Jeff Murphy's proposition presented me with a quandary of the highest degree.
Option one was leave The Morrison Group and return to Artists Unlimited, in a much more controlling position than I ever could've imagined. And with Jeff Murphy effectively revive a company that to the outside world, that is the entertainment world, appeared to be dead and buried. But I knew if I told this to Roger Sullivan or Michael Baldwin they'd tell me I was insane. And if Jackie Morrison got wind of this, who knows what "the Jackal" would do? Plus there was no guarantee that AU would be as successful as before.
Option two was tell Jeff thanks, but no thanks, stay where I was and watch from the sidelines as a great firm became a memory.
But was there an option three?
The following morning I made the trek up to Jackie's offices located (naturally) at the top floor of the Century West Towers. I figured if I got there early enough I'd catch her before any meetings she had. Her office and her assistants and everything related took up almost the entire floor. I'd made friends with Debbie Malone who was Jackie's chief assistant and usually the person who accompanied her to all meetings. If anybody knew what she was planning, it was Debbie. She was in the midst of returning a call and idly making notes on her cellphone when I showed up.
"Well, if it isn't Mister Hollywood..."
"Hi Deb, uh, what's the bosses schedule today?"
"Believe it or not, pretty light, just a few conference calls mostly. Why?"
"Well...I wanted to bounce an idea off her."
"What kind of idea?"
"With all due respect, I'd rather tell her."
Debbie put her phone down and leaned in closer to me.
"Lemme give you one bit of advice, Jim. I've worked in the corporate world for 10 years. With someone like Jackie you don't bounce an idea off her. She gets these kinds of propositions every day. She might listen, yes, but I wouldn't count on anything."
My heart sank a little. I knew she was only trying to help. Maybe I was getting my hopes up too high.
"OK, well...uh...maybe an email would be better than an ambush."
"Smart thinking, kid."
I went back to my office and started an email, but found the words just weren't coming to me. Maybe if I didn't obsess over it, the words would come. I moved on to whatever current projects I had going. Later that morning, Tara buzzed my phone;
"Jackie Morrison on line two." She said with a mix of dread and curiosity in her voice.
That snapped me awake.
"What do you think she wants?"
"I guess I'll find out, thanks Tara..."
I clicked on my phone and Jackie immediately started talking.
"James! What's up? Debbie said you were here this morning and had an idea for me?"
"Well, yes, uh, it relates to a project...do you have a few minutes?"
"For you, James, I have more than a few, come on up."
Like I said, Jackie's offices dominated the top floor of Century West. Her office was a vast open area with a full service kitchen, conference area, home theater area in a corner, treadmill, Cross trainer and a Peloton bike, among other things. When I came in she was on the bike working up a sweat while techno music played on the sound system.
"James!" she yelled breathlessly "...hope you don't mind, I've gotten into a real groove here today and I don't want to lose it!"
"Right!" I yelled "Uh, pretty amazing setup you have here!"
"Absolutely...best office I've ever had! You should get one of these...you'll find muscles you never knew you had!"
"Well, with my luck I'd probably find muscle spasms I never had."
"Aww, you put yourself down too much..." she slowed her pedaling down until it was a gentle speed she was at, the music died down too "If you're hungry, Andre over there makes a mean omelet." She gestured to her kitchen where a white suited chef was cooking and smiled at me.
"Oh, uh, sure! Good idea."
Jackie got off her bike and dabbed herself with a towel. She wore a bright yellow outfit that clung to her body thanks to her sweat. "Just gonna get changed I'll be right with you...Andre, two western's, chop-chop!"
Andre immediately went to work while Jackie went into an adjoining room then came out in a robe and went to the kitchen area "OK, what's this idea of yours?" she said as she fed various ingredients into a Ninja blender, clicked it on and a multi-colored concoction began to form in it.
"Well, I remember we first met at Artists Unlimited, you were having a meeting with Chuck..."
"I remember it well."
"As I recall, you were trying to do some kind of merger with him and he turned you down...at least that's what he told me."
Jackie took a mouthful of her omelet and looked thoughtful.
"You're partially right there. This wasn't the first time I'd met with him, we'd had a few private meetings before that. You just happened to be there when he gave me his decision."
"And he said no."
She nodded "Chuck was a lot of things. He knew talent, he could be a great deal-maker, but he could also be a real bastard. On top of that he was a lousy businessman, very arrogant too. He knew the company was in trouble but he turned down a chance to save it."
I saw my opportunity.
"Uh, what if you could get back at him for turning you down?"
Jackie's eyes narrowed slightly "How do you mean?"
"I got a call from Jeff Murphy, he made me an offer to come back to the old company and run it with him."
"What did you say to him?"
"Nothing, I wanted to think it over. Don't get me wrong, I love what you've given me here. I suppose I still have some sentimental ties to Jeff, that's all."
"Then...why are you here?"
"Artists Unlimited is pretty much a shell of itself now; wouldn't you be able to pick up the company for a lot less than before?"
Jackie's eyes narrowed again, like she was deep in thought.
"And you've gotta admit, it would be a nice bit of revenge."
"It's an interesting thought, and you're right...it would be the best revenge. But what does the company have to offer? Most of their clients have already left."
"But wouldn't they be tempted to come back if they knew Jeff was working with you?" I quickly added "Until the firm went south they were the place everyone wanted to be. Wouldn't you want that for your company?"
Jackie rubbed her chin a little and smiled.
"Y'know Jim, you should've been an agent."
I went back to my office and thought about what I'd done and smiled to myself. This was one of those times when I felt like "Mister Hollywood" and other times when I was still the same old geek from Connecticut who got lucky with help from a friend. Yeah, Chris would be proud of me now.
A week later Jackie sent out an email to different people in the firm with changes to her schedule, she'd be in New York for a day, then in Los Angeles for a week, then going back to New York. Usually I gave little notice to these since I didn't deal with her on a daily basis, but I suppose it was nice to be thought of in this way. Then just as I was about to leave for the day I got a text message from Jackie;
