Chapter 13

Chads year had been a great one. He had helped one of his best and wealthiest friends pharmaceutical company go public. he made tons of money on the work he had done on the initial public offering and on the quickly rising rising stock price of the thousands of shares he had purchased in it. Chad thought that the first run up was a good indication of things to come.

He didn’t give much thought to the harm that the newest drug created by this company was doing or about the long troubled history of the company when it was only owned by the family of his best friend. Now it was a publicly traded company and those problems would fall on someone else and in the distant future.

Chad and suzan had looked for weeks for a suitable wedding venue. Suzan was unaware of the riches that her fiancee’s family possessed. He gave her a budget that amazed her and she went to work quickly loohing at what seemed like hundreds of pamphlets about marriage venues.

She soon found herself in an unfamiliar situation of having nearly unlimited choices and funds at her disposal. She couldn’t make a decision and explained her situation to Chad.

“Okay dear, just tell me the five most important features you want in a venue.”

“I need enough room for all our guests.”

“Well, how many do you want to invite?”

“I think perhaps fifty. I have a large family and several very good friends from work and college that I want to invite.”

“Great how many is that then?”

“She sat on his leather sofa and pondered the question with pencil and a yellow pad in her hands. Her warm feet in thick white socks rested on an antique chest with a glass top. Chad had told her that it had belonged to one if the Kings of France a few centuries ago. Apparently Chad had bought it on one of his trips to Europe for work. At the time she wasn’t sure the story was true. At this point she still wasn’t sure but it looked more likely. The amount of money Chad had given her for the wedding was absurd.

His apartment was on the sixteenth floor of a building overlooking Central Park. It was furnihed with antiques and modern pieces as well.

Chad’s mother had brought in a decorator when she first bought him the apartment. She was used to things “being done properly” and Chad had let her go crazy. The cost wasn’t an issue, obviously. Suzan hadn’t noticed at first. But over time it was clear that there was some real money involved in the interior design. Some of the paintings turned out to be real. She had thought that they were just well done prints.

Chad’s family had done well for many years in the brokerage business. And now with the this friend’s company going public, he and his father had cashed in big time.

Suzan put down the pad and pencil she had been working with and looked up at Chad. “I think I need a hundred seats at the most. with girls from work, their dates, my family and more friends, one hundred seats should be fine.”

“Fine, let’s make it five hundred for the both of us. As time passes, you are sure to remember a few people you forgot on the original list. That might just be enough. But I’ll have my mother make the final decision. This marriage planning is right in her wheel house.

She did my brothers and my younger sister’s wedding planning and has it down to science. She knows exactly who to invite on our side and all you have to do is give her a list of you guests and their addresses. She’ll take care of the rest.”

“Oh Chad, I do love you, you think of everything. My imagination has been somewhat confined to a rather small scale due to my families circumstances and my upbringing.

Your family does things on a grand scale, there’s no doubt about that. Chad just listened and smiled.

“So we need a place big enough for five hundred people to view our nuptials and for the party after. Where might we find a place like that Chad?”

Do you want to be inside a church or outside?”

Chad picked up his phone and checked the weather. We should have good weather for the next month. We have few rainy days in September, but it’s a possibility.

“Could we do a large tent with heaters?” “Sure honey if that’s what you want.”

“We’ll never be able to find the right place in two weeks.”

“Do you want my mother to help with that as well?” She has a list of friends that do just this that will make your head spin. She does parties like this all the time. May I call her and ask for her help?”

“Oh Chad, could you?” “Yes, but I think I know the place she will choose.”

“That would be wonderful.”

Chad took his phone out of his Levis and pushed a button. His mother’s phone was soon ringing.

A female voice came on the phone. “Hello, this is the Sterling residence.”

“Hello Sylvia, this is Chad, is my mother there?”

“Yes, she came in from golfing with your father. I’ll tell her that you wish to speak with her. In a few minutes Chad’s mother came on the line.

“Hello Chad darling, how are you?” “Fine mother, we need a favor.”

“Anything son, what is it?”

Well we’ve sett;ed on a number for the guest list and now we need a planner and an outside venue that suits us and we need it all settled in two weeks or less.”

“Not a problem son, Manny can help us. He owes us a favor or two. What’s the number you were thinking of?”

We think it’s going to be five hundred people mom”.

“Oh, a small affair. Okay we can do that easily. It narrows it down a bit but I can think of three estates of friends in the tristate area that come to mind instantly. They will all fit the bill.”

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We leave for Central America in a few hours.

We will return on May 7th. I will try to put more of this up from there if possible. Who knows what we will find there in the way of internet and electricity.

I have many more pictures going up on TikTok daily. I can actually do that for myself.

I will put more of “Joe in Africa” up tonight, after my nap.

Thanks for stopping by.