the bed and kissed her. Her mouth sucked at me desperately. I pushed her back on the bed.
“Right now. I’m going to examine the quality of your tattoo with my tongue. I’m going to suck on your nipples until you can’t hold still. I’m going to lick up the inside of your legs, teasing you until you can’t stop wiggling. I’m going to taste your juices as they leak out of your pussy. Just when you can’t take the suspense any more, I’m going to latch onto your clit and bite it. And when you think you’ve come until you’ll pass out, I’m going to put my fingers in you and find your special spot deep inside you so that you come so hard you do pass out. And when you wake up, I’m still going to be sucking your clit until you come again.” The first time Nikki came, I was still talking to her and just softly touching the spots I was talking about. She didn’t believe I was serious until she passed out. When she woke up, she passed out again.
Nikki pulled her leathers on over her skirt and I climbed on the bike behind her in my suit. My major concession was to wear my tight black silk T-shirt under the suitcoat. She’d tied my red belt around my waist. We got to the Studebaker Center just as people were sitting down to eat.
Nikki went to sit beside Liz and Rose sidled up to me.
“Mmm. In the words of the movie, I’ll have whatever she just had.”
“If you get what she just had, I want it, too.”
“Oh no! Didn’t she take care of you?”
“Shh. I don’t think she even knows. She wasn’t conscious through most of it.”
“Damn it! It’s a good thing I’m wearing panties. I might have to go dry off a little.”
We went to our places that I thought were conspicuously at the head of the table with my parents on one side and Rose’s on the other. I caught a glimpse of Hannah sitting between Sarah and Samantha. Her mom was next to Sarah and Sly and Lily were next to Sam. It was a pleasant dinner and periodically a parent would stand to tell something embarrassing about their grad and propose a toast. Of course, the parents all had wine or drinks. I saw that Mrs. Jones was moderating her husband’s refills. He was on his best behavior. When dessert had been served, Rose stood.
“Welcome, Casa del Fuego and members of our tribe. That’s what we decided to call all of us together. A tribe. Our parents who we love and who have been so instrumental in getting us to this weekend. I know that some of you have gone through this already with your kids graduating, but we want to thank you all for joining our celebration. We have house business to discuss this evening that affects everyone in some little way or other. And so, I’d like to give the floor to Hannah Gordon, our hearthmate and our patrón’s novia.”
Hannah stood and went to a spot beside our table where she could address everyone. It was the first I’d seen her stand up. She was stunning. She’d curled her hair and it wrapped around her pixie-like face. The white silk blouse was elegant and businesslike but just sheer enough that you could see the outline of her camisole under it. She wore gray slacks with her red belt cinched around the waist like all the other hearthmates. What really surprised me was that she was wearing heels. Not really high, but a good two inches of elegant open-toed shoe that matched her belt in color. Wow!
“Patrón my novia, hearthmates, and parents of our tribe.” She lost it and started giggling. “Rose said I had to start that way. First, the whole casa and our landlady, Anna, have agreed in principle to filming Brian’s new season of ‘Young Cooking’ in our kitchen in the house in Bloomington. As most of you know, I’ve been given the responsibility… Actually, I begged for the responsibility of producing the show. I had no idea at the time how much work it was going to be or what would be involved. Just a week ago, I looked at the budget for renovations and thought I’d failed Brian and everyone. Fortunately, my mentor and architect joined me at the house and set me straight.” We all smiled at that and Rose involuntarily touched her own nipple. She squeezed my hand under the table.
“I’d like to show you the revised plans, talk about the organization and structure, and discuss investment opportunities.” Now I was really interested. I’d heard Hannah mention that we needed an investment and she’d shown me the rudiments of the organization and structure that Rex Davis had helped draw up, but I hadn’t really seen the final plans or heard anything about the investment opportunities. Hannah explained that as the face of the show, I was entitled to the largest share of the net revenue. I wasn’t all that comfortable with the thought, but I could see the logic.
“In order to produce the show, we need to raise some money. This is not a plea for your gifts,” Hannah continued. “And it’s not as bad as I thought it was last weekend. But it is still capital. In order to get rolling with production by fall, we need to raise $100,000. Roughly $60,000 is needed to equip the studio with proper lighting and electrical circuits. You can’t just run a few thousand watts of television lighting on fifty-year-old farmhouse wiring. I’ve discussed this with the property owner, Anna Pratt, and she has agreed that this will not decrease the value of the property since it involves rewiring most of the house. The extent of the rewiring, however, cannot be written off as a simple capital improvement and be recovered upon sale of the house. Therefore, it would be up to our production company, Hearthstone Entertainment, LLC, to front the cost of the actual lighting equipment and specific special wiring for that equipment.”
I think everybody was still stuck back on the $100,000 that was needed. I sure never anticipated anything like that. It was still more than I had access to.
“I have received a letter of intent—is that the right word, Mr. Davis?” He nodded. “We have a letter of intent to invest $50,000 from Homemaker Specials, the production company that produces The Homemaker’s Hour with Miss Polly.” Wow! “It is, of course, contingent on us raising the other $50,000. Also, on completing the renovation, and getting syndication and production procedures in place and contracted. I still have a lot of work to do.
