Chapter 50

I was awake at five and wanted to go back to sleep, but I was wound up tight. Today was possibly going to be a transition for everyone with me from the company and possibly my family. I decided the best thing for me was to work out for a while. I put on the proper clothes and went to the basement gym area.

I began on the treadmill after stretching, and was running fairly fast thinking about the day before and how stupid that man, Pugget, had been, so greedy that he would propose to fleece bidders. I wondered if he had done the same thing with some of the other bidders, although there weren't many of them. The idea that the man was crazy enough to give his men orders to shoot at me was really scary. He must have thought that this project was going to be a real cash cow for him. I had ruined a good suit by tearing the elbow of my suit coat and the knee of the pants. I can get another suit, so I'm very happy about not getting hit by one of those high-powered rifle rounds. I could have been hit by a bullet that passed through the man posing as Pugget if he hadn't been wearing body armor.

That was something else to bother my conscience. I had killed a man mostly as a reflex action, and wasn't upset about it yesterday, but I had regrets today. There wasn't any way to shoot to only keep the man from shooting at me. Sweat was running down my forehead into my eyes and down my back, making me feel the salty water as it funneled down my butt crack.

I slowed and walked until my breathing was more relaxed. It was after six now, so I passed on doing some lifting and went up to the kitchen for coffee. Dan and Forest were both there drinking coffee. Forest said, "Our crazy man is working out in the morning just like always, while we're fretting over this entire project."

Dan said, "It must do something for him, since he's constantly doing more than we think is possible, and still comes up with some good ideas."

I had a cup of coffee while the two men blew smoke up my sweaty butt. I told them that I was going to get the girls up and take a shower. They said that they needed to shower and dress as well. I left to wake the girls.

The three didn't want to wake up yet, but they immediately sat up smiling at me when I told them that I needed them today. I told them that we should have breakfast because they need the food for their babies, so they should get up and start getting ready.

I did my routine in the bathroom, and was joined in the shower by Jules and Katie. The two were very loving, but not so pushy as to have more than kisses and hugs. I washed both their backs, and massaged their heads with shampoo and conditioner. Willy got into the big shower when we were about done, so I had to give her some attention while the other two girls dried off. We dressed quickly and went down afterward to find the big table full of various foods that were healthy for the girls and us too, but it was for the girls more than for other adults.

Brindle came in and said, "We'll take both limos this morning. The Indy people in the big one, and the LA people in our car. Vicki and I will take the cars to a parking lot and come back to the chambers. We can run for our cars when the show's over. We'll wait until it's obvious that it's over if it looks like there will be a long discussion."

Brindle led the way in our older black Caddy limo, while Vicki was driving the newer model Cadillac. We arrived downtown at eight thirty after some surprisingly light traffic. We all went inside and through the metal detectors. Donte, Jules, and I had to show our various concealed weapons permits.

We waited for Ken and his architectural engineers in the Council chamber's anteroom. Ken came in with a rolling salesman's sample case that he said was full of bid packages. Hideki and Yuu walked up with their two bodyguards, who joined Michi, Donte, and now Vicki. They were there watching us until a man came from the anteroom, and said, "The Council is here and ready if you want to begin early."

Two men came up to us and introduced themselves as being our legal representation if we should need it. They both had a copy of our bid package in their hands. I realized that a lot of activity had happened within a short amount of time yesterday.

We walked into the Council room and saw a massive large half circle desk. All the positions at the desk were filled except one. I hoped that was Pugget's.

The person at the center of the group said, "Will you introduce the people you have brought with you."

I went down the line introducing the two Architectural Engineers, Ken Masterson, Alec Masterson, Forest Harding, and Dan Anderson all from Mooney Corporation. I then introduced Hideki and Yuu Kamatsu as interested investors. Next were Jules Kamatsu Johnson, and Kathryn Johnson, from my family, and I finally recognized the two legal representatives. I finished by introducing myself as Brad Johnson, the Manager of the Los Angeles offices.

The Council Chairman said, "Please proceed with your presentation. We're pleased someone is interested enough in this project to actually prepare a proposal that may give us a reason to accept their bid."

Ken gave the two lawyers bid packages to give to the Council members. The two Architectural Engineers worked with Ken to get the huge ninety inch screen to work from his laptop while they did that. While they were finishing up,

I explained to the Council that the bid packages contained copies of this presentation and all the bid specifications, along with a short video of who Mooney Corporation was.

