Melinda's Obsession 03 (Alumni Day)

When Ben walked down to the car waiting for him, he noticed something appearing like leaves rustling under his feet.

Ben picked up a few of those "leaves" and saw it was real money, nice, green US dollars. He held a bunch of fives, tens, twenties and even a few one-hundred-dollar bills. And thousands of similar bills were scattered along the pathway and around it.

It appeared that hundreds of thousand or maybe millions of dollars were casually tossed in the alley like waste. And all bills had the same little problem. Their serial numbers were punched out by some evil machine, invalidating them as a payment tool or even for reporting to the bank as damaged cash and exchanging for good money.

Each hole in bills had a shape of hand with middle finger up, reminding Ben he just fucked up a great offer and wasted tons of money.

Ben spat, cussed again, and threw spoiled bills back to the ground. Then he walked to the car waiting for him to bring him back to his own vehicle.

The car was an old 1990 Chevy Lumina. It was red in its best days. But nowadays it was all rusty with remainders of red paint chipping out of it, few holes from corrosion on the roof and bald cracked tires of different sizes and brands.

Lenses on its stoplights were missing replaced with layers of red electric tape and loose wiring was hanging under the bottom of the vehicle, almost touching the ground.

The worst part was a hydraulic pipe for brake fluid hanging near those wires with the risk of grinding on the road and making the brakes fail at any moment.

As a professional car mechanic Ben felt chills on his back imagining the descent from the castle to the valley down a steep mountain road with multiple switchbacks by riding that devil's chariot in the night.

"Hello, Mr. White. My name is Alfonso," said a driver with heavy Hispanic accent and face of drunkard. "Please have a seat and I'll deliver you to St. Mary Baptist Church to your car."

Ben said, "I don't trust your car. Will any better vehicle be available?"

"Unfortunately, no. This is the only shuttle assigned to you."

"Can I just walk down the road?"

"Sure, if you don't mind hiking three miles down in the darkness under a new moon and not afraid of rattlesnakes and Dobermans roaming around. The owner of this property keeps fifteen dogs allowing them to walk free on her land, protecting it from trespassers.

"If you reach the gate on the property border, just press the button and it will open, letting you out. You can call for a taxicab after that to pick you up. Cell phone services will be available there."

Ben felt again he was trapped. It looked there was no way to safely escape from Melinda's grip.

The noise of money rustling under feet drew Ben's attention. He turned backwards and saw Tony slowly approaching him with deeply concerned face lit by the headlights from Alfonso's car.

Ben was not a close friend with Tony. The latter was a pal of Jeff's, and Ben just attended one class together with Tony. Rumors told that Jeff and Tony were even too close with each other both being gay and living together in one dorm room.

"What do you think of all that?" asked Ben. "Were you nailed same as me? Is there a way out?"

Tony said, "I have a dilemma to either go back and fuck that bitch or lose my business and all my belongings. Possibly even my family."

"How might that happen? Jeff told me you are worth about fifty million. How could Melinda take all your money out?"

"I have a construction business with my partner Angel in NYC. Housing prices recently skyrocketed, and we invested all our money in construction of a large community of townhouses. We took big bank loans using our stocks and existing property as collateral. Selling out those houses should almost double our fortune.

"At least we expected that. All our new houses were already booked per contact with one of the biggest real estate companies in NYC and we received a down payment for them.

"And now, when I rejected Melinda's offer, her agent told me I would be busted if I go away."

"How?" asked Ben, incredibly surprised.

"I just found out that that real estate company belongs to Melinda. As soon as I go away tonight, she'll instantly cancel a contract for all my houses. Certainly, she'll forfeit her down payment losing millions of dollars. But my business will be completely ruined.

"The down payment she paid would be sufficient only to cover interest of my loans, but not enough to pay them off.

"I have about two hundred new homes ready to move in, and I wouldn't have any buyers for them. And my bank loans are due in two weeks.

"It's even worse because my only creditor now is Melinda. She purchased all my debts from the banks where I borrowed money and she will require payment in full instantly at the deadline.

"If I go and fuck Melinda as she wants, she will keep the contract buying all those new homes from me for their original prices. So, I would lose nothing and still have all my expected profit."

