Forever Yours
14
In Business
CHASTITY WAS READY and waiting when he picked her up for dinner Wednesday at six. They headed east to get away from the city a little.
“I signed a lease this morning,” Henry said. “Paid the security deposit and first month’s rent.”
“When do you move in?”
“We can move in the first of June,” Henry said happily.
“We? Henry! Is Carol coming back?” Chastity asked.
“Uh… No… The place has two large private suites. I thought you might like to move with me,” Henry said.
Chastity stared at him in silence for a long time.
“I hope you didn’t sign the lease with that expectation,” she said quietly. “I’m not your girlfriend, Henry. I won’t live with you.”
“I wasn’t thinking you would,” he backpedaled. “I signed the lease intending to sublet one suite. I just thought you might like to have a little more room is all. No big deal.”
“It is a big deal, Henry. My lifestyle is not compatible with sharing a house with anyone. It’s bad enough I had to tell you at all. Just be my friend. You take care of me, and when you need it, I take care of you,” she said.
“I won’t abuse you,” Henry said.
“Of course not. That doesn’t mean we can’t have sex once in a while. Like tonight.”
They drove on to a restaurant near the freeway and went in for a very good meal. Henry was quiet, trying to understand all there was to know about his friend. By the time they left the restaurant he decided he didn’t need to understand. All he needed to do was accept her and be there when she needed him. And when that included sex, it was a benefit.
The news of his new domicile was received by his partners enthusiastically.
“It’s more than an official address for the company,” Henry said when Luke and Isobel returned to town in mid-May. “There is actually space we can use as an office as long as there’s just us. I plan to install the server on the fourth floor and we can get a couple of desks up there. We don’t want to do too much. There’s no elevator, so let’s not stuff it full of crap. Just the basics. Besides, anyone who goes up there has to pass through the living room on the first floor and the second and third floor entries. I’ll need to make sure whoever my renter is understands the traffic pattern. The second floor will be off limits to anyone but my renter.”
“When can you get in?” Luke asked.
“The lease says June 1, but I talked to the developer this week and he said it was fine to move in over Memorial Day weekend. That’s the 29th, 30th, and 31st. That way I’ll be moved in and won’t interrupt class on Tuesday the first.”
“We’re only here for this weekend so we can get back to start summer classes,” Isobel said. “But we can come back to help move over Memorial Day, can’t we Luke?”
“Absolutely.”
“Your help will be welcome, but I don’t really have that much to move,” Henry said.
“You’re going to need to buy some furniture,” Chastity said. “Even if you take your bed from home, you don’t have any living room furniture, no dishes or cookware, and no place to eat. Also, the company needs to pay for office space. You say the fourth floor is about 450 square feet? Shared office spaces in town are going for about three dollars a square foot per month. That would be $1350 per month rental.”
“How did you happen to have that info at the top of your head?” Isobel asked.
“My office administration class this term included all kinds of information on what goes into having an office in the city,” Chastity answered. “I figured it would be important to the company sometime soon.”
“Mom and Dad have agreed to sponsor an attic shopping trip. If I can’t find it in their attic or basement, then we go to Goodwill,” Henry laughed.
“There’s a used furniture store over on Arlington,” Chastity said. “That’s where I got the things for my apartment. And I already picked up a fireproof safe at the office furniture store next to the convention center. They had lots of used office furniture. I’m sure we can get what we need without spending a ton.”
“Speaking of spending,” Luke said, “It’s time to spend a million dollars. Are you guys ready?”
“What?” Chastity gasped.
“We filed the incorporation papers this week. We now own a company called Open Cloak Design. We are going to transfer $1 million from PRPP LLC to Open Cloak Design in exchange for ten million shares of common stock at ten cents per share. That means 2.5 million shares for each of us. It also means we have a corporate bank account to meet these expenses.”
“Holy shit!” Henry said.
“It means we’re really in business. The corporate address will be your new row house,” Luke said. “I move that this meeting now be opened as the first meeting of the board of directors of Open Cloak Design.”
