Chapter 23
23.
Elena watched for a moment as the sedan disappeared around a corner. Her feelings were mixed with Peter’s departure. Part of her was relieved not to have a council member watching her every step yet she felt a little abandoned now that Peter was gone. Elena sighed and turned to her apartment building. She went in, climbed the stairs and unlocked her apartment door. Elena tossed her calendar, notebook and purse on the couch and deciding it was close enough to lunchtime to warrant it, she went into the kitchen to make a sandwich. As she smeared peanut butter and jelly on her two slices of bread she wondered if the military had gone as far as searching her apartment while she was gone.
“If they did they would have probably bugged the apartment too,” she muttered pressing the two slices of bread together and taking a bite. She eyed the light fixture in the kitchen. Was that dark spot on it always there or was it the shadow of some sort of spy equipment. As she looked she realized it was just a worn spot on the plastic. She rolled her eyes at herself and took another bite of her sandwich. If there were bugs she would more than likely never find them and looking for them would just drive her crazy.
“Besides,” she said. “It isn’t like they are going to overhear anything. I live alone.” She shrugged. “All I have to do is stop talking to myself and they’ll never hear a thing.” Elena finished her sandwich and wiped up the few crumbs on the kitchen counter. For a moment she was at a loss as to her next steps. She wasn’t used to being home so early in the day. She thought about going into the store but decided against it. She retrieved the notebook she had started jotting notes in the night before. The notes were a jumbled list and needed to be clarified into a cohesive plan before any steps could be taken. She started listing the steps needed and the order they needed to occur in order to make the business function.
“Definitely need to start getting a proposed budget together,” she muttered thinking of the presentation she would need to make for Peter and her grandfather. She was certain that Peter was quite business savvy but her grandfather tended to not really worry about the details of the business end. She was fairly certain he believed all that was needed was to have a false bill of sale and that would be the end of it. Her plan called for a little more finesse.
“And a lot of capital,” she muttered. She tapped the notebook with the top of the pen as she thought about it. To the side of her steps she began listing some of the expenditures needed to get the venture off the ground. A few of the items she had a fairly good estimate of cost and she jotted down numbers next to them. When she reached building space she thought of the building next to Calabrese Imports. Elena set the pen down and retrieved some papers from one of the kitchen drawers. She flipped through and found the particulars. Figuring the building cost wouldn’t have changed much she marked it down on her sheet. The building wood need some work done however and mentally she started adjusting the interior to suit her needs. Again her estimates were jotted down on the page. When she finished with the building her thoughts shifted to the merchandise.
“Several are already prepared,” she muttered thinking of some of the items the Wind Dancer routinely stocked. It was true however they were often packed plainly. Many of them had alien lettering and advertisements on them. Repackaged they could be sold Earth-side.
“We would have to rename them though,” she said thinking of the puzzlement of consumers at alien languages. “Generic names would be best.” Elena thought of the gadieoc jelly they usually picked up on Hediaon. It was spicy and best served on hot bread. Elena remembered holding a jar of it up to the light the first time she had seen it. “It sparkled like crystals,” she remembered with a smile. Elena flipped to a new page in her notebook and jotted down gadieoc and next to it wrote, crystal preserves. Several more items were added, each with similar nom de plumes. Fesha became Star Gazer dip, and tolog was listed as meteor bites. Some had space themes while others followed the stone and jewel themes.
“They will have to look like the come from different companies,” she said tapping the page. Elena flipped back to her previous page and added graphic designer to the list of expenditures. They would have to design several different product lines to create diversity in the store. She was certain other products could be developed for sale and she added test kitchen to the list.
Elena flipped back to her list of merchandise. Cookware would not be out of place and several of the pieces she had seen on various worlds would sell well as artistic or novelty pieces. She added a few to the list as well as some small items that could be useful for either kitchen use, table settings and cocktail parties. When she finished she smiled at the page. It was quite a tidy list. It was of course heavily centered on the type of items she normally saw in the Wind Dancer’s travels. Peter and his family traveled different shipping lanes and would no doubt be able to add to the list considerably.
Elena looked back at her list of expenditures and began adding. She tried not to let the high cost scare her. When she was satisfied with the preliminary list of figures she mentally divided it into three parts. With the division she heaved a sigh of relief. The cost was still high but a third of the cost was manageable.
“Assuming they both want to go in with me.” Elena flipped to a new page and began fleshing out the business proposal she would be giving to her grandfather and Peter. The rest of the day passed relatively quickly. Elena had a second peanut butter and jelly sandwich while she worked and called it dinner. By the time she was ready to head to bed she was happy with the preliminaries she had created. She decided to take the notebook to work with her and type it up on the computer in her office there. The card Peter had given her was on the table next to her pen. She picked it up and tucked it into the front of the notebook. When she had the typed proposal she would call and see how he wanted it sent to him.
“For all I know he might still be tied up with Ian when I call and tell me to hold onto it for a while.” Elena thought of Ian and wondered what was happening. She glanced out at the darkened street and realized they would have reached the Lorenzo by this time. Would Ian have an immediate trial or would they make him wait a while. Somehow Elena couldn’t see Ian being given the same comfortable suite she had been given on her visit to the council vessel. Elena showered and readied herself for bed. She grimaced when she realized she still had not picked up coffee.