"Really?" asked Ben surprised even more. "She would lose millions with your business. Is she stupid?"

Tony said signing, "She is just so selfish that she doesn't mind paying sky-high price for what she wants, expecting the entire world to kiss her ass.

"Since I don't want to kowtow to Melinda, I wouldn't have any other choice than to file bankruptcy. Truly, I have no idea how much money Melinda would lose ripping me off. But apparently, she doesn't care.

"It's like fighting between a bear and a bulldog. Both would have awful wounds. But the dog would definitely be killed," added Tony sighing even deeper.

"So, what are you going to do?" asked Ben. "Are you going to fight? I'm in about the same situation as you. My family and business would be ruined if I go away now."

"I don't know," said Tony. "Let's wait for Jeff. I saw him leaving Melinda's fuckroom as well. So, he might be here soon."

Tony just finished his last words and guys saw the door opening and Jeff walking to them.

"Hi again," said Jeff. "I guess you were both screwed up same as me, weren't you?"

"What did that bitch do to you?" asked Ben. "You are a rich dude now," and added winking his eye, "We are all in your shoes, Jeff."

Jeff was a CEO and a major stockholder of a large retailing network Jeff's shoes across the country, selling varied brands of footwear.

Ben's phrase reminded everybody a repeating slogan from TV commercials saying, "We are in Jeff shoes."

Those commercials showed a rich man in early thirties on the top of his prosperity standing on his private yacht, villa, or boarding his private jet plane. Some clips displayed his high achievements like standing on the top of Mount Everest with climbing gear, skydiving from high altitude, or flying on the ISS as a space tourist.

The lad introduced himself as Jeff and reminded one of actual Jeff in his younger years.

Then the camera focused on actor's feet. They had shoes of varied brands and models in each ad. The clip ended with huge logo of Jeff's shoes company and the slogan under it, "We are in Jeff's shoes," meaning it both verbatim as a name of company and figuratively as indication of prosperity and success.

Jeff's shoes claimed to have every model and every size of footwear available in any stores or online in USA. And if they didn't, the company promised to deliver those shoes to their local store within next six hours or shoes would be free if they couldn't meet a deadline.

Prices in Jeff's shoes were extremely competitive with local and online retailers. Availability to instantly try footwear combined with relaxed return policies made Jeff's business model phenomenally successful.

While occasional orders of rare shoes by customers created losses of hundreds of dollars on shipping or availability failures, the overall public liked Jeff's shoes for their wide selection of footwear and instant access to products with low prices. So, the business worked well.

As Ben knew, Jeff was extraordinarily rich, but Ben never asked his friend directly how much he was worth.

Jeff remained for Ben just his classmate whom he saw occasionally at birthdays parties during big anniversaries.

Only one-time long-ago Ben asked Jeff, "How did you get your starting capital? You weren't rich during our school years."

Jeff winced saying coldly, "Watch the movie Forbes-100," and then instantly switched the topic of conversation.

Ben already saw that old movie before. It was a story of a young guy Julian in Belgium, who was engaged in shady business with rich lady, Marcella, to conceive a child for her.

Marcella didn't want a child, but birth of the baby was a condition for her to receive the legacy from her late father, a rich nobleman who passed away years ago.

Marcella was obsessed with getting that money and joining a Forbes-100 club, the list of one hundred richest people on Earth.

Marcella had a medical condition preventing conception and her body rejected IVF. So, Julian had to have sex with her several times a day for almost a year in exchange for big money.

Later it turned into blackmail and ripping off each other between Julian and Marcella. However, Julian found his real love with different girl and the story had a happy end with big money and marriage.

After that old conversation with Jeff Ben couldn't catch the connection between those fictional events in Europe and Jeff's fortune. Also, Ben didn't want asking Jeff further as that topic definitely hurt the latter.

"Forbes-100! Stupid Forbes-100 story," yelled Jeff now and cussed loudly on Melinda, Gina and all their business.

Ben and Tony were both shocked not expecting such a flood of profanity from so respectful man as Jeff.

Even Alfonso stood with gaping mouth and bulging eyes listening to that cussing.

