The Imperial Revenge

Chapter 16

September 1928

I took the train to Moscow by myself. I was required to think quite a bit. First, I needed to create a name for myself. They needed to know Alexei Savenkov. But how would I achieve that in a short time? I knew I'd figure something out. First, I needed to find a job.

I hopped off the train in Moscow. There had been trolleys and trains people could take. A lot of them walked. Some parts of Moscow looked clean and fancy. Other parts were dirty and creepy-looking people. I walked through the city and stayed aware of my surroundings. God save these people who lived here. I could only imagine what Leningrad(St. Petersburg) looked like now.

"Yellow and Red Publications" had been around for thirty-years. It was a larger building in Moscow and I learned it was run by an old and crabby man. I came with notion that I could buy it from him or even take partnership in it. I can be persuasive. It was even easier getting a meeting with the boss. His secretary loved me already. What can I say? The ladies like me.

"Thank you for meeting with me." I said as I sat across from his desk. He looked sternly at me and sipped his tea.
"I have absolutely no time for useless chatter. What is it you need, Mr. Savenkov?"
"I would like to buy 'Yellow And Red Publications'."
The boss scoffed. "No thank you. You can see yourself out."
"You have no sons. That means there's no heir to the business. If you hand it over to me, you could retire and be with your family. I'd keep all of your employees on."
"It was hard creating this company, especially under the Tsar. You seem young and smart but I can not trust a twenty-four-year-old man with my work!"
"How else could I persuade you, sir? Name it and you've got it."
The boss sat for a second and scratched his chin. He thought long and hard about what I could do for him. He truly was old. No younger than seventy-seven. It was time for him to retire and start his life. If he scratched my back, I'd scratch his.
"My wife and I are very old now. We have a hard time doing the things that used to be easy. It's hard to take baths and cook. How about you buy me a maid?" The boss grinned. That would be outrageously expensive. But he must've had hundreds of authors with him and that would bring me money. I nodded at him and exhaled deeply.
"That can be arranged. I'll give you three-hundred rubles for the business." I said and handed over the three-hundred rubles."
The boss scoffed one again and shook his head. "I want eight-hundred rubles."
"Three-hundred-fifty."
"Seven-hundred."
"Four-hundred."
"Six-hundred-fifty."
I leaned in closer. "Four-hundred-fifty rubles. That's my final offer. Remember, you and your wife are hardly able to live on your own."
The boss sighed. "Deal. I'd like to get this done and over with, Mr. Savenkov. Let's head to the bank now." He stood and grabbed his coat.

The boss and I went to the bank and sat for hours working through deeds and contracts. "Yellow And Red Publications" would send over two-hundred rubles a month to help take care of him and his wife. And, he would get his maid to help him. The name was also changed from "Yellow And Red Publications" to "Savenkov And Loyalty Publications". I was being sent over one-thousand rubles to set up the business and for myself. There was quite a bit of money in that now. Next was buying a house and getting myself famous. But that could be saved for another day.