BXBX NOVEL Chapter 120: Moves
A few minutes later, we left the hotel and walked hand in hand down the streets of Paris.
As we neared the boat, I could feel the breeze rolling off the water.
We had a nice dinner, with candles on the table setting a romantic mood; our conversation flowed easily. I opened a bottle of champagne with dinner and it made us both giggly.
Then, we found some seats on the upper deck and sat down to watch all the historic buildings as they passed by.
The lights, the water, the night air, and Charlotte were all just so soothing to me.
Charlotte took my hand and placed it on her thigh. She rested her head on my shoulder as we drank in the magical scenes around us.
As the cruise came to an end, we walked side by side back to the hotel and moved to the bed to watch TV.
I ordered more champagne for the hotel room and it got us all talkative, and then horny, our hands roaming over each other on the bed. Well before midnight arrived, we were naked in the bed, pleasuring each other with our hands, lips, and other parts.
...
The next morning, we were both a little groggy, moving kind of slowly.
It was Thursday, and we decided to visit a few more art and history museums.
In one of the art museums, we looked at a stunning collection of impressionist paintings.
"Jack, would you ever buy a painting for a few million dollars?" Charlotte asked me with curiosity.
I paused, thinking about it. "Hmm, I\'d have to say no," I finally replied. "There are investments that give a better return on your money."
Charlotte nudged me on the shoulder. "Is everything about money for you?"
I looked at her blankly. "Yes…"
She blinked. "But... wouldn\'t it be cool to own something really famous?"
"Well... I\'d rather put my money into something that can change the future. But if you really want one of those famous paintings, I can buy you one. Just let me know which one you like."
Charlotte laughed softly. "I don\'t want any paintings... I just wanted to see what you thought about this."
When we got back to the hotel, we started packing for our next leg of the trip to Lyon; city on the east side of France, close to Switzerland.
It was where the new office of Immortal Investments was located.
Charlotte was taking a shower while I was packing my clothes.
As I was rolling up a shirt, my phone rang.
It was Mark.
"Mark?"
"Hey, Jack! I thought you fell off the face of the Earth there. Haven\'t heard from you in two weeks. But we figured you were busy so we didn\'t want to bother you."
"I mean, brother... it\'s in my contract that you can call me anytime; are you stupid or something?"
"Uhhh... anyway, Sam just told me to give you a quick update," Mark said. "With the new influx from Sam\'s father, we\'re sitting on over $800 million. Over $200 million set aside for day trading and swing trading. $100 million still left in Monster, and umm... 50 mill in the military sector. So, we\'ve got $450 million left to invest.
And! We\'ve secured a banking partner that\'ll let us leverage that."
"Okay..." I said. "What are you eyeing?"
"Well," Mark continued, "we\'ve been looking at a few plays with the team. Amazon for example, rings a bell? We\'ve been comparing it to eBay. They started to diversify recently; they pretty much have everything from books to electronics and they\'re also investing heavily in delivery logistics. Seems really promising."
"Anything else?" I asked.
"Yeah, Sam has mentioned Netflix. Renting DVDs is on the decline, and Netflix\'s streaming service could really corner the market. That\'s if they nail it, of course."
I actually laughed under my nose. These guys were something, finding such crazy good picks without my help.
But the truth was that it was too early...
"I know both of these companies, and they\'re great picks," I said. "But not right now."
"Not now?"
"Yeah. First off, Amazon\'s been hyped for years now. They\'re already at a $20 billion market cap, and I think they\'re overvalued at the moment. I\'d give them a few more years."
"As for Netflix," I continued. "They\'ve got some great ideas, but they\'re still too focused on DVD rentals and losing a lot of money on investing into expanding that business. I would hold off until they wake the fuck up and decide what they really want to do. Give it at least 2 more years."
"Hmm…," Mark said, sounding thoughtful. "You might need to break it down a bit more, but alright. So, what are you proposing then?"
As I was talking, Charlotte started to get playful. She slid up next to me, jumped on my lap, draping herself over me like a blanket. She smelled fresh and clean after taking a shower.
I tried to focus back on the conversation. "Mark, forget Amazon and Netflix for now. Take a look at BlackBerry."
Charlotte smiled at me in a naughty way, obviously trying to get my attention off the call.
"Charlotte, not now," I whispered.
"BlackBerry? The phones?" Mark asked.
"Yes..." I started, "there has been a trend of companies letting their employees use mobile email. BlackBerry is well-positioned to capitalize on it. They\'re rolling out new tech, enterprise solutions, their brand is solid gold, and unlike Netflix and Amazon, they are actually making money."
"Sure, Jack." Mark said, sounding impressed. "I\'ll check it out and let Sam know you proposed this."
"No problem," I said, smiling as I looked over at Charlotte, who was still lounging on me.
Her shampoo made her smell like sweet strawberries.
Without warning, I scooped her up and tossed her onto the bed.
She let out a breathy squeal, but before she could react, I leaned in and kissed her on the lips.