In the weeks that followed, Jerod and Denise's business grew like gangbusters.
They were filling their working days with sales calls, demos, and hands-on trainings. When they weren't selling, Jerod was harvesting prospective clients from various online databases. There was an endless stream of potential customers and it showed no signs of letting up.
Denise soon set aside enough money for her entire senior year
and
a good amount for her Mom to live on. She didn't have a ton of expenses. When she wasn't working with Jerod, she was studying for her classes. And in their spare time, they were sailing, kayaking, and swimming in the lake which didn't cost a cent.
Denise was saving so much money, she asked Jerod to help her invest it. They would spend their off hours researching and buying stocks, and in a few months, she had built up quite a portfolio. Jerod advised her to buy stock in companies she knew and respected, and to trust her instincts about what new companies might get traction in the market. She ended up spreading her money across well-known companies -- Apple, Netflix, Tesla -- and unknown ones she'd read up on and believed in.
The week after she bought shares in Tesla, they announced a five-for-one stock split.
"Woo-hoo!" she hollered. "Investing is FUN!"
Jerod just smiled at her and shook his head.
"You've got great timing, girl!" he said. "That's all I can say."
Denise was kicking butt in school too. Her grades were fantastic -- straight A's down the line -- and her professors were enthusiastic about her work. Several of them encouraged her to apply to business schools, good ones, and they wrote letters of recommendation for her. She took the GREs and ended up getting 167/169 on verbal and quant. She ended up applying to UT Austin, University of Michigan, Berkeley, Stanford, and Penn.
With the business taking off, Denise got excited about using what she was learning in school. She started thinking about how they might
scale
the business. She and Jerod were a constrained resource after all, and that put a limit on how many sales calls they could do in a week. Denise had crunched the numbers and figured they could bring on two additional heads and nearly double their net profit. Jerod agreed with her analysis, though he was nervous about bringing in outsiders.
They decided to mitigate the risk by recruiting people they knew and could vouch for. Denise had some friends in mind who would be good candidates for the work. They were trustworthy, in need of money, and happened to be stunningly attractive.
They needed a way to check these prospects out. To see if they'd be right for the job without disclosing too much information about what they were actually doing. They needed to spend some time with them, learn what their status was, and see how they looked and acted.
They decided to throw a party.
They scheduled it for the weekend after Denise's graduation from UT. They figured a 'graduation party' would be the perfect excuse. It would give them a chance to check out the recruits in a casual setting and assess whether they'd be right for the job.
She called four of her friends -- two women and two men -- and invited them to come to the house for an afternoon of sailing and barbeque. Denise and Jerod planned to pick the best two candidates from that group.
It would be kind of an audition -- without any of them knowing it.
The weekend of Denise's graduation arrived and Jerod attended, of course, looking great in a summer suit. Denise's Mom and her boyfriend Mac were there too. Denise introduced Jerod to them as her "boss". Her friend Jasmine from the lingerie shop also came.
Denise got two awards -- one for academic excellence and one for winning the Quick Pitch Competition for her Virtual Fittings startup idea.
The following weekend, the graduation party was set to start at noon at Jerod's house.
The first to arrive was Sonia, a 23-year-old Latina who Denise knew from the Gentlemen's Club where they both had worked as strippers. Sonia looked a bit like the actress Jessica Alba, with a beautiful face and an unbelievably hot body. She was smart, a hard-worker, and had a good head on her shoulders. Denise thought she was the best-looking of all the strippers, she was all natural, and men found her sexy as hell.
Next was Kim, a high school friend of Denise's. Kim was 22, the same age as Denise, and a petite blond. She and Denise had done theater together in high school and Kim had gone to LA to try and make it as an actress. She spent several years going from audition to audition, getting a few commercials but not much else, and was now back in Dallas, out of money, and living with her parents. Denise remembered Kim as the 'hottest girl in school' because of her killer body and sexy green eyes.
The third to arrive was Kyle, who Denise knew from lifeguarding. Kyle was a strapping blond of 24, with a great physique and a winning smile. He had stayed on as a lifeguard after high school, didn't go to college, and had worked for a time as a pool attendant. Denise was friendly with Kyle's girlfriend at the time, another lifeguard, and had learned he was 'amazing in bed' and 'hung like a horse' though she never verified that personally.
Kyle brought his best friend, Brandon, who was also a lifeguard. Brandon, also 24, had sexy brown eyes, with dark brown curly hair that he wore swept back. Denise didn't know Brandon that well, but he seemed like a solid guy and was definitely qualified when it came to looks. Tall and buff, he resembled Jimmy Garoppolo, the NFL quarterback.
"Welcome, guys!" said Denise, when they had all arrived. "So nice of you to help me celebrate."
"Wow, what a view!" Kim said, looking out at the lake.
"I'll give guys a quick tour and then we can go out on the grass for beer and barbeque," Denise said.
"Beer and BBQ?" Kyle said, "now you're talkin' my language."
Denise showed them the living room and kitchen, then took the foursome up the stairs to the second floor.
"This is my office," she said. "It doubles as the guest room. So, if any of you has too much to drink, Kyle, this is where we'll stick ya."
"Nice," Kyle said, "somebody beer me!"
They all laughed.
She took the foursome to the third floor.
"This room has the best view in the house."
"Is this your room?" Sonia asked.
"It's Jerod's and my room," Denise said.
"Where is this mysterious Jerod?" Kyle asked.
"Manning the barbeque, as we speak," Denise answered. "Come on, I want you to meet him."
They tromped down the stairs and out the door to the deck and down the steps to the grass. While it felt unusual to have so many guests in her and Jerod's private hideaway, Denise also found it fun to share it with friends. Her mood was buoyant.
"We've got four hungry campers," she called out to Jerod.
He was standing at the barbeque with tongs in his hand. A grill full of chicken was sizzling away.
"Smells great," said Brandon with a smile.
"I hope you brought your appetites!" Jerod smiled. "Hi, I'm Jerod."
Greetings were shared all around.
"You have a beautiful place," Kim said.
"We like it," Jerod said, slipping his arm around Denise's waist.
Denise felt like her relationship with Jerod was 'going public'. It felt a bit odd, but it also felt good, like she was making a kind of declaration.
She gave Jerod a kiss on the cheek.
"Jerod took me in when I needed somewhere to land," Denise said, smiling at him. "He rescued me."
"I'm so sorry I wasn't able to help you," Kim said in a high voice. "My parents' place is so small."
