[Hyde POV]
"What do you mean you can't deliver on Thursday?"
I called the man last night to postpone the catering from Wednesday to Thursday. He said it was fine, but then he came to the auto shop to tell me they couldn't do that.
Jody's dad told me the catering business had a prior arrangement on Thursday. And they already prepped the food for today after they received my order.
"Ah damn it.." I rubbed my head in frustration.
Megan and Tyrell watched me from afar.
I stopped by the auto shop as the school was closed again. Someone threw stink bombs all over the place. It was a senior prank that went way too far.
There was blood coming out of the teacher's nose because of it. It was great for me, since I didn't have to go to school. But now, I have another problem.
The fat old man shrugged and said, "I thought so too. But my chefs told me I can't do that."
I sighed in exasperation and said, "Alright then. Can you deliver it by five?"
"Sure. We can do that." The fat man replied.
"Ask your chef." I told him in a deadpan voice.
He flinched and contacted his workers immediately.
"The chefs said it's okay. They can deliver it around four."
"Great." I said tiredly.
Megan approached me after the guy left. "So, why do you want to postpone it? I thought you had finished it? You already have the music rights."
Tyrell asked, "How much did you pay for the song?"
"Fifty thousand." I replied.
Tyrell and Megan were both shocked.
"Wow. Making movies is expensive." Megan said, slightly flustered.
I shrugged and said, "It always is. However, this particular song is the expensive one."
I did manage to get 250 thousand in tax deductions as I made the documentary. As long as I sold it within 250 thousand, I wouldn't get anything taxed.
The actual cost of the movie was only 75 thousand dollars.
Film stock– the good one, was really expensive in this age. The drone shot was masked as helicopter rental. The color grading was filed as an external company that I paid for their service, and so on. Even an editing fee was charged there.
My modern tools made it quite cheap for me to produce high quality films.
That's how I managed to inflate the cost of the project. I already learned about 'Hollywood accounting' in the future.
It would be stupid of me to pay a lot of taxes for the tv special– assuming I could sell it to the TV stations.
"If I could go to Nationals, this project would effectively triple my investments."
But to get to the main networks, I definitely needed some connections. I did that once, with the Trans Am versus Celica special, but they weren't taking my calls.
"Jeff, can you help me get the number of people coming to the premier?" I told the shop's assistant.
Jeff smiled and said, "On it. Also, I already got it. 150 people are coming."
We have around 80 people working in the autoshop currently. Fifteen in sales and logistics, and the others worked on the cars. They came with their family so that's why the numbers were almost doubled.
"Sir." Tyrell approached me and said, "We can exchange the chassis right now, if you'd allow it."
"You should ask Megan, not me." I shrugged slightly.
Megan was caught off guard. She paused for a few seconds before answering, "Um. Okay. We can try that out."
Her 1965 Mustang's chassis was already on its last legs. I mean, she could still use it for a couple more decades, but its career as a race car was over.
After getting the modern chassis for the custom Chevelle SS meant for Bill Walton, Tyrell has been obsessed with trying to fabricate his own chassis.
I bought one Roadster shop chassis for the Mustang, which meant another 5000 dollars.
That was just for reference. Tyrell used that to build his own chassis, and I also had something to do with the design.
We used a C6 Corvette end link for the front spindle, and many more. Tyrell used his connections for the closed down auto plant to get their metal fabricators. I could've bought a better one online, but all of those needed computers.
This was his third try in trying to build the chassis. We finally have one that could do 75% of what the pro-touring, modern chassis we bought from the Roadster shop could do.
"Alright, let's try it out." Tyrell was excited. We swapped the 1965 Camo Mustang's chassis. It took the entire morning.
"Megan, why don't you try ?" I nudged her.
"Really?" She was excited.
"Yeah, go take it out for lunch." I said with a smile.
She jumped slightly and immediately entered the driver's seat. Tyrell went with her to check the car together.
"The chassis was made with just 600 bucks. But the value of the Mustang had almost doubled."
It went from 4000 dollars, to around 8000 dollars in the system store. That's how I knew the chassis worked.
While they were testing it out, I went to the print shop and dropped some designs there.
Maxine greeted me happily and said, "Boss! Long time no see."
"Max, what are you doing tonight?" I asked.
"Are you asking me out? Sorry, but I already have a boyfriend. He's sweet to me, so I'm not dumping him for you." Max replied.
"I have a premiere today for my project. All of my auto shop employees are there." I said flatly.
"Oh!" Max smiled in amusement. "And here I thought I could appease you by only giving you my body instead of my heart."
"Do you want to come or not? I need a headcount. Ask everyone else too when they are done meeting customers."
