Friday morning
When I woke up it was only five thirty, but I knew I wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep. My mind was buzzing about wasting more than a day going up to Montreal to make a deal, only to have it evaporate on us. I couldn't believe that someone who sounded so desperate could so conniving.
I showered quickly, then went out to the patio. As I left the bedroom, Kate and Juanita raised their heads to watch me leave. They both smiled. I thought they went back to sleep.
No sooner than I had started coffee in the house and walked out to the patio, that Tiny walked in the back door. "You up because we were scammed?"
"I woke up and knew I couldn't go back to sleep, so I just got up. That whole thing didn't make sense. If the employees think about it, they are going to be out of a job, unless there is something else he's going to do or something that he's promised them."
Tiny took a sip of some freshly brewed coffee, then said, "I hope they enjoyed the free meal we sent over there. I wonder what he's going to tell them now. Perhaps some of them will break ranks and either call or send us an e-mail. Out of an entire distributorship, there has to be some good employees that are willing to work for a new owner."
"I don't know, Tiny, the longer we were there, the worse my feeling about the place became. It's like we were being set up to become the biggest suckers in Canada."
Phil and Judy pulled up in their cart, with Abe and Alice, at six fifteen. Phil's first words were, "So when can we start shipping out of our Canadian distributorship?"
Tiny said, "Not until we build it and not until you go up to Onan and sign us up as the Montreal, Canada, distributor."
Phil was shocked, "What happened, I thought we were buying a guy out up there, the distributorship, the buildings, the inventory, the works."
Star came in the patio with a big smile on her face. She put a large bunch of folders down on the table near me then went for coffee. The bellhop from the hotel came in with our sandwiches, so she picked up two, along with her coffee and came back to sit next to me, handing me a sandwich.
"I have twelve new tools. At least seven are marketable. Will you have time later this morning to review them? Or do we need to set up a panel to review them together?"
I nodded to her, swallowing a bite of sandwich. "We'll look at them first, then we'll set up a panel to review them again. This is going well. Do you think you'll get many more?"
Star exclaimed excitedly, "I have over a hundred and fifty more homemade tools to look at, photographed, and taped in action. The guys are really excited about showing off their own homemade tools. They are almost all specialty tools for specific equipment, but they would have value for those folks who work on the equipment. I was working out a marketing strategy for the tools, and decided we would probably have to use industry magazines that reach the technicians, to sell what we will market."
"Good reasoning. Let's get a dozen or so really good tools separated, then market them. Once we establish that we have good, usable, specialty tools, people will look at everything we market. We can publish a small catalog as an insert to trade magazines."
"Thanks, Steve, this is fun. I'm really excited about the idea."
Juanita and Kate came out and sat with me, saying that the mothers were stirring, so they would go back in to help get them started. Juanita said, "Sue and Mercy need a little extra sleep. I think we should make them take naps with the little ones every day. We want them healthy."
Star said, "With those two producing five at once, they're going to need a lot of rest. This is really a surprise for all of us. There isn't another set of twins out here right now. In a few years it's going to be the terror of the Sharps'."
When everyone left for work, I had Star stay back so we could review the tools on the patio. We went through each of the tools and I chose the same ones she had for immediate production. I told her that the others were good too, but were too specific for mass marketing. We could probably produce them, but they may not be profitable.
"You know what? There is another idea. Let's save all of the tools that won't be profitable, patent them for the creators, and put them all together in a book. We'll sell the book and perhaps make some money from it. If everything is patented, then someone could only make one for themselves and not resell it."
Star smiled, "You always have another way for your people to make a buck don't you?"
"I try, Star. That's why I'm here on Earth. I'm here to make all of my family and friends successful."
Star gave me a hug and a quick kiss on the lips. Sue and Mercy were both watching so she turned to them and stuck her tongue out at them saying, "It was just a kiss."
Juanita said, "I have my eye on you, lady. You are on my list."
"And what kind of list is that, Juanita?" Star asked.
Sue laughed, "It's her I wonder if she's fun in bed list."
Star actually blushed, as Juanita swatted at Sue.