"What's up with it?" asked Tony.

Suddenly Ben realized the whole picture. The Forbes-100 story in the movie was real. The only fiction was about Belgium and the real Julian's name was Jeff, while his employer was Melinda.

The latter was on the real Forbes-100 list pretty high from the bottom worth billions and billions of dollars.

The story explained Jeff's starting capital, his business with shoes, and his hatred towards Melinda. Also, Ben realized why Jeff instantly rejected Melinda's offer at the party.

"Tony, did you watch the old Forbes-100 movie?" asked Jeff.

Tony nodded.

Jeff continued with an agitated voice, "That damned story is about me and Melinda. The movie was produced by Gina who played herself in it as an actor and my wife Michele, playing herself as another character. Only Julian and Marcella were played by different actors."

"Have you been just nailed by Melinda at this evil party?" asked Ben.

"Yes. I just had a tough conversation with Gina before I exited here," said Jeff and described that conversation to his friends.

As one of more than seventy men who decided to reject Melinda's offer, Jeff was escorted personally by Gina to a small office with a large TV on the wall.

"Hi, Jeff," Gina said slightly smiling. "Please don't be upset with me," she apologized first. "There is nothing personal. I'm just doing my business here. And my business is convincing you to change your mind and go back to the party."

"Why are you working for Melinda again? As far as I remember she ripped you off more than twenty years ago and you hated her. You even produced a movie Forbes-100 with my wife Michele about that story and she still receives royalties from it as a stockholder in your company."

Gina said giggling, "Melinda tried to sue me for that movie, but in vain. It was protected by the First Amendment in the US constitution about Freedom of Speech. But that doesn't matter now.

"About five years ago Melinda contacted me and purchased copyright for Forbes-100 movie and story. She offered me twice than I got from that movie within all previous years, and I couldn't resist to sell it."

Jeff chuckled saying, "But I still see DVDs with Forbes-100 available from retailers and for streaming as 'Pay-per-view.' I thought Melinda would withdraw it from the public as it's compromising her."

"You are underestimating Melinda," said Gina. "The movie was available for twenty years and it's still bringing some revenue. So, why would she slaughter a chicken laying golden eggs?"

Gina continued, "Melinda offered me a contract to organize this graduation party with all you men. She paid me so much that I couldn't resist.

"Answering your question, yes, I still hate Melinda as a person. But money is money. 'Pecunia non olet,' or money doesn't stink, as the Roman emperor Vespasian said about revenue from the public restrooms business. So, I'm on Melinda's side again.

"I'll try to be quick, Jeff with my arguments for changing your mind to go and fuck Melinda. She wants just one cum load from you into her vagina, and that's it. You are free to go after that.

"I believe Melinda is more interested in your submission and compliance than in your cum, actually," added Gina.

"I don't need Melinda's money, and I don't want any business with her," said Jeff.

"You are rich, and Melinda couldn't buy your sperm with money. But this, I believe could help you to comply," added Gina pushing a nice brown leather binder to Jeff.

"But let's watch a show first," added Gina turning on TV and pointing to the caption Forbes-100 (behind the scenes) on the screen.

The show was a documentary film about the creation of the original Forbes-100 movie with the real names of its characters' prototypes, exact dates, and locations of events. It provided comparison of fictional events with real ones and disclosed amounts of involved money, details of contracts and statements from Gina and the movie crew who worked on it.

Further the show revealed how the company Jeff's shoes originated with starting capital received from Melinda by charging her ten times more than she was ready to pay.

There was nothing illegal. But the ethical side of that business was highly questionable. It would be frowned by many in the business world and by Jeff's customers if the whole story went public.

Jeff opened a binder. The first document in it was a script of Forbes-100 (behind the scenes) TV show and a list of websites and magazines where it would be published if Jeff failed to comply. Also, it had letters from TV stations expressing their interest in broadcasting such a show.

The next few hundred pages were records from corporate commissions and assessor's offices in different US states and copies of leases for all Jeff's shoes stores nation-wide.

"What's that?" asked Jeff quickly skimming through those pages.

