[Titan Studios, Los Angeles] [Executive Lounge]
Alex entered the executive lounge at 4:06 PM and found Gordon Ramsay already waiting near the windows with a cup of coffee, a leather folder, and a few pages laid out across the table.
Gordon stood and shook his hand. "Thanks for making time. I know you're busy, so I'll get straight to it."
Alex sat opposite him and picked up the first page. "Perfect. Tell me what you want, what it costs, and what you think Titan gets out of it."
Gordon sat back down and opened the folder. "I want to build something with Titan around food, restaurants, and television. We start with a flagship restaurant here in Los Angeles. If it works, we look at New York and London later."
Alex glanced over the numbers. "You already know how to open restaurants. Why do you need Titan?"
Gordon gave him a small nod. "That's the real part of this meeting. My company expanded fast. Then the economy went to hell, the banks tightened everything, and now I'm spending too much time dealing with debt and not enough time running the business."
Alex looked up from the page. "So you need money."
"I need room to breathe," Gordon replied. "I can keep fighting through it, but I'd rather fix the problem properly and keep building."
Alex turned another page. "You're offering forty percent of Gordon Ramsay Holdings."
"That's the number," Gordon said. "Titan gets full access to the books, a seat at the table, and a say on major spending. I keep control of the food, kitchens, staff training, and standards."
Alex nodded slowly. "That part makes sense. My team would still go through everything before I sign a damn thing."
"I'd expect them to," Gordon replied. "I'm not hiding anything."
Alex set the financial page aside. "You mentioned television in the email."
Gordon reached for another page and slid it across the table.
THE PRESSURE TEST.
Alex read the title, then looked back at him. "Celebrity cooking?"
"Twelve celebrities," Gordon said. "Actors, singers, athletes, models, comedians. People everyone already knows. We put them in a real kitchen, teach them the basics, then see who can actually handle the pressure."
Alex leaned back slightly. "So no fake cooking where somebody makes a sandwich and gets praised for trying."
Gordon laughed. "Absolutely not. They'll cook real food, run services, work in teams, deal with time limits, and get judged properly."
"What does the winner get?" Alex asked.
"Money for a charity they choose," Gordon replied. "It gives them a reason to care about winning."
Alex looked through the rough episode list.
There were team challenges, restaurant service, blind tasting, budget cooking, recreating dishes, and a final challenge where the last contestants would run a full dinner service.
Alex tapped the page with one finger. "This could work. You'd need people viewers already care about, but they'd also need schedules that line up."
"That'll be the hardest part," Gordon said. "Celebrities are busy, and some agents will hate the idea of their clients looking useless on television."
Alex smiled slightly. "Which means the ones who agree will probably be more interesting."
Gordon nodded. "That's what I'm thinking. I don't want twelve people showing up just to promote a movie. I want people who actually want to compete."
Alex closed the folder halfway. "I like the idea. I'm interested in the restaurant side too, but I'd keep those deals separate. Titan could take a stake in your current company, then we build the new restaurants and television projects under a joint venture."
Gordon considered that for a second. "That would keep the old business clean and give us somewhere to build the new stuff."
"Exactly," Alex replied. "If we do this, I don't want people arguing later over which company owns what."
The lounge door opened across the room.
Jennifer Lopez walked in first, followed by Angela White.
Both women had been downstairs shooting a Titan-produced music video for Jennifer's new single. The video had taken over two soundstages for most of the afternoon, with a nightclub set on one side and a fake Los Angeles rooftop on the other. Jennifer had spent hours moving through dance takes while Angela appeared throughout the video as the main featured model alongside her.
They were still dressed casually from the last setup, although most of the heavier makeup and wardrobe pieces had already been removed.
Jennifer noticed Gordon at the table and slowed down. "Gordon Ramsay?"
Angela looked over as well, then gave Alex a small smile once she noticed him.
Alex glanced toward them. "You two done downstairs?"
Jennifer walked toward the drink cabinet. "For about twenty minutes. They're resetting the rooftop lights, so we escaped before somebody decided we needed another take."
Angela opened the refrigerator and reached for a cold bottle. "I've been standing under fake moonlight for three hours. I needed something that didn't come from craft services."
Alex smiled. "Come over for a minute when you get your drinks. Gordon's pitching me a show, and you two are pretty much the exact audience I want an opinion from."
Jennifer looked curious. "What kind of show?"
"Celebrity cooking competition," Alex replied.
That got both of their attention.
Jennifer grabbed her drink, and Angela picked up another before they walked over. Alex waited until they reached the table, then pointed toward two empty chairs.
"Sit for a minute. We're still figuring the idea out."
Jennifer sat beside Angela while Gordon turned the proposal around so they could see the title.
"The Pressure Test," Gordon said. "Twelve celebrities learning to cook properly and competing through restaurant challenges."
Jennifer read the page for a few seconds. "Are we talking fun celebrity cooking, or are you actually going to yell at people?"
Gordon smiled. "If somebody burns water, I'll probably have something to say."
Angela laughed into her drink. "That sounds much more like what I expected."
Alex looked toward both women. "What do you think as viewers? Forget whether either of you would actually do it."