“Hell, yeah!” Henry said. Chastity and Isobel both nodded, almost too choked up to speak.
“Let the record show the first meeting has convened,” Luke said.
“What record?” Chastity asked.
“Hmm. All in favor of Chastity as Corporate Secretary say yes,” Luke said.
“Yes!” they all agreed. Chastity’s vote was a little weaker than the others but she nodded.
“Madam Secretary, please record the minutes of the first meeting of the board,” Luke said.
“I move Luke Riordan be elected Chairman of the Board and CEO,” Henry said. These motions were really formalities as the group had talked frequently over the past year about the role each of them would play. But it was exciting to act as if they were just launching. And really, they were.
They continued with Isobel elected Treasurer and Henry being confirmed as Vice-Chair and Chief Technology Officer.
“In our first acts,” Luke said, “we need to budget the setup of the office, projected expense for any positions we need to fill, and the acquisition of Henry’s other patents.”
“There went that million,” Isobel said.
“Luke and I talked, and with your approval, we think we have a plan that will work,” Henry said. “We need the cash in the bank for operating expenses over the coming year. And we all need to draw an introductory salary. Not enough to live high, but enough to help with individual expenses.”
“We really mean introductory,” Luke said. “We’re proposing a year one salary for each of us at $1,000 per month. We are all working like hell to get this launched. It doesn’t really make a difference what role we are filling; we all need to cover a few of our expenses.”
“That’s great for us,” Chastity said, “but you can’t expect Henry to surrender all the work he’s done for a grand. That is really not fair.”
“No, but his patents and software are a capital acquisition,” Luke continued. “It’s why we established the price per share for the founders at ten cents a share. Henry should receive $100,000 for each of the five patents, including the one that was filed in January and hasn’t issued yet and the one we’ve already licensed to the security company. The $100,000 will be payable in a stock exchange at $.10 per share. In other words, Henry will receive another five million shares. This isn’t set in concrete, so we can have an open discussion before we vote on it.”
“I’m still a little uncomfortable with the amount,” Henry said. “Thank you for your faith in what I’ve developed, but they aren’t all worth the same amount. Plus, we owe—or I owe—ten percent of the sale to Don Harvey, who has filed everything and deferred payment until the company is established. I just think that five million shares would give me a fifty percent interest in the company and that doesn’t recognize how much you all have contributed.”
“You’re worth it,” Chastity said, reaching over to pat Henry’s shoulder.
“I agree in principle that you are worth it, but I’d rather the three of us have the ability to outvote Henry if we feel something is really off the rails,” Isobel said. “I’d suggest a $75,000 purchase for each patent for a total of four million shares.”
“Henry? Does that feel good or like we’re taking advantage of you?” Luke asked.
“I don’t think you are taking enough advantage of me. Here’s what I’m thinking: The $75k is good, but I already sold one of the patents to the LLC. So, that should put another 750,000 shares in joint ownership by the LLC, in case we decide we want to buy something else. Um… I think that comes out to 3.25 million shares for me, and an extra 750,000 shares in our LLC pool.”
“You’ve always been generous, Henry,” Chastity said. “I vote we approve this proposal.”
“I agree,” Isobel said.
“As an equal partner, I vote yes,” Henry said.
“I’ll ask the secretary to write up the agreement as a proper motion approved unanimously by the board,” Luke said.
The four friends and partners sat at the table in Luke’s dining room and talked about the other aspects of the business. Eventually, they resolved the budget, and agreed they would be back together in two weeks to help Henry move. Chastity would go shopping for office furniture and arrange to have it delivered on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.
“Hen-ry,” Chastity sang softly when they were in the car to take her home. “I just came into a windfall and really want to celebrate.”
“What kind of windfall, Chas?” Henry teased.
“I just got two-and-a-half million shares of a hot new tech stock.”
“Hon, you know that even though we set a value of ten cents a share, it isn’t real money.”