My cell phone rang. Tiny's voice spoke, "We called it. The shop foreman was calling to find out what was going on. He said all the shop people had been promised nice separation bonuses and a job with us at an even higher wage. I told him the deal was in the air because we had not been told everything, so we were going to open our own place. He asked if our offer for higher wages was still valid. I told him that we had not offered anyone anything yet. We always paid fair, usually above market, for good employees. He said he represents all of the shop people and that we should negotiate through him. I told him that we would hire individually and that each man would stand on his own abilities. He came off his high horse a little. I have a phone number for him so we could use him as a starting point."
"That's good, Tiny," I said, thinking that this may turn out all right. "Have you heard from the owner, Bustaine?"
"Nope, not yet. I called the lawyer we were going to use yesterday and we agreed on monies for a retainer. He's faxing an agreement to me to look at and sign as we speak. If you want to review it, I'll hold it for you."
"What would I do with it, Tiny. I can barely read a contract, much less figure out what it says. That's what you're for."
"Thanks, Steve. Glad I can still be of service." He was laughing as he hung up.
I told the ladies, "I think I should be at the shop today. There are too many things in the works. Something may come up that we need to react too. I'll skip the gym today, but don't you girls do that. You all need to go to the gym daily."
Sue gave me a hug and kiss, "You too, Husband. You need the gym just as much as we do if you're going to keep up with us."
Maggie had been listening to us and said, "I'll bet you're happy I'm past wanting some loving. My goodness, you have a regular harem going on here."
Mercy said, "It's our fault, Maggie, Sue and I can't keep our hands off someone like Juanita, and now she's as bad as we are. None of us could see letting Kate be lonely while she's going through the mess with her husband, so we wanted her to enjoy our man too. As long as Steve takes care of our friends, we're happy with him."
"I'll show you happy with me," I said, taking Mercy by the arm and swinging her till she was laying across my lap. I smacked her butt through shorts three or four times, not very hard, then stood her up. "Now be nice, young lady, or I'll have to limit your access to me and the pleasure I give you."
"Well, I don't know about that. Sue and I really wanted some attention last night and you just fell asleep. The night before, you were up in Canada, probably flirting with all of the French-Canadian girls. You better be up for us tonight, big guy."
"Oh my, the natives are restless. I'll see all of you later. I should go to work."
When I came in the door, Debbie saw me and came out. "Tiny wants to see you right away. He said it's important."
When I walked into Tiny's office, he was on the phone. He held up his hand and said into the phone, "He's here right now. I'll call you back."
"Let's get some coffee. This is getting good. We went to the upstairs lunch room and got coffee. He began, "Our Mr. Bustaine was arrested by the Canadians trying to leave the country with a large amount of greenbacks. It seems he's performed some kind of trick on the banks up there that would have been attributed to us, but since we didn't fall for his bullshit, he had to leave quickly before the deal was done. The cops found the money and he couldn't explain it. When they contacted his bank, they said they were in the process of having him charged with fraud."
"The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are locking up his buildings right this minute, and apparently a couple of other employees were arrested for being involved. Can you believe how close we came to getting involved?"
Henry came in with a folder. "I have a complete employee list from up there, with their home phone numbers. How about we have am employment firm interview all of them, so we know whether or not we want to hire them? We'll find out who was arrested from the other group as well. If we go into business quickly, we shouldn't lose any marketing momentum that was going on. Can I proceed with this?"
Tiny said, "Do it. Call the real estate guy to and see what he has. The buildings from the old distributorship are going to be in custody for a long time. Let's find a building, even if it's temporary and get back in business as soon as we can. We can build a new place and use it as a marketing tool."
Abe walked in and drew a cup of coffee. "Sounds like we have some things happening up in Canada. That country has always been a pain in the ass. I'll bet Steve will tame it quickly and get some business out of there."
I smiled at Abe and said, "You mean you're not going to go up and start my rebuild shop up there?"
"Damn, if I had to do that, I swear I'd retire."
"Abe, you could take one of the big RVs up there and give them some pointers, make sure who I hire is going to be good, and make up a plan to have them come down here for training."
Abe thought about it for a minute, "I could do that. Put that way, it makes sense. I could pick and choose who I wanted to come down for training and see who needed factory training."
"That's the way, Abe. You would be able to travel around Canada a little and perhaps find another city where we needed to put a dealership or distributorship in."
