Chapter 33

Beep, beep, beep, beep

Wow, a new week. I wonder if this one will have as many surprises and events as last week. I slipped out of bed and into workout clothes. I kissed my two beauties awake and they were both smiling as they got up to get ready to drive to Shapes. I called Donte to make sure he was coming when they were ready, and we all went to the valet desk to get the rental car. Michi joined us, although he wasn't a workout enthusiast.

Shapes wasn't that far, but it took a little over fifteen minutes to get there. We would be running a little later than I wanted. The girls told me they wouldn't be going with me again, so I parked in the big lot near the front door when we went back to the hotel. I called room service to have breakfast delivered for me and some juice for the girls. I cleaned up, dressed, and was waiting for them to bring the food. Room service here surprisingly wasn't the fastest around.

The girls planned to spend a lot of time with the mothers, and told me to have fun. It's strange, but my job is fun and I was going to share it with Fred. Hideki had left Michi here with us, so Donte came with me.

I rolled up to the office at seven and met Fred as he came driving in. I asked him if he needed to open the office before we left, but he told me that the next person would open up so we could go ahead and begin our drive. It took forever to get back to I-4 at that time of the morning. I would have Fred meet me at the Hard Rock so we didn't have to fight traffic in both directions next time.

Fred had a late model Camry that we took for our visit to Orlando. I pulled the file for Orlando and went over the monthly P&Ls that I requested from the offices while Fred drove. All the department incomes were gradually increasing, and the payroll took a bump up as they began a new development. Everything looked good. Fred said that he had gone there two weeks ago because of a customer complaint about something that he felt wasn't complete. The man expected an enclosed porch, and it was found that it had not been included on the signed floor plans when they were reviewed. Fred said, "I offered to split the cost of an enclosed porch and that took care of the complaint. The guy surprised me and asked to talk to our pool man. We ended up selling a twenty-five grand pool with a cage."

"Great, that's the way to do it, Fred. React to a complaint as fast as possible so that it doesn't escalate or the customer doesn't think you're putting him off."

I told Fred my plan, "We'll make a tour, and then talk to the Manager about his new development and his plan for the rest of the year. We'll look at his advertising folder, and that should take care of it. We'll be out of there by noon."

That's what happened. I used the driving time back to the office to write my report and to comment on Fred's handling of a complaint that never reached the home office because he knew how to take care of it. I told Fred to write a report the way I do, and I would include it with mine.

Back in the Tampa office, I told Fred, "Pick me up at the Hard Rock in the morning and we'll go to the Executive Airport. It's the one that used to be named Brandenburg Airport off 301. It's only about ten minutes from the hotel. Give me a call when you turn off Hillsborough or I-4, and I'll meet you at the front door."

I sat in the rental car and called Kelly. She said that everything was moving along the way it should be. The other offices had reported in and were doing fine. She told me, "Rebecca is already in Salt Lake City, and Yori called to tell me that he was in Oakland. It looks like you're going to fill up your Assistant program. I have Sandy in Finance and Willy in Title with me right now. I took them on my morning tour and will do that again tomorrow. We have a new sales secretary who has all the salesmen dragging their tongues in the dirt. Her name is June, and she has Willy's looks and Joan's appeal; very dangerous. You know that those girls get together and make sure whoever they send will do well in the office. I know the girls and work with them to help all those trying to get out."

"It sounds like you have it under control, Kelly. Stay vigilant and make sure you talk with Georgia and Connie every day. Georgia will hear things, and Connie will see things through the numbers. Call if you need me. I'll be in Naples, and maybe Miami, tomorrow."

I determined on the way back to the hotel that I wanted to get to Miami tomorrow so that I could wrap this up Wednesday, and get out of here on Thursday, maybe even on Wednesday evening. I wondered if Katie's mom and dad would be ready to go home by then. We should probably go back Thursday or Friday morning so that we can take a detour and drop them off in Iowa.

The evening was like the nights before; we had a great supper at the Hard Rock, and then visited for most of the evening. I needed to be in bed early in preparation for a long day to come.

The girls told me in bed that they had a wonderful day with the two mothers, and included Nobuko by using Skype. They told me that the wedding was planned to be held in two weeks, and that everyone should be able to be there for the event. My mom told the girls that she would talk to my brother and sister, but she didn't know whether or not they would venture all the way to California. Katie said that she had talked to all her siblings, and only one thought she could get off work to come. She didn't act like she felt bad about her family not coming. I didn't feel all that bad about my stuck up brother and sister not coming, but wished that they could see and drool over the home I live in.

It was funny to think how both my siblings thought they had struck gold by finding mates who were wealthy or came from wealth. I'd bet that my personal wealth now rivaled their mates, and that my income was double or even triple what theirs is. The difference was I was living the life of someone well off, while they were still going through the motions. I was deliriously happy with my relationship, and couldn't see it becoming less so in the future, while they seemed to be marking time. Luck has been with me, allowing me to progress with Mooney and be trusted with the responsibility they've given me. Well darn, my arm was going to start hurting from trying to pat myself on the back so much.

