Chapter 83

I woke up Tuesday morning thinking that something needed to be done. It was almost six, so I slid from the bed to unload and try to think of what I forgot. I put workout clothes on after brushing my teeth. The girls were waking up, because there was a parade going to use the toilet, then following me through the closet to also dress in workout clothes.

We went downstairs and into the kitchen, ignoring the coffee pot on the bar in the saloon. I went to the bigger fridge to pull a fairly full gallon jug of orange juice out. Mitsi found the large paper cups that I filled up while emptying the jug. We stood in the kitchen drinking the orange juice before going outside to enjoy some forms. A steady stream of people came from the house to join us. The Mooney people came out smiling. The visiting Foxworths were there trying to line up with my four girls. A surprise was the Westfield people lining up with the aircrew, and Fred was there with Nita and their toddler. Charles, Stephen, Brindle, the cooks, and even two groups of maids filled the grassy area next to the pool. I wonder what had them all out to join me in waking up.

I began to slowly go with basic forms to stretch muscles that were still asleep. The pace increased, and I suggested that anyone feeling muscles pulling strangely to go back to the more gentle forms as I sped up. I knew that it was time to stop when sweat began to run into my eyes. June and Mitsi each did a forward flip to stand in front of me. I made a square and both jumped high and each kicked a hand. I did the backflip landing in a position to do a ceremonial bow. The two sisters were grinning. Backflips are easy compared to forward flips, because you can see where you’re going to land.

We were heading into the house so I told everyone to get ready for the day. We would have breakfast in about thirty minutes if we were lucky. It was already six-thirty, so the girls and I rushed through the shower and dressed. We four had a mug of coffee and one of the breakfast sandwiches on the kitchen counter. I told Mitsi and June that I would take the BMW into the office with one of them and the other should bring everyone else on the bus to get to the office by nine. Harriet and Fred were going to come in with me as they wanted to begin the day with all the office staff. Danni and Chicca said they needed to drive in so that they would have a car to look at some property that might be good for a condo complex this afternoon.

We were all at the offices by seven forty-five. There was an old pristine Corvette in the Office Manager’s parking place. I noticed the concrete bumper for tires had been repainted in pink with ‘Boss Lady’ in red letters. I think that the staff all felt good about their leadership.

Gloria and Juanita were already at their desks. The data tech and another guy with a tool pouch were busy unboxing equipment. Harriet and Mitsi left the office and returned with mugs of coffee, as well as the pot to refresh Kelly’s, Gloria’s, and Juanita’s mugs. She left with the empty pot and I knew that she would make a fresh one.

Kelly held her hand up and said, “Give me your phone.”

She did something with it and handed it back to me. She said, “You accidentally turned it off, and no one could reach you. The only important call was from Jules and Kate.”

That’s when it hit me. That is what I couldn’t remember this morning. I looked at my watch and realized that it wasn’t five in the morning in Hawaii yet. I had to be sure to call later this morning.

Ken, with Alec riding on his lap, wheeled into the office. He said, “I’m set up for our meeting this morning. This is almost as exciting as when we were bidding on that property. It’s only been a little more than a year and we’re over two months ahead of schedule. Julio is a mastermind at getting work done. See you upstairs.” The strange couple headed for the elevator.

The twins came in and introduced themselves to Harriet. They had her follow them into their office and had her sit at the room’s front desk. They were showing her how to turn her electronics on and how the phone works.

Kelly said, “I told the boys to take over showing her the ropes and to try to include her in everything they do just like any new assistant. They are good at breaking new assistants in. We find talent, start their training, and then send them off to offices for the next step of their learning to be office managers.”

You have to love feeling the office come alive.

Kelly stood up and told me, “I think that all the key people are in. Let’s do a tour to say good morning. That’s what we did. It’s fun to go into the salesroom and see the secretaries busily checking contracts and verifying deposit funds. They had to make copies of the docs for the decorators and architects, and send the file up to finance.

We checked in with the decorators, then went up to see Jimmy, and then Connie. We went to the third floor and saw every desk with folders on it and the people giving folders to the closing secretaries. It looked like all the closing rooms had people in them. There was a huge video screen in Margaret’s office that had all the screens in little squares that showed customers closing properties downstairs. Kelly said, “The true amount of sales is right here. Like you always say, this is when we get paid. I take a look at all this activity whenever I wonder if we’re keeping up. This place is inspiring.”

We went back downstairs to greet all the Mooney and Westfield, people. They were a little early but I thought that we might start with the videos early. I suggested that everyone head upstairs and I would be gathering participants. I called Ken to ask him to get ready to start earlier, but his secretary, who I didn’t know existed, said that Ken was in the conference room with Alec.

I told Fred and Nita to come with me. I stopped at the assistants’ room and had Harriet come with us to learn a little more. We went into the conference room and had assigned seats with little paper signs with our names printed on them. I thought that was pretty classy. The Westfield architect was sitting next to Ken with the legal guy next to him. I was across the table with Hanna on one side, and Danni on the other. I was smiling, thinking that I was surrounded by Foxworths.

