The Astonishing Dax Edmund

Chapter 10

The team looked at each other, then one by one they nodded their heads. "We're in," they said in unison.

Dax looked at the data on his computer screen, his heart pounding in his chest. It was clear that the large scale business had been a massive failure. The new strategy had reduced the sales by a significant margin.

He lost his breath when he held both sides of the computer screen. He couldn't believe he was back to square one. "Impossible."

His heart raced faster when he did a double take. He felt sickly after that investment. He was at a corner, he cried hard punching at the wall. He bashed his palms against it until he couldn't seem to find the strength to punch anymore. He took deep shaky breaths.

His heart skipped a beat when he saw the red arrow. He lost money to the marketing strategy. His dream and vision went down the drain.

His hair fell and stuck to his damp face. He sat back ruminating if the marketing board had not tried hard enough. He wondered what he had done wrong. He raked his hair. It was too painful to accept.

Mr Vitaliy came to visit Dax, he looked like he was on the verge of smiling.

Dax sat up in his meeting room.

The workers whispered their concerns.

"Leave us." Mr Vitaliy said and they slipped out of the office.

"Are you here to say you told me so? Because, you were right." He said breathlessly.

Mr Vitaliy clumsily reached for a chair and he sat down. He placed a hand on his back.

It seemed like his touch jolted him back to reality.

"It's over." He had to scrap the business off his list now. He felt unfulfilled, he had to give it up. "You were right."

"Mr Edmund, you had a good idea in the short run but you need to stop throwing caution into the wind, alright?"

Dax looked away. He wasn't ready to admit defeat. "I can't give up. I dreamt it and so I can do it."

"Why don't you focus on your more successful business?" Mr Vitaliy asked him.

Dax wheezed, he had two choices, quit the business completely and pretend it never existed or put it on the back burner and focus on his large scale business.

He kept it on a backburner, he didn't think he could recover from the emotional toll it took on him.

Mr Vitaliy squeezed his arm. "Your failures don't define you, Mr Edmund, you're a brilliant man."

Dax beamed at him, he felt naive still. He was still new to the game regardless of his successes but this one was an eye opener and he was willing to grow. It was not the end of the world.

Even though keeping it reminded him of his loss. He could still make it work, somehow.

He felt cautious when he wanted to refer another idea.

...

Dax took in his office, he inhaled the scent of the air freshener. His vision tried to adjust in his dark room, he felt like getting up was a chore. He stepped up and stretched.

He checked on the documents for the day. His coffee served black, no sugar. "It's a start."

Indeed it was a fresh start, he wrote down the reason for his failure so he wouldn't forget why. Then he turned it into a small scale business with a small portion of the marketing budget.

He then faced the documents, he had sorted out the others but he took the house flipping deal. He fingered the crisp paper.

He hated how he had to slow down the momentum but he took a car to survey the neighbourhood that the old house was in.

As Dax surveyed the house, he took note of all the areas that need to be repaired or updated. He also kept an eye out for potential problems that could arise during the renovation process. The house was in a state of disrepair, and it was clear that it will require a lot of work to get it back into shape.

He met with the contractor Spike. They shook hands.

"Hello, I'm Spike Madison."

"Dax Edmund. Okay, let's talk about the timeline of this project, Madison."

The contractor nodded. "Sure thing. I think we can have the renovations finished in about four months, depending on any unforeseen circumstances."

Dax quirked an eyebrow. "Four months sounds good to me. And what about the budget?"

Contractor checked his notepad. "Based on my initial assessment, I think we can keep the cost within your budget of $200,000."

Dax smiled. "That's great to hear."

Dax was relieved that the cost was within his budget, and he was eager to get started on the renovations. But first, he has to secure the necessary permits and approvals.

Moving forward, Dax was at the city hall, getting the permits he needed for the renovations.

Dax stopped at the counter. "Hello, I'm here to apply for a building permit for my renovation project."

The clerk stamped a paper. "Hi there, we can help you with that. Do you have all the necessary documents?"

"I believe I do." Dax took out the papers from the leather jacket. He handed over the documents, and the clerk started to review them.

The clerk noticed that one of the forms was missing a signature.

The clerk checked again. "It looks like you're missing a signature on page four of the application."

Dax winced. "Oh no! I'm so sorry about that. It must have slipped my mind. I can get it signed right away."

"No problem at all. I can put your application on hold until you get the signature, and then we can proceed from there."

Dax was about to face another setback. As the contractor Spike reviewed the plans, he noticed something concerning.

He lowered his tablet. "I'm a bit concerned about the state of the foundations. The plans show some cracks and other damage. I'm not sure if this house is structurally sound."

"Oh no. I had no idea the foundations were in such bad shape. What does that mean for the renovation?"

Dax was starting to feel overwhelmed and discouraged. But he was determined to find a way to make this work.

"Well, we'll need to get an engineer to come and assess the foundations and give their professional opinion. From there, we can determine what needs to be done to make the house safe and secure."

Dax touched his chin. "That makes sense. How long will it take?"