We heard the speakers pop and the big screen showed the letters LA on top, a plus sign, and the Mooney logo on the bottom, inside a big heart. This was pretty hokey. I hadn't seen that before and was going to laugh, but the Council laughed for me.

I used the script to introduce the video and Ken then keyed the laptop to start the video. I did the voice parts where I was supposed to, and then we all watched as the video came to it's conclusion with the words 'You decide' showing on the screen.

Nothing.

No one moved.

No one said anything.

I was getting pretty nervous until the Chairman began applauding. All the Council men and women stood up and kept applauding. I didn't think it was that good, but I was proud of the effort my people had made.

The Chairman asked, "I think we may all have a few questions, can you field them now, or do you want to schedule another meeting?"

I answered, "We're prepared to answer all your questions now."

The Chairman laughed, and asked, "When would you begin demolition and construction?"

That had all of us in the room riveted on the Chairman. He said, "I can't independently make that decision, but I would if I could. Let's start from your left and let each Council person ask their questions."

One of the questions was in what order the buildings would be built. I told them that we would start with some of the smaller buildings first, and begin the first high-rise at the same time.

The first Councilwoman asked, "So Hideki Kamatsu's granddaughter is your wife. Who is Kathryn Johnson to you?"

I proudly said, "Katie is also my wife and Jules' partner. We're a modern family."

The woman's follow-up question surprised me, "Are these two women investors along with Hideki and Yuu Kamatsu?"

I smiled and said, "There are no outside investors, so far. Mooney is prepared to independently finance this project. The two ladies wanted to come today as this project is very exciting."

The woman said, "It's a hell of a project and I don't think any of us thought someone would propose to buy and develop all the property. That you will incorporate the entire sixteen square blocks into one project is very exciting."

One of the Councilmen asked, "What kind of tax concessions are you looking for? The city will obviously have to invest in railroad track to and from the area, but there already is a station within two miles of your project. Your proposed station could be a link between that station and the City Center government building station. I like the idea that you will pay for the tracks, station, and most of the excavation. We should pick up the maintenance from that point on so that we control the line."

I didn't know what kind of tax concessions to ask for, so I turned and pointed to Dan. He stood and said, "I think the County could withhold assessments on property that isn't complete. LA will be taxing each individual condominium when they are sold. The other tax concession would be for the ground level apartments that will be rented for less than what is considered usual for this area. We plan to subsidize the apartments rented to the first responders. Keep in mind that this can be hundreds of units as many will want to live with us for the inexpensive rent and availability of the Metro Line."

That satisfied the Councilman. Two men later, another Councilwoman said, "No one has brought this up, but your bid is above what we anticipated that we would get for the property. I think that you should reduce your bid by at least thirty percent considering what you will do for the City and County, and the additions to our tax base. I'm ready to vote and sign off on this right now."

When all the questions had been answered, and the sweat was running down my back the same way as it was while running, the Chairman asked me, "Will you consider revising your bid to be exactly thirty-percent below what you proposed?"

I grinned, and said, "Of course."

The man said, "Like you, we have our legal people here, so please step out of the Council chamber for a minute, and let us discuss and vote on this issue so that we can immediately resolve this project."

We all left the room, but I noticed that Ken had turned his laptop to face the Chairman.

We were in the chamber anteroom, when Ken said, "I'm dying to see and hear what they say. I don't think they were prepared for the magnitude of our presentation. It's all you, Brad. You decided that we should have it all and had everyone work toward making this happen with all the property."

Dan and Forest were standing with me as I hugged my two ladies. Alec came over and said, "I would sneak into your harem if I wasn't wrapped up with this crazy man in a wheelchair. This is really exciting."

A man came to the door only twenty minutes later, and said to come in again.

We all were in front of the Council again. The Chairman said, "Congratulations, we're going to award Mooney the bid for all the available property. That is the sixteen square blocks within the bid proposal. We concede tax deferment as you requested, and will co-sponsor the rail line and station. The two legal teams can meet and work out payment for the property. This is a huge project with benefits to every property owner in the area. I'm excited to have restaurants within walking distance of the Government Center so that we can have lunch at a nice location for a change. Thank you, Brad, and thank you to all who had something to do with this. Hideki and Yuu Kamatsu, please know that we recognized how important this decision was because of your presence. I hope to have you with us on more projects in the future."

The two attorneys had already called their office for additional senior partner backup as this project was bigger than they should be negotiating. They were there for legal questions only. Forest and Dan wanted to remain at the Government Center with the local legal people so that they could make sure the wording of the agreements was correct from Mooney's standpoint.

