Chapter 401: Certain Affairs II

It was to be expected but it was still sort of out of nowhere...

One minute, he was introspectively documenting the details of a film's production...

Then, in the next minute, he gets called to be snapped out of it.

It was all of a sudden, with Old Sullivan, looking all tense and serious... saying.

"We have a lot to talk about, Alex."

If that wasn't enough to convey the gravity of the situation, there was Old Man Pierce... silent but intently staring.

Having an absent figure now looming is quite the site. Much more so when these two opposed characters are seemingly on the same side.

Which is why Alexander could only shrug and respond. "I guess we do."

Then, feigning ignorance to the grimness of the situation, he kicked things off. "As a start, what do you think of that McTiernan person's directorial prospects?"

Alexander recently found it better to have the initiative in these sorts of situations, after all. "I know that there's a lot of action directors to choose from out there... but from what I've seen, he seems good enough for that other project of ours."

Consequently, the tense Old Sullivan eased up with interest. "I am way ahead of you on that, even McTiernan himself is way ahead of you on that, as the both of us have already come into an agreement."

Now that's something.

"You did say to keep an eye out for 'Nothing Last Forever' but if that's taken care of, the process could very much be greenlit after Predator's post-production wrap-up." The elderly Creed sure had assurance on that.

As did the youngest Creed. Since it's probably going to yippee ki-yay from there... if the deal with those foxes pulls through.

Old Sullivan had some reservations though. "Still, don't you find it regrettable for us to pass up on a RoboCop movie in favor of another movie about a cop?"

"A RoboCop movie is good but I may have overdone it with the comic setting." Alexander got his reasons. "All that fancy robotics and futuristics are good on paper yet a burden to film production, especially with the level of cinematography we have available."

In turn, Old Sullivan remembered that time when he gave this Predator crew a chance to read up on a specially-Mexico-delivered 'The Predator and The Metroid'.

For an in-depth look into their project, to scout feedback on sequel considerations, and... uhm...

For him to brag more about his grandson's mastery of the story concept.

To that end, everyone had pretty much mentioned that the whole Octoberian comic line-up was impressive... but it was too impressive.

Ambitious and absurd, even to consider making more movies out of it.

As such, the old man was quick to set aside his earlier reservation. "It's a shame but we'll go with the alternative you proposed then."

"All hope is not too lost, grandpa" Alexander pointed out. "That Yautja costume, those skinned corpse prop, and this whole set-up that you've used are still nothing to scoff at."

It really wasn't. It was actually filming behind-the-scenes being decent.

"There's also the Predator heat vision technology that the divested Pixar team had contributed on."

And that really was a nifty purchase and decision in Alexander's opinion. "Put two and two together, then we've got something, haven't we?"

"Creed Graphics." With that, they've really got something. Besides, how could the grandfather not know what his grandson was getting at?

The two of them did put a lot of thought into this venture and it's quite good that it's come to fruition and used in action.

On that note, it's still barebones, which was why Alexander reminded. "Which brings us to that Stan Winston fellow that Director Cameron highly recommended. Too bad that after his work on the Yautja, he's already moved on to the Xenomorph."

"Convincing him to be the point person wasn't exactly easy..." Old Sullivan at this point had no guarantee. "...but before he left, he kept an open mind."

Well, that's unfortunate but there are plenty of practical effects specialists out there.

Making it fortunate for Creed Pictures to have a fair few projects that Creed Graphics can test themselves on... next year.

This brings Alexander's interest to another topic. "How far along are we with other movie deals, grandpa? Distribution deals and that one strange director in particular."

"Film distribution deals are just as shaky as my rapport with Stan Winston." Old Sullivan really had not much to say on that front. "As for that one strange director... well, strange is one way to put it."

"Then again, I've somehow snagged him with those equally strange and ridiculous film concepts you've had. Quite a catch since that man is probably the only person that's interested in working on them." It's these aligning moments that really made Old Sullivan wonder about Alex from time to time.

Speaking of...

Had he been so caught up in business talks that he forgot what he wanted to confront the boy with... in the first place?

Judging by Pierce's ticked expression being laced with disdain... yeah... he may have been sidetracked.

It can't be helped. Reprimanding Alex wasn't something he was favorable with.

Talking business, however, was seamless for both of them.

Case in point.

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Which was why sooner or later... after updates on Marvel and Anti-Creed Alliance stuff... the old Creed eventually nudged the talks in the right direction.

With questions like... "Why Starbucks? For something that's far along in Seattle, you sure are keen on something quite away from home. As if you know where to look."

