Page 12 of Mailroom Delight
Chapter 4
Jason
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Iknew she wouldn’t turn up.
Or rather I knew she would leave.
It was just a hunch, but one that panned out. I went to her office anyway to check, finding it exactly the same as every other time I’d tried to see her.
Empty.
I’d arranged a total of five meetings with this woman in my super busy schedule. Each time she’d been called away or was running some errand. Today I knew for sure she was avoiding me.
That meant I had to up my tactics.
I laughed to myself at the horrified look she’d give me if I did something like turn up at her house. The thought had occurred to me last week to do that, but I knew that would be completely inappropriate, even for me.
I pushed the barriers. That was how I’d gotten to where I was today. By pushing and stepping outside my comfort zone to the point where it no longer existed.
I also knew when to reign in my emotions and desire for success.
I was one of the first people to meet with Elizabeth to discuss the sale ofPortrait.
She was offering far too low a cost for such a prestigious magazine.
There was one thing she didn’t tell everyone when she announced the sale of the place. But she told me, maybe because she knew if I bought it I’d keep the same dream alive she had when she first set up shop.
Unknown to everyone Elizabeth had been suffering from depression for years. She’d tried to hold it together for the magazine and all that she’d put into it, but it ended up affecting her, and more than her, her family.
What she wanted was someone who wasn’t going to take advantage of the cheap offer she placed on the place. She wanted someone who could put their heart and soul into working here. Just like she had.
I could do that. I wanted to anyway, for the time I was here.
I was leaving for Hong Kong in six months to start a new business venture. Luxury apartments this time. I was looking forward to that because I hadn’t worked with property in a while.
Business development and improvement was my thing. I’d take over existing companies that were suffering and make them better.
I worked predominately with magazines because they tended to need help the most, but in the past, I’d worked with property developers and wealth management companies. All fell into this category I classified as the abyss. They’d get sucked into what the company specialized in and forget to pay attention to what the company was actually doing. By doing so they ended up spending unnecessary money in areas that they didn’t need to. That meant in times of market fluctuation, or recession they were screwed and didn’t have anything to fall back on.
Usually I’d work alongside these companies and help them to have a more stable footing, but sometimes I bought. Like I did withPortrait.
Aside from the interest I had in the opportunity the place had, the location was perfect.
I was originally from San Francisco and there was a chance I would settle here. Just not yet, or maybe not in the near future.
I had too much zest in me to settle just yet and there were ideas pouring out of my head for all the things I wanted to do.
That’s why when Elizabeth told me she wanted a hundred thousand for the place I seized the opportunity, but I didn’t buy the place for that cheap rate. I gave her a million dollars because I knew that was what it was worth.
I knew a sale of desperation when I saw one, and that was exactly what she was. Desperate. Desperate to hand over the magazine to the right person, offered it cheap to attract people who may have wanted the opportunity, but couldn’t afford what it was really worth, and most of all desperate for preservation.
When she handed over the company to me I gave her something she hoped for. Peace of mind.
As for me, my plans were to set the place up to be solid. There were very few things wrong here, which was great. All they needed was someone to fill Elizabeth’s shoes. My research showed me she was a great leader, one who inspired people.
The general vibe I got about the people here confirmed that.
