A business woman
At last the day of the reading came, she did not think to go alone, she needed the support of her father, and when they discussed this, they decided that they would arrive at the notary's office by their means, they did not want the lawyer to go get them.
Very much to his regret he accepted and coordinated meeting at 10 am in the direction he provided.
Ana and Ray got into a taxi and headed for the place. Neither of them said much, both wanted it to end soon, so that they can continue with their lives.-
They arrived at the building that was in the most crowded and elegant part of NY, they went up to the 20th floor and when they entered they were dazzled, everything was wood and green color, of excellent taste, when they left the elevator they found an ocher desk that Was placed in the middle of the room, there were natural plants on both sides and two paintings very precious to the oil that complete the view, behind the desk was a middle-aged secretary who saw them appear, came to meet her, Ana could notice Who dressed elegantly, had red hair, emerald green eyes and a candid smile, wore a dark gray suit and high heels that resounded in the marble of the vestibule, Anastasia looked at his clothes and felt out of place, his father wore a A simple blue suit and a white shirt unbuttoned, she had put on a brown earthy skirt with a moss green blouse and a black cardigan, no make-up, her hair collected in a ponytail and a ballerina, Kate tried to persuade her to wear one of Her executive dresses and heels but she did not get it and now she regrets, when Mrs. confirmed those who were asked to take a seat, she brought them drinks and told them to wait.
They had only sat for two minutes when a door to the right of the couches opened and two men emerged from it, the first a gray-haired man of about 60 years or older, thought Anne, impeccably dressed, with brown eyes, white beard , When he turned his gaze to where she and his father were, he smiled, which made the wrinkles in his face grow larger.
-Ms. Steel, allow me to introduce myself, I am William Masey, Notary and friend of his late stepfather and his mother, first of all I present my condolences - said the gentleman extending his hand, Ana and her father got up, she stepped forward and took her hand with firmness.
"Thank you Mr. Masey, this is my father Raymond Steel, I hope there is no inconvenience, but I want him to be present in the reading," said Ana, as she released her hand and watched as the gentleman spread it again to Ray and smiled Showing a few teeth.
"Of course not, Mr. Steel a pleasure," he said.
"Equally," Ray said.
The man took a few steps back and this caused the other gentleman to advance, this was a young boy, very handsome, according to Anastasia could observe, was wearing a black suit with small white stripes, a white shirt and a blue tie, had the Light brown hair, almost blond, green eyes, well-profiled lips and when he approached, he extended his hand to Ana and softly said
-Ms. Steel, I am Mike Amold, the legal affairs manager for his mother and stepfather, my deepest condolences for his loss. "Anastasia took her hand and squeezed it and when she looked into his eyes she saw something in them that she could not identify.
-Mr. Amold, thank you very much, and thank you for everything you did so that we could come and make this happen so quickly. He is my father Raymond Steel. "She put his hand out and pointed at Ray.
"I'm glad," said the young man, shaking Ray's hand. He nodded. There was something about the young man who did not convince him. He did not know if it was an intuition or just the way he looked at Anastasia, which he did not think was appropriate.
"Let's go to my office," said the notary, gesturing with his hand and letting Anna and her father pass first.
Upon entering they found that the decor was similar to that of the hall, with the difference that there was a small glass table with 6 leather chairs, they all took a seat, looking at each other and they started.
The reading began with the corresponding formalities, clarifying the last wishes of both spouses, first read the one of Mr. Storff and once finished that, was read to the one of Carla, to shorten the process, only the goods were cited Of whom he was heir Anastasia, and the amount of money left by her mother and stepfather.
After the payment of some debts related to several companies and the corresponding taxes, more cancellations of mortgages pending and other matters inherent to the inheritance, the balance that threw the bank account still presumed to be quite bulky.
-Ms. Steel, "said Mr. Masey. - the total of the assets that were inherited to him are the following:
Two hotels in NY, Two hotels in Seattle and one hotel in France and one in Germany, land and all included assets, one apartment the tower of luxury condominiums "One Madison Park" on East 22nd Street in The Flatiron district and another one in the Palazzo Leonardo building located in the marina "Fontvieille" of Monaco. After the settlement of the outstanding debts, the final balance of your available bank account amounts to US $ 65,903,020.15, which is available to you at the time of signing, of all legal documents , Also counts as part of the inheritance.
Mr. Masey was still talking about the content of each hotel and of the apartments, Anastasia, no longer listened to him, her jaw was practically jumbled, "with whom my mother got married" she thought, and she also thought what she would do everything That implied this inheritance, had no idea how to handle a hotel, God, her specialty was Literature, not business, and that bank account ?, if that remained after making the payment of all debts and taxes did not want to imagine what was originally.
