The Art of the Hustle

by Edward Mullen

  ***

  A melodic chime resonated throughout the house. “Can someone please get that?” Steve yelled out from upstairs.

  I opened the door and saw four attractive young women standing there with the same looks on their faces we had when we first showed up at Steve’s house. “Hello ladies,” I said, as I greeted them. “Sam, Angela, Maria, and I don’t believe we’ve met.”

  “My name is Sandy.”

  “Hi Sandy, I’m Trevor, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Come on in.”

  “Do we take our shoes off?”

  “Uh… yeah, it’s better if you take them off.”

  “So who wants a drink?” Jeremy asked, as he led everybody into the kitchen.

  C H A P T E R

  F O R T Y - T H R E E

  One foot hit the floor, then the other. I rubbed my eyes and looked over at the other side of the bed. It was empty. Was last night just a dream? I searched for clues. Exhibit A: One long strand of chestnut brown hair on pillow. Exhibit B: lingering aroma of tropical passion conditioner mixed with the pungent smell of chlorine. Exhibit C: Medium sized drinking glass with soft pink lipstick stain around the rim. Exhibit D: A pair of sapphire earrings on the nightstand. I swiveled back around and picked up my phone to view the time. It was 8:15 a.m. I stood up, stretched my arms, and walked over to the bathroom, which was located inside my room. On the way over, I stepped on exhibit E, the last shred of evidence to convince me what happened last night was definitely not a dream.

  “Good morning,” I said, as I strolled into the kitchen.

  “Hey, champ. Good times last night?”

  “Yeah. What time did the girls end up leaving?”

  “They left about fifteen minutes ago.”

  “Here, let me help you with that,” I said, as I grabbed a large garbage bag and helped Dan clean up.

  “You ready?” Steve asked, as he walked into the kitchen.

  “Yeah, let’s do it.”

  Steve and I went downstairs and into the gym for a workout. We finished a little over an hour later, but when we went back upstairs, everyone was still sleeping.

  “Do you want to go for lunch?” Steve asked.

  “Sure,” I replied.

  “Do you want to drive?” he asked.

  “Okay. Which car should we take?”

  “Your pick. Hey, that sounds familiar.”

  “Let’s take the Lexus again,” I said

  “When are you going to buy your own car and give me back my Ferrari?”

  “I still have another year left.”

  “You said you get it until the end of law school, and you just finished a few weeks ago.”

  “Yes, but I still have ten months of articling, which is technically a part of law school.”

  We drove downtown and found parking a few blocks away from the restaurant, Andre’s Seafood Restaurant. It had been a while since I had been back there after leaving the note for my old roommate. I had never actually stepped more than a few feet into the restaurant before. It was one of downtown’s prominent high-end restaurants, so naturally I could not have afforded it when I lived in Vancouver.

  We walked in and were greeted by a lovely hostess. Upon request, she escorted us to a booth by a window. The restaurant was probably at least 30 years old. I’m sure it was once considered very high-end, and to some extent, it still was. However, the place was in desperate need of a renovation. I looked around and instinctually started to imagine what I would do differently.

  “Have you been here before?” Steve asked.

  “Technically I have, but I didn’t eat here.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It’s a long story. How about you, have you eaten here before?”

  “Yeah, I used to come here all the time. I know the owner, he’s somewhat of a family friend.”

  “Hey, Stevie! Long time no see,” a portly man said energetically.

  “Hey, Andre, how’s it going? You look good, man.”

  “You too.”

  “This is my friend, Trevor.”

  “Hi, nice to meet you.”

  “I was in the back and I thought ‘hey, I recognize that face’. So where did you disappear to? I haven’t seen you in, what has it been, over four years?”

  “Yeah, I go to school out in Ontario. I’m just back visiting for a few days with some friends.”

  “That’s good to hear. It is so wonderful to see you again. I hope it’s not another four years until the next time I see you.”

  “Yeah, I’m thinking about moving back here actually.”

  “That’s terrific.”

  After chatting with Steve for a bit, Andre shuffled off to glad-hand some other regulars.

  “He seems nice,” I said.

  “Yeah, he is a really great guy.”

  “How do you know him?”

  “I only know him through here. My dad and I used to come here a lot. He actually offered to sell this place to us at one point. He had a bit of a gambling addiction and needed some money.”

  “What happened with that?”

  “My dad said he wasn’t interested in owning a restaurant so he just gave him a loan instead.”

  “Really? How much?”

  “I recall it being somewhere in the neighbourhood of a hundred grand.”

  “Did he ever pay it back?”

  “I don’t think so, that’s why my dad stopped coming here.”

  “You know, we could do a lot with this place,” I said, as I looked around.

  “Like what?”

  “First off, this place needs a renovation, but that’s stating the obvious. I’m not a fan of the worn out floors and peeling paint look. I would also relocate the bar to the far end of the restaurant. It’s taking up way too much space in the centre.”

  “Okay, what else?”

  “I don’t know, maybe hire some better looking waitresses.”

  “Would you change the menu at all?”

  “I would change the look of it, and maybe change some things, but I think the food is why people keep coming back here.”

  “That and its location.”

  “Yeah, this place is right downtown, the rent must be crazy expensive.”

  “Actually, Andre owns the property as well. He’s had this place for over forty years.”

  “I wonder if he is still interested in selling,” I said casually, still looking around.

  “You want to buy this place?” Steve asked.

