Raimon ked up the music, bsting a long cssical Star iece along with some of his favorite songs, like the He-Man intro, mixed with some current musiow he felt like the bogeyman, the one who carries out acts for his mafia boss, who always turns out to be a dangerous and fearsome person.

  -Watch out, here es the bogeyman! - Raimon yelled, feeling grandiose in his role as the bogeyman. His vehicle sped at 120 km/h on the highway, but he slowed down upon approag the police zone, veering off the road for quick trips.

  The deep sonatas of cssical music resonated eically from at least a thousand hits.

  He sang along delicately until he reached the Uy of Berkeley. Fortunately, he had Pizza Box's mobile number and, as a frequent er, had four pizzas to go. Alice's favorite was the Neapolitan with extra tomatoes. She liked grated cheese as ara topping, along with the herb mix.

  He arrived tent, his ridiculous Batman car and his shirts—this time, Superman made an appearance. He wore a long shirt and some worn-out jeans, with boots matg Superman's colors, which trasted sharply with the typical attire of a pany's operations director. He entered without problems into the women's west wing, searg for Alice's room, which he found after taking two ps around the wing.

  He knocked on the door. Alice ope, her eyes like balls, red and swollen.

  -Raimon! What are you doing here? - Alice asked.

  -I came to see you so we curse Billy together. The idiot couldn't make it; you know how he is, - said Raimoering the room, surprising Laura.

  -I brought your favorite pizza with extra cheese, herb mix, and our favorite white chocote with caramel filling. They weren't easy to get; apparently, the brand has been fag financial issues. I'll ask the pany if we want to expand the brao sweets, although I doubt it'll work out that way, - said Raimon.

  Handing over a whole slice of pizza, Alice's stomach growled, and although her pride was great, there was some truth in the fact that seeing Raimon, someone who was stantly called strange, made it easier to take a bite of what he brought.

  -For a moment, I thought you were Billy, - Alice said.

  -He's not ing; he has a flight. Apparently, his grandfather is going to die, and he had to travel to Kansas. Thomas has been pressuring him to visit, but you know, the pany has been quite busy, -said Raimon.

  Surprising Alice.

  -Richard is going to die? - Alice asked.

  -Something like that, maybe I exaggerated a bit, but he's very sick, - he looked at Laura, who was Raimon. He added, - I didn't know Alice had a friend, but I share my pizza with you. -

  Laura, incredulous about the three pizza boxes oable, thought to herself, 'Now I see why he's so fat.'

  -Thanks, - Laura replied. - So, if Billy Carson isn't ing, why did you e? -

  -Isn't it obvious? Skipping work. I was bored of cheg the most b ats for weeks. I've even lost my touch for Doom, so I decided to escape from the pany with the excuse of helping Billy. Anne won't mind; she has a lot of work. Well, Billy is taking a flight for tomorrow; no one will care what I do or don't do, - said Raimon.

  - you believe I never knew he ran multiple panies? Because he just didn't say anything; nothing would ge. I'd be more uanding with all the work he had to do, - said Alice, eating pizza with chocotes.

  -I feel the same way; he's been hiding things from me that he didn't want to say. He's a plete jerk. He missed the premiere of The Lion King, and I dressed up as Mufasa to surprise the audience. He promised to e with me, but the perfect gentleman had things to do. I fave him already, but one day I'll stop pying video games with him, and he'll see what the cold shoulder is, - said Raimon.

  Alice ughed. Raimon was one of the quirkiest friends she had ever had the opportunity to meet; the stark trast with Billy made them opposites!

  -I hought you were the operations director, - Alice said.

  -Wait, you're the operations director of Lux Animation, - said Laura, surprised, as the pany was among the top 20 successful panies in California during the 90s, along with expoial growth in logistid operations—a case study in stant growth was made public just a month ago.

  -Well, yeah, but the position isn't a big deal. In fact, I'm co-director since I share the position with someone else, - said Raimon.

  -Fet it, I'd hate to be employed by that jerk, - Laura said.

  -He's a good boss. Our sary might not be the best, but we provide other bes like health insurance, pension, paid vacations, yearly raises, disability bes, employee dists, flexible hours, and year-end bonuses. Although Anne is the one who makes sure everyone does their job, she's strict; she's almost as le as Billy when it es to family matters, workpce support, ah, - Raimon said.

  -B, - Alice said.

  -Sorry, it's my habit to pitch the pany, - Raimon said. Adjusting for the day's final surprise, he pulled out a DVD of -The Phantom of Love. -

  -I brought something you'll like, - he said, showing the DVD.

  -We don't have a DVD pyer; we use VHS, - Alice said.

  -I already had that in my pns. I'll be right back; I'll bring the Sony equipment I have in my car. You never know when you might want to watch a movie, - Raimon said.

  **************************************************************

  The legal arena has been pletely crowded with multiple wsuits—some ridiculous, others more serious, and some despicable ohat cked any legal sense and seemed more like a mockery. tercims were swift, and when the w firm Roy & Associates from San Jose filed a tercim that bankrupted a small ic house, wsuits for intellectual property theft ceased.

  Then came the troubles with Warner.

  -They celed the ciliation process, g they're going all out. They've doted all the paperwork, and it's better to iate, - Larry Morrison, the lead wyer on the Warner case, said. He had been w on the case for two years but had beelessly used by Lux Animation. The hiring of two firms dedicated solely to the case had surpassed on barriers.

  -Yeah, withdraw the wsuit. We don't anymore. Let's pay damages; it's just money. Now we have other things to worry about, - Grum, from the eai department, former assistant to Bob Daily, ented. However, he wasn't promoted due to what he called ism and remained as a director's advisor. The love for the pany was lost in that move, unaware that Bob Daily couldn't choose the people who were appointed.

  -Are you sure? - Larry Morrison asked.

  -Absolutely, or else we have minimal ces of winning the case, - Grum asked.

  -Minimal, - Larry firmed.

  -It's better to end now and focus on the money we make by making a deal, - Grum said.

  -Alright, we'll iate and pay, - Larry said, cluding the case. He still doubted that by paying damages, the Lux Animation pany would earn more than what it spent on legal fees.

  It wasn't a lie. Legal fees irial amouo six million dolrs, and punitive damages were assessed at 4 million, with the attorney's pertage factored in; it was simply a disproportionate expense.

  ...