“I know. I’m not Isobel. She would have preferred to take her share and bought $250,000 worth of some ‘real’ stock in a ‘real’ company. I told you a long time ago, I am in it for the future.”
“I’m glad you are. So, you want to celebrate?”
“Yes. I’m not a complete floozy. I pay attention to the news and the markets. Microsoft is over $400 a share. Google is $200 a share. Apple is $250 a share. Do you know how much my 2.5 million shares will be worth when we reach that? Between $500 million and $1 billion.”
“It could take years and years to get to that,” Henry laughed. “If we ever do.”
“Yeah. But it’s pretty likely we’ll hit a dollar a share or even ten a share in the foreseeable future. That’s between two-and-a-half and twenty-five million dollars. In my book, that will make me a rich woman. So, I want to celebrate.”
“What would you like, Chas?”
“I would like you between my legs. Face first, then dick second. I want to show you just how happy I am that you are the friend who promised to take care of me. And I’ll reaffirm my pledge. Even this summer. When I come to my new office at the top of your house, I’ll be wearing a short skirt with nothing under it. My little titties will be easily accessible. If you want to fuck my butt, it’s yours. If you need a blowjob, here’s my mouth. If you are tired and stressed, I’ll rub your back and your shoulders and your front and your dick and anything else you want me to rub.”
“You know, you are hired to do actual work,” Henry laughed.
“Oh, I will. I’ll just always be available to you. And I won’t interfere when you get another girlfriend. I’ll just go about my work… and still be available.”
“And tonight?”
“Tonight, I just want all the sex you can give me!”
It turned out that was a lot of sex, even though Henry went home about two in the morning. The previous week, when Henry had suggested she rent the second suite in his home, they’d had sex later, but it seemed a little mechanical. This time, the sex was raucous, loud, and enthusiastic. Henry didn’t even consider his own pleasure for the first hour. He did everything he could to take care of Chastity. When he entered her and they came together, she wept and told him how happy he made her.
Whatever it took, Henry vowed to himself to keep her happy.
Henry spent the last Friday afternoon of May getting everything he owned into the U-Haul truck his father rented. At nineteen he couldn’t rent a vehicle, even though he could rent an apartment. His parents had ‘found’ pieces of furniture for him that would give him the basics in his new abode, but they also went to Goodwill to pick up things like dishes and cookware and another sofa for Henry’s sitting room.
All his computer equipment was packed and Henry was connected to the others only by phone.
“Do you need us tonight?” Isobel texted. “I’m shot!”
“No,” Henry responded. “The truck is loaded and I just need to go over to pick up the keys. We move tomorrow.”
“We ride at dawn,” Luke texted.
“Don’t believe him. We’ll have breakfast at Denny’s about eight-thirty and then go unload. The office furniture people said they would deliver between ten and noon,” Chastity said.
“There isn’t all that much. We should all be finished by noon,” Henry texted.
It was five by that time and Henry drove over to his new apartment to meet the builder.
“How did you decide to equip the house with all the modern conveniences?” Henry asked Ray.
“I built it for myself. I was going to do just what you plan to do and live on the third floor with my office on the fourth. I’d rent out the second floor suite and be sitting pretty,” Ray said.
“What made you change your mind?”
“Well, about halfway through the renovation, I met Darlene. We’re getting married in two weeks. She was not a suitable lessee for the second floor and didn’t want anyone else living in ‘our’ house,” Ray laughed. “I don’t work on just one property at a time. I have another place suitable for a married couple, even though I’ll keep using the construction trailer as my office for now.”
“Well, I’m glad we got matched up. I’ll have to look for a housemate this summer, but we’re good for a while. The company will pay me some rent for the office and I have a steady income plus my grants. We’ll treat the place nicely.”
