[Hyde POV]
I drove to Chicago at 5 in the morning. There were no other cars at all on the dark, cold road.
"I need a friend that can come with me to all of these things." I sighed.
I connected an AUX cord to my Iphone, and played some songs. Mostly from Avenge Sevenfold.
"How do I LIVE! Without the ones I LOVE!!!~~"
I crooned to fight off the sleepiness in order to make it to Chicago safely. Slowly, the sun rose, and more cars started to get on the road.
The auction started at 9, so I barely made it on time.
"I still haven't gotten the details from Channel 5. I don't know if the Mustang special did well or not on the rating."
Channel 5, the local Point Place station, had a record of 500,000 people watching their program. The record was for my program; Rev It Up, Point Place Edition.
I heard a rumor from the people there that the station might be bought by one of the bigger regional stations. Not one of the three main networks.
My car pulled into the auction site and I saw a huge number of cars in the parking lot. My other competitors were all here.
The auction went as usual. The foreign cars were ignored since parts availability was scarce. I swooped them all up and bought 30 cars this morning alone.
But that was it.
"I need to sell at least 40 cars a month…"
It was because of the expansion. Now that I had around 90 workers, I had to allocate roughly 150,000 dollars per month just for labor costs, taxes, and health benefits.
The auction ended at 12, and I checked into an expensive hotel to get some rest. The cars were picked up by three car carriers that I had bought for the autoshop and brought back home to Point Place.
"There's a rehearsal dinner today. I don't think I can make it to that."
The good thing was, the episode seemed to be centered around Eric and Donna, so I didn't have much to do.
That afternoon, I decided to buy some cars from a direct seller by checking the classifieds section of the newspaper.
I managed to buy around 20 cars and stored everything inside my storage system.
After I was done, I decided to stay the night and head back home early the next morning.
It was only three in the afternoon. I decided to take a shower and a nap since I was too tired.
"So, Ty. Did the people at the station call?" I asked as I called my head foreman. I wore a bathrobe and lay on the bed; my hair was still wet from the shower.
"They did. It broke the record again. Seven hundred fifty people were watching it."
"Seven hundred fifty? That's low—"
"Sorry. Seven hundred fifty thousand," Tyrell corrected, excitement in his voice. "Oh, you're in Chicago, right? The ABC execs are flying there. He told me to give you his hotel room number so you could meet him tonight."
"That's… I guess that's fine. I don't have anything to do tonight after all."
"Even the paper is talking about the documentary," Ty added. "My wife still cried watching the rerun."
"Still?" I laughed slightly. "It's great that she enjoyed it."
I got some details from Ty and wrote everything in a notebook. Then, I changed into a simple Airism white shirt, and wore a leather jacket. With my Thursday Boots and my silver chain necklace, I drove my car to a nightclub.
Lot 51, the hottest nightclub in Chicago.
The doorman waved me past the velvet ropes without hesitation as I arrived, prompting envy from those who were waiting in line. Even pretty girls had to wait outside as the club was packed.
"Hey! Can you bring us in with you?" A latina girl shouted.
I turned to her, and said casually. "Sure. But only the two of you."
They were elated by it. The bouncer raised an eyebrow, but he didn't say anything about it since I was on the VVIP list.
I left the girls alone as they got in. They were quite shocked by it and asked me if I wanted to dance.
"Sorry ladies. I came here for a business meeting." I said.
"Aww." They exclaimed sadly.
Two executives were waiting, each flanked by a young woman in a cocktail dress. Their hands were everywhere. Pretty sure one of them was getting a 'happy' under the table.
Their smiles were polite, but their sleaziness couldn't be hidden.
"Mr. Hyde," one of them said, raising his glass. "Glad you could make it. I'm a fan of yours. I've been watching your show since the first episode."
"Really? What's the name of the show?" I asked teasingly.
He was taken aback and stammered, "Let it Rev?"
