During one of these trips they settled on name “West Valley, Inc.” for their corporation. As things progressed they began to acquire more businesses, including a greenhouse, two farmers who grew cash crops, and a water purifying and processing company. They started making contact with farmers outside of the experiment to obtain more hard goods and equipment. Outside money began to flow in and they began to establish a huge market share for their products.
Of the three, Frank’s canning operation was the first business to take off. Mike’s business started to pick up later in June when he was able to sell some of his cattle to outside ranchers. In turn, he was able to open up to a new market and add to his herd at a much faster pace than he’d originally anticipated. The town’s demand for fresh meat and vegetables exceeded their ability to meet at first, but once they were able to meet the demand, the money started pouring in.
Patton’s growth wasn’t as vigorous as his partners’, but he knew he had the most growth potential because it wasn’t as specialized. This would eventually allow him to expand if things went right. Patton reached the pinnacle of success in his old life making lethal and non-lethal weapons out of plastics and composites, but he knew that his new business had even more potential than that. No matter whose business became the most successful, they were in it together. Today, the three enjoyed their success and they could only see things getting better.
The biggest problem they all experienced was the inability to find enough good employees to keep up with their growth and desire to expand. Of the many people who chose to not start a business, they found that a solid work ethic was lacking. Patton assumed this was partially due to modern American society, but he also understood that many of these people now had money—likely for the first time in their lives. They didn’t need to work, at least not yet.
Patton could foresee the time when people would run out of money and would need to scramble to find work. This was a gamble, because he also understood that you can’t assume that times will always be good. The only saving grace was there was no government, which meant there was no taxation, regulation, or subsidization. Things would be good economically for a time, but when—not if—a government was established, prosperity would be erratic.
For now, though, Patton and his partners were going to forge ahead and grow and expand their business as much as possible. Then, they all figured, they would be able to ride out the storm when it came.
Anna was out with Charlie again, this time at a bar. Halfway through her second drink, a man much younger and more attractive than her date, entered the bar. She noticed him walk in and once he got settled, he definitely noticed her in return. He had dirty blond hair, crystal blue eyes, and a cocky grin that made her melt. She held him in rapt attention. She was wearing a slinky black dress that Charlie had bought her. Her hair and makeup were flawless. She looked like a starlet on the red carpet. She was easily the most attractive woman in the bar and she knew it.
The most attractive man in the bar was staring at her. His lustful gaze was making her dizzy. She suddenly regretted having gone to bed with the old goat. She had to be careful with her flirting, not wanting Charlie to notice. Luckily, Charlie’s back was to the younger man and he couldn’t see the game they were playing. At times he noticed that she wasn’t paying attention to him. He looked behind him to see what Anna was staring at. By the time he was able to turn around, however, the younger man was feigning disinterest.
Suddenly, the man at the bar motioned with his head towards the restrooms. She nervously cleared her throat and began to gather up her things.
“Charlie? Sorry, but I need to use the restroom.”
Charlie nodded, mindlessly rubbing his index finger around the rim of his glass. Anna stood and nearly tripped over her chair. She caught herself and made her way towards the single doorway that led to the restrooms. She glanced both ways as she walked, trying to find him in the packed bar. Suddenly she felt someone nudging her from behind. She knew who it was and her knees began to feel weak. She fought the urge to stop and turn around, but she kept walking. When they reached the opening, he pushed her into a family restroom and shut the door behind them.
“Where you going?” he asked her, grinning and smelling like heaven.
She trembled at his touch.
“Ladies room,” she muttered.
He leaned into her seductively, nearly brushing his lips against her bare neck.
“I thought I’d get you away from that old guy. I didn’t know you could bring your grandfather with you to the experiment,” he said, that intoxicating grin returning to his face.
She chuckled lightly and looked away shyly.
“He’s not my grandfather,” she said, trying to find her confidence.
He pushed her against the wall and whispered, “So sorry.”
His warm breath on her ear and neck made her tingle from the ends of her hair to her toenails.
“Sorry for what?”
“Anyway,” he said, rubbing her thin, muscular shoulders, “what’s your name and where do you live?”
“Anna… and… um… why do you want to know that?”
“Because,” he said, leaning in again, not letting her pull away from him, “after he drops you off I want to come over.”
She swallowed nervously, still not quite able to meet his intense gaze. She reached into her bag and pulled out a slip of paper, and after fumbling some more, she found a pen. She quickly jotted down her address and phone number and handed it to him. He grabbed it and looked at it.
“I have the sudden desire to get home,” she said, smiling. “Feels like I’m coming down with something.”
“That’s what I like to hear,” the man said, smiling. “See you in an hour or so huh?”
She nodded and he left her there, trying to find her breath, and trying to think of an excuse for Charlie to take her home early.
It was crazy but he was going to do it. Maybe not tonight, but Pattom was going to do it soon.
“What are you thinking?” Jennifer asked him.
“What? Oh… nothing. Sorry, I guess I’m just kinda spacey,” he said, lying.
He wanted to use the opening to ask her to marry him, but the moment passed and he chickened out again.
“You’ve been working too hard,” she said, concerned. “I hardly see you anymore.”
That wasn’t true and she knew it, he thought. She was just being overly emotional. Hell, she was practically living at his house now. She had as many clothes in his spare bedroom closet as she had in her own house.
“Maybe,” he said, still scheming on how he would ask her.
“What’s wrong with you, Pat?”
He didn’t object to her calling him that, another sign that he should ask her the question that had been nagging him for three days. Only his mother and dead wife had ever called him by that name.
“Nothing Honey, I promise,” he said unconvincingly.
She gave him the ‘you’re full of crap’ look then stood and walked into the kitchen. “You want a beer?” she yelled.
“Yes, thank you!” he yelled to her in the other room.
She returned with his beer and plopped down onto the couch. She flipped through channels while he continued to stare off into space. After another half hour she set the remote down, grabbed her keys from off the coffee table, and started to stand.