Chương 22: Book 2 - Chapter 2 B

The next morning I met Matt Preston at the front door five minutes to eight. Unlocking the lobby door, I let him in.

"Come on in Matt, just in time."

"So it wasn't a dream. I wasn't sure I hadn't dreamed it."

"You'll see a lot of strange things in the next 10 years," I told him.

"What happens in ten years?"

"I'll be 18 and you'll want a new job so you can be with your family. Your daughter will need your time." He started to ask questions when my Grandpa came into the lobby.

"Don't bother asking, Matt, the kid's a genius and just knows stuff. I'm Joe by the way, we didn't get introduced yesterday." Matt shook his hand.

"Matt Preston. I sort of remember you from yesterday, but it's all little fuzzy."

"Who's this?" Grandma Beth asked as she came from the elevator behind Grandpa.

"My new driver," I told her.

"Grandma Beth, meet former Sergeant Matt Preston, of the US Marines."

"My, you are big, aren't you," she said as she reached out to shake his hand with a warm friendly smile.

"Do you have your list of supplies?" I asked Grandma.

"Yes, right here. I've never done such a big renovation before."

"You have the architect's dimensions of the kitchens and I know you'll negotiate a good price, just make sure they stick to stainless steel appliances and no granite counter tops!"

"But granite looks so lovely," Grandma said.

"It's nothing but looks, it's a terrible counter top surface. Basic geology Grandma, granite is porous. Polishing it does not change that. If you want stone ask for quartz."

"Okay, and I'd like to see butcher block for the islands," she continued.

"Sounds good, have fun with the designer, we'll see you back here for lunch."

"Be good boys, see you later," she said as she exited the building. I turned back to Grandpa.

"Will you be getting the minivans today?" I asked Grandpa.

"Yes, shiny black as requested."

"Great, I'm going to show Matt his room, then my lab and the rest of the building."

"Follow me!" I said dramatically, swinging my arm around and pointing up the grand staircase. When we reached the mezzanine level, we looked over the balcony together.

"Matt, this lobby will be restored back to near original. The hotel check in desk will be over there and the restaurant and dining room are that way," I said pointing it out. He just listened, and looked around as I described the coming changes.

"Okay, next stop, the fourth floor."

"That's Grandma and Grandpa's room. That one is mine," I told him. Opening the room across from mine I walked in.

"This one is yours."

"Just drop your stuff here for now, you can come back later to get unpacked." He dropped his stuff after a brief look. I handed him a set of keys.

"This is for your hotel room, and a key for the building. Let's go look at my room." I opened the unlocked door and walked in.

"Wow, you have two computers?" he said, finally beginning to open up.

"Do you know much about computers?" I asked him.

"No."

"I'll be using them for school work and other projects. Let's do the grand tour and start at the bottom and work our way up."

"Okay," he agreed, having decided to just float along for the ride. We rode the elevator down to the basement level.

"The primary kitchen is down here. It'll serve the restaurants and food service for the hotel rooms." We went through a set of doors into the underground garage.

"We are only keeping a few of the parking spaces for the hotel shuttle vans. The rest of this space will be the new indoor pool."

"Cool," he replied. As we rode the elevator up, I told him, "These will be hotel rooms, and then above them will be apartments. Some of the apartments will be rented out, and some will be managed by the hotel." We exited on level fifteen.

"This is what we call the family level. When this renovation gets finished, I'll live here with my parents and sister in one apartment. Grandma and Grandpa will have an apartment up here too."

"Will I be up here too?" he asked, looking around.

"Yup, two bedroom apartment all to yourself, plus maid service, and room service." He nodded.

"Nice." We went up to seventeen.

"There's no crew up here right now, so lets go out on the patio," I suggested. We walked out to a hot day, and a stiff breeze.

"Wow, what a view!" Matt said.

"There's a big list of celebrities who stayed in the room up here. It used to be the penthouse presidential suite."

"Like who?" This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it"Elvis loved his stays in the Presidential Suite," I told him.

"Wow, really?" he asked.

"Really," I said with a grin, "But the remodel is removing the suite."

"What's going to be now?"

"A rooftop bar." He asked.

"Are you going to name it the Penthouse Presidential Bar?"

"My Mom didn't care for that name, though Dad liked it. I like 'The High Bar' but nobody has settled on a name yet." Finally it came to the denouement, the important moment. I led him back down the elevator one floor. The doors opened into the elevator lobby. I used my key to open the door to the darkness of my lab area, I stepped in and flipped a switch turning on the lights.

"Kind of a big spooky space," he commented.

"This is my lab space. I'll be working here on projects for myself, and the University."

"University? What University?" he asked, looking confused again.

"I'm starting at University of Tulsa this fall. That's why I need a driver, somebody to take me back and forth. It's also why I need a bodyguard, somebody to keep me from being shoved around or kidnapped."

"If you're serious, I'm not trained for kidnapping. I can drive you around easy enough but I'm not sure if I'm the guy for the rest of it."

"Don't worry, you're going to a training center in a couple weeks, you'll come back ready to do your job."

"You talk like my former CO. It's hard to believe you're just a kid."

"Matthew James Preston, listen to me very carefully," I said loudly, using the command voice he knew from the military. He stiffened to attention and I continued.