"It's Rev It Up." The other execs intervened– the one who was done getting a 'happy.' Let's talk about your TV special."
"You're not the person Patty told me about, are you?" I asked.
"No, we're not. I'm Tom. Tom Shelby."
"I'm Jerry Draper." The other one replied.
Tom was quite skinny, had a thick curtain mustache, and long feathered hair. Jerry was quite fat, wearing a gold chain and gold watch. Their hands were full of man rings, which was really gaudy for my taste.
"That's a nice watch." Jerry noticed my Beverly Hills Polo stainless steel, golden coloured watch. I bought this for twenty bucks online, but Jerry thought it was really expensive.
"The mechanism there… This must've cost you a fortune." he complimented me with a hint of dissatisfaction in his tone.
"This? This is custom made." I replied easily.
Tom said sternly, "Stop that Draper." He turned to me with a fake smile and said, "I think we got off on the wrong foot. Why don't you have a drink? It's on us tonight."
"Get some hookers too if you want." Jerry said jokingly, which made the girls around them stare at them with disdain.
I shrugged and said, "I'm fine. The music is giving me a headache, so I just want to know how much you're offering, and I'm out of here."
"Oh." Tom was really taken aback. Since I was young, he thought I would enjoy this sort of place. "I guess we had made a big mistake from the start huh?" He said seriously.
I nodded a bit. They adamantly asked me to come here when I offered a hotel restaurant.
Jerry ignored my reasoning and said, "Don't worry. It won't take long. We're prepared to pay 100 grand to licence the tv special. 150, if you're open to selling the ownership."
Tom looked at Jerry like he was an idiot. "Sorry about this moron."
"That's fine." I smirked.
"Hey, do you want to bet something with me?" Jerry added again.
"What's wrong with you?" Tom was really taken aback by Jerry's attitude.
"What bet?" I was intrigued.
"I have some dice here. If you can guess if it's even or odds, you win. We'll bet our watches, how about it?"
He was obsessed with it.
"Sure." I replied easily. "What if we up the ante? How much are you prepared to pay Tom?"
"Two." He replied with a sigh. Jerry was a senior so he couldn't say anything to him directly.
"How about this, if I lose, I'll licence it to ABC for One. But if you lose, you'll have to pay three. How about it?"
"Sure! I've never lost when it comes to these games." Jerry agreed easily. I saw his eyes, and my judgement was correct.
'He took some LSD, molly kind of stuff. Oh, Acid. That's the one.'
"Let's have one of the girls shake the dice." I added a clause.
He was taken aback by it. "No, I–"
"What? Were you planning to cheat me? That's why you're backtracking now?" I asked instigatively.
Tom rubbed his face with frustration. He knew today's meeting had gone awry.
"We have a maximum limit of two-fifty. If you lose Draper, then you'll have to pay the rest out of your own pocket."
"That's fine." Jerry said confidently.
I smiled and let the girl shake the dice.
She put the dice in a small cup, and put it upside down on the table. Jerry smiled and said, "Even!"
I used appraisal on the cup and realized he was right. It was even.
"What if I choose even too?" I asked.
"Then, we'll shake again." Tom interjected and opened the cup. It was a two and a four, which made Jerry grinned confidently.
I nodded at his suggestion. The girls did it a second time, and the third time. Jerry was really lucky. Until the fourth run, where he finally guessed wrong.
"Odds!" he said excitedly.
"Even." I said, and the girls at the table held their breath.
Tom opened the cup, and it was a double six. I used appraisal four times for this.
Jerry's face turned pale and he flopped to his seat.
"You can keep your watch." I told him before turning to Tom. "Have you prepared the contract?"
"...Yeah." He replied with a sigh. After I signed the acquisition deal for two-fifty, Jerry wrote me an IOU for the other fifty.
"Wait. Before you go, can we talk about something else?" Tom asked politely.
"Sure. Shoot." I replied.