Max nodded and said, "I'll call you after I'm done. When do you want it?"
"At 5 today."
"AT FIVE?!" Max was shocked. "That's in THREE HOURS!"
She looked at me skeptically and said, "You forgot to invite us, didn't you?"
"Actually, I meant to invite you today. The event is supposed to be tomorrow. But the catering couldn't postpone it. So yeah, I have a little time now."
"Okay. I'll make sure to get you the headcount by five!" She paused and asked, "Can I get the details? Like what to wear? What time is it?"
"The event is from 6.30 till 8.30. It's just casual. There's food, but no dancing. And an open bar."
"Open bar!" Max inhaled deeply in elation. "Great! I'll come with my boyfriend!"
After the print shop, I went to the cafe.
"A movie premiere? Alright, we'll all go." Harris said happily. "That means we can close early today!"
I grimaced and said, "Yeah. Sure."
I drove to the last place, the Fotohut.
"So that was 150 from the autoshop, 12 from the print shop, and 20 from the cafe."
I had to stop by at each Fotohut to invite them. Everyone was going to the premiere. Even Amy and Linda were going. Leo too.
"The temptation of the open bar is too strong." I said to myself.
There were around 50 people going from the Fotolab and the Fotohut business.
Plus another twenty five from my personal contacts, I had around 257 guests coming to the event.
"Wait, I ordered for 500 people… Eh, they can just bring it home with them."
I went to the venue at 5 to set up the event. Donna, Fez and Eric were also there, helping me set up the chairs.
"Hyde, are you sure you can drill into the ceiling like that?" Eric asked, startled by my decision to put the projector's metal bracket.
"I'll pay for the damages." I said and put the electric drill down. "By the way, when are you leaving for the party?"
"At 8.45 or something."
"Didn't the party start at 8?"
"Yeah, but I go there late and get out early, it's like I never had to go there." Eric laughed.
"I don't think Donna would let you go late though."
And I was right. She scolded him when she heard of his plans.
…
At 5.30, the people were starting to come to the venue. The chairs were all set up for the screening, and the speakers were hooked to the projector.
I wore a simple denim vest, brown bell-bottom jeans, and soft silk clothes with a triangle pattern on it.
"Hey Bruce." I greeted the well dressed man with a handshake.
Bruce smirked and shook my hand firmly, "Steven. I've been waiting for this! You remember Patty, right?"
He pointed at the middle aged woman next to him. I nodded and said, "The showrunner."
"That term is now widespread in the industry. Thanks to you." Patty said with a grin.
"Why are you here?" I asked her. "There's no way this screening is that important that you had to be here yourself."
"As smart as usual." Patty replied, her face turned slightly cautious. "I need to talk to you about something serious. We can do that after this screening."
"Or you can just say it now. I don't think Steven will care much about that." Bruce interjected. "Or I can say it."
"Why don't you say it then?" Patty grimaced.
"Your friend Shannon Tate wrote a script. It has your likeness and character. We're trying to smooth out the–"
"Oh, you want my likeness right. Sure, how much?" I interjected him.
"Fifty grand." Patty replied.
I shrugged and said, "Okay. I'll let my lawyer handle the contract. Just to be clear, is this damaging me in any way?"
Bruce smirked and said, "No. It's actually a pretty romantic story."
I stared at him with disbelief and asked, "Are you investing in it?"
"YES!" He nodded excitedly.
I sighed and said, "Fine."
"Do you want to read the script?" Patty asked.
"Not really." I shrugged. "Can't you just change the name of the character?"
"No, it's pretty important for Shannon to keep the name as it is." Patty replied.
With Bruce, Patty, and several other guys from the tv station, the number of guests here had reached almost 280 people.
Mr and Mrs Forman, Bob and Midge, and many more started to arrive.
"Are you nervous?" Mrs Forman asked me.
"Yes. Very." Eric replied on my behalf, teasing me at the same time.
"Just shut up and go take your position." I grumbled at him.
Mrs Forman hugged me tightly and said, "This is all going to go well! Don't worry about it!"
"I won't." I replied casually. "Go eat some food. I've ordered too much. Also, it's an open bar."
"Great." Red smiled and went to the bar. I've stocked up the bar with some alcohol I bought from the online system.
Some whiskeys, champagne, wines, tequilas, beers and many more. I didn't talk much with the guest.
People thought I was nervous, so they didn't bother me much.
Kat arrived with all of her friends as I was drinking scotch. She approached me gleefully and said, "Steven. Did you save a seat for me?"
"Sure." I replied flatly. "Why don't you grab a drink?"