  “Maybe. What do you think?”

  “I think we would need to put in at least a couple hundred grand into renovating the place.”

  “Yeah, but then we would have the hottest restaurant in town.”

  “Too bad we can’t afford it,” Steve said.

  I paused for a moment then said, “You know what, maybe we can. He still owes your dad, right? What if we use that debt to leverage a deal?”

  “Sort of like a discount?”

  “Exactly like a discount. Then we would just need to come up with the difference.”

  “How much do you think the difference would be? The property alone is probably worth ten million dollars.”

  “We’re not interested in the property, just the restaurant,” I paused to let it sink in. “So we buy him out and we can probably negotiate a sweet deal on the rent as well. Like you said, he’s a family friend.”

  “Okay, but what do we know about running a restaurant?”

  “Nothing, we don’t need to know anything. We would keep all the same staff. The place will practically run itself. We do some renos, make a few adjustments, and we are looking good.”

  “I like it. Here he comes now, follow my lead.”

  “Hey, Andre, it was really good to see you, man. How’re you holding up?”

  “The older I get, the fatter I get and the more hair I lose.”

  “How’s business?”

  “Business is good.”

  “You look a little burnt out. When was the last time
you took a vacation?”

  “I can’t remember, but I definitely need one.”

  “You know, my family has a place in Cabo. Let me know when you want to go, and the place is yours.”

  “I don’t think that would be such a good idea. I haven’t seen your dad in a while.”

  “I know you and my dad have had some issues in the past, but I’m not my dad, okay?”

  “Thanks, that means a lot.”

  “I don’t know how you do it Andre. This restaurant is going to be the death of you one day. The long hours, all the hassle, you need a break. How long have you had this place?”

  “Over forty years.”

  “Wow, forty years, you hear that, Trevor?”

  “That’s a long time,” I said.

  “Yeah, you should be on a beach somewhere sipping pineapple daiquiris. Instead, you’re in here all day, slaving away, bussing tables, and shining windows. You’ve been so busy serving others, maybe it’s time for others to be serving you.”

  “This restaurant has been a part of me for so long, it’s all I know.”

  “There’s a whole other world out there, Andre, and it’s passing you by. Enjoy it while you still can,” I said.

  “Yeah, maybe you guys are right.”

  “You know, Andre, it just occurred to me that you offered to sell this place at one time, right?”

  “Yeah, I was going to sell it, but decided not to.”

  “Perhaps the timing wasn’t right then. Maybe now would be a good time to get out, while you still have your health.”

  “Then I would have to find a buyer and go through all kinds of hassle. I don’t need that right now.”

  “Perhaps we could buy it from you... hassle free. In fact, Trevor here can draw up the contract, he’s a lawyer.”

  Andre looked at me and I gave him a quick reassuring nod. I could tell he was thinking about it.

  “I’ll tell you what, Andre,” Steve continued. “I’m in town for a few more days, why don’t you think it over and give me a call?”

  “Okay, I’ll consider it.”

  “Do you have my new number?” Steve asked.

  “No, let me go get a pen and piece of paper from one of the servers, I’ll be right back.”

  As Andre walked away, I leaned in closer to Steve and whispered in his ear, “Close him now.” Steve looked at me and nodded in agreement. Andre returned with the paper and pen and handed it to Steve.

  “So what would be a fair price for this place, Andre?”

  “Oh, I don’t know.”

  “What figure did you come up with when you were going to sell it before?”

  “I wanted one point two for it.”

  “Well, you could probably get that if you put it on the market for a few months, or maybe a year, and have buyers constantly coming and going, inspecting everything.”

  “Sounds like a big hassle,” I added.

  “Do me a favor, Andre, we go back a long way, and I think my dad even helped you out at one point, didn’t he?”

  “Yes, and I’ll never forget that.”

  “From what I understand, there was some money involved, and still to this day there remains some unpaid debt.”

  “It shames me to admit it, but yes, I still owe your father.”

  “I’ll tell you what. How about this, the three of us enter into an equal-stake partnership. We will take over operations, and you can relax on a beach somewhere.”

  “When you said that you could never forget what my dad did for you, you weren’t just saying that were you? You’re an honest man, I can tell. The fact you haven’t paid him back probably troubles you, right?”

  “Yes, I feel horrible.”

  “You don’t have to carry that around anymore, Andre. You don’t need that on your conscience. I know you planned on paying him back, but you just got an unlucky bounce.”

  “Believe me, I know all about unlucky bounces,” I said sincerely.

  “And now an opportunity has quite literally landed on your doorstep.”

  Andre didn’t say anything. There was a long pause, but not long enough that it became awkward.

  “So what do you say, Andre?” I asked.

  He looked at both of us for a moment, thought about it for a while, and said, “Sure, let’s do it.”

  “Good. I’m so glad to hear that. Trevor can draft up a contract right away.”

  “Yes, sir, I will have it ready by the end of the week.”

  We both shook Andre’s hand and made our exit, this time as the proud new owners of Andre’s Seafood Restaurant.

  “Well played, sir,” I said, as we walked back to the car.

  “Thank you.”

  “Really, that was impressive. I can’t believe you just talked that guy into selling you his restaurant.”

  “I know! I set him up first, then knocked him down.”

  “You did it like a pro. Where’d you learn to sell like that?” I asked.

  “I don’t know, I guess I’m a natural.”