Ken was taking charge and said, “I think that we need a little history first. We heard about the city and county closing a massive public housing complex that was falling apart a little over a year ago. This area was contained in sixteen square blocks. Those are shown on the large diagram on the back wall. The combined city and county put the property up for bid. The buyer would be responsible for demolition and the disposal of the demolished materials. That was going to be the big catch. Our fearless leader had just begun being interested in condominiums and thought that a group of them across the street from the government center would be a great place for development. This same deranged person proposed buying all sixteen square blocks and building high rise buildings on each of the corners. He had a bunch of over-enthusiastic architects work on how to build what he was daydreaming. He worked on all the numbers and figured out that it could be done. He had to get the property first, so he had his crazed architects put a video presentation together that he had to also narrate. I direct you to the oversized video monitor. This was the presentation that won our bid.”

The video began with an overhead scene of the terrible buildings and then switched to pictures of high rise buildings and parks. The video began switching to pleasant scenes of trees and shrubs with birds flitting from tree to tree. That video ended with ‘You Decide’.

Ken said, “Watch” as a picture of the completed high rise, followed by photos of the formal residential entrance and the nearby business entrance. He had pictures of the top recreation area, the infinity pool, the tennis courts, and the lounge area with outdoor seating. Next were pictures of the smaller buildings and the parking garage. He included the parking area and the train station.

Ken had the monitor show an overhead view of what it currently looked like and said, “No one wanted to waste that great presentation, so a bunch of us got together to develop this.”

The monitor said in bold letters ‘City Civic Center’. It began with some flashes of the buildings as they had been, then mounds of demolished materials. Bulldozers and huge backhoes were separating the junk. Steel and iron rebar was being carted off to be melted down to be reused. All the concrete and ceramic toilets were being crushed and pulverized for reuse. Shingles were being used as roadbeds. Even the wood was being ground up to be used to make plywood used in construction. There was a picture of a truck loaded with the salvaged wire that was going to be melted down and sold to make new wiring. There were a few construction dumpsters mostly for construction material containers. The video showed Mooney had kept its promise to not dump tons and tons of construction debris in the ocean. They also didn’t have to pay the exorbitant fees for legally dumping huge quantities of construction materials.

The whole video kept showing the presently empty storefronts followed by pictures of existing establishments that could fit into the empty spaces. The narrator kept extolling the benefit of living across the street from the government center and the convenience of the people who worked in other commercial centers by using the train to commute instead of fighting traffic. At the end of the video once again was the suggestion ‘You Decide’.

I was impressed, and from Hanna’s body language, she was as well. Looking at Ken, I said, “Outstanding job, Ken. I want a condo there right now.”

Alec stood and said, “I know, as a decorator of classic homes, what kind of quality is necessary to make a living area outstanding. Julio, at Brad’s direction, has built these buildings with only the highest quality fixtures. There will be no lessening of quality throughout all the buildouts throughout this entire project. Brad even wants the retail areas to have this same type of construction quality. Westfield will be selling not only very desirable retail space in this development, but quality construction for our tenants.”

I wanted to applaud, but all the open mouths and eyes wide open in awe should be sufficient.

It was my turn to speak, “It’s time to take these Westfield folks to see what we want them to manage. The Westfield people, the Mooney folks, Fred Turfing and spouse, Danni and Chicca Foxworth, and Kelly all need to move downstairs to the bus that will take us to the project. Use the restrooms now as I’m not sure the restrooms in the commercial retail area are prepared yet.”

The people all scattered, and I quickly dialed Jules’ cell. It went to voicemail. I called Katie and was greeted by her voicemail. I somehow knew that the three, now four, musketeers were on a raid when Willy’s cell did the same. I used my phone to send the girls an e-mail and said that I would call them this evening.

Brindle had done the smart thing and hired a large bus to transport us. The site supervisor met us and greeted everyone. He was already standing with Fred, recognizing that Fred would be working with him.

The super had a bunch of natural gas fueled carts that he wanted us to ride in. He said that he was going to lead us completely around the sixteen square blocks, and then show us highlights.

You realized how massive it was when you traveled completely around the project. We were able to see the storefronts that were ready to be leased as retail outlets for major retailers and restauranteurs. We pulled into the circular drive of the formal entrance to the high rise that was complete with a uniformed doorman for today. The construction supervisor said that tenants could have a valet take their car to the underground garage. He showed us the commercial business entrance and led us into either going toward a reception area or going to an elevator lobby. Some elevators were marked to go up only to floors twenty-five. Some to the fiftieth floor and some marked for up to the top which would be the 76^th floor, the building’s top.

We went to the fifth floor to show everyone a finished hallway and we saw an unfinished area ready to build out when we opened one of the doors. It was explained that the lower floors would be commercial for professional offices such as doctors and lawyers. We then rode up to the twenty-fifth floor to show the same type of finished hallway with space that had not been built out yet.

