Golden Summer

Dear Reader, this story is a continuation from The Old Barn, Death By Chocolate, and Brown Paper Box; it will be continued in Raging Bull.

Eric awoke to a stunning view out of the floor to ceiling windows that surrounded his bedroom. The sky was purple and orange, with a vast view of the city and the mountains in the distance. Eric thought it would be pretty if it weren’t for all the steel and windows in the way. There was a knock on his bedroom door, “Um, come in?” called Eric questioningly.

Gerald the butler walked into the room. “What would you like for breakfast sir?”

“Breakfast?”

“Yes sir, it is a meal usually eaten in the morning to break the fast one had while they were sleeping.”

Eric had to laugh, the old butler had made a joke, “I’ll take some toast and orange juice please”.

“Very well sir, it will be waiting for you once you are ready.”

“Okay, what am I supposed to be doing today?”

“You have a meeting at 9am with Mr. Hansen, he is the chief financial officer for Cole Holdings. We will need to leave by 8:30”

Eric ate his breakfast, showered, then picked out some clothes from the vast array of selections in his closets and drawers…what did these guys do take his measurements at Miss Eliza’s and just raid every store in Atlanta?

Eric walked out into the dinning area at 8:30, “okay, I’m ready.”

“Very good sir, this way”, Gerald walked them out to the elevator and down into the parking garage where Hans waited with the car.

Eric waved hello to Hans and got in the back of the town car. They stopped at a skyscraper with a C engraved into side. “I’m guessing the C is for Cole?”

“Yes sir.” Said Gerald.

“Of course it is, okay where to?”

“This way sir”, Gerald let him into the building, up an elevator and into a waiting area with a reception desk. The desk had a bouquet of yellow marigold flowers on it and a scared looking woman behind it. The woman stood up quickly and immediately rushed around her desk towards the door to her left which she held open. “He is ready for you sir, please go in”, she said nearly trembling.

Why was that woman so afraid of him? What had his Aunt told them he was there to do?

Paul Hansen sat behind his desk, he was a portly man with thinning brown hair and glasses. He stood up and came around his desk, “Ah Mr. Cole, please come in, come in, have a seat.” Hansen directed Eric towards an armchair, while he sat down in the one across from him. “I imagine you have many questions; may I offer you a beverage?”

“No, I’m good, thanks. I guess my first question is, why am I here?”

Hansen looked confused and scared, “Well, your Aunt, Miss Eliza, said you wanted to get a better understanding of Cole Holdings and since I am in charge of the finances she thought I was a good place to start.”

If his Aunt had already scared these people, he may as well play the part. Eric stared coldly at Hansen, who began to sweat. “Of course, if you want to begin somewhere else, I would be happy to show you, um, guide you, um, well with whatever you would like to do.”

“I wanna know why the company is losin’ money”, said Eric.

Hansen sighed in relief, “Of course, I have many graphs and charts that can show that our profits are not what they once were, if you wait here I will go get the spreadsheets for you.”

“No”, said Eric. “That will show me the money the company is losin’, I want to know WHY it is losin’ money.”

“Wwhhhy?” stuttered Hansen.

“Yes Mr. Hansen, why. As in we once made money and now we are losin’ money. Are all of the holdin’s losin’ money, some of them, one of them? What is the biggest drain on the system, what is still makin’ money?” Okay this was kind of fun thought Eric.

“I see sir, well, yes. I have a chart that shows that as well.” Hansen got up and retrieved a laptop from his desk, then sat back in the armchair. A screen on the wall lit up and a graph was displayed. “These are the top 20 holdings we have, they make up 80% of the companies value. As you can see, these 15 branches are showing decreased earning profits for the last 10 years, these three are roughly the same and these two are showing a significant profit.”

“Tell me about the two that are showin’ a profit.”

Hansen coughed, “Well sir, those two are in our chemicals branch. They are both run by April Moses.”

“Does she run any other branches?”, asked Eric.

“No sir, just those two.”

“Okay tell me about those top two companies that are hemorrhagin’ money”, Eric pointed towards the least profitable companies.

