Goin' Out To Cally – Part 35, The Lunch and Mathematical Gymnastics

I arrived at the Chez Nous restaurant flustered because I had a hard time finding the place and because I had no idea how to pronounce the name of the restaurant itself. As I entered the restaurant I was greeted by a host who immediately acted as if I was under dressed and under classed to be engaged in a conversation with someone as lofty as himself.

Perhaps it was residual doubt from the night before that accentuated my interpretation of the host’s bitter attitude, but no matter the cause, it was not a great way to start out with what could be the most important lunch of my young life.

I scanned the restaurant and caught eyes with a man in his mid to late thirties with dark wavy hair and physically fit.

“Are you Pete?” he said.

I walked over to him and extended my hand, replying “Yes!”

“My name is Pete, too,” he said as we sat at the table.

The host looked down on me literally and figuratively as he handed me the menu. I glanced through it and found myself flabbergasted by the prices of each item. I was on a very limited budget and I had assumed that I would pay for lunch… after all; Pete was doing me the favor.

I feigned that I had a late breakfast and was not overly hungry, ordering a relatively inexpensive appetizer instead. As Pete Producer ordered his meal I silently added up the cost of it in my head… it was times like this that I wished I was more like my brother John, the accountant, who could perform mathematical gymnastics in his head without breaking a left-brained sweat. I was all right-brain, all the time.

My best guess was that I would have just enough to cover the meal. If he ordered dessert, I could be in trouble.

As we sipped our drinks Pete Producer started talking about his movie projects. It turns out he was a writer as well… something we immediately had in common. I quickly realized that he was more interested in talking about himself than asking about me. This wasn’t a bad thing, really. It seemed to be the way Hollywood worked. Plus, it gave me time to work off my nerves without having to speak… or misspeak, as the case may be. So, I listened intently, asked probing questions and learned a lot about his project and his hope of landing Robert DeNiro for the lead role.

DeNiro was an A list actor. The top of the A list actors. To land him to his project would be huge. That’s would be an impressive feat, if he could pull it off.

After the latest and greatest news about his project was completed the conversation eventually turned to me… my current activities, my goals, etc. I told him I was and actor and also working on writing a couple of screenplays. Any good producer is always on the lookout for young talent, especially young writers. With this in mind, he offered to peruse my screenplays when they were completed, give me constructive feedback and so on.

That was a huge development for me. Up until that point Show Business, with a capital S and B, seemed like some impenetrable fortress where, within its walls, held my Holy Grail… my movie career. To have a way in passed the heavily armed gates, spot lights and gun turrets, well, it gave me great hope.

Our conversation then veered toward our mutual friend, Doc Shelton, and our shared experiences at the University of Florida. It was then that our mentor/tutor relationship evaporated and we simply became Florida Gators who visited the same bars, hung out at the same university hot spots and chased the same types of girls.

We started talking like frat boys about girls and theater parties and college life when, in what appeared to be a man suddenly aware of his marital limitations pleading with a young lad with none, Pete leaned toward me and said “Pete, if you’re the type of guy, sleep with as many girls in college as you possibly can. For the rest of your life you’ll NEVER be surrounded by as many beautiful and available women as you will in college.”

An interesting comment considering the confusion I was dealing with in my current travel situation. However, I wasn’t raised to treat women as selfishly as that, so I took his advice with a grain of salt.

Our chatter came to a close as the check came. I offered to pay, but Pete wouldn’t allow it. “Let me get the tip at least,” I replied. He agreed. It was gesture of good faith on my part, but had I known Pete was picking up the tab I would have eaten a lot more. I was starving! I decided to stop through a McDonalds drive-thru on the way back to the house.

Funny… I traveled all the way to Los Angeles to have lunch with a producer at a fancy restaurant only to actually eat my lunch at McDonalds.

As I munched on my cheeseburger on my drive back to the house I felt reinvigorated, like the dreams I had created in my head when I was nine years old were now, somehow, more attainable.

I couldn’t wait to share my experiences with my travel companions.

Part 35, (Text, Audio) - Part 34, (Text, Audio)
Part 33, (Text, Audio) - Part 32, (Text, Audio) - Part 31, (Text, Audio)
Part 30, (Text, Audio) - Part 29, (Text, Audio) - Part 28, (Text, Audio)
Part 27, (Text, Audio) - Part 26, (Text, Audio) - Part 25, (Text, Audio)
Part 24, (Text, Audio) - Part 23, (Text, Audio) - Part 22, (Text, Audio)
Part 21, (Text, Audio) - Part 20, (Text, Audio) - Part 19, (Text, Audio)
Part 18, (Text, Audio) - Part 17, (Text, Audio) - Part 16, (Text, Audio)
Part 15, (Text, Audio) - Part 14, (Text, Audio) - Part 13, (Text, Audio)
Part 12 (Text, Audio) - Part 11 (Text, Audio) - Part 10 (Text, Audio)
Part 09, (Text, Audio) - Part 08, (Text, Audio) - Part 07 (Text, Audio)
Part 06 (Text, Audio) - Part 05 (Text, Audio) - Part 04 (Text, Audio)
Part 03 (Text, Audio) - Part 02 (Text, Audio) - Part 01 (Text, Audio)