During the family cookout, my personal assistant Marie calls me. We are busy with the chaos of making dinner for so many people, so I ignore the call. She immediately calls back. "Ugh." I moan as I answer it. "Hello."
"Hi Mary. I hate to bother you but there are a couple of things you need to be aware of." Says Marie.
"Hold on. I can't hear you too well." I say as I walk into my bedroom and close the slider. "Ok. That's better. What's up Marie?" I ask.
She goes on to tell me it's official. The studio has scheduled the start of the Superhero group movie, The Agency. Right after the shooting for the movie ends I will then shoot season two of the Centauri TV show that will deal with what happens to Centauri after the events in the movie. Training for the movie starts in two weeks.
"One last thing Julie from your foundation called. She would like you to call her when you get a moment. She didn't want to bother you while you were at the cabin." Says Marie.
I am excited to film the group movie and season two of the tv show. I am kind of looking forward to training. It's hard work, but it's fun too.
I walk outside as Jim was just about to open the slider. I reach out to him and hug him. "It's official I start training for The Agency in two weeks and season two starts filming right after that." I say.
Jim hugs me and kisses me. "That's great!" He says. "Let's go tell everyone."
I hold up my phone. "I need to make a call or two. Then we can celebrate." I say and I give him a quick kiss.
I get down to the dock, and I realize the chairs that are normally down here are up by the deck. I kick off my shoes and sit on the dock with my feet in the water. Zeena comes running to me and plops down beside me.
I call Julie. "Hey." She says. "I didn't mean to interrupt your R&R."
"It's ok. Marie called me with good news, and she told me, you wanted me to call." I say.
"Jan has called again." Says Julie.
I blank. Jan?
"Sarge's wife from The Alan Fudd Show. She gave you a contact for Barry to get some help." Says Ezzie sounding like Auntie correcting me as a little girl.
"Yeah. Yeah, I remember." I say, trying to fake it.
"No you didn't." Says Ezzie.
I give her a mental raspberry.
"What does Jan want?" I ask.
"I think she is looking to get you to participate and or sponsor the Best Buddy Challenge, it's a bike ride on Cape Cod." Says Julie.
"Hang on." I say, as I look it up. "Oh cool. It's a 100, 50 or 25 mile bike ride from Boston to Cape Cod to benefit Best Buddies. Let me give her a call." I say.
I know I have Jan's information on my phone. I look her up and call. "Well Hello." Says Jan, sounding happy to hear from me. "You are a hard person to reach."
"Sorry Jan, it's been a crazy few months for me. How is Sarge?" I ask, smiling as I remember him walking me through the crowd at the Live Alan Fudd Show. He looked impressive in his dress uniform.
"He is good. I was originally calling to see if you would like to participate in some way in the Best Buddies Challenge. I know it's short notice now, since it's next weekend so I am guessing that's out." She says.
"I don't think I could ride 100 miles on a bike." I say laughing as I look at the map as we talk. "I bet it's a beautiful ride though."
"Yes, some of the rest stops are in really pretty scenic areas. And of course the celebration at the end is always a lot of fun. We have teams from all over the country. We would always welcome a corporate sponsor." She says.
My mind starts spinning. This is for kids. Then I notice on the map there are 5 rest stops. "Jan, I may have an idea." I say. "Let me ask you something."
"Sure. Ask away." Says Jan.
"Do the rest stops have sponsors?" I ask.
"No they are just rest stops." She says.
I smile as I think of The Agency. There are four main superheroes and me. I could sponsor each stop with a different hero marking each one, but I need the studio ok for copyright stuff.
"Can you give me a few hours. I need to make a call or two." I say.
"I sure can." Jan says.
I call Marie back and explain to her my idea for the rest stops. I will front the money. I want permission to use The Agency Movie logo and a superhero for each stop. I impress upon her I really want to do this and I need the ok from the studio ASAP.
I can hear Jim's footsteps on the dock. I turn and smile at him. "Are you done?" He asks.
"For now." I say with a smile. "Come on, let's go tell everyone."
Everyone is eating so Jim & I make a plate and sit down, and I start telling everyone about the movie & tv show. Everyone is very excited. I then look at Jim, and smile. "And next weekend Jim and I are going to Massachusetts for the Best Buddies Challenge."
"What? We are." Says Jim.
"That's what one of the calls I was on was. Remember I told you about Sarge at the Alan Fudd Show. His wife Jan gave me the contact for Barry. She has been calling for a while now, but between filming and everything else I just got back to her. I am hoping to have the Foundation sponsor the rest stops. I am waiting for a call back from the studio." I say.
I look up and Nana is smiling at me. It's a bit of a sad smile. "What?" I ask. "Did I do something wrong?" I am nervous Nana is going to be upset again that I am wasting money, but Nana doesn't answer.
Ezzie speaks up. "She isn't upset. Just now listening to you, it reminded her of the way your Mom would get excited about things. She isn't worried about the money. She knows you have become more than successful."
I get up and walk over to Nana and hug her. She wraps her arms around me and whispers. "Your Mom would be very proud."
"Thank you, Nana." I say to her softly, and stand back up.
That sort of quiets things down from there. A little while later Marie calls. The studio will ok the movie name & logo, but not the actor's likeness. They will allow the hero's comic book image to be used though.
I call Jan and ask. "Could I sponsor all the rest stops for one million?"
Jan doesn't hesitate. "Of course!" She says excitedly.