A Target's Love

1

Javier Quinton walked into the Penthouse Suite of the Pegasus Hotel at a leisurely pace. His father was standing at the glass wall, observing the beautiful view lying twenty stories below. It was one of a long beach expanse fading into a blue-green sea, the surface of which seemed to touch the clear blue sky.

"You called, Father?"

"Javier! Correct me if I'm wrong—I'm hoping I'm wrong—but did you punch a hole through the balcony door? We don't own this place and I've told you time and time again of the importance of having respect for other people's property!" His father snapped, doing an about-face to confront the man walking in his direction across the polished hardwood floor.

Javier took a seat in the chair opposite the desk at which his father usually worked. His steel grey eyes--a reflection of his father's--held definite unconcern as he surveyed the room and then glanced out toward the ocean. Flipping a coin, he said, "Father, relax. I had a moment but it's fine now." He shrugged good-naturedly.

"Please tell me that you didn't disobey my direct order and buy another property without consulting me. . ." His father looked at him.

"Well . . . "

"More than ten years of training and you still find it hard to comply? You're twenty-five years old and still behave like you're ten!"

"What? You've seen how much Mother and the others love the place. We've been here for a while, might as well make it our main place. It's got sun, sand, and sea--everything we look for in a home. I did you a favor. Be polite and say 'thank you'."

His father sighed. "I don't know when you'll grow up . . . Anyway, that's not the reason I called you here."

"Another mission?"

"I've been observing my network for some time, keeping an eye on the growth of my associates' companies. I've decided it's time for a new acquisition. How much do you know about Tech-Knowledge Corporation?"

"We're coveting a computer store? Why are you thinking so small?"

"Tech-Knowledge is a whole lot more than a 'computer store'." William rolled his eyes. "It's a worldwide tech conglomerate owned by Martin Rosheuvel. Think world-class tech development, media programming, and database solutions on a global scale."

"So. . .we're taking him out? How does this help us? We already have a whole group of tech and telecommunications companies that fall under Quinton Enterprises."

His father groaned and rubbed his forehead. "I did so much for you—sent you to Ivy League colleges, gave you your pick of missions . . . Didn't you learn anything?"

"Father!"

In truth, Javier was a fairly smart man. He graduated college at 22 with a degree in Business Administration with a minor in Information Technology from InnovaTech Insititute and a dual MD/MBBS degree after completing a six-year medical degree program at Atlantic University of Medical Sciences. He'd started tertiary education at two of the most prestigious universities in tech and science at 16, and his intelligence was easily higher than average. But to his father, Javier's intelligence would never surpass his own. The man was so full of himself.

"You didn't let me finish, Javier. Although Martin founded and owns the conglomerate, his daughter, Elizabeth, is the CEO. She completely runs the Westford location and is her father's right hand for the whole corporation. In short, she's the ideal businesswoman, so her father just sits back and lets her do all the work. More importantly, she's his successor. When he dies, it's all hers."

Javier sat up. He could see where this was going.

"So any acquisition," His father continued, "has to be done through her. And to answer your silly question, Javier, it's been some time since our last acquisition. We must continue to expand because that's what we do. We take over. We grow. That's the aim of the game. I've been pounding this into your head for the last decade. If you ever paid attention to important things, you'd know that the portfolio of those huffy Vanderwoods has been increasing by a record-breaking 30% per day over the last two months. If we want to keep Quinton Enterprises at number one, we need to keep expanding."