Tuesday was our first day of flying to the offices. Fred was used to commuter flights, but this would really cut down on the time waiting to board and all the other slowdowns associated with commercial flights.

The girls, Donte, Michi, and I took off for the gym a little earlier so that we would have more time to work out. I knew that Jules' running and Nautilus time would be good for her in the early stages of pregnancy and that she would soon need some instruction. I ordered breakfast to be delivered to the room for all of us this morning.

I said goodbye to the girls and was downstairs at the door when Fred called to tell me that he was turning toward the Hard Rock. He picked me up and we headed toward the small airport. I called the pilot to tell him we were on our way and should be there in ten minutes. We parked in the field's parking area and walked through operations and out to the aircraft. Fred was as excited to fly on a private jet the same as I had been my first time. It was actually exciting every time I boarded the plane. Sandy welcomed us and shut the door. Donte sat in the cockpit's right seat.

We immediately began going over the numbers for Naples and couldn't see any problems. Their sales had been increasing and their finance department had been selling a large number of loans to outside realtors. They had recently hired two insurance people, but that office hadn't taken off yet. It takes time to get rolling in some areas. The smaller the population, the more difficult it is.

We made the tour, chatted with the Manager, who had no problems and said he would welcome Fred as his Regional Manager. We were headed back to the airplane on the way to Miami at ten thirty. I called the Miami Manager to make sure that he expected us. This was going to work out. It was a long distance between the airport and office, but there wasn't a closer airport in Miami. It took almost thirty-five minutes in bad traffic after the hour flight. We stopped for a burger and Coke along the way so that we wouldn't be hungry and have to take time out to eat at the office.

This was a fairly high volume office, with three developments in three different directions. The Manager was very conservative, didn't like a whole lot of changes, and had resisted the swimming pool idea, as well as the insurance office so far. I showed him the LA office's P&L for the insurance office and the recent one from Tampa on both the insurance office and pool concession after our tour. He and his two fairly new Assistants became interested and they discussed how to house some additions. I congratulated him for increasing sales numbers and for the high volume his title office was doing. He was proud of his office and worked hard to keep increasing sales. We were done by three and on the way back to the airport. The pilot was ready for us after we turned the rental car in, and we made it back to Tampa just after five. Fred had me back at the Hard Rock by five thirty, and agreed to meet me again in the morning.

I hadn't written my report on Miami yet, so I quickly finished that and transmitted both Naples and Miami to the home office. I called LA and heard that all was well and that sales had some kind of promotion going to increase our listings to an even higher level. Kelly asked, "We need to hire our own photographer with the number of listings we're getting. Zillow and MLS will accept each other's work, but they both are really exorbitant. I'll e-mail you my cost projections if we had our own photographer so that you can compare the numbers. Connie helped me put this together."

How about that? Kelly realized that you had to have the numbers to make a decision, and went to the right person to get them. There was more to hiring a photographer than the person's salary. There were all the insurances, expenses, equipment, and housing. I'd be interested to see if it worked out to be cheaper.

Kelly told me that she had heard from both Rebecca and Yori. She said that Yori said it was even more fun to work in the Oakland office than it had been to visit it. He had also told Kelly that he had spent the day in Finance. She said, "I'll swap the two here tomorrow so that they can work in another department. I didn't put them in the offices until after the morning tour. All is well."

I was having a drink while finishing reports and the call. The girls came bursting into the room, with Michi following them. They were excited because Jules had made some unusually large trades early this morning and was still glowing over the profits. I asked, "So what are the families' dinner plans?"

Katie said, "We want to go to the Acropolis, a Greek restaurant in Ybor City. It's supposed to be really good. You might have gone there before." I had and didn't particularly like it, but knew that we might have trouble getting a reservation.

I looked them up on the internet and called. When I asked for a reservation for nine, the person taking my call laughed and asked what day next month would be good. I asked if they had private party rooms and the girl said, "Sure, for a price. We can seat thirty, but the price is still the same." She told me the price, and I asked, "Is that room available tonight?"

It was available, so I asked, "What do you need to reserve the room? My name is Brad Johnson; how much is it for nine of us to eat in your party room. One large table would be fine."

The girl asked, "Are you the Brad Johnson who works for Mooney in Carrollwood?"

"I am."

"My sister works for you. She's always talking about how nice you are. Her name is Delores and she's a sales secretary. The other sales secretary is now some guy named Fred's secretary."

I said, "It's a small world. Fred is the Manager here now that I've been transferred to California. I'm here to work with Fred for a few days. What do you need to guarantee the party room?"

"Oh yeah, that's what we were doing. Probably nothing from you, but give me a credit card number so that it'll be on the reservation."

Katie said, "I didn't mean for it to be a hassle. I guess they are very busy," when I got off the phone.