"Do you have any plans for the future?"
"You want to get first look deals for my future program?" I guessed.
Tom nodded with an awkward expression. "Was I that transparent?"
"A bit." I smirked.
"ABC wants to hire you for their next project. You can move to Hollywood. We'll prepare housing–"
I stopped him with my hand and said, "I'm not moving from the town."
"Thats– You can base the set in town. There's no problem–"
"And I'm not working for hire projects. I'm still in school, remember?"
He smiled bitterly and added, "But. You do have summer vacation coming up."
"That's true." I nodded slightly.
He perked up and said, "We need a 27 episode program, something we can air for half a year. We'll pay 50 thousand per episode, and you can get 2 million as the budget."
"I don't think I can do that. I have no real scriptwriters or producers." I said with a sigh.
He wasn't deterred and added, "We can provide all that."
"Sorry. But I don't want to. I have too much on my plate right now," I rejected firmly.
It was a for-hire job that's why I rejected it.
I couldn't keep ownership, which was a dealbreaker. They'd also interfere with the plot of the story.
Better to maintain ownership, so I could handle finances myself. If the network audited my expenditures, I might be in trouble otherwise.
"If you have something in mind, do give us a call," Tom said, giving me his office number.
I took the name card. "I will."
ABC's show pulled around 25–30 million viewers in this era as part of the Big Three networks. I needed that audience, since the autoshop finances weren't yet stable.
With the money I made from licensing, I might be able to float the shop for three more months until a steady stream of custom car orders arrived, along with orders from Chicago and Madison for the used cars.
That's what happened when I hired too many people.
The execs left first. The girls who I brought in approached me, asking me to dance.
I didn't, and went to the alley to pick up my car when two guys in thick jackets approached me.
"Hey! You're Hyde?" One of them shouted.
"Yeah." I replied casually.
"Break his arm and take the watch!" He ordered the other guy out while trying to punch me, but I pulled out my gun from the system and aimed it at them.
"Let me guess. Someone put a hit on me? That fatty Jerry, right?" I asked the frozen guys.
They gulped in fear as they couldn't comprehend when I took my gun out. Sweat beads on their forehead.
"How much did he pay you?" I asked.
"Two… Two hundred." The first guy replied. He wore a green leisure suit, and had a thick mustache.
"Only two? Damn. He really looks down on me." I smiled and put my guns down.
The two men felt relieved yet they didn't approach me.
"Did he pay you upfront?" I asked them.
"Yes. He's waiting by the next alley for the watch." The other guy replied.
"Good. I'll offer you something else."
"You want us to beat him up?"
"No." I smirked. "Go to the cops. Technically, you haven't committed any felony yet. Report what he told you to do. You'll get a copy of the report. Give it to the front receptionist at the Sun Hotel tomorrow."
"Why should we do that?" He asked in confusion.
"Who knows? Maybe the reward for being a good samaritan is around ten times that fatso offered you here tonight? Ah, the receptionist will confirm with the police first, so don't try to fake it."
The two men looked at each other in shock. I pointed at my watch and said, "It cost me like twenty bucks. The guy's a moron. Who'd you rather pick? A moron, or the guy with the gun?"
"Ah." The two of them exclaimed in realisation.
"Go on." I chased them away with my gun before putting it back into the system storage.
"Fucking Jerry." I slid my right hand into my jacket pocket and took out the recording device I had on me. It recorded the entire meeting, and also the part where I almost got beat up.
I hummed happily and went back to my hotel.
"Ah, I'm so tired." I exclaimed as I walked by the hotel door. I told the receptionist what happened, and she was pretty shocked. I gave her 200 bucks in tips to keep it a secret.
I kept grabbing my shoulder, and she noticed it. "Would you like me to call you a masseuse ?"
"Sure. As long as it's not the happy ending people. I promised my girl." I said jokingly.
She laughed and joked, "Don't worry. They are very discreet."
"I'm still not gonna."
