Chapter 3: Chapter 3

Having agreed to meet me to go over the details, I set my sights on contacting a law firm to find myself a lawyer. I would not say it did not matter who I hired, but I needed someone with experience that could protect my interests.

The first thing I did was look up the top firms I knew of in 2025 which ended up taking some time. There were only one that existed at this time that I could find. The others may have merged with other law firms later on down the line and changed their name or something.

Sendroff & Baruch, LLP was the top ranked law firm in my time but without the internet I could not tell how they ranked. I searched the yellow book until I found their number and dialed them.

The Secretary answered, put me on hold then transferred my call. I was set to talk to a woman named Sandra Lee.

"Hello, is this Mr. Scott? I was informed that you were looking to hire a lawyer. Is this true?" Her voice was pretty nice. I had a thing for peoples voices as it either kept my mood calm or irritated me. I never knew why, but her voice was definitely soothing to listen to.

"Yes, this is him. I'm looking for a lawyer that can help me obtain the rights to produce a film based off of someone else's work." I told her.

"Oh, so you need an entertainment lawyer. We here at Sendroff & Baruch have a few that are skilled in that field. May I ask what company you work for? Also, when will a meeting take place or do you need us to set one up for you?"

"I'm the founder and CEO of Raven Studios, it's a newly established company looking to get our feet wet. As for a meeting there is one already lined up, so if you could I need a lawyer today."

"I'm not sure about that, when is the meeting taking place?"

"Tomorrow at noon, eastern time."

"This is a bit last minute Mr. Scott. I don't think you can find someone that's able to travel to where this meeting is in time and have all the material necessary. We can send someone but the price will be a bit higher and due to the suddenness of this there is no guarantee that you will get the best deal. Is this something that you are still interested in?"

"Yes, money is not an issue for our company. Send over the best you have and if they are able to give me a decent deal I'm more than willing to throw in a bonus.”

Sandra and I chatted for a few more minutes before we finalized the details of our agreement. I was to meet the lawyer tomorrow at the meeting spot one hour before I met Dwayne. I had to put down ten thousand and the rest would be paid later after the negotiations were finished.

All in all everything was working out. I figure if this law firm did good work for me then I would no mind using them more in the future. There was also the thought of having someone to discuss plots of land that I would need to buy for my studio. I couldn’t help but sigh after knowing tha the internet was lacking in a lot of ways right now. If this was a few years in the future when the internet was booming I could easily search up locations.  I had to do it by hand, but I’d think about that in a few days time. The project I wanted to create would take a few years time, that was more than enough time to scout locations for the studio, build it and furnish it with the latest equipment.

For now my main focus was on securing the rights to produce these films. After that i’d need to hire a script writer, review their work and eventually hire the cast. There were already some people I had in mind to play the part of these heroes.

However, it was already getting late. I spent a lot of time talking with Dwayne and Sandra that it was already in the afternoon. My next step was to go out and grab dinner then head to the car lot. At this time GM and Ford were two pretty big automotive companies here in Michigan. There were a lot of lots around so it was not that difficult to find someone selling cars.

My plan was to get a decent car, not anything luxurious. I was fine with a dodge charger or even a camaro.

I ate at a family owned restaurant and brought a burger. It was really good and I decided that I would return. The best part was that the bus already ran through the area so I did not have to go far until I reached the bus stop. The bus was pretty full and honestly I had no idea where I was headed, but in 2025 there was a Ford dealership a few miles from where I lived. However, I could not tell if it would be there now.

After finding an open seat after people got off I relaxed my body and just watched the scene change. We were headed towards 12th street and after that James street. The dealership I knew of was located on Michigan Ave which was only two blocks away from James street.

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No one talked to me and I did not say anything to anyone else. My ride was pleasant and after a few dozen minutes the bus stopped and I got off. This neighborhood was better looking than the one I lived in. But, that did not really matter to me. After a bit of walking  I stumbled upon the car lot. There were a few people present at the lot viewing cars and after I appeared a middle aged white man in a suit approached me.

“Hello sir, can I help you with anything today?”

I saw his eyes look me up and down to give me a once over but said nothing. I got straight to the point. “I’m looking to buy a challenger, charger or even a camaro. Do you have any here on the lot?”

“We do. We have a pre-owned 2000 black challenger on the lot. It’ll be around 29,000 dollars for it, and there are a few new ones but they are going for 35,000 dollars. Do you want to take a look at them, or was there anything else you wanted to view?”

I shook my head.

“Nah. I’m fine with a new challenger, what colors do you have? I’ll take anything but white.”

“Right this way.”

The salesman lead me to the four challengers they had on site that were brand new. They were 2005’s with the plastic seat covering still on. Two were black but different trims, and the final two were different colors. One was a dark red while the last one was white.

I opted for the basic black one, saving myself 5,000 dollars. The salesman assumed I was going to need financing for the car and wanted to run my credit, but when I told him that was not needed he seemed a bit surprised. We got to the paperwork and I swiftly filled it out. After everything was signed and he tried to get me to buy different types of insurances I would not need, I paid for the car.

It took them an hour to detail and clean it even though it was new, but one those keys were in my hand I couldn’t wait to get off the lot. Since this was an older model everything was manual instead of being an automatic, but I learned how to drive manual’s right after I got my licence.

Inside the car I just sat there and relaxed. The feeling of owning a car was nice and I wanted to enjoy this feeling for a little longer. A few people on the lot checked me out in the car, but after ten minutes of time to myself I rolled down the window a bit and drove off. Originally I wanted to head back to my apartment and chill for the rest of the day, but now I planned to cruise the streets.

This was a prime time to explore the area and get a feel for how things were in 2004. In my eyes as a child everything looked great, but now that i’m living here as an older person I could see how bad it was. I never lived in the downtown area as a child, I actually lived in a worse neighborhood that was on constant decline.

I sometimes thought that I was a curse as every school I graduated from ended up being shut down a year later. Which was saddening considering I had a lot of attachment to those schools. It was not just me, others also enjoyed their time there and with less schools in the area the amount of students just crowded the few schools that were left. Many students had to travel far from home in order to attend school, and it created a somewhat difficult situation for the parents of those kids.

That was not something I wanted anyone to go through, but I could not do much of anything. I always wanted to give back to my community, and now that I had some money I planned on doing just that. Maybe not right this instant, but in the near future I would give back.

My community could use more programs to keep the students busy, and i’d try to find a way to have some tutors come in after school to help those struggling. These kids deserved better and I wanted to give them that opportunity.

When I finally made it back home it was already late in the night. I cruised down the city all day long and even went back to my hometown. That’s where I found my elementary school still standing with students attending it. It was odd, but it brought a smile to my face.

Today was a good day, but tomorrow would be even better.

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