"Good idea, Steve. I'll bet Alice would love to do that but not during the winter. I'll go up and check out everyone, but I'm not going up there to stay for a month this time of year that's for sure. I'd freeze up."
I had Abe come with me into the big office, then called Star to come up with the latest stuff she had. We looked at the twelve tools and Abe picked the same ones we did. I told him about the book of other tools and he said that was a great idea. "Mechanics and technicians are always looking for a specialty tool that will make their day easier. They enjoy making them as much as using them. Great idea, Steve."
I told Star, "For each tool we're not going to market right now, go back to the creator and have him tell you how he made the tool. Try to get the exact measurements and exactly how he made it. We'll want to put that into the book along with the picture. We might have to have a detailed drawing, as well. Actually, we'll have to have that for the patents anyway. It'll work. Make sure you put down exactly what equipment the tool can be used on."
Phil came to me with a huge stack of papers. "These are the presentations for my seminar. I made this whole thing like a screenplay, so you'll know exactly what I'm going to do and say when I do it."
"How about having Star set up one of her video cameras and you can give the seminar to the camera first. I'll watch that and we can discuss it."
"Good idea. You and Tiny, and maybe Abe, can watch it and critique it and me. I'll do that this afternoon if I have time." He was thoughtful and said, "I have four and half days of material. It'll take four and half days to tape it. Damn this is hard work."
"Tell you what, Phil, why not practice what you've written, then we'll tape the actual seminars. We'll use the ones that are the best to sell to those people who can't come in person. You'll get better as you go and I'll make sure at least one of our sales types sits through the seminar to critique you every time. You'll probably change several areas after you've given it four or five times."
Phil was smiling, "Star does say that she has three seminars just around here in January. By the time we go to Jacksonville, I should have it down pretty well."
"You'll probably be training our competition, but most of all, you'll be getting even more attention for S&S."
Ruth came to get Tiny, "Your real estate guy says he has just what you want. He's on line three."
Tiny said, "Let's take it in your office. We'll use that fancy speakerphone on your table."
When Tiny answered the call, he told the agent he was on speakerphone. The man said, "No matter. I have a brand new building about a mile from my office that was built, but never completed. The external size is the same as the one you showed me from St. Louis, but the land is a little larger. Instead of ten acres this is fifteen. This could be good in the event you did expand. I'm having an independent appraiser go over the land and the building and should have a realistic appraisal by tomorrow. Do you want to talk to the appraiser when he's done?"
I nodded to Tiny, "Yes, that would be good."
"The building is a General Steel building but does not have any insulation or heating yet. So far, the snow isn't too bad so we should be able to get the building ready for occupancy in a couple of weeks. When do you want to look at it?"
I mouthed to Tiny, "Tomorrow."
Tiny talked to the guy, "We'll be there tomorrow to look at the property. Have the appraiser meet us after we look at the building and make sure we can do something with it quickly. We need to be in business up there yesterday. Just because it's Saturday isn't going to be a problem, is it?"
When Tiny hung up, I said, "Call the attorney to advise him of what's happening so he'll be on tap for tomorrow. The only thing we need to decide is, do we go up tonight or tomorrow."
Ruth was standing in the doorway, "You should probably go up tonight, but Steve is going to catch hell if he abandons his harem again so soon. Steve, you decide when to go."
"We'll go this evening. I'll call home and get them ready. I'll take them all with me and let them go shopping tomorrow. Ruth, want to go to Montreal? I could use Darnel so he could perhaps corner a contractor to build out the joint quickly. Ruth, call Darnel on his cell. Better call Deanne and tell her about the trip as well."
The first thing I did was call our charter service, "I need the Lear for tonight and the next few days. I don't think it will be more than three."
"You got it, Boss. John said to make sure the Lear was available for you."
I called Sue, "Want to go to Montreal to shop? Tell Mercy, Juanita, and Kate what we are doing and if we need to take the kids, so be it. I have to go so if you guys want to tag along and shop up there, come along. We will leave in a couple of hours."
Sue called me back, "Can I bring Hannah along? We need to try to get our products into a couple of big department stores up here. I'll call to make sure they will see me tomorrow. Juanita will come, but Mercy and Kate are staying home."
