Who is Jonathan Clark

Untitled Part 6

                                                                                      CHAPTER SIX

                                                                                        WHAT NEXT

"Hi Angela it's been a while, coffee, "said Jonathan coming from behind his desk to give her a hug.

"I see you have calmed down" said Angela, "I told you everything would be fine, and yes coffee would be lovely"

"Ok, I deserve that I was rude to you the last time we spoke, but there is a lot riding on this deal" said Jonathan, "now how are things in the big City what do you get up to when you are not working with me?

"Angela smiled, "I like your terminology, with you, and not for you, that would suggest a partnership"

"Not at the moment" he replied, "now answer the question"

"I have an office at J.P.R Accountants in Downtown Boston" answered Angela, "but I am  freelance. They pay me a retainer to look after the accounts of some high profile clients, this allows me the flexibility to go out and meet investors, much like yourself Jonathan, and here I am"

"Humor, Angela" said Jonathan, "this is a side of you I have never seen, next you will tell me you do stand-up in a bar in Boston. So, come on make me smile with some figures"

"Ok, I will keep this simple" she began, "with your profit share in now Global your total value is $3,550,000.If you pay off your existing Mortgages that will cost around $550,000 leaving you a figure of $3,000,000. Now I know that you want the freehold on the units that you lease and also on the three you are planning to purchase, but I would suggest that you take out a Business Mortgage on all five properties, with the profits they are yielding you can more than afford this, at the same time keeping your dollars in the Bank for future investment. When the stores are up and running your yearly turnover will exceed $8,000,000 with a forecast profit after taxes of around 30%, $2.4 million dollars. But whatever you decide Jonathan you are in a very good place"

"And you can arrange these Mortgages quickly? asked Jonathan.

"Awaiting your signature Mr Clark" replied a very smug looking Angela Rawllings.

"There is one more thing you can help me with Angela" said Jonathan, "in the past few weeks I have been looking at properties, not industrial I am moving house. Constance and I have found the perfect one but the difference between the sale price and the value of my own makes the purchase price to us $225,000, if I decide to buy outright this will eat into the investment fund, therefor I may need a loan from the Bank payable over say ten years, can you deal with this?

"Not a problem" answered Angela, "I would obviously advise keeping the cash, send me the figures, the address of the property and the name of your solicitor, I will arrange everything"

"It sounds like you have an investment in mind" said Jonathan.

"Possibly" she answered, "It is a bit up in the air at the moment, I need to clarify some details before I bring it to you, but enough about business, more coffee please"

It was November 1978, as the weeks went by Jonathan and Constance had their hands full selling their home and buying their new Cottage. He had changed direction on the Bank loan for his new home as he had excepted an offer of $400,000 for both his Condo's in Florida this allowed him to pay cash for the difference between the selling and purchase price, while hardly disturbing his investment fund. He had introduced Constance to Angela albeit by phone and for once he was allowing her to deal with their finances. This gave him the freedom to concentrate on his other passion,the purchase of his new Stores. Angela had chosen well all three were on main Highways and easily accessible from their relevant Towns. Mortgages were in place with a contingency for any renovations, he was good to go. The target was all three up and running in six months and Jonathan found himself working non-stop seven day's a week overseeing the work and interviewing from Management to sales staff and everything in-between, and the last conversation he had with Angela was the furthest thing from his mind. Constance was buzzing she had taken the children to see their new home, walked to the prep school where Jason would attend and driven the two miles to the Junior school which for the coming two years would be home to Sylvia and Julian. She even introduced herself to a neighbor as the new owner of number 692 Macintosh Avenue. Her next task was buying furniture, saying that what they had was far too modern for the Cottage. The children loved their potential new home especially Sylvia as she had friends who lived nearby, they could not wait to move in.

It was May 1979 and things were moving quickly. The Clark family had moved into their new home, Constance was socialising and the first of the new Stores at Scranton had opened with a seven day sale almost clearing the shelves. The Hartford Store was next followed by Concord both with equal success to Scranton. The money was rolling in, life was sweet in the Clark household. All this time Jonathan was being hounded by his Bank Manager regarding the substantial amount of money sitting dormant in his savings account doing nothing. He would from time to time come up with some small investments but Jonathan was holding out to see what Angela Rawllings had in mind. All they had spoken of in the past six months were Loans and Mortgages, but the Million Dollar question was just around the corner.

June 1979 and a meeting had been arranged with Angela at a Boston Restaurant. Somewhere private at her request.

"This is all a bit James Bond" said Jonathan pulling his chair a little closer to the table, I am intrigued"

"Jonathan you are looking well" he cut her sentence short, "You are making me nervous Angela, just get on with it" he insisted.

"She took a deep breath, "This is going to sound illegal, in fact it probably is. I had lunch with that friend I told you of who works at Global Oil, you remember he told me of the Takeover at Pro Universal. Well during our conversation he indicated that Global were preparing to sink test holes in certain North West African Countries, specifically Guinea, Senegal and Sierra Leone in around twelve months time. They have quietly had Geologists surveying the land and the signs are positive"

"Illegal" said Jonathan, "what has this to do with me?

"Ok here's the thing" said Angela, "these are poor Countries, Global could do a deal for peanuts to buy the land containing the Oil. If they then failed to find Oil they could just pack up and leave with the local population clearing up their mess. I hypothetically ran this past the Ambassador from Guinea and suggested that if an outsider were to own retainer parts of this land with alternative development plans he could drive a much harder bargain for the drilling rights, and everyone involved could make a healthy profit. Although he was cautious he did not rule out my suggestion saying he would meet with the Foreign Ministers of all three Countries involved and get back to me"

Jonathan intervened, "I might not be grasping this Angela" he said, "are you suggesting that I should be the one to allegedly buy this land and if so why would a West African Diplomat discuss his Countries financial problems with a store owner from Bretton Falls Massachusetts, it doesn't stack up"

"Well it seems" she answered, "that neighboring countries such as Ivory Coast and Liberia have had similar problems and were complexly confused by the details set down by the Oil Companies involved, and subsequently lost large amounts of revenue. According to the Ambassador the offer was  take it or leave it or we will present the deal to your next door neighbor. This was of course reported to the U.S Government but they were also swayed by the power of the Oil Companies. So you see Jonathan they need help. Help that could be rewarding to both parties"

"I wont immediately say no Angela" said Jonathan, wiping the sweat from his forehead, "just give me some time, your discussions and any relevant paperwork. Obviously the amount of trust involved in this would be immense. At this moment my gut say's no, but you seem to have your finger on something here so let me ponder over the details and get back to you. In the meantime I need a complete audit carried out on all six Stores for my end of year accounts"

"No problem Jonathan you are the Boss" replied Angela.