“You don’t have to sell me again. Anna did a pretty good job of that. She’s a tough negotiator, but she always finds good tenants. Here’s the keys. I labeled a full set. You know all the doors are lockable. I’m sure you’ll want your office locked and a renter would want their rooms locked separately. I have a full set in the office, but I don’t use them unless you make an appointment for service when you aren’t there. Here’s the card with the phone number. Service includes any faults in the power, water, sewer, appliances, heating, or air conditioning. Or if you find anything has been faultily installed. I hope I never need to see you—though I’m sure we’d get along well in a social environment.”
“Thanks, Ray. We’ll start moving in tomorrow morning.”
They gathered for breakfast Saturday morning and were at the apartment well before the estimated delivery of ten o’clock. Henry had labeled the boxes for his bedroom, study, and the office. His mother had labeled the kitchen and bathroom boxes. As a result, the girls were able to move boxes quickly to the correct rooms. Luke, Henry, and Ryan focused on moving in furniture. Their buying expedition had resulted in minimal furniture for the first floor, including seating for the living room, a dining table and chairs, and a few lamps.
When everything was moved in, the space was still sparsely furnished.
Ryan helped Henry set up his bed while Luke joined the women until the delivery truck arrived about eleven-thirty.
He pitched in with the two burly men from the office furniture store to cart desks and filing cabinets to the top floor. When they realized what was going on, Ryan and Henry joined the parade up the stairs.
Chastity directed traffic, telling people exactly where each item was to be set. In twenty minutes, she tipped the guys from the office supply store and Henry started setting up the company server.
Sylvia, Chastity, and Isobel left to get lunch while Ryan and Luke continued to assemble desks and chairs. Chastity had chosen furniture that could be taken apart when they wanted to move again.
“What about phones and printers?” Ryan asked when they’d nearly finished. “Do you have equipment coming?”
Luke and Henry looked at Henry’s father and then collapsed on the floor laughing.
“What? What’s so funny?”
“Dad, we’ve got cell phones,” Henry said. “Does your company still have a landline?”
“How about a FAX?” Luke asked.
“You’ll learn,” Ryan huffed. “Maybe you can keep up with just cell phones while there is just the four of you and you don’t have any outside business, but eventually, you’ll need a permanent phone with extensions for your employees and a number customers will use to reach you. Maybe there will be a wireless system suitable for an office, but it will be a lot more than your smart phones.”
“I’m sure we’ll need something more than cell phones,” Henry said seriously. “Even the house here is wired for something like four different phone lines—in case we need them. But the wireless phone systems are a lot more robust than wired systems. We can conference, transfer, set up voice mail, and even contract a secretarial service for receptionist duties without ever having a person in the office. Once we get our own AI set up, we might not even need that.”
“We need to run lean and mean for the next two or three years,” Luke added. “Henry will need some help because we can’t expect to feed our entire company exclusively off what he develops. He’s got ideas that are just sitting in a folder because he doesn’t have time to do the development. But as much as possible, we want the operations of the office to be automated and low-impact.”
“We weren’t actually laughing because phone lines and FAXes are outdated,” Henry said. “We were laughing because we had almost the same conversation when we were working on our budget two-weeks ago. Everything we do, we need to weigh against cost and efficiency. We put a million dollars into starting up the company, but it won’t last long if we try to act like a big company when there’s just the four of us.”
“Okay. Well, you had me going for a minute. You guys are a mile ahead of anything I would have dreamed up in my teens,” Ryan said. “Do I dare bring up marketing and sales?”
“The pain!” Luke said, clutching his heart. “That’s one area that none of the four of us have any experience or desire to gain an experience. I mean, there’s lots we don’t know about business, but somewhere along the line we need to find someone who can be the Henry of sales and marketing.”
“I hope he or she is better than that,” Henry said. “We need a genius with a Midas touch.”
“I’ll keep an eye out,” Ryan said.
“Food’s here!” Sylvia called from the main floor.
“Maybe we need an intercom,” Henry said as they left the office and headed downstairs.
END PART I
Please feel free to send comments to the author at devon@devonlayne.com.
