Billionaire's Secret Baby

“So, how are Natalie and the girls?” I asked. I took a swig of my beer and leaned back letting my food settle into my gut.

“Oh, they are fantastic,” he said. “Mallory just got into the Gilman Academy for the fall. It’s one of the best high schools in the area, you know? It’s so highly rated. Got to get her prepped for Princeton, right?”

“That you do,” I said. “How about you? Jack doing ok at his school?”

“Yeah, he’s in preschool. I’m not too concerned about anyone from Princeton looking at his transcript just yet.”

He shook his head. “No, you can’t think like that. You’ve got to get prepared right from the get go while they are still young. It’s important to get a jump on the game.”

I laughed. “I haven’t really thought too much about it. But thanks for the tip. I’ll take that under advisement. Speaking of which, there is something you should take under advisement.”

“What’s that?”

“This Fishmont project,” I said.

He sighed. “Shopping malls are dying, Mason. I don’t see why you want to get wrapped up in this.”

“Because it will be fun and I’m sure it will be a profitable venture for both of us.”

“How so? I’m telling you, malls are dying. This one already did. How are we going to make a go of it?”

I leaned in closer to him and lightly slugged him on the shoulder. “Because we know what we are doing.”

He laughed and shook his head. I continued. “Listen, we are in a primo location, the traffic is there, but we have to put a bit more money into getting the contracts with the lucrative stores. That’s what happened with this place. It housed stores that most people have never heard of and it housed stores that were poorly managed, the place looked shabby from the get go, had no renovations done to it in almost thirty years, and it was completely outdated. It looked like you were stepping back in time to the dark ages to shop there. Cosmetics and design influence shopping behaviors. Don’t think that they don’t.”

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Then he took a large drink of his bourbon. “OK, I’m listening. What do you need from me?”

“You are the investor, so I need you to invest and then I need you to trust that I know what I’m doing and that I will make your money grow to wild heights. I know it will make you nervous, but there is really no reason to be. I’ll take care of everything as I always have in ever deal we’ve done together, right?”

“You do make an interesting case, but you are asking for a lot of money. I was prepared to invest maybe ten million into this thing, but you are now asking for thirty. That’s insane.”

“The top stores don’t want their franchises housed in a swamp where no one will buy their merchandise. They want impulse shopping, they want an incentive for people to leave their homes and not just order on the damn internet. They want to inject life back into people. It’s that important. That is why malls are dying. I know how to bring the people back. I know how to get them out of their houses and into the stores.”

“I’m not sure why I trust you so well, but I do. Let’s do it. We can go into this business together, but I’m counting on you to give me a great return. Otherwise I may have to have you whacked.”

I laughed. “Well, I hope that never happens.”

He reached across and gave me a firm handshake. I’d met Dale about eight years ago when I was looking for investors for another real estate project I was working on developing, a group of condominiums. This had proven to be rather lucrative and since then we’d gone on to work on a number of other deals together. It was a great time to be in business.

“Alright, now let’s say we play some golf,” I said.

Dale laughed. “I’m so full, I can hardly walk. But lead me to the golf course my good man.”

“Right this way, captain,” I joked.

Dale is about ten years older than me, and he has always felt more like a big brother than just a business partner. He is a great guy.

We made our way towards the golf course where our clubs were waiting for us, along with a cart and a couple of caddies. I loved playing on this particular course. It was challenging, but it wasn’t quite pro level so it didn’t make you feel like a total novice who’d never played the game before. I’m a fairly adequate golfer. It is one of the best stress relievers in my opinion.

“So, you want to go first?” Dale asked when we arrived on the first tee.