"Someday, you will save my life. I know that, like you know two plus two is four. Our relationship will never be just employer and employee. I'd like to think of it as friendship that lasts for decades. Outsiders might see it as more Feudal Lord to Vassal, but there are implications that I can't explain right now. Just remember this, just as you have an obligation to me, so I have an obligation to you. I will meet my obligations to you always, this I swear! Not just because you save my life."

"What do you know, you're eight," he said, but not harshly.

"Go get the deck of cards from your duffel downstairs. Shuffle them till you're satisfied, then bring them up here. I'm going to show you what I know." He turned and went to get his deck of cards. It took a few minutes, when he returned I was sitting on the plywood floor, waiting for him.

"Here, sit across from me, and place the cards face down." He sat, a few feet from me, and crossed his legs like I had mine crossed.

"Now, is there any way that I could know what order the cards are in?" I asked him.

"No."

"We will proceed this way. I will name a card, you will flip the top card over. Do you understand?"

"Yeah I get it."

"Three of clubs." He flipped the card over, it was a three of clubs. He went very still. I called the next card, he flipped it over. Correct again, I kept calling out cards, he kept flipping them. After the ninth card he quickly backed away, until his back hit the wall. The terror on his face was not difficult to see.

"Sergeant Preston, did you stop to think about how I knew where you were yesterday? Did you stop to think about how an eight year old kid came uninvited into the home of a drunk 254 pound, six foot eight, black Marine with a loaded and cocked gun and made him coffee?

"Why do you think I did this?" I asked softly.

"Because someday I'm going to save your life?" he replied.

"But first I had to save yours," I said and waited. It took him a bit, but eventually he softly said, "Yeah."

"Two hours later and you would have woken up, found no booze, no coffee and put a bullet in your head." He looked intensely guilty at that statement.

"But," I continued with a smile that belied the seriousness of the conversation, "that was three problems ago. We've solved those, so I think the question now is if I tell you something, will you believe me? Will you act knowing what I say is true? Will you rely on me for answers when you have questions?" He took a deep breath, and gave me a serious steely eyed look. He wiped the glitter of an unshed tear from his eyes. It was the moment I was waiting for.

"You have my oath. My life for yours."

"And you have my oath, a life worth living," I told him solemnly. The silence filled the room. It wasn't uncomfortable. We both heard the elevator ding. Matt turned to look but I stood up and called out.

"In here Grandpa."

"There you are," Grandpa said speaking from just past the elevator doors.

"Need to get an intercom or something. Beth is back, she brought barbecue. It's down at the mezzanine."

"Thanks Grandpa, we will be right down," I called out. The doors to the elevator shut. I turned to him, looked at him right in the eyes, and smiled.

"Most days will be normal enough, at least what passes for normal around me. Today you got the deep end of the pool." He smiled back, white teeth flashing. I stopped him before he could speak, "Before you say it, even once in jest, 'Boss' is fine, but 'yessum massa' is not, and will not ever be funny," I told him before he could say the words. His smile dropped a little, but he nodded in understanding.

"Now let's go eat, Grandma Beth got us Dr Pepper."

"Yes, boss!" he said with a newfound eagerness and enthusiasm. Later that afternoon Grandpa turned up with three shiny black minivans. The hotel would eventually use them as an airport shuttles, but we would use them first as needed. The final step was the return of their rental car. That evening, I caught up with Grandpa.

"How are the acquisitions coming along, Grandpa?" I asked him.

"Everything is proceeding on schedule, right?" Grandpa nodded.

"The new properties are secured, and I'm ready for the next phase of investments. Things are moving fast." I handed him the sheet of paper.

"Here is the list of assets to liquidate, and the target purchases for the next quarter. Don't hesitate, just execute the trades tomorrow." He took the paper with a practiced air.

"And the hotel?"

"Here," I said, handing him a second sheet.

"These are the final construction numbers, including the cost to complete for the core floors. Tell Peter that the entire family level must be finished by the time Dad and Mom arrive on the fifth."

"It won't be done that soon, John," he said with worry.

"I know, but it'll keep him motivated and happy to show Mom how close to finished it is when she arrives." He gave me a sly grin.

"I like it."

"Remember, Peter might be the foreman, but Dad's the one who will run the whole project once he gets here."

"When will he be up here?" Grandpa asked.

"August first. His job asked him to stay on till then, and he agreed."

"Less than a month, how trustworthy is Peter in getting the family level completed?"

"He'll stay on task, but it's going to need Dad and Mom to get finished. No matter what is suggested, we don't move in until the entire floor is finished."

"Why?" he asked me.

"Because it'll be miserable for us, and it'll slow the crew down."

"Okay, I'll remember that, no early move in until the floor is finished."

"Also, I'm flying to the Dallas Fort Worth airport on August 3rd," I told him.

"Who have you told?" he asked smiling.

"Just you. Mom did say I could go if I found a way, but she's going to be really unhappy when she gets here on the 6th and discovers I'm not here."

"Why don't you tell her?" he asked, brow furrowing.

"Forgiveness is easier than permission," I admitted. He laughed.

"How much trouble will I be in?"

"Less than Dad. I'll have Matt with me, and I'm not going to get in trouble while I'm gone," I promised.

"When does school start?" he asked.

"August 13th for Mattie. I'm starting August 20th."

"I'll just pretend that I thought everybody knew you were going after your big chess game at the lake," he said confidently.

"Thanks, Grandpa. It will help that Dad's the one who tells you to drive me to the airport."