"Okay, pack up, we're leaving soon."
Tiny thought Henry should come along, so we had him invite Nancy along. We had a fairly full airplane.
Two hours later we were in the air, with Sue in the right seat. I spent the entire flight teaching her what I had just learned. She seemed to pick up the instrumentation quickly. I let her find the glide slope and get the plane on the ground, then I took over the taxi as the bird had a tendency to overreact to my clumsiness.
Sue had booked us into the airport hotel again, so we were whisked away to the hotel. When we checked in, Hannah said, "I'll stay with you guys if it's okay." Tiny had a room, Henry and Nancy had a room, and the four of us were given a giant double.
We ate some hotel meals then went to bed. While I paid attention to Juanita, Sue and Hannah were busy, and while Sue and I enjoyed our physical love for each other, Juanita and Hannah occupied themselves. Sue said, "Hannah, why don't you see if you can get Steve to give you just one more tonight."
She worked for it, and after some loving from all the women, I filled her with what she craved. She swallowed three or four times saying, "That's what I needed. I just love Steve's stuff."
Saturday morning
I woke between my first and third wife. At least, I think of Juanita as a wife. We showered quickly and met the others downstairs for breakfast. Since we are all early risers, we had plenty of time to plan our day. The girls were going to several stores. Sue and Hannah to market their products while Nancy and Juanita were going to comparison shop.
We were at the real estate office at eight. The agent showed about eight fifteen, embarrassed that we beat him there. We tried to explain to him that we were used to getting going early in the morning. We drove to the building and were surprised that it was so stark. There were no trees or bushes anywhere. It was a big fenced in area with a giant building in the center.
Darnel checked the construction of the building and said it was spec. He said he would have no trouble doing a build-out any way we wanted. I had Darnel ride back to the real estate office with the agent so he could get the names of some contractors. While the agent, Tiny, and Henry were working out the deal, I stayed with Darnel while he talked to several contractors. I could tell he was getting frustrated, so we went to see the agent again.
"I thought you said most of the contractors up here were hungry. Everyone we talked to said they couldn't touch any new work till late spring. What's up with that? Do we have to bring our own people in?"
The agent looked surprised, he picked up the phone and called someone, "I said you were looking for work and you told my client that you couldn't work for him till spring. What's the matter with you? I had to lend you a grand at the beginning of the month just so you could feed my sister and your kid now you're turning down work. What's up?"
The agent listened for a while then exclaimed, "No way, you have to be kidding." Again he listened for a long while then said, "I'll tell you what. If you don't build this out for this client, and do it fast and really, really good, I'll let my sister and the baby stay with us while you suck on those guys dicks. Let me know in an hour or you can eat shit and die for all I care."
He slammed the phone down and looked up, "I'm sorry about this. Some of the guys from the old company have called contractors all over the area to tell them that you guys are a bunch of scam artists who framed their employer. I already found out the man was scamming the banks and has had his property confiscated. I don't know how he's gotten the guys to back him, but he has. I'll tell my brother-in-law to call the police and find out. He needs the work. All his men need the work."
The agent pointed us in the direction of a restaurant that we would enjoy. Darnel was sketching a floor plan for workspaces and offices. He asked, "Are you going to have a welding shop? A sheet metal shop? How about a motor shop?"
"Darnel, I think we should have a large rebuild shop, and we could have a welding shop, but it would probably be all off-premise. We would need a place for the truck at night so it could be serviced, ready to work the next day. We might have to look at some carts; especially those special ones we've been building that have the rubber tracks for snow. They are pretty neat as they have heat, and even a radio. This might me a good market for them."
Tiny said, "You know you would have enough land to have another cart shop up here. You could build the cold weather carts here and what you need in the States, import them back down. That would leave the Florida cart shop to build all the others."
"Good idea, Tiny. I'd bet that if we brought in another contractor from out of town, we could begin getting attention from the local guys. How about inviting one of the big contractors to come in to talk to us? Make sure he brings his truck so everyone can see who's here. That should get them off dead center."
Tiny asked slyly, "What should I use for bait? I have to tell him what the deal is."
"Tell him the truth. Tell him that if the other contractors don't let loose within twenty-four hours, he can begin the build-out and the second building. Also tell him we'll feed him the best and put him up in a nice hotel. Tell him to bring his wife so he can have a nice time."
