AllFreeNovel
Share Us
7
EMILIA
“It has arrived.” I sashayed into Jase’s office holding a small box which had just been delivered. He looked up from his laptop and slouched back in his chair.
“You brought me a present?”
I gave him a mischievous grin. “Want to try some lube with me?”
He raised his eyebrows. “You know, if any other woman said that to me, I’d be running for the hills.”
Laughter bubbled up out of me before I could stop it. “Sure you would.” I moved one of the seats around from the other side of his desk and sat next to him before placing the box on my lap.
We’d been discussing the possibility of buying the company that made a popular brand of edible lubricant for months now, but the company’s owner, Trevor Wilson, had been asking too high a price. He’d eventually accepted our offer, a price that had been mere pennies to us in terms of our overall wealth.
But we’d learned early on never to dismiss a potential business opportunity just because it wouldn’t make us millions. Any profit made meant we had more money to pour into the foundation, and in turn we could help more foster children.
I pulled a sample-sized tube out, opened it, and dabbed a tiny amount on my finger before doing the same for Jase. We tasted it and I shrugged. “Tastes like chocolate. Nothing revolutionary with this one.”
Tossing the tube on the desk, I grabbed another. We went through the same process with several fruit-flavored tubes, which was followed by a mint chocolate chip that tingled on my tongue. I liked that one.
The next tube made me stare. I blinked rapidly before looking up at Jase. “This can’t be real.”
“Why, what is it?”
“Bacon.” I turned the tube toward him so he could see for himself.
He threw back his head and let out a loud laugh, which soon had me joining him. “It had to be a man who came up with that idea.”
I handed it over to him. “I don’t even want to try it. Sounds disgusting.”
“Chicken.”
Sticking my tongue out at him, I left him to taste it and dived back into the box for another tube. “Now we’re talking! Hot buttered popcorn.”
Jase touched his finger to his tongue and tasted the bacon flavored lube. His grimace told me I’d been correct to decline it. “You’re right. This is disgusting.”
I grinned. “Somebody out there will like it.” The hot buttered popcorn was no misnomer, and I couldn’t resist having a second taste. Jase held out his finger and I squeezed a generous amount on it, then watched as he licked it clean.
“Mmm, that is good.”
“What do you think? Should we keep or sell?”
We didn’t always retain all the small businesses we bought. Some simply weren’t worth the time and effort it would take to build them up. With those sorts of businesses, we rebranded and sold them for a profit.
That was one of the many things I loved about being in the position we were today. There was no shortage of people who wanted to do business with us, and if we packaged the lube company in an enticing manner, they’d probably fight each other to buy it from us.
Money might not have bought happiness, but it certainly bought power.
Later that afternoon, Marian placed a large stack of folders on my desk with a loud thump. I looked up from my computer and raised my eyebrows.
“Meteor needs some new dancers and Duncan’s pulled together some potentials for the two of you to look at. He said to tell you he marked the ones he likes best with a sticky note.”
“How many are we looking for?”
Marian smiled. “Business is booming. We need eight to ten new dancers.”
“Okay, thanks. We’ll go through them tonight and you can arrange some auditions for us tomorrow.”