She looked at me with amazement and said, "Alright. I'll call a normal service for you."
I went upstairs, got some room service– lobster and a steak, with a glass of whiskey, and laid down on the bed until the masseuse came.
"Uaahhhh–" I groaned in satisfaction as the masseuse rubbed my shoulder with her strong fingers.
She bought the table with her, and she worked extremely professionally that I fell asleep during.
She woke me up two hours later, and I paid her the money. 100 bucks for two hours, plus another hundred as tips.
Why was I being generous? It was because I was flush with cash.
The massage made me feel drowsy, and I fell asleep without setting an alarm for tomorrow.
"I need to be back home before twelve…"
…
I woke up with a yelp. "What–" I turned to the clock, and realized it was already nine in the morning.
"Oh for fucks's sake–" I quickly ran to the bathroom, take a shower while brushing my teeth, and quickly checked out of the hotel.
"Sir, the report is here." The receptionist gave me the copy.
"Great. Thanks Mary Elizabeth." I said frantically.
"Are you in a rush sir?" She asked.
"I need to make it to a wedding." I said and left the hotel in a rush.
I wore my suits in the car and drove three hours straight at the top speed to get back in time.
…
The wedding was held in Bob's living room. Mrs Forman set up the chairs. Bob was wearing a green and gold tux. He looked pretty goofy.
Midge wore a bride dress with some cleavage and a veil. I bumped into her at the entrance of the house.
"Midge." I called.
"Steven!" She was excited to see me. "Is the photographer here yet? I want to take some before shots."
"He's not here. Why don't I grab my camera for you?"
"That'll be great!" She squealed in excitement.
I managed to get back in time, and was quite early too since the venue's not ready yet.
The reason I rushed back home was because of something important I had read in the episode synopsis.
It wasn't about Mrs Forman wanting to be a bridesmaid. It wasn't about Kelso proving to Jackie that he still loves her and remembers everything she told him.
Only one line made me here today.
And that was; 'Eric and Donna finally do it for the first time'.
As his best friend, it was only logical for me to be here to give him some moral support.
After taking some behind the scenes pictures of Midge getting ready, I retired as the photographer and went back to the living room.
"Linda?" I was surprised when I saw her there. Linda wore a V-neck line drapey blue dress, with high heels and a peach purse in her hand. She had her hair done so it looked wavy and voluminous.
"Hey Steven," She greeted me politely. "What are you doing here?"
"What are you doing here?" I asked her back.
"My dad… work with Bob." Linda replied awkwardly. "Wait, you're his neighbor. I remember that now."
Fez approached me carrying some half empty glasses, cheerfully saying, "Hyde. I managed to steal it–"
He noticed Linda too and was confused. "Hey, are you stalking him?" Fez asked.
"NO! I'm here with my dad!" Linda said angrily.
I laughed and added, "Well. You look really beautiful."
"Tha– Thank you." Linda was caught off guard. "Are you going to flirt with me and toy with me again today?"
I shrugged in disbelief and said, "I've never toyed with you. In fact, you're the one who toyed with me."
"What– Me? Forget it." She harrumped and walked away.
Fez commented, "She's feisty."
"And, she also has a nice ass." Fez added.
I nodded in agreement and said, "Yes. Yes she does–"
Before I could finish, I saw Leo walking into the room. He stopped right in front of me.
"Hey! Leo, man! You all set?" I asked him.
" Totally, man, I got everything." He patted his inner jacket.
"Great! Where's the camera?" I asked.
Leo was taken aback, and he laughed. "I got everything but the camera. Or the film. Or the flash cubes. Heh. I got nothing, man."
"Leo, man, the photo hut is loaded with that stuff." I said with a disappointed tone.
"I know, it's ironic, isn't it?" He asked.
" And yet, not surprising." I pulled out a 70s camera and gave it to Leo, then I walked away while Leo walked towards the bridesmaids.