Jennifer leaned forward and studied the challenge list. "I'd watch it if the people are good. The cast matters more than anything. If you get twelve boring celebrities, then it's just famous people cutting onions."
Gordon nodded. "Exactly."
Angela looked through the next page. "I'd want some people who are secretly good at cooking and some who are complete disasters. If everyone starts at the same level, it might get boring."
Alex pointed toward her. "Good point."
Jennifer glanced at the charity prize. "This part helps too. A portion of the profit for charity gives people a reason to take it seriously without making the whole thing about celebrities trying to win money."
Gordon looked between them. "Would either of you ever consider doing something like this?"
Jennifer immediately smiled but didn't answer right away. "Maybe. I'd need to know when you're shooting, how long it takes, where it's filmed, and what my schedule looks like."
Angela nodded. "Same for me. It sounds fun, but I've got campaigns, travel, and other stuff already booked. If you get everything together, call me and I'll look at it."
Gordon seemed pleased with that. "That's all I'd ask. I'm not looking for commitments today."
Jennifer turned another page. "I'd also want to know how much training happens before filming. I'm not showing up on television and pretending I know what I'm doing if I've never touched half the equipment."
Gordon leaned back slightly. "I'd give everyone basic training first. Knife work, kitchen safety, simple sauces, meat temperatures, that sort of thing. I want competition, not twelve people losing fingers in episode one."
Angela raised an eyebrow. "That's reassuring."
Alex looked toward Jennifer. "Can you cook?"
Jennifer gave him a look. "Yes, I can cook."
Gordon immediately asked, "How well?"
Jennifer laughed. "Good enough that I'm not answering that question until there's a kitchen in front of me."
Alex smiled and turned toward Angela. "What about you?"
Angela took another sip before answering. "I can handle myself. Pasta, chicken, a few family recipes, normal stuff."
Jennifer looked toward Gordon. "She's being modest. She brought food to rehearsal last week and half the dancers stopped eating catering."
Angela looked at her. "You didn't need to tell him that."
Gordon smiled slightly. "Now I'm interested."
Angela shook her head and laughed. "See, this is exactly why I should've stayed downstairs."
Alex leaned back in his chair. "That alone proves the idea works. You heard it once, and five minutes later you're already arguing about who can cook."
Jennifer handed the proposal back to Gordon. "Get the format finished and send it over when you know the dates. I'll think about it."
Angela nodded. "Same here. Give me a call when it's real."
Alex smiled. "Fair enough."
Jennifer stood and picked up her drink. "We should probably get back downstairs before the director starts looking for us."
Angela rose beside her and glanced toward Alex. "Are you still coming by the set later?"
"If you're still shooting when I'm done here," Alex replied.
Jennifer looked toward Gordon before heading for the door. "Good luck with the deal."
Gordon nodded. "Thank you."
Angela gave Alex one last smile before following Jennifer out of the lounge.
Once the doors closed, Alex turned his attention back toward Gordon. "They're right about one thing. Scheduling celebrities will be a pain in the ass."
Gordon nodded. "It will, but if we can get the right twelve, the show sells itself."
Alex reopened the financial folder. "Then let's finish the part that matters first."
Gordon straightened slightly.
Alex tapped the forty-percent proposal. "I'm open to this. Titan looks at the books, the debt, the restaurants, and everything else. If the numbers match what you've shown me, we buy forty percent and help clean up the pressure around the company."
Gordon nodded once. "That works for me."
"For the new side, we create a fifty-fifty venture," Alex continued. "New restaurants, television, maybe books and other food projects later if the first things work. We start small enough to see what actually makes money."
Gordon smiled. "I was expecting you to say we should open twenty restaurants."
Alex laughed. "I'm rich, Gordon. I'm not stupid."
"That's good to hear."
Alex closed the folder and slid it back toward him. "Los Angeles first. If it works, we look at New York, London, and then Japan. Depending on the profits, we'll keep expanding. The show gets developed at the same time, but we don't announce anything until we've got a real format and a cast that actually wants to be there."
Gordon gathered the pages. "My finance team can send everything tomorrow morning."
"Send it to Rachel," Alex replied. "She'll have people on it immediately."
Gordon paused before asking, "And if the numbers look good?"
Alex stood and offered his hand. "Then we do business."
Gordon stood and shook it firmly. "Straightforward enough."
Alex smiled. "That's why you kept the meeting short."
Gordon laughed as he picked up his folder. "I figured wasting Alex Wilson's time would be an expensive hobby."
Alex walked with him toward the door. "Smart man."
...
[Meanwhile...]
While going back to their floor...
"What do you think about the multiple marriage thingy that's going on right now?" Angela asked Jennifer.
Jennifer looked toward her as they walked. "I think it's a great thing. I've spent enough of my life watching people judge relationships they don't understand. If the people involved genuinely love each other, are honest with each other, and nobody's being forced into anything, I don't think they should have to hide just to make others comfortable."
Angela gave a small nod, thoughtful. "Yeah... that's pretty much what I was thinking too." She looked at Jennifer. "So, let's say this new law gets the green light... You got someone in mind?"
"Yeah," Jennifer nodded. "I got someone in mind. What about you?"
"Me too," Angela said. "But it also depends on him. I can't just throw myself at him and hope he says yes."
"Obviously," Jennifer agreed.
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