I let them down gently, saying nothing about a cut in pay. I told them my education was the most important thing on my mind right now. They were gentlemen about it, but I knew this wasn’t the end of things.
I did get to see and talk a little with my friends in the movie industry. The whole stuntman contingent had shown up. I doubt the free drinks had anything to do with it.
Mr. Monroe wanted to know if I would relent on making another movie in the near future. I told him no, which he thought was a shame because the soon to be released, ‘Over the Ohio’, would make me a big name at the box office. At least he knew that for me it wasn’t the money.
I asked how Nina was doing. He told me she was becoming like the European crowd she hung out with and he wasn’t happy about her new attitude. He requested that if I was in Switzerland I would talk to her and see if it was getting as bad as he thought.
I told him I would, but that I had no plans to be there in the near future. Mentally I made a note to fly over after getting back to England.
Putting up a large party takes a long time. Breaking it down isn’t as much. Within two hours of the last guest leaving all the equipment was cleared and tents down. The area was raked clean.
The only thing left was golf ball retrieval. Eddie’s scout troop would be doing that the next morning. During the course of the day, there had been various contests, largest and longest hook or slice, and weirdest shank.
When these occurred they marked them with stakes. There also was a cone established for hooks and slices. This was done by two pairs of stakes with a ten-foot rope between then. One stake was never moved. The other stake on each side of the range was spread out as a new “record” was established. This made a cone that would be gone over by the scouts.
It was around nine o’clock when things had settled down. Mum, Dad, and I were having coffee in the library.
Mum asked, “Rick do you have any plans for the coming week?”
“Nothing that couldn’t be changed, do you have anything in mind?”
“Not really.”
“I was thinking of going to Bellefontaine for a couple of days. I would like to catch up with everything that has gone on in the last year.”
“Just remember you have a movie opening this Saturday.”
“I would fly out on Monday and back on Thursday so that should work out.”
“It will, but remember Susan Wallace will probably need you for interviews Saturday morning and definitely on Sunday after the showing.”
Dad then reminded me that I had to have a full business review before returning to England.
“That shouldn’t be a problem, Michaelmas the next term doesn’t start until September 28. I would like to return mid-August to do some sightseeing around Europe.”
“Then how about I set up a Board Meeting and business review for two weeks from now. “
“That would work Dad, thanks for taking care of this. I know I technically own these businesses but have no illusion that I’m running them.”
“We’ve had this conversation before. It is the rare founder that can scale up with the growing business. Most fail when they try to do things they aren’t capable of.”
“I know Dad but it seems weird that I’m getting all this money when others are doing all the work.”
“But you had the idea and the drive to turn it into reality. Besides if you were running it, it would consume all your time, do you want that?”
I replied, “Not at all.”
Mum then butted in, “Rick, take the money and quit whinging.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” was the only thing I could say.
That ended the discussion. I still felt like I was getting one heck of a deal out of it and that I had better take care of all my people.
Sunday was a day of rest for the Jackson family. We all slept in late, I made it until 6:00. A good run and workout set me up for a leisurely day. I did watch the Scouts collect golf balls for a while.
I could only stand that for a while. A bunch of twelve-year-olds in the woods can do some strange stuff. Was I like that? Thinking back, I was probably worse. At least none of them were trying to cook an egg up in a tree.
I chatted a bit with the Scout Master but from the conversation, I knew that my active Scouting days were over. He tried to get me to sign up as an Assistant Scout Master when I turned eighteen. It would only take a few hours a month. I’ve heard that song before.
After that, I drove down to the beach for a long walk in the surf. It was a mindless exercise and I thought I needed it. I had been living at a fast and furious pace for a long time now. Hmm, fast and furious. That had a good ring to it. It would be a good title for a song or movie.
On Monday I called and had reservations made to fly to Dayton, Ohio on Tuesday morning. I also had to line up a car and driver since I was too young to rent a car. Well, I called Susan Wallace who took care of these things for me. She would call our travel agent. I confirmed my availability for interviews on Saturday and Sunday.
I packed light for the trip as there were no events, just a visit.
On Tuesday our driver dropped me off at LAX where
