Santa Monica Airport.
It was Monday, 18th September, 1989.
Nancy Brill stood beside the runway with two bodyguards who had driven over to pick people up.
The Gulfstream IV touched down and stopped; the cabin door opened, and Nancy saw Simon walking off the plane with two other women so tall they left her in the dust, all three laughing. One of them, in a cropped T-shirt and denim hot-pants, had her arm cozily hooked through Simon's, her long bare legs dazzling.
As the trio came closer, Simon looked surprised to see Nancy but still smiled and introduced the women: "Nancy, this is Elle, and this is Jerry".
Elle Macpherson, curious about the petite woman in sky-high heels, let go of Simon's arm and politely shook hands; Jerry Hall stepped up to greet her as well. After a few exchanges, Simon said to Elle Macpherson and Jerry Hall, "I've still got work to do. Let me have someone drive you back, all right?"
"Sure", Elle Macpherson answered with a smile, then leaned in to kiss Simon. "Lovely weekend, Simon. Hope there's a next time".
"Definitely".
Simon patted the woman's irresistible slender waist, hugged Jerry Hall, and told Neil Bennett to drive the two women away.
With the women gone, Simon and Nancy got into another car.
The black luxury Mercedes pulled out of the airport. Simon, seeing Nancy still eyeing him oddly, asked, "You rushed me back, what exactly is going on at Arista Records?"
Instead of answering, Nancy asked, "You… with both of those women… together?"
Simon lifted a hand, indicating Nancy's height and then his own chest, and grinned, "Jealous?"
Seeing him deflect by teasing her stature, Nancy scolded, "You philandering man".
She shot him a warning glance.
Simon promptly 'retreated', lowering his voice: "Keep quiet and I'll raise your salary".
Nancy sniffed, "It's your private life, I don't gossip. Hmm, still, Elle Macpherson is one thing, but that, that Jerry Hall… who is she again?"
Simon cut short her musing, upping the offer with a smile: "Double salary".
Nancy rolled her eyes, dropped the subject, but added, "Ridiculous man".
Simon turned serious. "All right, business. I'd planned to come back tomorrow morning".
Two nights earlier he'd attended Jonathan's party; afterward he'd left with both women.
In this life and the last, Simon had never meant to deny himself such pleasures, nor cared what anyone thought. If he wanted a woman and the chance arose, he took it.
Lately the paparazzi had been relentless; to avoid messy headlines he'd borrowed a private-beach villa on Lanai, Hawaii from Steve Ross, flown the two women there, and enjoyed a day and night of indulgence.
Four long legs tangled together. It was memorable, to say the least.
He'd been half-inclined to stay until tomorrow, but a flurry of urgent calls from Los Angeles forced an early return.
Simon figured if it were merely company business, it wouldn't be this frantic.
Chances were someone was pulling strings behind the scenes.
Hmm, say, a certain Female Assistant prone to jealousy.
He certainly wouldn't tell Jennifer, yet women seem to have an instinct for these things.
Nancy dropped the subject, pulled a folder from her bag and handed it over. "Per our contract with Arista Records, 'The Bodyguard' soundtrack revenue is settled every three months. The album launched 5 June; the first cutoff was 3 September, a Sunday, exactly fourteen weeks. Overseas hasn't released yet; domestic sales total 12.16 million".
Simon leafed through. "And then?"
"When our people asked to settle, Arista president Clive Davis kept stalling and wanted to shift to calendar-quarter accounting, claiming it would help their audits. Still three months, but clearly just a delay. I spoke to Clive Davis myself; after two weeks they finally sent the statement Friday before quitting time, saying the money would need another week".
She flipped a few pages. "Here it is. 12.16 million units. Per the deal our share should exceed thirty million dollars; Arista gave us only $23.19 million. Outrageous, they've apparently dumped every recent company expense into 'The Bodyguard' soundtrack's costs".
Simon had long since studied the record business.
For unknown artists, production and launch costs are huge; some will do almost anything to get a label release.
But once an album explodes, the profits are vast.
On a hit record the label's gross margin is never less than fifty percent of the sticker price; a phenomenon like 'The Bodyguard', with massive volume spreading costs, is even higher.
Daenerys Entertainment's contract gave it fifty percent of the bodyguard soundtrack's net, gross receipts minus manufacturing, marketing, distribution and artist royalties, then split the remaining pre-tax profit.
After only three months on sale, domestic units hit 12.16 million, grossing over $120 million dollars. Industry norms said Daenerys Entertainment's share should easily top $30 million.
Simon wasn't surprised.
Hollywood is littered with cases where a $5 million cheaply made film grosses $300 million worldwide yet is "mysteriously" still in the red; Arista's cost-padding was the same old trick.
After a few pages he closed the file. "You've spoken with Clive Davis?"
"I went to Burbank this morning; he insists the statement is clean. I demanded an audit, and he said that if we insist it might affect future shipments of the bodyguard soundtrack. Simon, that's a threat".
