After complimenting the meal, I ask, “So, what’s on your schedule today, Music Mogul?”
“A meeting at my attorney’s office, followed by my weekly Monday afternoon meeting with my team.”
“Is your attorney that guy I met with his teenage daughter last night at the concert?”
“Yep. Leonard Schwartz. We’ve got some stuff to go over regarding a frivolous lawsuit.” He tells me briefly about the lawsuit—basically, that some band has claimed Red Card Riot stole their song, based on a common chord progression that can be found in a million other songs.
“Can I come to the meeting with Leonard?” I ask. “I’d love to ask him about you.”
He chuckles. “Sure. You might have to leave the meeting at some point, if we’re going to talk about something that’s attorney-client privileged. But you can certainly join the meeting at the beginning to interview Leonard.”
“Great. I want to get an overview of what it takes, from a legal perspective, to run your empire.”
“Knock yourself out.”
We eat and talk, falling into easy, comfortable conversation. In response to my questions, Reed tells me a bit more about the copyright infringement lawsuit and I agree it sounds incredibly stupid.
“I took a class called Journalism and the Justice System this past year,” I say. “It covered the intersection between journalism and the law. Like, how to report on trials and court cases and stuff. I learned so much. My professor said ninety percent of all lawsuits wind up settling—that only about ten percent of court cases ever go to trial.”
“Those are probably national statistics,” Reed says. “I think the rate of settlement is even higher in California, where litigation is like breathing. Either way, those numbers would be reversed for me. I wind up settling only five to ten percent of the cases filed against my various companies, and fighting the rest with everything I’ve got.”
“Why are your numbers so upside-down like that?”
“Most companies think of settling cases as a cost of doing business. They’ve determined they’ll spend less money on a settlement than on protracted legal fees. Or, they’re risk averse and scared to death of losing, so they pay out.”
“But you don’t think that way?”
He shrugs. “I have a different philosophy. I can’t stand legalized extortion, so I only settle when I’m sure a case has merit. Or, at least, when I think a jury will think a case has merit. Yes, I might pay a ton in attorneys’ fees to fight a case, but it’s worth it to me, so I can sleep at night.” He takes a sip of his cappuccino. “Plus, I firmly believe the long-term deterrence value is worth something, though I can’t prove that. You can’t prove the cases not filed against you because you’ve scared away unscrupulous plaintiffs’ attorneys with your big swinging dick.”
I laugh.
“If someone has a legitimate beef with me, fine. Let them bring it, and I’ll settle the case like a man. Otherwise, they’d better brace themselves for a long, hard fight, that will ultimately lead to their resounding disembowelment.”
I grimace. “Yikes.”
“But enough about all that. Tell me about you, Georgie.”
“What would you like to know?”
To my surprise, Reed launches into asking me a bunch of questions. He asks how I knew I wanted to pursue journalism. And then about my family and childhood. And, finally, about my mother and father. And to my surprise, he seems genuinely interested in my answers.
“You took it really hard when your dad remarried, huh?” he says.
I nod. “But when my father got cancer, I knew I had to let it go. Life is short, you know? I realized I love him with all my heart, unconditionally, and that’s that. All that matters to me now is making sure my father stays cancer-free and keeps a roof over his head.” I smile at Reed through my lashes. “Which is why I’m so grateful to you and CeeCee, for everything you’ve both done for my father and me.”
Reed stiffens. “I haven’t done anything. It was all CeeCee. She hired you. She’s your boss.”
I tilt my head. Shawn always made the exact same face Reed is making now, whenever I told him he was acting kind of weird and suspicious. “No, you’ve been amazing, Reed. You’re letting me stay here this whole week, expense-free, remember? And you’ve also said you’ll give me a hotel room after this week, too. Which means I’ll be able to give almost all my salary to my father this whole summer, to help him try to catch up on his mortgage payments. And on top of all that, you’re also throwing a party to end all parties on Saturday night and letting Alessandra come with me. I’d say all of that is a whole lot more than nothing. I was just saying I’m grateful.”
Reed runs his finger down the handle of his fork. “Your father is behind on his mortgage payments?”