New Beginnings, Chapter 61

Theresa sat in the coffee house on campus. She looked at the term paper she just received back from her marketing professor. ‘ A’  it said. The professor loved Theresa’s ideas and wrote in the margins that Theresa should think about being an entrepreneur. That she had too much talent to be working for someone else.

Theresa agreed with the professor. After she got her degree and became Mrs. Chad Crane, she would do everything in fashion that she wanted to. Theresa collected nearly every business article she could on fashion designers and their businesses. She pulled her collection out the other day, and realized she had done it for years, beginning in 7^th or 8^th grade, and that she had stopped for a few years. She knew why she had stopped.

Ethan.

He had been her focus of everything for a few years.

Theresa burst out into hysterical laughter so loud that it made others turn to look at her.

Focus. Who was she kidding. It was an obsession. A complete obsession that made her lose all rhyme and reason. She had scoffed at taking psychology, but now, she was happy she did. The title of the class, ‘ Fatherless Daughters’ had called to her. It turned out better than she had ever thought. It was the most insightful that she’s ever been about herself. And, her mother. Theresa loved her mother, but now realized what kind of example Pilar had set for her, and why she attached herself to Ethan. Theresa even understood what Ethan meant to her, and it wasn’t pretty. This course had made her take a long look at her life, and where it was going. What she had given up in her pursuit of Ethan. She’d never do that again.

Theresa was honest with herself. Oh, she was going to become Mrs. Chad Crane. She wanted the Crane money, power, and security. She’d never scrub toilets like her mother, and quite honestly, there’s nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with knowing what you want and going after it. She was going to attain the American Dream, and she was never going to be put in a place where people like the Cranes could so profoundly crush her dreams. Her education was the foundation of the life she wanted for herself. She’d never be that weakling that got dumped by Ethan ever again.

Chad entered the Library and saw Julian, Sheridan and a strange man that Chad had never met.

” Son, sit down.”

Chad sat across from Julian at the desk. “ Chad, this is Mr. Phipps. He’s a banker.”

” A banker?”

” Yes. Years ago, before she died, my mother set up a trust. I was in charge of the trust for a certain number of years. I wasn’t allowed to know the beneficiary until the end of that time period. That time period ended a few months ago. Only then did I find out who the beneficiary of the trust was – you.”

” Me?”

Chad flipped to the last page, and saw the number, and just stared at it.

$ 300,000,000.00

He looked up at Julian, then Phipps, and turned to look at Sheridan, then back to the number.

” I..I can assure you Mr. Crane that the number is accurate.”

” I’m not doubting the number.”

” Oh. Fine then, we can get down to discussing your income from the trust. I discussed it with your father, and we thought that a moderate income level would be most adviseable. So, we came up with four hundred fifty thousand. Is that acceptable to you?”

” Four hundred fifty K? When you come from where I come from, that much money a year is on spot.”

” A year? Mr. Crane, you misunderstood. Four hundred fifty thousand will be the monthly income you’ll receive. “

“ Excuse me?”

“ Four hundred fifty thousand is the monthly income from the trust.”

” Yes.”

” And, this is the ‘moderate’ income choice.”

” Yes, Sir. If this isn’t enough, then we can go to the maximum income choice.”

” No…I..um…I think the ‘moderate’ income choice is just fine.”

“ Well, if that’s acceptable to you, then I should just give you the rest.” Phipps brought out a checkbook. “ This is your checkbook.” Chad took ahold of it, and looked at it. It had the name Chad Harris Crane at the top. There was no address, no phone number. I guess when you’re a Crane, the name is good enough.

He handed Chad a credit card. “ This is your platinum VISA card. The credit limit on it is Five hundred thousand.”

He  then handed a black card. “ This is your American Express Centurion Card. Of course, there’s no limit on that.”

” No limit.”

“ If you look at the beginning of the portfolio, all of my information is there, if you have any questions. I have listed all of my phone numbers. You can call me, anytime, 24 hours a day.”

” 24 hours a day? Didn’t know those were bankers hours.”

“ I assure you that I’ll  be available.”

Chad rolled his eyes cause the guy missed the joke. “ Mr. Phipps? Everything’s cool. I have your information. Thanks for everything. If I have any questions, I’ll call.”

Phipps looked at Julian who nodded at him. “ Well, fine then. I’ll be leaving. Have a nice day. Mr. Crane. Mr. Crane. Ms. Crane.”

Once Phipps was gone, Chad turned to Julian. “ Is this for real?”

” Of course. We were going to tell you at the weekly lunch, but when you told us about your name change, I wanted everything to have your right name on them.”

Chad shook his head. “ I gotta go.”