Chapter 1

"I need to look at the car cuteness, stay put for daddy, I will be back in a minute."

Samantha watched her father from the backseat of the car. He popped opened the hood and stepped out onto the road. One minute he was there and then he was gone from her eyesight. She heard an awful thud which would haunt her for years to come.

She saw a man rush from his car to her father's side, giving her a quick glance. He bent his head to her father's mouth and then she watched as he slowly slipped away. The man rested her father's head on the ground and covered his face with his jacket. He got up and made his way towards her, opened her door, lifted her into his arms and took her into the nearest restaurant. He ordered a light snack for her and went to talk to a policeman who had just arrived on the scene. She sat and ate in silence trying to comprehend what had just happened. The stranger pointed her out to the officer and made his way back to her. He sat in the seat next to her for a few minutes, glanced quickly at his watch and studied the pretty little dark child staring back at him.

"I have to go little one, the officer will take you home soon. I'm sorry about your father, I lost my parents a while ago but I turned out okay and so will you. Is there anything else you need before I go?"

"What's your name sir?" Her thick British accent brought a smile to his face.

"Marcus Waithe."

She nodded and continued to eat. Marcus stood up, kissed her on the top of her head and made his way out of the restaurant.

Most millionaires love to show off their wealth but Marcus Waithe was a humble man who made an honest living by providing women with a product they can trust. His parents died in a car accident when he was 19 and they had instilled a sense of worth in him that he has not forgotten. He was determined to be the kind of man they not only wanted him to be but to live by example. He finished college at 20 majoring in Biology. He also studied Food and Beverage Management, Physics, Aesthetics and Chemistry. He started working at a department store promoting ladies products and the CEO just happened to notice there was always a crowd of women at his sample booth no matter what time of day it was. He stood in a corner and watched in awe as Marcus worked. No matter what was being sampled that day, sales went up by at least 30%. He called Marcus into his office at the end of his first week. He could sense the apprehension in the young boy and he decided to have some fun with him.

"Have a seat Marcus, I wanted to have HR here but I think what I have to say trumps anyone in my employ."

"Sir? Did I do anything wrong? If I did I apologise and I endeavor to correct my mistake."

Mr. Tuscanni smiled inwardly. This was going to be a cinch.

"I realise you have a way with the ladies, I don't pay you to flirt, I pay you to promote the products in my store."

"Sir, if I may be blunt, the ladies don't come to buy the products, they come for the attention I give and the products are just a bonus to make themselves feel good. From what I understand, sales for each line have gone up by over 25% since I came to work on Monday. If the end result is to actually sell the product my flirting won't hurt anyone."

"What would you like to do with your life Marcus? If you can convince me that honest success is in the forefront of your mind I will personally see to it that you achieve it. You have 3 minutes. Go."

"The products you sell are not made for everyone, I want to create a “one product suits all’, so no matter who she is, where she works or what she is doing, she will 'feel' like a woman. Women control the market not always with money but a mere suggestion that a product is worth buying and sales will increase daily. That is my goal."

"I will setup a lab here and provide you with the best scientists in this region. You have 6 months, you will present the product to the board and if they approve I will fund everything for one year, after that you are on your own. Give me a list of what you require and we will be ready in 2 weeks."

"Will you retain the rights to the line, how much is the pay back and in what time frame?"

"Everything will be handed over to you after a year, if the line is successful, I will take 25% of sales during that time period."

"How soon can I see the contract?"

"Contract? Word of mouth is fine by me."

"In that case I cannot accept your offer. Have a good day sir." Marcus stood up to leave.

"You are smarter than I thought Marcus, if you had said okay to no contract I would have sent you back to work in the booth. You will have it in 2 days."

"Thank you for your confidence in me sir, I promise I will make you proud."

They shook hands and Marcus floated back to his both where a hundred ladies were waiting to be pampered.

Marcus and his best friend Caleb were inseparable. Caleb was his right hand man throughout the 6 month period and the day for presentation was a week away. They were sitting in a bar having a beer. They had finished everything they needed to do and decided to sit back and relax.

"We need to find us some women Marcus, we are old men already and have not been laid. We are ruining our reputation."

