Jo-Ann smiled and pulled her hand back quickly, then ran out of the room again.
I straightened up. "Good-by, Monica," I said. "If there's anything you need, give me a call."
"I'll be all right, Jonas," she said, holding out her hand.
I took it. She smiled tentatively. "Thank you, Jonas," she said.
"And I’m sure if Jo-Ann could understand, she'd thank you, too."
I smiled back. "She's a nice little girl."
"Good-by, Jonas." She took her hand from mine and stood in the open doorway while I went down the walk.
"Jonas," she called after me.
I turned.
"Yes, Monica?"
She hesitated a moment, then laughed.
"Nothing, Jonas," she said.
"Don't work too hard."
I laughed. "I'll try not to."
She closed the door quickly and I continued on down the sidewalk.
Forest Hills, Queens, a hell of a place to live.
I had to walk six blocks before I could get a cab.
"But what are we going to do about the company?" Woolf asked.
I looked across the table at him, then picked up the bottle of bourbon and refilled my glass.
I went to the window and looked out over New York.
"What about The Sinner?" Dan asked. "We'll have to decide what to do about that.
I'm already talking to Metro about getting Jean Harlow."
I turned on him savagely.
"I don't want Harlow," I snapped. "That was Rina's picture."
"But my God, Jonas," Dan exclaimed. "You can't junk that script. It'll cost you half a million by the time you get through paying off De Mille."
"I don't care what it costs!" I snarled.
"I’m junking it!"
A silence came over the room and I turned back to the window.
Over to my left, the lights of Broadway climbed up into the sky; on my right, I could see the East River.
On the other side of that river was Forest Hills.
I grimaced and swallowed my drink quickly.
Monica had been right about one thing. I was working too hard.
I had too many people on my back, too many businesses.
Cord Explosives; Cord Plastics; Cord Aircraft; Inter-Continental Airlines.
And now I owned a motion-picture company I didn't even want.
"Well, Jonas," McAllister said quietly. "What are you going to do?"
I walked back to the table and refilled my glass.
My mind was made up.
I knew just what I was going to do from now on. Only what I wanted to.
Let them earn their keep and show me how good they really were.
I stared at Dan Pierce.
"You're always talking about how you could make better pictures than anyone in the business," I said.
"O.K. You're in charge of production." Before he had a chance to answer, I turned to Woolf. "You're worried about what's going to happen to the company.
Now you can really worry about it.
You're in charge of everything else – sales, theaters, administration."
I turned and walked back to the window.
"That's fine, Jonas," McAllister said. "But you haven't told us who the officers will be."
"You're chairman of the board, Mac," I said. "Dan, president. David, executive vice-president." I took a swallow from my glass. "Any more questions?"
They looked at each other, then Mac turned back to me.
"While you were away, David had a study made.