"Long story short," said Gina, smiling. "While Jeff's shoes is a large company, it doesn't own buildings where its stores are located. You are renting all that retail space.

"Melinda watched your business for years and years. She gradually purchased all those buildings from their previous owners by using a variety of LLCs created for that purpose and in the names of her loyal employees acting as her proxies.

"So, now Melinda is your only landlord owning all buildings where Jeff's shoes stores located nation-wide.

"At the periodic renewal of leases, a clause was included in contracts allowing early termination of lease by any of two sides without good reason. The only requirement was a two-week notice.

"The high penalty for early termination exceeding the annual value of the contract was protection for both sides from wrongdoing.

"Since those penalties were so high, your lawyers weren't concerned, and leases were signed.

"This is what would happen next if you leave now," said Gina.

"Melinda would issue an official two-week notice to Jeff's shoes for vacation of all her properties without any exception. She wouldn't mind paying penalties for early termination of leases.

"Melinda is a real estate mogul with huge databases and global network of agents controlling almost all rental properties in USA. She and her agents would watch all your attempts to rent any new premises for stores and she would beat them with counteroffers to those landlords preventing your stores from moving to new places.

"You will have to close all your stores moving your inventory to storage before the eviction process is started. If eviction happens, it will be very public, broadcasting on all news channels.

"Meanwhile, the show and story Forbes-100 (behind the scenes) will be released to the media, becoming public as well.

"The motto for new commercials on TV to be ordered by Melinda would be, "We are NOT in Jeff's shoes," showing closures of your stores, furloughs and massive layoffs of employees, their poor struggling families, moving out inventory, clips from Forbes-100 (behind the scenes) and similar information.

The character of Jeff from previous commercials played by a look-alike actor will show up at the welfare office standing in a lengthy line to apply for Food Stamps and other benefits just to meet his basic human needs.

"Nobody would want to be in Jeff's shoes. Your business and your reputation will be completely ruined," concluded Gina.

"Wouldn't Melina ruin her business as well by revealing her role in the Forbes-100 story?" asked Jeff.

"Melinda's business is too large to fail," said Gina with smile. "She has billions and billions of dollars of her personal assets. Also, she is directly controlling corporate funds for over trillion dollars and a sizable chunk of global real estate market."

"I don't care how rich Melinda is," said Jeff with agitation. "As long as public points their fingers on her, Melinda's business will be over. I can only imagine a scandal raised by media and Internet."

Gina giggled saying, "Nothing would hurt Melina's business. She is a reach investor. It's all that public knows. But all her business is linked to corporations hidden behind proxies and other corporations, mostly offshore. It's practically impossible to trace what she really owns and link it to her name.

"So, in worst case scenario media will just point on Melinda as a private person without affecting her businesses.

"And do you know what?" asked Gina rhetorically.

"What?" Jeff repeated her question.

"She absolutely doesn't care about that. Publicity will only benefit Melinda, reviving revenue from both the Forbes-100 movie and the book belonging to her now.

"Promoting those movie and book will be another part of my contract with Melinda."

"Fuck you, Gina!" said Jeff adding, "Tell Melinda to go and fuck herself. Show me the exit now and give me a ride home as your fuckin' invitation offered."

"Believe me, you will regret that, Jeff. Melinda and I did a lot of homework to prepare for your and any of other guys' refusal.

"There were seventy-five men who initially rejected Melinda's offer tonight. And most of them are back to the party after counseling with us. We know how to be persuasive," said Gina giggling.

"Did you blackmail them as well?" asked Jeff.

"I didn't say that," answered Gina. "That's your own term. We just offered them a choice.

"As long as you leave Melinda's property, we'll act fast. All compromising materials will be released within a minute. All media are already waiting for them to put into news headlines. We have hundreds of agents worldwide on watch waiting for my command to trigger our attack.

"But it's not late to come back as long as you are still Melinda's guest. Just ring the bell at the door and I'll let you in.

"After you have complied with Melinda's request, I'll give you an official letter from her promising to keep Forbes-100 (behind the scenes) confidential and not to mess up with your leases until their normal expiration. Then you can renew those leases with Melinda or find better landlords and new locations for your stores.