“Now you may be wondering what the extra money is for. This is what my mentor has termed ‘operating capital.’ There will be a lag between when we begin production and when we start getting money for the shows. During that time, we will have to pay salaries, electric bills, and other production expenses like editing and graphics. $40,000 represents our estimate for six months operating expenses. This money is not designated for capital improvements. For example, the professional appliances for the kitchen—which will also be handy for us in cooking for the entire casa—are being donated in exchange for what is referred to as ‘product placement.’ Based on Brian’s previous productions, both Jenn-Air and GE have expressed interest in supplying our appliances. The titles would include credit for the appliances.”
“May I ask a question?” Teri said. Might know another lawyer would want to get into the act. I’m glad it was her instead of Jen’s father, though. Hannah nodded to her. “What is the benefit to the investors? People don’t put money into something like this without expecting a return that would at least match the marketplace. At minimum three percent interest available on long-term CDs and preferably something that more closely resembles the growth in the stock market. What are you giving up in order to get this money?”
Wow! I just never thought about some of these things. Apparently, Hannah had. Or Harvey. Or Mr. Davis.
“In return for the investment of $100,000, we are offering a share of 25% of the net revenues on the show. After careful analysis, we have determined that expected net revenues in year one will exceed $5,000 per month by the time we reach our fifth month. Currently, Brian receives a residual from his syndicated show of about $1,000 per month. We need to remember, however, that this is simply his cut of the profits. And, in fact, he would continue to have the controlling interest in the production at 51%, but his share of the revenue would be only 25%. This is simply to provide Brian with the final say on the production. Without him, we really don’t have much. The other 50% of revenue would remain with Hearthstone Entertainment, a wholly owned company of Casa del Fuego.”
“Wait,” Nikki jumped in. She whispered to her father and then addressed Hannah. “Do you mean that we all, as members of the LLC that our dads put together so we could rent the property in Bloomington, would get fifty percent of the revenue from the show?”
“Net revenue,” Hannah corrected. “Don’t forget that we have to cover all the expenses for the show, which will include paying a portion of the rent on the property. The production affects everyone who lives there and we’ll all end up either helping or being inconvenienced or something.”
“But some of us aren’t even going to live there,” Nikki protested. “Why would we get a share?” Rose started to stand, but Hannah beat her to it.
“Nicolette, honey, whether you live there while you are in college or not, Casa del Fuego is your home—wherever we live. Cassie, Josh, Mary, Sarah, Elaine, Sora; that includes all of you. We decided to create a family when we created our casa. You included me even when I was off with my head stuck up my ass. Please don’t think I won’t include you when I’m negotiating our agreements.” She glanced at her mother and then at mine. “Sorry, Moms. I used a bad word again.” Everyone laughed.
My girlfriend was just plain awesome.
By the end of the evening, ten parents had subscribed to $5,000 shares in the new production. Hannah had raised $100,000 to get us started. I saw Nikki approach Hannah and hug her. That might have been the highlight of the evening. Mr. Davis, Mr. Duval, and Mr. and Mrs. Pratt were busy hammering out the details of an investment company that would hold everyone’s money and pay it into our production. They were talking about other things they might want to invest in together.
“I had no idea what you were creating when you brought Cassie into my study and explained the agreement,” Mr. Clinton said. “God took four generations to create the Israelites.”
“God was picky about ethnic purity,” I answered. “But it’s good that you mention the fact that Abraham and Jacob both had multiple wives or concubines.”
“I didn’t mention it,” Mr. Clinton scowled. Then he laughed. “And if I had I would still have attempted to keep my daughter away from your influence. At least she has chosen a man who will serve God.”
“Yes,” I said. I was having fun teasing Mr. Clinton, though I suppose I shouldn’t have. “I think she’s going to be Josh’s first wife.”
“His…?” I nodded toward where Josh had an arm around both Cassie and Mary. Mr. Clinton sighed. “May you one day have the joy of children,” he said before he walked away.
I caught Hannah in my arms and danced her around. She had been the focus of attention most of the evening and she was looking tired. She leaned against me as we danced. A lot of dads had taken the opportunity to dance with their daughters as well. Even Mr. Clinton held Cassie in his arms for a dance. Josh and I had been kept busy, not only dancing with our hearthmates, but with their mothers.
“You were so good!” I told my pixie girlfriend.
“I was so scared. Is it okay, Brian? It’s your show and I didn’t go over everything with you.”
“Hannah, that’s why you get paid the big bucks. You are the producer.”
“You have to sign the contracts. I won’t be eighteen for another three weeks,” she laughed.
“In all likelihood none of the contracts will be ready before then anyway. You looked so professional tonight. This is a beautiful outfit. Is this what you shopped for on Monday?”
“Yes. And a couple more. I didn’t know what to wear tonight until the last minute. I even have one with a skirt. Harvey told me that I’d need some professional wear when I was meeting with investors and sponsors,” she said.
“Well, it’s not only professional; it’s kind of sexy, too. I can tell by holding you that you are only wearing a camisole and not a bra.” I squeezed her to me and she squeezed back.
“I hate those things. Was it too obvious?”
“Only when you are dancing in my arms, honey.”
“My feet are killing me. How do girls wear these things all the time like Brenda does?”
“We’ll get you home and I’ll give you a foot rub,” I said.
Hannah shuddered.
Comments
Please feel free to send comments to the author at devon@devonlayne.com.
