Triplets Make Five

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nbsp; At least this man’s nonsense made sense.

“Think about it. It’d be a good way to get your rocks off with other people however you’d like without owning up to it. It’s like their own little slice of secrecy.”

“By playing off of ‘someone else’s’ secrecy. Hmm. That’s actually not a bad idea. Maybe I’ll throw a masquerade party and give out dildos to use on each other while everyone’s there drinking.”

“Well, now you’ve ruined the surprise and I’ll know it’s you.”

I smirked before I turned on my music and continued running. Honestly? It was probably just an area of the building that was rented out for parties. I didn’t know about the whole secrecy thing--billionaires weren’t really afforded that type of lifestyle-- but it did make sense in a way. I couldn’t think too much on it, though, because I was about to be late for work.

I finished up my run before I showered and changed. I got to work just in time for another dumbass last-minute boardroom meeting, but this time they hit me with something I wanted direct input on.

“We either have to negotiate better with the tenants or kick them out.”

“Run that by me again, Dan,” I said.

“Would you just call the man by his name, Mr. Dobson?” someone asked.

“When he earns it, sure,” I said. “What’s going on with the tenants?”

“They’re wanting prices too low for what we can afford to renovate for. We either have to renegotiate with them or we have to kick them out and sell their property for what it’s worth.”

“Right now, it’s not worth shit. And the lower prices was my thing,” I said. “If they’re gonna purchase from us, it gives us advertising mouths to use. People who are already living there who can attest to enjoying it and the amenities we will be installing. Think of it as an investment in the overall financial future of the building.”

“It’s highway robbery and we won’t even break even on the renovations,” Dave said.

“That’s why it’s an investment in the advertisement. Pull the excess from the advertising budget to make it even, then go from there,” I said.

“I’ve already pulled the money from the budget to work on commercials as well as advertising fees for real estate agents. There won’t be enough,” Dave said.

“Well, Daniel, that’s not my problem. Again, one of those things you should’ve run by me before you executed anything.”

“You went and changed the rules without even consulting this board about them.”

“Because you didn’t say that was something I needed to consult about. You said any interior changes I wanted to make I had to bring to this board. You said nothing about price, Djembe.”

“Holy fuck, It’s ‘Dave’!”

“I made an executive decision and I’m sticking to it. If you end up overdrawing the budget, that looks bad on you, not me. I’ve already shaken these people’s hands and gotten their prices and wants together. I told them we might not be able to deliver on all of them, but that we would take what they wanted into consideration.”

“You should’ve come to this board, Foster. We know what you’re trying to do,” someone said.

“It’s ‘Mr. Dobson’ when we’re in this room, and since when did this board get to boss me around? Did any of you people pull this shit with my father?”

The room fell silent and that was all the answer I needed.

“We can’t afford to take that type of monetary hit,” Dave said. “Just take a quick look at the numbers. You’ll see what I’m talking about.”

He slid a piece of paper over to me and the first couple of lines told me everything I needed to know. Between all I wanted to upgrade, the amenities in the building I wanted to add, and the cost of the construction companies and interior design experts, we wouldn’t just be losing a couple thousand dollars on each room.

We’d be losing close to fifty thousand.

“Shit,” I groaned.

“We gotta renegotiate, drop down the materials we use in their condos, or find better tenants willing to pay the price.”

“What if we just rented those renovated condos out to them? By those numbers and a few quick calculations, it would only up their rent by two-- three hundred dollars at the most. It would provide us with a monthly revenue, though-”