How to Be a Girlfriend Ch. 08

"What's this?" I asked. "I feel like I'm in a James Bond movie or something."

"It's just my reserved parking spot," she said.

"Is it okay for me to park here?"

"I know the owner," she replied. "It's all good. Grab the bags would you please?"

I grabbed the bags, while Sharon separated a small plastic card on her key ring and waved it in front of a small black pad beside a much smaller door. That door slid open to reveal a full-sized elevator. We stepped in, and Sharon again waved her card at the floor display, and the top button lit up. The elevator door slid shut, and we were whisked up. My knees bent from the acceleration. In seconds we were at the top, the elevator dinged, and the door slid open revealing a foyer with two doors. She opened one with her key card and led us inside.

"Welcome to my little apartment," Sharon smiled.

I just stood there with my jaw hanging open. We were in the penthouse suite of the newest, biggest, most technically awesome building in the city! Sharon had more floor space than my mini mansion in the country. The view from the great room was stunning, with floor to ceiling glass overlooking the Mississippi River. There was a circular staircase leading up to a loft overlooking the Great Room

Sharon pointed me towards her bedroom and said, "David, Would you mind putting those in my bedroom for now? We'll sort things out later."

I carried the bags into her bedroom followed closely by Kathy. The bedroom was twice the size of mine with a huge custom made bed. Longer and wider than my regular king size, it looked big enough to me to host a football game. The four person Jacuzzi tub was in one corner, and another corner was walled off enclosing the bathroom. The part around the toilet was opaque glass, while the rest was open. Clear glass surrounded the shower which again, put mine to shame. Four people could easily shower together, and they wouldn't necessarily even need to be close friends.

One wall of the bedroom was a row of closet doors, and the other was floor to ceiling glass, overlooking the Mississippi river below. The view was stunning!

Kathy stopped when she entered the bedroom. "David! Did you know about this?" she whispered.

"I had no idea!" I was floored.

Sharon led us on a tour through the formal dining room, the eat-in kitchen, and four other rooms that would normally be bedrooms with their own baths, but one of them seemed to serve as Sharon's office. We ended the tour in the loft overlooking the great room. The loft was where Sharon's TV and sound equipment was located. It was a cozy room with a long couch composed of four adjoining recliners.

"There's one more thing you need to see," our guide told us. She led us through another door and up another flight of stairs to another door. This door opened unto the roof of the building. The roof was mostly surrounded by a low wall, but there was a break in the wall where the infinity pool apparently merged with the sky. There was also a hot tub, and a covered area, sheltered from the wind that was littered with cushions of various sizes. "That's our 'Play Room'," Sharon giggled. "I had people set that up for us yesterday when I got the idea to move here. Do you like it?"

"Sharon," I finally found my voice. "This has to be outrageously expensive! How can you afford the rent on this? Does your dad pay you that much?"

"Simple," she replied. "No rent. I own it."

"You mean like a condo? It has to be worth millions!"

"No, I mean I own all of it, the building. Arco is mine."

"How?"

"Well, that summer after we graduated college, and we split up, my Grandfather passed away. He left the bulk of his estate and the businesses to my dad. That's when Daddy decided to sell the house next to yours and move into Grandpa's estate, which he now owns."

"He was Grandpa's only son, but as a separate line item in his will, he left this building to me, personally, along with a few million dollars, enough to finish the construction and some left over. I own the building outright. It's mostly rented out to the various shops and things, the residential apartments, and the commercial offices, so that entire cash flow is my income."

"It was a bitch juggling my studies at Wharton while orchestrating the construction of the building, but Daddy helped out a lot with some of the detail decisions,and hiring management staff, and he let me use one of his corporate jets to shuttle back and forth between Philadelphia and here. I did most of my studying on that plane for two years! Arco pretty much runs itself now, Daddy hired some really good people. I just have to live here."

"I know you told me you're working for your Dad, but just exactly what do you do?"

"Well, there's more. Daddy and your dad jointly owned a holding company that owns a bunch of widely diversified companies. When Daddy got his inheritance from Grandpa, he pulled all of Grandpa's assets into their holding company. That reduced the percentage of ownership held by your father in the jointly owned company from fifty percent, down to about twenty-five. Your father decided the whole thing was getting too big to handle, so he retired from active participation in the company. He still retains his seat on the board, and he still owns a twenty-five percent stake in the holding company. You are your fathers' sole heir, so when your mom and dad pass, you will own that twenty-five percent."

"I was never told the details. Dad just helped finance my business, and left me alone to sink or swim unless I asked his advice about something. Er, I should ask . . . what is the holding company worth? How much money are we talking about here?"

"Billions . . . several billions. That's billions with a capital 'B' in front of it, and an 'S' at the end."

"And what's your job?"

"Right now, I am Vice President of North American Operations. Daddy wants me to become familiar with all phases of the business, since I will inherit it when he passes away . . . not anytime soon, I hope! So my title and job duties will change several times so I will have a grasp of all of the divisions of the company, including South America, Europe and the Pacific Rim. I'll be doing some traveling over the next few years."

"So my dad owns twenty-five percent of a company worth billions? Twenty-five percent of just one billion is two hundred and fifty million! Your dad, and by extension, you, are among the richest people in the world."

"Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say that. Jeff Bezos owns that title by far. Our holding company is worth about forty billion, total, so that makes your dad's share around ten billion. Oh, by the way, he wants to buy your business. I forgot to mention that to you."

"Who? Your dad?"

"No, silly, Jeff!"

"Bezos? You know him?"

"I've met him. Can't say I know him, but Daddy does. Bezos, Gates, Buffet, Zuckerberg . . . he knows all of them at least enough that they'll take his calls."

"How about Trump?"

"Oh, he's way down the list. Only worth like three billion."

"Sorry, I got sidetracked. Why would Jeff Bezos want my little business?"

"From what Daddy told me, you have developed a lot of good, solid contacts . . . business relationships in Asian countries. Jeff wants those contacts and is willing to buy your business to get them.

"I don't want to sell my business. I planted the seed and made it grow!"

I'd advise you to negotiate a good price and sell it. He could just easily put you out of business if he wanted to. Amazon is the eight hundred pound gorilla in the business world. I don't think he wants to do that since you and your father are tied in with Daddy. He'd rather be civil about it."

"What about my employees? I don't want to put them out of work!"

"Jeff will always take care of good people. They're a rare commodity, not to be wasted, and if you say someone who doesn't want to work for Amazon is good, I'm sure I can find a place for them somewhere in our organization."

"But that would put me out of work! I'd have to get another idea and start from scratch all over again."

"Do you really think I could run a business this size all by myself? No. I need help . . . someone I can trust one hundred percent with no reservations. Someone who understands business, and is an excellent judge of people. That's you darling! You've asked me to marry you several times. I never said no, but I never gave you a yes either. If that offer is still good, then my answer is now YES!"

Sharon wrapped her arms around my neck and planted the hottest kiss I ever experienced on my lips. I was absolutely gobsmacked! After years of asking her, and getting the 'I'm not ready' answer, after breaking up for three long years and finally getting back together only a few months before, I was finally going to nail down the love of my life!

We broke the kiss, and I was still speechless! "Is that lump in your pants your answer?" she smiled.

"All I can say is 'finally'! I've wanted you since we were kids. I've told you a million times that you're mine, and now you feel you have to ask? You're smarter than that! Of course I'll marry you.

Oh, shit! I have to ask your father don't I? Okay, I'll marry you if he doesn't kill me!"

End of Chapter 8