Elena watched for a moment as the sedan disappeared around a corner. Her feelings were mixed with Peter’s departure. Part of her was relieved not to have a council member watching her every step yet she felt a little abandoned now that Peter was gone. Elena sighed and turned to her apartment building. She went in, climbed the stairs and unlocked her apartment door. Elena tossed her calendar, notebook and purse on the couch and deciding it was close enough to lunchtime to warrant it, she went into the kitchen to make a sandwich. As she smeared peanut butter and jelly on her two slices of bread she wondered if the military had gone as far as searching her apartment while she was gone.
“If they did they would have probably bugged the apartment too,” she muttered pressing the two slices of bread together and taking a bite. She eyed the light fixture in the kitchen. Was that dark spot on it always there or was it the shadow of some sort of spy equipment. As she looked she realized it was just a worn spot on the plastic. She rolled her eyes at herself and took another bite of her sandwich. If there were bugs she would more than likely never find them and looking for them would just drive her crazy.
“Besides,” she said. “It isn’t like they are going to overhear anything. I live alone.” She shrugged. “All I have to do is stop talking to myself and they’ll never hear a thing.” Elena finished her sandwich and wiped up the few crumbs on the kitchen counter. For a moment she was at a loss as to her next steps. She wasn’t used to being home so early in the day. She thought about going into the store but decided against it. She retrieved the notebook she had started jotting notes in the night before. The notes were a jumbled list and needed to be clarified into a cohesive plan before any steps could be taken. She started listing the steps needed and the order they needed to occur in order to make the business function.
“Definitely need to start getting a proposed budget together,” she muttered thinking of the presentation she would need to make for Peter and her grandfather. She was certain that Peter was quite business savvy but her grandfather tended to not really worry about the details of the business end. She was fairly certain he believed all that was needed was to have a false bill of sale and that would be the end of it. Her plan called for a little more finesse.
“And a lot of capital,” she muttered. She tapped the notebook with the top of the pen as she thought about it. To the side of her steps she began listing some of the expenditures needed to get the venture off the ground. A few of the items she had a fairly good estimate of cost and she jotted down numbers next to them. When she reached building space she thought of the building next to Calabrese Imports. Elena set the pen down and retrieved some papers from one of the kitchen drawers. She flipped through and found the particulars. Figuring the building cost wouldn’t have changed much she marked it down on her sheet. The building wood need some work done however and mentally she started adjusting the interior to suit her needs. Again her estimates were jotted down on the page. When she finished with the building her thoughts shifted to the merchandise.
“Several are already prepared,” she muttered thinking of some of the items the Wind Dancer routinely stocked. It was true however they were often packed plainly. Many of them had alien lettering and advertisements on them. Repackaged they could be sold Earth-side.
“We would have to rename them though,” she said thinking of the puzzlement of consumers at alien languages. “Generic names would be best.” Elena thought of the gadieoc jelly they usually picked up on Hediaon. It was spicy and best served on hot bread. Elena remembered holding a jar of it up to the light the first time she had seen it. “It sparkled like crystals,” she remembered with a smile. Elena flipped to a new page in her notebook and jotted down gadieoc and next to it wrote, crystal preserves. Several more items were added, each with similar nom de plumes. Fesha became Star Gazer dip, and tolog was listed as meteor bites. Some had space themes while others followed the stone and jewel themes.
“They will have to look like the come from different companies,” she said tapping the page. Elena flipped back to her previous page and added graphic designer to the list of expenditures. They would have to design several different product lines to create diversity in the store. She was certain other products could be developed for sale and she added test kitchen to the list.
Elena flipped back to her list of merchandise. Cookware would not be out of place and several of the pieces she had seen on various worlds would sell well as artistic or novelty pieces. She added a few to the list as well as some small items that could be useful for either kitchen use, table settings and cocktail parties. When she finished she smiled at the page. It was quite a tidy list. It was of course heavily centered on the type of items she normally saw in the Wind Dancer’s travels. Peter and his family traveled different shipping lanes and would no doubt be able to add to the list considerably.
Elena looked back at her list of expenditures and began adding. She tried not to let the high cost scare her. When she was satisfied with the preliminary list of figures she mentally divided it into three parts. With the division she heaved a sigh of relief. The cost was still high but a third of the cost was manageable.
“Assuming they both want to go in with me.” Elena flipped to a new page and began fleshing out the business proposal she would be giving to her grandfather and Peter. The rest of the day passed relatively quickly. Elena had a second peanut butter and jelly sandwich while she worked and called it dinner. By the time she was ready to head to bed she was happy with the preliminaries she had created. She decided to take the notebook to work with her and type it up on the computer in her office there. The card Peter had given her was on the table next to her pen. She picked it up and tucked it into the front of the notebook. When she had the typed proposal she would call and see how he wanted it sent to him.
“For all I know he might still be tied up with Ian when I call and tell me to hold onto it for a while.” Elena thought of Ian and wondered what was happening. She glanced out at the darkened street and realized they would have reached the Lorenzo by this time. Would Ian have an immediate trial or would they make him wait a while. Somehow Elena couldn’t see Ian being given the same comfortable suite she had been given on her visit to the council vessel. Elena showered and readied herself for bed. She grimaced when she realized she still had not picked up coffee.
“I’ll pick it up on the way home tomorrow,” she told herself. “Even if it means going back to the coffee shop.” The restless night before had drained her and Elena snuggled into her covers and curled up into a ball. Almost immediately she drifted off into a mercifully dreamless sleep.
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Quote:
The building wood need some work done however and mentally she started adjusting the interior to suit her needs.
I suppose this should be: The building would....
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