"Okay, I'll have a Shirley Temple." She bounced happily.
"Go ask the bartender." I said flatly.
She was taken aback when I didn't cater to her. She left with Madelyn while Jody and Tara stayed behind.
"So, are you going to tell Kat about what we did?" Tara asked.
"I don't know. What are you going to do to keep my mouth shut?" I asked flirtingly.
Jody widened her eyes in shock, and she laughed bashfully. "A lot of stuff. We can do a lot of stuff."
"Kat makes it pretty clear you guys aren't dating." Tara added. "Even when you're back together now."
"Well, we never discussed whether we are dating or not." I said with a slight amusement.
"She just wants to keep her options open. She strung along her last boyfriend like that for six months." Tara snorted derisively.
"So, what do you want us to do?" Jody asked. "Meet you in the bathroom in twenty minutes?"
"Instead of that, why don't you wear this?" I reached into my pocket and took out two egg vibrators.
"What's this?" Jody asked.
I leaned in and whispered to both their purposes. Both of them gasped, blushing heavily. They glanced at each other, and then went to the bathroom.
It was sex toy I bought for Brooke, but never got to use it since she broke up with me before it was delivered.
When they came back, the screening was about to start. Everyone was already seated for the premiere.
I stood at the back of the crowd alone. Both girls came to me before taking a seat.
"It doesn't do anything though?" Jody asked in confusion.
Tara pushed her jeans back down a bit and said, "This is just uncomfortable."
"Because I haven't started it yet." I said and pressed the remote within my pocket. I didn't show it to them, but they sensed the vibrations coming in.
"OH!" Jody widened her eyes and her knees felt a bit weak.
"Go sit down next to Kat." I ordered them.
Both of them gasped again, feeling dominated by the orders.
They could've rejected it at the very beginning, but they didn't. So I just decided to go for it.
While they were walking, I cracked up the vibrations to the highest. Their knees almost buckled before they got to their seats.
"Are you okay?" Kat asked.
Jody's face was red. "Yes– Yes, I'm fine." She replied.
Tara moaned slightly, masking it as a yawn. The girls sat there uncomfortably as I played the documentary.
"Tonight's going to be fun." I muttered.
…
The premiere started.
The video started with my promise to create a Mustang video in a previous video.
Narrator: However, I didn't realize how big this was going to be. How much work it would take for this car to run amok on the racetrack again.
The video took the audience to Megan's house. Megan sat in the living room, answering some questions as I cut the footage of her husband's pictures in between.
"He's a good man. We ran away together at 17 and decided to get married." Megan said in the interview.
"Then, he was called into the war. I didn't want him to go. I begged him. But he said he has to fight for the country. He… never came back."
The audience was quite surprised by the emotions in the video. The Mustang fixing up footage was next, and I kept narrating about fulfilling the dead veteran's last dream of having the car pass the finish line in a race.
"We were fixing up the car together in 1972. We went to the race, but the car stopped moving midway. It was pretty funny. We tried again, but we were disqualified before the race since he made some modifications to the car."
Megan was telling her life story in a happy manner.
I asked her behind the camera, "Did you miss him?"
"Every single day." She replied.
The entire audience was hooked into the premise of the video. At the thirty minute mark, we got into the race in Sheboygan.
The audience felt our enthusiasm through the camera. The car almost won, but then, the crash happened.
Everyone grimaced and exclaimed with frustration.
"Ooh."
"Is that it?" Bruce was absorbed. "That can't be it?"
The next few minutes were about us on the brink of giving up. I included a few footage of me smoking, Tyrell angry and cursing, and Megan crying.
The crowd was pretty emotional. I even included Tony, the racer, into the footage.
"I saw the finish line. I could've won first place. The car wants me to have that. It kept roaring as it cut through the opponents. But I didn't see the car that lost control."
Narrator: Maybe it was fate? Would the dream of the dead veteran never come true? Is the car abandoned by the world too, laying on the road, waiting to be forgotten?
People were pretty mad at the narration.
Then, it cuts to the scene where I decided to motivate Megan about the car. When I stood in front of the employees, shouting passionately.
I didn't want to include that, but the editor told me it was really good footage.
"I promise you. The car will run again." I said to Megan in the video.
Then, it cuts to some timelapse where I was rebuilding the car, commenting about the chassis.
"The car can run, just one last time." I said seriously. "One last chance."
Then, it was the moment we were all waiting for. The Chicago race. It was an even bigger venue than the last one.
Tony apologized to Megan before the race, and promised her that he would take great care of the car this time.
The simple scene humanized Tony, and allowed people's anger at him to dissipate.
A music score suddenly started in the background.