Hansen began to sweat again, “Those two sir are run by Yale Cole, your cousin. They are both in the entertainment branches, one is a hotel chain and the other are Spas.”

“Did you say spas?”

“Yes sir, that branch deals mostly with a chain of spa’s and meditation centers. They sell holistic medicines, ointments, they employ dieticians, masseuses and the like.”

“I want a meetin’ with April Moses first, then Yale Cole, can you please set those up?”

“Yes sir, Miss Moses can meet with you right now and Mr. Cole can meet with you when you are ready.”

Eric raised one eyebrow questioningly, “They both run large branches of Cole Holdings and yet they are both available right now?”

“Yes sir, an interoffice memo was sent out that everyone had to be available to meet with you today, you are the top priority.”

Just great, thought Eric. No wonder these people were scared, his Aunt sure knew how to roll out the welcome carpet.

April Moses paced her office, he was coming. Somewhere, somehow, they had found another Cole Family member and they of course needed a spot for him. April knew she ran one of the most profitable branches of Cole Holdings, but that wasn’t going to matter because he was a Cole and she was not. He was coming to take her job from her, she just knew it. Her outer office door opened, and a tall handsome smiling man walked in, whoa, this wasn’t him was it? She thought smiling had been bred out of the Cole Family gene pool.

Eric extended his hand, “Hello Miss Moses, I’m Eric Cole, it is a pleasure to meet you.”

April pulled herself together, he was not handsome, he was there to take her job, she needed to focus. She shook the extended hand and said in a no nonsense tone, “Hello Mr. Cole, please have a seat”, she gestured towards the chair in front of her desk, and asked, “What can I do for you today?”

Wow, thought Eric, April Moses was HOT! Super-hot, like tailpipe had been runnin’ for an hour hot. What did she just say, oh she wants to know why I’m here. “Well Miss Moses, I need your help.”

My help? He needs my help? This has to be a trick, no Cole has ever asked for her help. “And what pray tell do you need my help with?”

Oh Eric could think of a lot of things this woman could help him with, but he needed to focus, he was here to do a job. “According to Mr. Hansen your branches are thrivin’ while most of the other Cole Holdings branches are failin’. I wanna know why.”

“Do you really want to know why, or are you just here to ferret out how I have been able to lie about our profits?”

“Come again?”

“Mr. Cole, I have had these conversations with many members of your family. Our profits are real, I have not been misreporting the information, and I don’t appreciate you wasting my time with any more of these witch-hunts.”

Eric held up his hands in defense, “whoa there, hold up, I am not here to accuse you of anythin’ other than being good at your job. My Aunt asked me to figure out why the company isn’t doin’ well, that’s all, I am not here huttin’ witches, just lookin’ for some answers.”

April looked into Eric Cole’s eyes, she had made a living on being able to read people, and this guy looked sincere. “You really want to know why Cole Holdings is leaking money?”

“Yes”

“Well Mr. Cole, that’s very easy to explain. Cole Holdings caters to the wealthy and ignores everyone else.”

“Okay, can you please explain how you came up with that?”

“My companies are profitable because the average retail price of my products is under $10, the average retail price of other branches are $100 to $100,000. Tell me Mr. Cole, do you think the average person can afford to spend $100 on a 2-ounce bottle of face cream?”

“Well shit, oh please excuse my language ma’am. Is that seriously what’s goin’ on?”

April laughed at the red cheeked man in front of her, when was the last time she saw a man in a three-piece suit blush because he cursed? April smiled, “Yes, Mr. Cole, that is pretty much it in a nutshell.”

“Well, that gives me a place to start lookin’. I won’t take up anymore of your time today, thank you for bein’ honest with me.”

“What, is that it?”, April was almost sorry to see him go, he had a way about him that made her want to know more.

“Pretty much, I get to go talk to my cousin Yale now and see if your theory holds true.”

“Oh, it will hold true with him for sure, his division sells the $100 face cream.”

Eric walked out of April Moses’s office chuckling to himself, that woman was something else. Hopefully, he would meet up with her again. Now he had to go question his cousin. Eric didn’t think that was going to be nearly as enjoyable as meeting the fascinating and delectable Miss Moses.