Bob, Fay and I travel to New York City to meet with ABC studio executives and Bob will check in with Big House Publishers about publishing his “Reggie” book. ABC has sent us first class tickets and I sit in a seat between Fay and Bob instead of under the seat as Bob is using his canine service papers that Disney provided him with so I don’t have to sit under the seat! I like those Disney people! ABC has also put us up in the Ritz-Carlton Central Park South which is great because I can go for walks in Central Park and as we have the Presidential Suite we can always head down to the Club Room where they let dogs come in. There are flowers, dog treats, all sorts of delicious snacks in our room. We unpack and Bob and Fay who have been in New York frequently as they tell me prepare for a very special walk in Central Park. We meet many dogs and their owners and some old ladies have their equally old dogs in baby strollers which I find very funny. We walk up to Strawberry Fields which I remember seeing in a BBC documentary about a famous musician John Lennon. This is a huge park and there is even a lake with ducks in it but I like the golf course near us in the winter and early spring more as I can go off leash. Dillie the Westie would have loved it here. We have already seen four Westies on our walk and six rats. Dillie is with Bob and Fay’s son Drew in Toronto.
On the way home Fay encounters a lady called Kelly and her husband Mark in Central Park by the lagoon with their little dog and we wag our tails and get along with each other. Kelly has a television show on some channel called “Kelly and Ryan” that Fay watches. Fay explains to Kelly we are in discussions with Disney, ABC and Big House Publishers about my story. Kelly queries Fay if I would like to be on her show they are producing and Fay gives her a card with her number on it and Kelly wants to know how things go with my movie career!
We get home to the hotel and the doorman gives us a big smile and knows my name and says hello! At the Ritz-Carlton they call guests ladies and gentlemen of the Ritz but for dogs they have no such title so the doorman calls me “cool pooch”. Mariah Carey staying here at the Ritz-Carlton Central Park South gives me a pat on my head and offers to take me for a walk in Central Park. Then at the elevators we meet an actor Fay knows called Michael Douglas.
In the room there is a chilled bottle of that wine that goes pop when you open the bottle like on New Year’s Eve. A dinner of chopped roasted chicken, carrots and rice is awaiting me with Ioli spring water from Greece.
For Bob and Fay’s dinner they are meeting Bob’s sister Babs who lives 20 minutes away and we are going to a small French restaurant called Les Deux Amis and since they have a patio I can sit outside with them. So many people pass by and what a strange smell the city has! There are so many taxis and the whole city seems to be eating out at a restaurant! So much activity! I am not a downtown dog so this is very new to me. Bob has a Bucky Burger with fries and I get a little of each and it is yummy. Babs has an omelette and Fay the Onion Soup. I have a little nap under the table until it is time to go home to the Ritz-Carlton. We take a taxi back to the hotel and a special bed with the Ritz Carlton logo is ready for me. There is a note for me from the manager welcoming me Reginald as a distinguished guest and saying if here is anything I want just phone him. Bob has a good chuckle after he reads the note and says we should go to bed as we all have a big day ahead of us tomorrow.
Breakfast is brought in at 9 a.m. by men with white gloves. Bob has asked for simple chicken kibble for me and it is called “free range and organic” and it is very delicious but a bit rich. On the taxi ride to ABC I admit I farted a few times not being accustomed to this different food. My tummy is a bit off today.
Like the Disney people the ABC “team” is in a boardroom and Fay and I am escorted for my screentest which is a piece of cake! When I return to the boardroom the ABC executives explain what they have in mind. They know about my screentest results and they are ready to explain “the deal” as they call it.
The television series will be called “Reggie Rules”. There are two gay men in their mid thirties living in Soho and have been partying for years. They feel their life is empty until Reggie the stray approaches them at a restaurant patio and jumps up on one of their laps and wins their heart. The men are called Tony and Akbar who is of Egyptian descent. 14 episodes are planned and I will be the silent star who will be cute, rambunctious yet very lovable. I change the outlook on life for Tony and Akbar. The money is in the range of $100,000 an episode but there is potential that it will be picked up outside of the United States and the money will increase. ABC says it will put a summary of the deal together and send it to our hotel. Bob notes that in the series some comic relief is provided by the man we met in Hollywood called Larry David who is very suspicious of everything Tony and Akbar do. Bob tells the executives he would like Dillie the Westie to be in the series as Larry David’s dog. Subject to a screen test they agree.
And then it happened as the runs hit me like a volcano and I make a horrible and stinking mess on a very expensive oriental carpet in the ABC boardroom! Bob and Fay turn bright red but as one executive says “We’ve seen it all before!” A cleaning crew arrives and all is gone! Bob thanks the executives and off we go. But I let another fiery mess fly in the elevator and we hustle out of the building. Bob says with a laugh that I have left a good impression. We see a well-dressed man and an angry one at that trying to wipe my little mistake off his alligator shoes. We pick up our pace.
Fay takes me to Central Park for a walk and to settle my stomach while Bob heads off to Big House Publishers and tells us the results. They love Bob’s book but want him to create a series of very simplistic children’s book and then one geared for adults. He will be paid for every book sold and if he reaches certain best sellers lists there will be a cash bonus. There are possible cartoon and movie spinoffs Bob will be paid for.
When we return to the Ritz-Carlton Fay and Bob talk about the options. There are pros and cons to each but they decide give it a few days and we should all wait to hear what Bob’s agent Pilkington has to say.
Bob and Fay order room service with a 1982 Chateau Latour as after all Bob says ABC is paying for it! I am back to my regular chicken kibble and my tummy has settled. We pack up for our plane ride home tomorrow. I have had a very exciting time but I miss my own bed, Dillie the Westie and a very green Toronto. It will be good to be back in my territory!
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