I thanked Ken, Alec, and the two engineers for their help, knowing that they would probably bask in the glow of winning this bid for the rest of their lives. I asked Donte and Brindle, who had to stay with the partners and legal counsel, and left for home with Vicki as our chauffer. I was washed out and could use a nap, but I had the San Antonio people to get ready to go home. It was way past lunch, and Vicki wanted to exchange the white limo for my BMW.

I made her go through a McDonald's drive-through where we all had a big Mac. We ate in the car which is normally a no-no, but acceptable this time. We took Michi and the two girls home, and Vicki then took me on to the office.

Vicki backed into the Office Manager's slot so that I didn't have to walk but a few feet to the door. I told her, "You don't have to kiss my ass while we're here. I hope you've brought a book, because we're pretty boring." She just smiled.

The receptionist, whose name I still didn't know, ran around from the other side of the big desk and hugged me. She said, "Congratulations on winning this big bid. I know everyone is going to be so excited about it. I just wanted to give you a hug to let you know how good this was."

This was almost funny, considering that I didn't know the name of the receptionist who was probably my next secretary. Her face turned red as I hugged her back, and she ran back to the other side of the big desk.

Danni attacked me as soon as I walked into the office, "You are such a stud. You should have waited for a Foxworth. You would have had dozens of women to congratulate you for something as big as this. You're going to have to fight Chica and me off anyway."

Kelly, then Joan, gave me a hug, followed by Georgia who came to me, hugged me, and said, "You were special today. Alec called and told us all about it. She even told me how you told that Councilwoman that Katie was also your wife. You are the man, Brad. We're all proud to work with you."

I asked Georgia, "Have you heard from Texas today? We really should go there tomorrow."

"Jim has called several times to tell me that you don't need to travel tomorrow. He's called to say the new offices are ready and he'll get them all started. I think he wants to show you that he's ready to take over as soon as you'll let go."

That made me laugh, since I knew the sensation of suddenly being given that huge responsibility, but it also included opening an office the size of San Antonio this time.

I went and found Jack still attached to Matt as he learned how to deal with so much at once. Jack came with me to my office where there was no privacy. I took him to a closing conference room, and sat him down. "Jim doesn't want me to interfere in his management, Jack, so I'm going to ask you to be my spy. He's probably going to be the man for the job, but I want to hear from you every day for a while to know Jim is still the man. You know what's necessary, and you know when there's a problem that could be deal breaking. You don't have to complain about bullshit problems, but do tell me about problems that come up during the day that Jim or Don have trouble with. I just need to know what their struggles are. This is important, Jack. They both want to succeed, but they could both be over their heads. You're going to help me know."

I called Don, who had come for one day and gone back home, and had the exact same conversation with him. Don was eager to report, but said, "Jim is soon going to be my Regional Manager. I want to have a strong relationship with him. I'll tell you if there's a problem, but I want you to know that I need to have an allegiance to Jim."

This was perfect. Don would follow what Jim wanted, but would know that something off the wall would or could be reported to me. I hate office politics, but this was important and everyone needed to know that we had to be watchful.

This was more difficult than being there. These were now my people, and I was supposed to be on site with them, ready to help them succeed. I should be there, but they wanted to do it themselves. I called Jim to tell him that he would have the people back Thursday and Friday. I told him to learn what they had learned and join them in their effort to bring this office on line.

This was definitely more difficult than being there.

Kelly returned with a glowing report for Phoenix. She told me, "Make me a Regional and I'll take Phoenix. They initiated everything you suggested to them, including finding a swimming pool company. Do you know they are having a pool party with hot dogs and burgers without a pool? They are going to stake the pool out, and have the salespeople in swimwear, including the girls in tiny bikinis. They are all excited."

Kelly wrote her report up with the few recommendations she had. She thought that they needed more inventory homes, and most of those should be homes with all the extra features that would build the sale. She included that she thought we were below a price point that our homes could demand in her report.

I asked Georgia, "Do you think it's reasonable to let Jim begin the new off premise office?"

The classic woman said, "You should probably let the man demonstrate his ability to make the new office work. He's a very dynamic person and will do everything in his power to make everything work. Listen to him and hear where he might not know what to do. Relax, Brad. This is a trial situation and we all want something good to come from it."

"You have no idea, Georgia. These new men and women are precious to Mooney. I'm trusting Jim and Don to make them into contributing entities. I know I can't do everything myself, but I want to try."