Page 11 of Never Say Yes To Your Best Friend (I said Yes)

Oh, it’s possible.

And it’s happening.

I’ve decided to take a monster share of my cash and go into pudding.

I didn’t wait ten days just to cause a false sense of security to permeate Evilla’s life. I had to do my due diligence, which took some time. When I was sure the pudding company was a sound investment, I made my offer. It was quite generous. Mike and his family were quite attached to what they’d created, but when I offered three times what the company was worth at the moment, they were happy to sell. I was very adamant that I would like as many employees and former owners to stay on as possible. Whoever wanted to remain was more than welcome. I left room for Mike and his parents—the original founders of the company—but they declined. They had ideas about retirement and tropical vistas that they were happy to trade pudding for.

When I was asked if I wanted a non-compete clause, I didn’t make Mike and his parents sign one. However, I did make sure that I was the sole owner of all the company’s recipes, any patents, and any and all flavors they’d copyrighted. All branding, designs, logos, and even the name went to me in the sale.

As of this morning, at ten minutes after nine, I became the proud owner of many, many puddings and all things associated with bringing them to life and the market. Factories, offices, buildings all across the country…

But there’s only one that I care about.

Tampa happens to be the original pudding’s founding family’s place of birth. They loved this city, so they set up their headquarters of sorts here. I had zero plans on running a pudding company myself. It’s a terrible plan to try and do anything yourself, especially on such a large scale.

People. People make all the difference.

Good people. Good people create.

They bring wonderful ideas and turn those concepts into reality. They make the world spin. I’ve always believed in finding good people and being good to them in turn. I haven’t acquired so many companies or turned them into successful businesses without good people.

The world might accuse me of being successful because I had family money to fall back on and because my parents helped me get started. I won’t say I didn’t have a massive boost, but the momentum I have right now is solely mine and not my parents’.

Before he decided that a semi-retired lifestyle suited him, my dad and his dad before him were in business. As a family, we’ve lasted decades because we’ve surrounded ourselves and built our brand with people who believed in it as passionately as we did. We’ve hired talented and innovative people, people who care for our company like it’s their own business, which it kindof is because I’ve always believed in having all employees own shares. They’ve worked hard to build a brand they believe in.

I love my other companies too much to want to stop what I’m doing and, all of a sudden, solely become a pudding mogul, but for the next few weeks, I’m going to have to take a hard look at how this new place is structured. From the bottom all the way to the top, I want to make sure all employees have good benefits packages, pensions they’re able to pay into, fair wages, and good working conditions.

Pudding isn’t tech, and most of my acquisitions are based in that world, so I have a lot to learn. I’ve already looked at the financials, and they’re solid, but I want to delve a deeper look into the company’s structure and plot out a long-term game plan. I’m a fast learner, and I’ve spent the past ten days also doing as much research into the pudding industry as possible, which, at large, is, of course, the food and grocery industry as well. Retail in all aspects, this place is a goldmine just waiting to be tapped on the merch end of the spectrum.

God, I hate to admit it, but I’m getting excited about pudding.

Even if this was about something as petty as a failed blind date, I’m excited.

But okay, it isn’t.

It isn’t just about the date. It’s not just about getting duped and getting revenge.

It’s more about the fact that I can’t get Evilla Cowbush out of my head.

Not just her purse-stuffing, crab-wielding antics either. She might have been playing a part, but half that part was the real her. Half that part was vibrant, vivacious, sassy as hell, smart, fearless, and funny. She wasn’t afraid to speak her mind. She wasn’t afraid to walk out of that place with a purse full of crab legs. At the end of the night, she basically threw down a challenge. I wouldn’t dare buy this company, and I wouldn’tdare make this personal. I just wouldn’t dare in general because it would be so wrong and so childish. I wouldn’t, just because I could.

But I did.

And today is the first day it feels real.

I’m having zero meet and greets with the new company owner. Me. Everyone here knows the company has been sold, but I’d like a day here before I address everyone.

As president of the company, Mike had his office on the bottom floor of the building instead of the top. In preparation for the sale going through, he cleaned out his things well ahead of time. He’s going to travel for the next few years and then maybe buy something tropical next to his parents. I had a pang of jealousy, imagining him seeing the world and being carefree, but I had to wipe it out. Somedays, I think it would be nice to disappear. Put other people in charge and just vanish.

Today is not that day.

Today, I’m walking into the office that I’ll be occupying for the next little while.

I have a meeting booked with HR and Communications, both for one-thirty, so I can make it clear that no one is in danger of losing their job and that I plan for this to be a great thing. I’d like HR to send out a communication to the entire company, and if anyone has any concerns, I’d like them to be addressed in writing and carefully gone over. If anyone would like to leave due to the change in ownership, I think it’s only fair that I offer some kind of compensation package. But I’d really like people to stay, and I’m willing to do everything I already said. Paygrades, benefits packages, pensions. All of that has to be figured out because I’d like this to go over as smoothly as possible.

My new pudding HQ is nice. It’s not right downtown, which makes a lot of sense. It’s smart to pay less for real estate but still have a great location north of the area and a great building. Theplace is six stories, so it's not overwhelming. It’s older, mostly glass, and surrounded by different vibrant businesses. On my way here this morning, I counted at least forty-some restaurants and coffee shops that are within walking distance or a short drive.

As soon as I walk in the door, Marjorie, the building’s receptionist, greets me. The place has a nice, modern construction of wood and stone and an even nicer entrance. Everything is tiled and modern in very white, clean shades, and the lighting coming in from the glass windows makes the space look larger than it is.

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