As she pondered her thoughts, she did not realize how Mike was watching her, he knew that her mother was a very beautiful woman, but he never imagined that her daughter was even more beautiful, her eyes were beautiful, they seemed translucent when she gave them the sunlight, and he thought it would be a blessing to look at those eyes for the rest of his life.
When Mr. Masey finished his explanations, Anastasia was more confused than when she had arrived, now knowing the magnitude of his mother's inheritance. She did not want to have anything to do with the inheritance, but she could not let anything fall into the hands of that ... man, since again the notary had quoted the "special clause," she looked at her father, noticed that he was looking at her For a while, and with a little grin he indicated that he needed to talk to her, when he asked the gentlemen if they could give them a few minutes alone, they both got up and went to the hall.
"My God Dad," said Ana, taking her head in her hands. "This is too much, I can`t accept this, I don`t know anything about hotels.
"Annie," his father said sweetly, "I know it's a lot to digest, but it seems your mother did not leave much choice for you, although Stephen will not be able to enjoy the money from prison, he could use it to do something against someone, even of you, because if he knows that your mother had something to do with his imprisonment he can go after you.
Anastasia knew that her father was right, but she didn`t know what to do, if she accepted everything, how she would handle everything, who would advise her, she had no experience in hotels, and was also SIP, she was very confused.
"How do I do, dad, I do not know anything about business," she said in a whisper.
"You could hire someone of confidence, take some courses, you're a bright young woman, I know you can do everything."
She looked at her father with an infinite love, perhaps they did not share the same blood, but surely this man was the best father life could have given her.
Taking a deep breath, she rose, gave a sweet kiss to her father on the cheek and went to the door, opening it saw that both gentlemen were watching the city from the window, cleared the throat, which made both look at.
"We're ready," Ana said, both passed and took their places again. "First of all, how would I do with everything?, my specialization is literature, not business.
"First of all, Ms. Steel ..."
"Anna," she interrupted softly, "please call me Ana, Mr. Amold.
He smiled, and said
"Well, if we leave the formalities, then I'm Mike." She smiled and nodded. - Ana - said the restarted - regarding the legal part, I inform you that our buffet was always in charge of advising the business, and if you agree, we could continue in that way, you could also learn, keep in mind that you can hire advisers and trusted people to inform you of the movements.
Anastasia pondered for a moment this statement, indeed, she knew someone who was an expert in business and who would certainly help, if she asked him, and could also train, if SIP was to be hers, would like to know how to handle everything .
At the end of much discussing and evaluating options they reached several agreements.
She would stay in NY in which the transfers were finalized to her name and she would start taking business and administration classes, she would contact the two people she had planned to help with the hotels and with SIP, after much thought, Decided not to stay in the apartment she had inherited, she would stay with Kate, and according to how things were going, she would see, whether it was for sale or not, the same with Monaco.
She signed all the corresponding documentation, and with that they told her, that they would begin the process of transfer, also sign SIP, which automatically became her property, Mike explained the legal situation and a bit of the financial situation, which was going through SIP, He told her, that her mother decided not to make any implementation or change, because she wanted to be the one to decide. Given that she needed time to make certain decisions, they agreed that she would call Mike when she had a clearer picture of how she would proceed.
They went to Kate's apartment and when she came back from work, they told her everything, and so the strategies began.
Ray stayed a few more days to keep Ana company while listening to the plans she had .
When it was time to leave, it was a very emotional farewell, because they didn`t know when they would meet again, Ana had to stay to finish the paperwork and also had decided that all her training would do in NY.
The first thing was to find a reliable person who could tell the situation of the hotels, and Ana had in mind the right person.
As a SIP, she did not know the current Director, and on second thought, if she still was not going to take the reins until she was sure she could learn everything, she decided that this place should be occupied by a person she trusted, and that was her former boss.
So she made a decision, she would continue to count on the services of the Buffet that handled the affairs of her mother and her husband.
She speak to Mike and confirm her decision, also request that he contact Mr. Parker to move to NY immediately for a meeting with the new owner, she asked him not to reveal her identity.
It was done as she requested, when concrete the first meeting, after the greetings, surprises and corresponding explanations, thought the way of action, because Jim Parker had no experience managing, would be accompanying a month to the current director in order to learn Everything needed and then take charge, Mike Amold would move with him to Seattle to make the communications, without revealing yet the identity of the new owner. The current director would be well compensated since they understood that he was willing to retire so that all changes would be favorable.
Jim would then see the structure of the company, the charges, salaries and work and would make proposals for improvement.
With the SIP plan in place, the agreements were signed and after several days of strategizing, both knights went to Seattle to put all matters in order.
Ana had been in NY for over 15 days and was already starting to take hotel management and finance classes, when the other person who would help her arrived.
