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Chapter 136: Dates
🕑 Added 2025-06-19 11:47:27 +0000 UTCThe front door creaked open as Charlie, Dad, and I stepped into the Malibu beach house.
Alan burst through the entryway, singing. "Sherri, baby," he crooned dramatically.
He spun on one foot and pointed both index fingers toward Charlie and me. "Sherri baby," he sang again.
Charlie and I looked at each other. There was no stopping it.
"Sherri, baby," we echoed in resigned harmony.
Dad wasn’t done. With renewed enthusiasm, he belted out, "Sherri, won’t you come out tonight!"
He struck a pose like he was on a Broadway stage.
"That’s it. I’m out," Charlie said, heading for a drink.
"Oh, come on," Dad called after him.
"No, no, no. No more," Charlie insisted. "You got a date. Leave it alone."
"Not just a date. A date with—"
"Enough."
"I'd think you'd be happy for me," Dad said.
"I am happy for you," Charlie replied, grabbing a bottle. "You had the courage to walk over... with your pus-filled eye and fall on your ass... and still got a date with one of the most beautiful women I've ever met."
"I'm not only happy for you, I'm proud."
"Thank you," Dad said, touched.
"Now, I have to re-evaluate everything I thought I knew... about men, women, relationships, God, and the universe. But that's not your problem."
Dad said thoughtfully, "Charlie, I am as surprised as you that she said yes."
"I don't think so," Charlie replied.
While the two of them continued their back and forth, I slipped away quietly and headed to my room. I sat down on my bed, opened the folder labeled “Report Financials,” and began reading through the latest report.
"Brokeback Mountain closed at $83,043,761 Domestic, $95,018,998 International, and $178,062,759 Worldwide. Lost in Translation has already passed the $120 million mark Worldwide."
I murmured to myself, "So we’ve hit the $1 billion gross revenue mark if we add up all four films... and that using around 32 million dollars."
I flipped the page.
"We already sold $100 million in DVDs for Paranormal Activity and My Big Fat Greek Wedding. And that’s with the latter only recently released. Pepper said it could go around 30 to 40 percent of the movie’s gross revenue in DVD sales... though there’s not really a rule of thumb (could be much less or much higher). We used the profit to expand the company, as it was already growing toward thousands of employees."
I kept reading.
"We bought 40% of Netease and made a takeover bid on Hansen’s Natural. We acquired 90% of the company, although the former owner remains as CEO (and had the 10%). NetEase was bought through Jacob Funds, but Hansen’s Natural was acquired by JD Company, since it will be strongly linked to Marshmello's image. They decided to release Monster sooner and changed the company name (not waiting until Tomorrowland)."
I leaned back, processing everything, then kept going.
As we entered the TV series world with iCarly, Pepper and I decided to branch into other shows too.
We bought the House script and made a deal with Eric Kripke, who had been developing Supernatural for years. Both series will air on Fox Channel.
And the third project is a show called America's Got Talent, which will be aired on NBC. The judges are already confirmed: Piers Morgan, Howie Mandel, and Sharon Osbourne, with Regis Philbin as the host.
The last project was originally a famous teen show from Disney. Here, it will be from Nickelodeon, as we decided to negotiate it together with iCarly. Let’s ride the future wizard hype (as HP first movie will be soon released)
I closed the folder and stood up, heading back to the kitchen for a late afternoon coffee. Charlie was already there, fixing himself another drink.
"How about a double date tonight? I pay for the dinner," he said, glancing at me.
I stopped, gave him a long stare, then slowly raised an eyebrow.
"You don’t know who she was, right?" I asked, staring straight at him.
Uncle Charlie glared at me for a second, but then sighed and admitted with a shrug, "I don’t have any clue..."
"Well, her daughter's name is Brenda Emily Feldman. She likes to be called Milly. So... Feldman rings any bell?" I asked.
Charlie tapped his chin, pondering for a moment, then shook his head. "Nope. Nothing."
"Okay, I’ll text her," I said.
A few minutes later, I glanced up from my phone. "Her name is Amanda Feldman. She likes painting and writing poetry, just like Milly. It seems like she hasn’t seen you in about twelve years."
"How old is the girl again?" Charlie asked.
"She’s sixteen," I replied.
Charlie let out a deep breath. "Uff, thank God."
"Still not sure. What else do you have?" Charlie pressed.
"Uncle Charlie, I can't keep asking about her mother without being weird. But I can say one more thing—she's divorced," I replied.
Charlie looked at me for a moment, then smirked. "So, about the dinner..."
"I’ll go," I said, pouring my coffee. "But you can’t screw it up with her until Halloween. I already invited Milly to the party."
---
The dinner went surprisingly well, with Uncle Charlie and me fishing for information. We eventually found out she had been a summer fling for Charlie, after her first divorce (yeah, she’s now on her second). When the girls went to the bathroom, Uncle Charlie confided that they only kissed, which is why he hadn’t remembered her...
"You are scum, Uncle Charlie," I murmured.
"And yet we are here thanks to that," he retorted.
"That’s also wrong. Milly was into me from the very beginning. She was at my birthday party. Not that I remember—I was totally with Laura that day."
"Okay, Don Juan. You can have the deck, after I invited them to our house," Charlie said, glaring at me.
After the meal, we all went back to Malibu.
While Uncle Charlie was having a "conversation" with Amanda inside, I was on the deck with Milly, kissing her.