Of course, Alexander was ready for this inquisition and simply answered. "I've just been considering the implications of advertising real-life brands on comic books for a while now. And given that such an advertising print is more or less forever... I had to pick the most optimal to start with."

"So, I had Mr. Legalities scour some interesting brands and something about that mutant mermaid stuck out to me."

Old Sullivan parried. "What stuck out to me is that it's the biggest expenditure you had with your personal funds, so it got me curious."

"I can afford the loss." Alexander shrugged like it was nothing. "Besides, you've checked in on it, haven't you? The guy I appointed has a shot of getting it somewhere."

The business-savvy Sullivan did smell profits on that end, so he had not much to say, other than. "Is this the same thought process you had when you targeted something like Papa John's in Indiana?"

"It's something along the lines of that..." Alexander came clean or at least tried to. "...but I've had the crazy idea of investing in businesses across the States and got curious of where it'll take me."

That statement in turn just spurned the need in Old Sullivan to re-teach his grandson about investment risks and biting off more than he could chew.

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Before that topic got too in-depth, the intent starer had to intervene.

This had been an intervention to begin with and it's gotten strayed with whatever these two business nuts were getting into, hence Old Man Pierce stating. "Creed, need I remind you of the really serious affairs to discuss."

"Oh, right." Old Sullivan really was delaying the inevitable and the inevitable was finally here. "This is about the girls, Alex. Didn't I tell you to settle it?"

"I did settle it." Alexander answered.

"By really settling it... I didn't mean to turn it into a full-on relationship!" Even Old Sullivan that knew of his grandson's antics found it hard to cope with that. "Relationships, apparently! Since you've actually been dating the two of them. Two girls! Milla and Drew... at the same time!"

"Not to mention how young you tikes still are." Pierce supplemented as even a seasoned general like him, who had quite the experience with bombs, couldn't help but be blown away by that.

"The age thing isn't a problem, Pierce. We both went through the 50s, the age of dating was far sporadic by then." Old Sullivan rebutted but he did have concerns. "What I'm curious about is how exactly has this kid snagged two and gotten away with it."

"I'm not too sure about that myself." Alexander was a bit honest here as he said. "I just figured that I'd date Milla and get it over with. Her affection was painfully obvious and it would just be cruel to string her along with what I know... so things happened."

"As for Drew... she's way more obvious but I had to break it to her. Drawing the line with Drew is what I called it." Basically, that whole NSFW stuff was really not safe for wimps... and simps of the 80s. Rejecting Drew Barrymore, that is.

"It had to be done but one thing led to another... and I secured a second girlfriend."

The grandfathers were pretty stumped at that revelation... but he was not done yet.

"It kind of felt bad to keep one in the dark about the other though." Alexander said as a "good guy". "So, I made sure Milla got some clues and the whole thing was blown wide open with that."

How could his swift sneak be that weak?

"So, you outright went for the truth?" That got all the more baffling in his grandfathers' heads.

Alexander admitted. "I figured that it'll solve the problem. One girlfriend breaks up to normalize things or this wrong relationship triangle would just end altogether with both of them being done with it. Either way works out for me."

And Alexander added. "What I never accounted for is the optimized option where their rivalry got the better of them and the one who breaks up with me is the loser."

At least, that's what he thought is a reasonable enough reason for why things are the way they are.

"Making the foundation of what I have to be a shaky competition, through and through. Besides, given how young we are... it's just playing around. It looks real but it's not." And with that, he concluded.

"Spoken like a true play boy." Old Sullivan nodded. Not in understanding but in the possibility that Playboy may have really come from boys like Alex... playing around.

It's probably just the beginning given that the boy also hired a sexy secretary and a secretary's eventual relationship with a boss is cliche enough.

Maybe Old Sullivan had himself to blame.

Or maybe he'll just blame that Hugh Hefner wannabe neighbor he has. Alex's morning jogs meant that encountering such a character on the daily and that old geezer's influence is the cause of all of it. Surely.

On the other hand, Old Man Pierce, getting regular reports of his grandson's antics, has already been numb to most of this... so he just segwayed forward. "That's good to get out of the way and all... but that's not exactly the real serious affair that we want to know about."

"It's not?" Now, that got Alexander baffled. What could be more serious than an affair with two girls?

"The Iran-Contra Affair." Old Man Pierce outright stated as he just didn't want to dally at this point. "Care to masterfully explain yourself on that?"

Surprisingly, Alexander paused at that.

After all, that's really an affair that tops all the certain affairs that they've just gone and tackled through.