[My Way- Frank Sinatra]
Narration: We all thought we were lost. But sometimes, we just need guidance.
{And now, the end is near… And so I face the final curtain…}
Narration: On his final words in the battlefield, Mike decided to pass on only one sentence to his wife through his fellow soldiers.
{My friend, I'll say it clear. I'll state my case, of which I'm certain. I've lived a life that's full.}
Narration: "If there's one thing I regret not doing in this life, is to marry you sooner."
{I traveled each and every highway. And more, much more than this. I did it my way…"
The race started.
{Regrets, I've had a few. But then again, too few to mention}
The Mustang cut through the first car. Climbing up from the last place.
The audience were at their seats as they watched it.
{I did what I had to do. And saw it through without exemption.}
{I planned each charted course. Each careful step along the byway. And more, much more than this. I did it my way.}
The video showed Megan's shocked face in the stand with the other people.
I bit my thumb secretly while no one saw.
Narration: There's myriads way of showing your love. Whether its staying up late to care for your sick child on the bed.
{Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew. When I bit off more than I could chew.}
Narration: Or, maybe it was the ring you gave to your significant other.
{But through it all, when there was doubt. I ate it up and spit it out. I faced it all, and I stood tall.}
Narrator: Or to work on your dead widow's car every day for the last three years to fulfil his dream.
{And did it myyyyyyy waaaaay.}
Narrator: An act of love could be anything. And for Megan, it was the final thing she could do for her husband.
The car crossed the finish line in second place. The entire crowd cheered.
Narrator: "He didn't get to choose how he died. But he chose how he lived. And he lived with a dream. It takes some time, but he finally did it."
The music continued playing as the credit rolled.
A text that said, "For Mike." appeared after the black screen.
The Mustang parked on the platform, being covered by a black cloth as the ending credit rolled.
The lights were turned off one by one. And finally, the Mustang was laid to rest.
The audience went silent for a bit. A few sniffles were heard from here and there.
Then, they suddenly applauded.
"Hyde! That was amazing!" Eric said, wiping the tears down his cheek.
Even Red got slightly emotional. Mrs Forman was bawling. Fez has the same reaction.
Now that they were all applauding, and whistling at me, I feel quite embarrassed.
"Thanks everyone." I replied shortly.
…
Kat approached me with Madelyn, but Jody and Tara kept in their seats. Eric and Donna already left to go to Jackie's party. Fez waited for me while awkwardly talking with some girls.
Kat said to me, "Your story touched them really deeply. I'm pretty sure they were holding back tears throughout."
I sneered slightly. 'More like holding back moans. I don't think they were watching it.'
"Why don't we meet at the party?" I told Kat. "I have to talk with several people now. It's tedious."
"Oh–" She was taken aback. She glanced at Patty and Bruce, the two with the highest status there and reluctantly said, "Okay. I'll see you there."
I let the video play once more for the audience while I talked with Patty.
"So you want some notes?" Patty asked, swirling some tequila in her hand. "The Midwest has greater booze than I thought."
I waited for her answer.
She thought about it and said, "It can be 20% better. Cut the narration a bit. It feels like you're overexplaining things. The ending song can carry the scene without the narration."
I nodded and said, "Anything else?"
"No. You've got instincts. You just don't trust silence yet." She replied. "I'll talk to some ABC guy and see if they're interested in it."
I knew what she meant. The narration was too much. I guess I had that issue. But it was only because in my era, people kept over-explaining stuff.
"That'd be a big help." I sighed in relief. Then, I said, "It's fine if the regional stations plays it–"
"As long as it wasn't the major networks who got it first, they won't care if you have deals with the smaller networks." Patty interjected.
"Good. cause I have some deals to sign tonight." I grinned.
"I'll go with you. I'm interested to see how much you can get from it."
The meeting went by pretty quickly. Channel five paid 50,000 dollars to get the first airing. I also had some deals with them, so it worked out pretty well.
Then, the price dropped down sharply. I got $20,000 from a Madison-based station, $40,000 from a Chicago station, and more.
They wanted to air the video as fast as they could as a TV Special.
After I got the money, I asked Bruce, "Do you know a place where I can relax with some girls, in private over the weekends?"
"A celebration huh? Go to Grand Pines Resort in Minocqua. I know the owner. You can even book the entire resort."
"How much for the entire resort?" I asked him.
"Around five thousand." He replied.
"Great. I'll do that then." I smirked slightly.
The place was quite private, and it had a heated pool. I used my internet to search for the images, and found some old pictures of the place.
I let them discuss the airing schedule by themselves and left to go to Jackie's party with Fez, bringing some booze with me.