Tiny was back in a few minutes saying the contractor would be here this afternoon. When we got back to the agent, we told him what we had done with an out of town contractor. He immediately called his brother in law then slammed the phone down again. "He's calling the guy to tell him to stay away."
"We already told him about what the deal was. He said business was business and he didn't care what the locals thought, especially for a build-out and another building."
The contractor showed up at the real estate agent's office. We took him out to see the building, and he thought the same as Darnel. "The building is good. It's just not finished." Darnel showed the contractor his drawings so he could get an idea of what was needed. Darnel told the man, "I'd like to have you fly down to Tampa to see our other buildings. I could fly you to St. Louis too, but Tampa is where it all started. I'd like for you to see the quality of the construction, so you know what we expect."
"If a local doesn't take the job, I want it. I'd love to go down to Tampa to study how you guys build. I'm willing to learn from anyone. You guys insulate for the heat, I insulate for the cold. Has to be about the same."
I called Sue and asked her where we could send the contractor's wife so she could tag along. I hinted that the lady was larger than life. Sue got the picture and gave their location. We put the contractor's wife in a taxi and she was gone.
The cold was getting to me. "Okay, everyone has seen this place, knows what's here, and has a general idea of what we want. Can I buy this place now so we can get started or do I need to do something else?"
The real estate agent looked embarrassed when I challenged him like that. I wanted to get the deal done, enough messing around. The agent asked me to call my attorney, then told my attorney the name of the selling attorney. I then gave our attorney the numbers from the appraiser and told him to make us a good deal. I gave him my parameters and let him go.
I used the appraisers number and deducted ten percent, because I figured it to be at least that high since building permits were up. Then I deducted another twenty percent because there was two feet of snow on the ground. Nothing sells except skies with two feet of snow on the ground. That's the max number I gave the attorney, with the bottom number another twenty-percent down. If the guy was worth his salt, he would begin with the low number knowing where he had to end up. If he couldn't make a deal, then I'd have to reconsider my parameters.
Henry wanted to go with the attorney, so I called our attorney back and told him I was sending Henry. Tiny had a great idea. He wanted to find a bar and discuss the whole deal with Darnel, the contractor, and the nervous agent.
We settled into a booth in the hotel bar. I told Tiny this meant we couldn't leave for at least another eight to twelve hours. He laughed and said if necessary he would have another pilot flown up to fly us back. While we were all talking and laughing, the agent's cell phone went off. Her brother had called his wife, so the agent had to tell her the whole story. When he hung up he said, "I'll bet my brother-in-law calls me in less than thirty minutes."
Fifteen minutes later the agent's phone rang. The agent just said, "About time." Then told the person on the phone where we were. Just about the time our third drink was delivered, a young guy came in with his hat in his hand. As he approached the table, the out of town contractor said, "Hey Butch, how are you doing."
"Good, Marso, so it was you who was going to get the business here."
"I'm not going to pass up a winter's worth of work. I kind of figured on subbing some of the work out to you, but I didn't know you had been offered the job."
The agent introduced his brother-in-law, "This is Henry Montuso, my brother-in-law, everyone calls him Butch. Butch is the General Steel builder here and Marso is the General Steel builder where he's from. They do work together on big projects, but this one is probably just one guy."
I thought that I might work this out, "How about the two of you working together and getting this thing done in half the time. Do the build-out, and I'll have my guys design the second building so you can start on it right away. You'll need to pour on warm days or just pour where the steel is planted where you can heat the ground. Can you two work together?"
Marso asked, "Are you willing to pay the extra to work in the cold? To do the pouring that's necessary?"
"I want this building up and done. I want the first building in operation within two weeks. That's before Christmas. I want the second building in operation no later than April 1st. If something delays it, we'll work on it, but that's what I want."
Butch and Marso looked at each other. Marso stuck out his hand and Butch shook it. Marso asked, "When can we start?"
"As soon as the attorney calls us."
We ordered a fresh round along with a bunch of snacks. While we were snacking and drinking, the ladies arrived, all together. We brought some more tables close to the booth and got drinks for those that could. Sue looked a little forlorn, because she had to stay with Diet Coke. Juanita was sweet. She had Diet Coke along with Sue. I slipped some spiced rum into her drink, but she never let on to Sue.