We went to an elevator marked to go to the top. Today was perfect, as there wasn’t a heavy wind, making the conditions ideal for us. I showed everyone the running track, the tennis courts, the observation platform, and the gorgeous infinity pool. I led the group toward the area that looked like it was a bar, lounge, and restaurant. The walls began sliding open displaying the lounge and dining room. Several waitresses were waiting for us and helped us be seated. Waiters carrying trays of plates of delicious looking Italian food began distributing them to all. The waitresses were busily getting orders for coffee, tea, water, and soft drinks.

Kelly elbowed me and said, “These folks are all from Johnny’s. I didn’t even know that they catered.”

I smiled and said, “They didn’t, but Jules made them a deal and they are going to use this as an advertisement for their new catering service. See those cameramen over on the side.”

“You are amazing, Brad. I never know what you will do next. I wondered why you wanted me to come along today. The twins are having a ball running all over the office to keep Georgia at her desk.”

I stood when it looked like everyone was finished, and said, “You’ve seen a little of what this project will become. We’ll be getting people from the government buildings for lunch as soon as we have the first couple of restaurants built and open, and those who might stay in the lounges for a while and possibly stay for supper. The better restaurants will be entertaining the evening dinner trade, and those with clubs or lounges will be busy. Tenants will have some private establishments that will be just for them. This place will have lots of entertainment for all. The goal is to make coming to the City Civic Center an event. Let’s go back to the office and begin working on how Westfield will market our space.”

Kelly said, “I’ve had enough playing around and need to do a little hovering over the North office. We will go look at the locations for the East and South offices tomorrow. They will be built before we see the locations if we keep putting it off.

We traveled back to the bus. There was a side trip to show the space for the admin offices. I advised Hannah that we would provide office space for their operation in this area.

The Westfield and Mooney people gathered in the conference room with mugs of coffee back at the office. They were immediately involved in dollars per square foot and what percentages each would get if they do one thing and we do another. I figured that was what those people were good at and should work it out. I’d have to have Connie with a PC and calculator to help me negotiate if I was involved.

I went to the office and discovered my new desk and my secretary’s (unattended) desk each adorned with three monitors and a phone.

Gloria came over and sat in one of the three side chairs in front of the two desks. She had a steno pad and began, “You stated that you wanted a secretary to keep you on schedule and track the projects that you’re working on. We, or rather you, have some options. There are over a dozen Foxworth girls who have their applications on file. We have a few girls that we’re rescuing and retraining right now. This office slowed down in almost weekly bringing new receptionists because you haven’t been around to scatter them anymore. Kelly has been bringing new assistants on and beginning their training. She has been staying in touch with all your former offices and regions so that she can keep sending these beginning assistants for training. I have a darling young lady who would be a good secretary. She has a secretarial background but she took an easy way to make money when the company she worked for went out of business and joined the video movie people like all us girls did. Well, she wanted out and has not been able to get hired once again. She doesn’t want to list what she was doing on a job application or her resume, so she is still unemployed but now out of that industry. I would immediately hire her, but I don’t know how you feel about some things.”

Gloria handed me several photos that showed a nice-looking exceptionally well-built woman. I wondered what Gloria’s hesitation was. Then it dawned on me that this babe is black. It made me smile because I’m married to a black lady. Granted that Jules is very lightly-complexed and has a very oriental face, but is obviously of African American heritage.

I grinned at Gloria who was acting nervous and said, “Hire her if you think this girl would be good for me, but I want you to think of Jules first. You know that her dad is as black as the ace of spades. We’ve had a few black receptionists who have become assistants. We have two sales secretaries, several men and women in sales, a decorator, two architects, a woman in accounting, two in finance, the best insurance salesman we have, and hundreds of skilled people in construction that are all African American. Why would you think that I might be prejudiced?”

Gloria blushed as she said, “I’m the one who has a hard time with skin color. Jules looks oriental and most Orientals have darker skin, so I never put it together about her. I’m ashamed that my youth in a southern city and my very narrow parents gave me the attitude. I want to be open-minded and this will give me a chance to become a better person. I’ll call her and have her come in to meet you.”

Kelly looked over at me smiling. She said, “No wonder that we haven’t had many African Americans come through. I may have to have Juanita interview people instead of Gloria.”

The twins came in the office, and one asked Gloria, “Can we do the late tour with Harriet? She’s trying hard and we want to show her how we do it.”

I asked if they wanted me to come along, but was told no one would pay attention to them if I was with them. Gloria smiled and waved them out to take the tour.

Checking on sales is fun with Connie’s app. The current combined sales were already over twelve hundred and this was only Tuesday. I had to think about how many people lived in Los Angeles County, and knew from studying the demographics that the county’s population was over ten million. Orange County was the smaller county in both size and people to the south, and they had only three million people. Some quick mental calculations said that we wouldn’t run out of customers in our lifetime and most of the people buying today will be selling and buying something different tomorrow. Mooney was safe.