Chapter 91

Misty had two nightmares, only one was bad, but it was a short one. When we did wake up Jenna had already taken Patti work. This time Patti drove. Dad had carried Patti to Easton on Wednesday after work to get her learner's permit. That was the only night the MVA was open late. Of course Dad knew everyone there. If it made any difference, I don't know, but she took the written test and then did a driving test and aced both of them. Because of her age she could go back in thirty days and get a permanent license.

We had a big breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, O.J. and toast. Jeanna came back in time to join us. Then we had a big round-table meeting about all the progress. We were now an LLC corporation. The lawyers filed the papers after Marcy and Ching Lee met with them yesterday. We had the Federal ID number, a sales tax number and business license.

The gas tank installation went smooth. We had heat now at the flip of a switch. The web-site was done. The business plan was done. The bank presentation was done. Marcy and Ching Lee were proud as peacocks as all three were perfect, with no changes needed. We had one hundred and fifty confirmed members with deposited checks, just by word of mouth, at 200 a month.

Marcy also had two more things working but did not want to discuss them until they were further along. I went to great lengths to praise them for all the hard work they had done. I was proud of them and let them know it.

Next we went over to the gym. Bob's construction men were there in full force. The hand rails on the outside of the building were up and painted. The lobby was finished and painted. The mini office, refreshment center and storeroom were all done. The refreshment center equipment was in front of it waiting to be installed.

The bath rooms, showers, massage room and locker room were in the process of having the tile installed. Sitting in front of each were the fixtures waiting to be installed.

I could now get a real feel for the layout with so much of it completed. I was more enthused now than ever and so were the girls. Marcy and Ching Lee were all smiles showing us everything that had been done by their hand-drawn plans.

We went back over to the house and discussed the advertising budget. We decided that Ching Lee, Vicky and Lorrie would head that up. Jenny and I felt that it fell under their responsibilities. They wanted fliers in all the local mail boxes, plus local radio along with TV. I suggested that they wait on the TV for a while because that would be the most expensive and was not truly directed towards our local area. Jenny thought that posters should be put up in local shops where women were the most likely customers. I agreed with that, especially if we had the right outfits on when we approached the shop owners. We would wait on getting them printed until we had a firm date for an open house

We had a quick lunch then dressed for our bank visit. Jenny and Jeanna wore business suits. Mine was as close to a business look as I could get. Marcy, Ching Lee, Vicky and Lorrie wore tight mini skirts with tight blouses and a jacket. I was pretty sure they had on push-up bras, not that they needed them and 4 inch heels

Marcy said with a laugh, "We are selling a gym to put women in shape. We need to show them that we are in shape and will be role models for the product.

We arrived 10 minutes early. Marcy, Ching Lee and Lorrie were carrying laptops or brief cases. The commercial loan board was still at lunch. While we waited in the lobby the work inside the bank came to a crawl. None of the men and a few of the women decided they were in a hurry. Jeanna excused herself to take an important call and stepped away from us to a more private corner.

Marcy was facing me filling me in on the things she had been working on. Both of them sounded interesting. I was just starting to comment when the board started coming in. It was easy to tell, all the ties looked out of place.

The last two people were coming through the door. One was Chuck Rustone, the other was a gentleman I did not know, when he suddenly stopped.

"De Stone?" he said.

Marcy turned and said, "Yes."

"My God Jeanna, you have found the fountain of youth," he said.

She laughed and replied, "I'm Marcy - Mom is over there on the phone."

Jeanna had finished her conversation and was headed towards us when she said, "Josh Hamilton, fancy meeting you here."

"I'm just here doing my job, it's you I'm wondering about," he said.

"I'm just here visiting my daughter and lending a little moral support," she said.

"Yeah and I believe in the tooth fairy too," he said with a wink.

By then we were all seated around the big corporate style meeting table. Chuck Rustone introduced all of the bank people including the federal bank auditor. I introduced my group and Jeanna as an interested observer.

I then turned everything over to Marcy and Ching Lee. Marcy passed out the business plan to everyone and then used the bank's wireless to project each page as she explained them. She set the stack of contracts on the table as an alphabetical list was on the screen. Then she passed out a cost-return analysis on the building with the expenses right up to 5 PM last night. Marcy then turned the program over to Ching Lee.