Worldwide projections for the bodyguard soundtrack are 40–50 million units; North America alone still has ten million left in the tank, while overseas, timed to the film's rollout, hasn't even hit shelves yet.
Everyone knew the success of 'The Bodyguard' soundtrack had turbo-charged the film's box-office performance, and Clive Davis's words were a naked threat. Daenerys Entertainment had yet to release a hit record on its own, let alone market one worldwide. Arista Records, backed by Germany's Bertelsmann Music Group, boasted a seamless global distribution network.
If relations turned frosty, Arista could stall the album's overseas release, dealing a body blow not only to soundtrack sales but also to 'The Bodyguard's foreign gross.
Davis dared to pocket Daenerys's share precisely because 'The Bodyguard' soundtrack still needed Arista, and BMG's worldwide channels, to reach the shelves.
He assumed Daenerys would swallow the insult to protect the film's overseas rollout and future soundtrack income, but he overlooked one fact: while Daenerys valued every cent 'The Bodyguard' could earn, the album was just as critical to Arista.
After all, Whitney Houston was Arista's only bankable star; even half of this phenomenon-level record's profit would prop up the label's balance sheet for the next year or two.
Daenerys, on the other hand, could afford to lose 'The Bodyguard'; a slate of other hits would keep the coffers full.
Worse, Daenerys had joint projects all over town; if Simon blinked now, every other studio would copy the squeeze play.
Santa Monica Airport sat minutes from headquarters, so the two of them arrived almost immediately.
Outside Simon's office the Female Assistant sat typing at her desk. She greeted Simon and Nancy with practiced calm, though a flicker of guilt darted through her eyes.
Simon, equally casual, asked Jennifer to bring two coffees and followed Nancy into the office. "What do you want to do?"
"We co-own the soundtrack copyright with Arista", Nancy said, settling opposite him. "If it were my call, I'd freeze every scrap of promotion and sales until we settle. Trouble is, that torpedoes the album, and the film's foreign rollout. 'The Bodyguard' is opening wide overseas these next two months: U.K., Spain, Italy already out; France, East Germany, Japan next month. They need the music in the market. So the decision's yours, Simon".
"Then freeze it", Simon said without hesitation. "And we don't just claw back what they stole, we make them pay double. Penalty. If the price of cheating is cheap, people forget and try again".
Nancy studied her boss, uncertain. She'd aimed only to force repayment; halting sales was already nuclear. Simon had just gone thermonuclear.
Arista had skimmed at least $7 million. Now they'd return it and cough up another seven on top, enough to make Clive Davis's heart bleed. Without 'The Bodyguard', tiny Arista's annual net might have been twenty or thirty million. Fourteen million would hurt.
"You're sure?" she pressed.
"Positive. We're in bed with The Big Seven on dozens of pictures. If we show weakness now, imagine how many hands will reach for our wallet next time. This is a warning: anyone who thinks they've leverage to blackmail Daenerys should expect me to flip the table".
Nancy, every bit as ruthless, accepted the verdict and left without further argument.
She had barely stepped out when Jennifer slipped in with a stack of papers. "'Batman Begins' campaign outline from Mr. Rehme, $25 million preliminary. Supporting-cast shortlist for 'Sleeping With The Enemy'. Mr. Deutchman flew back from Venice with three films he picked up at the festival, the files are here…"
Simon watched her line up the folders and grinned as he opened the 'Batman Begins' pitch. "I'm a lucky bastard. Without Jenny, life for Westeros would be chaos".
Jennifer's business mask softened; her eyes teased. "Which Jenny are we talking about?"
"The one standing right across from me, of course".
The assistant sniffed, collected the coffee cups she and Nancy had used, and swished out of the office, ponytail flicking.
Burbank.
Clive Davis, Arista's president, had spent the morning scheming how to skim more foreign profit off the bodyguard soundtrack after sending Nancy Brill away, only to see the diminutive woman stride back in a few hours later.
Having decided to pocket the soundtrack royalties, Davis no longer counted on future dealings with Daenerys.
Film after film, Daenerys might be Midas-touched, but in the record business a once-in-a-decade blockbuster like 'The Bodyguard' did not come along on command.
Labels were as fickle as studios; a superstar could sell twenty million copies last year and scrape four million this year. Davis prided himself on long-range vision, yet he knew an album poised to top forty million units globally might not reappear for another decade. The haul was simply too huge to risk; potential future partnerships could be sacrificed.
With that calculus fixed, he greeted Nancy with a warm smile and ushered her into his office.
Nancy did not sit. Her first sentence nearly catapulted Davis from his chair.
"Mr. Davis, Arista's breach of contract leaves us no choice. Daenerys is suspending worldwide promotion and sales of 'The Bodyguard' soundtrack. We've instructed pressing plants to halt shipments; overseas marketing stops until our dispute is resolved. As co-copyright holder we have that right. Should Arista attempt to proceed, we will petition the RIAA and the U.S. District Court in L.A. for an injunction, and we will sue for damages".