Chapter 6

College life was wonderful. It was the best of all worlds. I could attend classes and social functions as a single, fun loving co-ed. Then come home and live and love with my wonderful "husband". The same went for Matt; although I had to watch out for underclassmen on the prowl looking for a mate. Down girls he's all mine. I found the best way to do it was to simply wear him out as many nights as possible. It was a tough job, but someone had to do it.

As graduation approached, we had a family meeting back home, during which we planned our future. I would be graduating with a bachelor's degree in marketing and a minor in physical education. Matt's major was accounting with a minor in business management. All of us came to the decision that there was really nothing holding us here in Arkansas. Kris's Gym was a great success and would serve as the foundation on which to build our future. Matt and I were to move to Southern California, scout out the future site for Kris's Gym, West. Mom and dad really wanted to return to California, so we came up with a plan to set up an Employees Stock Option Plan. Dad said there's no better way to insure that a business will succeed with absentee ownership, than to allow the employees to own some of the business. They would stay behind until the new gym was completed. They also had to tie up a couple of loose ends here, promote Tommie, the night manager to the position of general manager, allowing him to move into the apartment above the gym if he chose to and then pack their belongings and move back to California.

In California, we would use the basic floor plan of Kris's Gym. The space above the gym would be expanded to include an entire second level and would feature two separate, but joined, apartments; one for mom and dad, the other for their son and his wife. Money was never going to be an issue, thanks to dad's money manager and advisor "Aunt Vicky". We also planned for the possible future expansion of the company and would be looking into other sites in California.

A week after graduation, we packed our Ford Explorer with our personal possessions and headed west. We were not in a hurry and would drive until we got tired, find a motel and spend the night. I got a real charge out of checking in as Mr. and Mrs. Matt Carpenter. Of course, we made love in each motel. It always felt a little kinky making love in a strange bed every night, never bothering to dress until the morning. When we got to San Diego, we stayed in a Holiday Inn overlooking the bay; the Navy yard with its many ships out in the distance. Each morning, we would drive out to a different section of the city; looking for an area which had no other fitness clubs and whose population we felt would best support our gym. We found an old strip mall, vintage early fifties, in the North Claremont section of San Diego, which was for sale. The land was what we were buying and the location. Mom and dad flew out and after going over the demographics and looking over the area; we put in a bid for the property, which had been in foreclosure for about a year. The bank was anxious to sell and accepted our bid just to cut their losses.