I told her, "Ybor City is the old Cuban part of town where all the cigar makers used to be and the best restaurant down there was and probably is the Columbia Restaurant that had been open for over a hundred years. It was a Spanish restaurant, but it served mostly Cuban dishes. We'll go there the next time we come down. Now I need to call that limo service again."

The girls called the two moms and told them to get ready as we now had reservations. I kept my suit on as there was no reason to change. I would be way overdressed for Tampa, but that was okay. I didn't think this place was all that great once again, but they had some crazy entertainment. I think that Dad and Joe had the most fun as the two waitresses we had constantly teased them with very low cut blouses that advertised a lot of cleavage. We guys are so predictable.

I suggested that we might try to leave tomorrow evening while we had dinner. I was watching to see if there were a lot of frowns. Mom and Jo looked disappointed, so I suggested, "How about we leave Thursday morning. The plane can drop Joe and Jo off in Des Moines, where you said your car was. It's less than three hours there and then about three and half to Burbank's Bob Hope Airport. I have to go to Jacksonville and Panama City tomorrow, so I might not get back until after six, but I'm hoping that I'll be back here by four since I'm getting an early start. How about we plan on going to the Columbia Restaurant tomorrow night? It's either that or we go to 4 Rivers for some of the best barbecue known to mankind. They used to only be in Orlando, but now have a place here in Tampa. It's always full and you have to stand in line to get served cafeteria style. We're talking great stuff."

I think the Columbia easily won out, because most people are unwilling to stand in line to get served. They wouldn't feel that way if they knew how good the food was.

I was worn out and the girls seemed to be tired by the time we got back to the Hard Rock, so we said goodnight to the older couples, who were having a great time in the casino. I hoped they were being cautious about how much they spent.

The girls were very loving tonight, and told me that they had taken a long, loving nap earlier today. Not much sleep, but a lot of loving. We soaked some towels while I loved the two women. Jules' huge flow seemed to be lessening lately, and I wondered if it had to do with her being pregnant. She still was nuts over the loving we did, but it also was lessening in intensity, and she wanted more gentle thrusting as she experienced orgasm after orgasm. That's one thing both girls never missed out on, as they always immediately began coming when I made love with them and continued until I couldn't do it any longer. What a pair.

Morning came too fast, although I had been in bed before ten. The girls begged not to go work out when I got up because they were still too tired. They admitted to having been up for another couple of hours pleasuring each other after I went to sleep. I relented and only met Donte to go to the gym. He laughed with me at Michi's reluctance to work out almost every day. We were back at the hotel in time for me to only order my breakfast before doing my personal hygiene stuff and dressing for work. I had made the mistake of having my harness on when the bellhop delivered my breakfast. There was a loud knock on the door a minute later.

Three hotel security men entered the room and stood around me. "Why are you armed?"

I showed them my permits and licenses, and they asked, "Who do you guard?"

"One of the women with me and myself. I'm a Senior Executive with Mooney Corporation. You might remember that someone we transferred here about three months ago was jailed for drug trafficking and murdering a drug dealer."

One of the security men nodded in understanding. I told them not to worry as I knew the rules and laws, and wouldn't discharge a firearm in their hotel unless it was absolutely necessary. I would let them do the dirty work.

I ate my now cold breakfast and made it downstairs to meet Fred who was excited to fly on the private aircraft again. We were quickly up to Jacksonville, and went through that office just as fast. They were on track with a pool builder and had started an Insurance Department. Their Title sales were down, but it was because one of our older customers had retired and had sold their customers to another title company. I was assured that they would build their business back up again.

We were in Panama City by eleven. This wasn't a busy office, but they had all the departments and were a great place for a new Assistant to learn about the way Mooney does business. The only thing I questioned was the number and variety of their inventory homes. I suggested that they have at least six different styles of homes prebuilt so that a custom home buyer could see what could be done. I thought they could sell more inventory homes if they had more built. Logical, right? Although I previously hadn't been an advocate of a great many inventory homes, I now realized that having a variety of them gave the sales force more to sell.

Fred asked me, "Where did you see that about needing more inventory homes?" on the way back to the airport.

"Their sheets said they only had two inventory homes, and they were listed as being the same style. That's not much of a choice. I'll bet they would sell more if they had all six of the homes in that category ready to sell. They should also build a few upgraded homes so the others in the neighborhood's value will go up. It's guess work sometimes, but it should work for you."

We made it back to Tampa by four. I had Fred come upstairs with me to check out my digs. He was impressed, and the unspeakable then happened. The two girls came from the bedroom au-naturel. The poor man sprung a boner big enough that the next county could see it. Jules told him, "Down, Boy. You know I'm a total lez, don't you? The only swinging ah, ah..."

Katie said, "Dick."

Jules then continued, "Right, dick I'm interested in is that guy's right there. Do you know that he fucked a baby in me?"