"We don't have a reputation Caleb." Marcus replied laughing.

"My point exactly."

"Tell you what, after we present, we will go and find some hot girls and take them out, how’s that sound?"

"Fine by me."

A week later, Caleb and Marcus sat in the boardroom waiting for the board to rip their idea to shreds or help them on their way to being rich.

At 9:30 am on the dot, Mr. Tuscanni entered the room via his office door and the outer door to the boardroom opened and 12 men and women walked in. Marcus got up and walked over to the screen and waited. Caleb got up and walked to another door and nodded to his friend.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen, please open the folders in front of you and we shall begin."

"I am not here to beg you for money, I am here to knock your socks off so I won't need to beg you for money." There were chuckles from everyone. The ice was broken.

"I present to you 'Black Passion'."

Caleb opened the door and 20 ladies came in wearing uniforms from all job types, from maid to corporate to construction. Each one held a black gift bag and gave one to each board member, the remaining 7 made their way to the seats provided for them.

"Women are mothers, teachers, CEO's, scientists, florists, secretaries etc. The one thing they all have in common is that they want to 'feel' like women no matter where they are. Black Passion is made from natural herbs and spices with no harsh chemicals. Take a look at the ladies around you, their ages range from 18 to 65 and have been using Black Passion for 2 months. A woman's body chemicals change over the years and Black Passion changes with you, it allows your skin to breathe and not take over. The line consists of Perfume, Body spray, Body Splash, Lip Gloss, Body Butter, Bar Soap, Bath Gel, Lotion and Face Cream. We took Black Passion a bit further and we are offering the one thing that makes a woman feel like she can take on an army, anyone know what that is?"

A female board member smiled and said "Chocolate of course!"

"Chocolate of course. We have created the darkest, richest, most mouthwatering 84 bar chocolate the world has ever seen with 85% cocoa. This is our selling point, the chocolate is healthier than any on the market and anyone can enjoy it. This will be called “Dark Symphony’. If you look into your gift bags, there are samples of each product. Feel free to sample at this point while we take a break."

Marcus gave his winning smile and he nodded to Mr. Tuscanni and the left the room.

Caleb folded over resting his hands on his knees.

"You are something else Marcus, if they don't buy into this they are in a sad state of affairs. I guess I am up next. Wish me luck buddy."

"You are the best I have, you don't need luck."

They each took a bottle of water from Mr. Tuscanni's personal assistant and made their way back inside the board room. The scents that filled the air was soulful, the board members were laughing and sampling their goodies all seeming to be satisfied and excited.

Caleb stood at the front this time and waited until the chatter died down.

"Ladies and gentleman, this is my favourite part of our presentation. This is where I tell you how much money it will take to launch a successful promotion and product and then how much money Mr. Tuscanni will have when he retires in 50 years."

More chuckles and laughter.

"An injection of 250 thousand got us to this point and our projections for growth will see that figure 10 times over in less than 2 months. Black Passion will be sold worldwide, we took the liberty of asking around to find out what women want, and we have provided it. We intend to have each product in the line available on its own and as part of a gift set. When you approve, we will produce 250 thousand gift sets within a 3 week period. On the launch night, orders will be taken onsite to ensure we begin selling. Now, a gift set will contain whatever the customer needs, so you can have a combination of any of the products. This allows maximum customisation. After the launch we will run a special for College students, present your ID at any location and get 25% off. Then mothers, secretaries and so on. This will allow each sector to be infiltrated immensely. We will have several delivery trucks wrapped with each line as we go along. Our projections show that within a month we will see a profit of over 2.5 million dollars and this is only from the gift sets. The chocolate will be sold separately and the first 1000 will be given to each person who purchases a complete gift set. Let that sink in for a bit. 2.5 million in a month. At the end of 6 months we will introduce another product and weed out the unsuccessful ones. The selection of each product will determine what the gift set costs, once again a customisable option for the woman who doesn't need everything. Now, since we have catered to all women, our next line will be for men, this I shall keep a secret. If you have any questions, Marcus and I will be available to answer them in a few minutes. Thank you for your patience and we hope you are as excited as we are."