Right at five, my cell rang. It was Henry, my brother. He said, "It's done. You'll like it. We've signed the deal and I've had our bank begin transferring funds. Where are you so we can join the party?"
After I told Henry where we were, I asked Tiny, "When did you give Henry permission to spend money or transfer funds. Is he an officer now?"
"I made Henry an officer of the company after the first month. The man is gold. I love the way he looks after your money. He says it's his job to do that. Now he knows he's looking after his money too."
Nancy said, "Henry thinks you are the best thing since sliced bread. If you listen to him you'd be walking on water. You've given us a new life, Steve, Henry appreciates it and will give you his all."
Tiny commented, "You see. The man is gold."
Sue told Nancy, "Steve trusts everyone, but has been taken advantage of so many times. He's given away over half the company, just so he knows he's not stingy. Since Henry is Steve's brother, who knows what Steve will do."
Marso and Butch were discussing how to progress. Darnel said, "I'll send you the blueprints for the St. Louis store, but you might want to come down to see our shops in Tampa. You'll get an idea of what we want. Our shops are special. We would like our shop up here to be special too."
Darnel continued, "When you see how he wants his logo on the floors, the walls, the roof, then you see all of his "perfect" signs. You'll know what a perfectionist you're dealing with. He's easy to deal with, as long as what you do is perfect."
"I'm not that bad, Darnel, I just want everyone to give me their best. If their best isn't good enough then I want them to want to learn how to give me their best."
Tiny laughed, "He's made a believer out of everyone in the Tampa area, that's for sure."
Sue spoke up, "My factories are all competing with each other on who does the most perfect work. There used to be barrels of seconds that were around every line. Now we don't need a barrel for an entire division. Steve has them all doing what he calls perfect work."
Henry and the attorney joined us, so we moved our group into the dining room. They had a prime rib special so we all feasted on prime rib and good sides. I quit drinking, as we would be leaving fairly early tomorrow. The coffee was excellent.
When we settled down that night, I thumped my wife and Juanita, then they teased me into a mouthful for Hannah. That woman could suck a basketball through a straw. (Golf balls are way too easy for Hannah.)
At breakfast Sunday morning, Henry gave me the details of the deal. The attorney had started out at the price that I had given him as the low number. As soon as he was willing to come up, Henry began hammering on him to not come off the number. Henry said they continued to negotiate until they were about ten percent from my high number when the building owner and his attorney caved. They had drawn up the deal and signed it immediately, contingent on the title, tax, and lien searches. We had transferred a deposit in good faith, awaiting information on the pending items.
Marso and Butch came to breakfast where I told them we would use them to finish this project and would remember them in the future. We scheduled them to come to Tampa the day after tomorrow so they could see our method of operation and the buildings we have down there.
By noon, we were getting ready to fly home. Sue and I did the preflight, with me teaching her what to look for, then I had her sit in the left seat and go through the same steps I had to learn to fly this fun airplane. When it lifted off the ground, almost leaping into the air, Sue squealed in delight. "I love this thing. It's fun."
We again had to land in Burlington, Vermont for a customs and security check. I had to explain that Sue was a student checkout pilot. No one asked to see my ticket, so we were able to scam our way through that.
A few hours later, Sue was using her knowledge and the airfield's instrumentation to land. She does have a gentle touch when landing. Soon we were unloading our luggage and turning the plane over to one of our mechanics.
Once home, Sue and Juanita were all over the kids. You would have thought they were gone for a month not two nights. The ladies all wanted to hear how Sue did and the guys all wanted to learn what had turned out with the company stuff. Darnel gave the most information of what he had done and what was going to be done. The big interest came from us having another shop to exclusively build the snow machines up there. As we showed pictures of the new building with all of the snow, they were eager for us to retain the building of southern exposure machines and none of that snow stuff.
When the world calmed, I took my lovelies to bed. This time I began with Kate, then made it to each of the ladies by loving them, but finally exploding while making love with Sue. After that extensive lovemaking session, the ladies were satisfied and I was still beneath one of them. I was in love, in love with life and my wonderful women.