One Fall

CHAPTER 34

  Following champagne at Max’s beach house, Max, Vicky, Goliath, and Joey had dinner on a chartered yacht, complete with chef, waiter, and violinist. Over dinner, they planned out the next week and a half. On Saturday, Joey and Goliath were to meet Max in New York City to record their parts for the video package. They would carry recording over into Sunday if necessary. While in New York, they would be briefed on their performance for Monday’s taping of Riot, and would be flown direct to Toronto on Sunday evening. After the taping on Monday, Goliath and Joey were welcome to stay in Toronto as long as they felt necessary in order to work out their match for the pay per view.

  They also talked about the GWA, and what went wrong. Goliath spoke about the lack of discipline from the top down through the entire locker room that had permeated the company since Gene Harold had left. Max assured them that everything was different in Revolution. Joey looked at the exquisite dinner on his plate, the beautiful ocean around him, and the focus in Max’s eyes, and he believed him.

  On the way back, Max offered Joey one of the beach houses for relaxation until it was time to go to New York. Joey declined. He wanted to go back to Jade and tell her everything.

  “Alright then, we’ll get you on the next flight out,” said Max.

  And so, a little after eight o clock, Joey said goodbye to his new friends, got back into the Lincoln Continental, where Bobby the driver had been waiting for more than eight hours, and was taken to the airport. His flight left at ten thirty. He arrived in Dallas a little before midnight central time and took a cab to Jade’s house.

  The lights were off and she was asleep when he arrived. She woke up briefly when he crawled into bed, and asked, “How was your trip?”

  “It was good,” he said. “I’ll tell you about it tomorrow.”