The Lovely Chocolate Mob - By Richard J. Bennett Page 0,8
man, who loved the surrounding community almost as much as he loved making chocolate for all the world to enjoy. Chocolate was his life, his reason for getting up in the morning, the cause of his very being, his raison d’etre.”
Miss Bell, sensing a product plug for the Lovely Company, changed the subject quickly. She asked, “Now that Mr. Cornelius has passed away, do you know who will carry the mantle of the Lovely Chocolate Company? And will there be any dramatic changes, and modernization, any mergers in the near future?”
Mr. Ostrander, a bit disappointed he couldn’t continue to inform the viewers about the health benefits of chocolate as he had planned, went back into his chairman role and said, “Let me assure the general public that there will be no immediate changes to the Lovely Chocolate Company. We are and always have been a family-run, family-oriented business, a business that cares about the children, the community, and of course, our country.” This sounded a bit odd to Miss Bell, who knew that there were other countries, albeit civilized, western countries, who enjoyed the product of the Lovely Chocolates. Mr. Ostrander continued, “As chairman of the Board, I will probably be in charge of the company until a suitable leader, or, should I say, a fitting and competent successor is chosen to lead the company for the foreseeable future.” Darla Bell smiled and nodded at the whole answer, and looking to the camera, said, “It’s common knowledge that Mr. Lovely was a widower with no children who are interested in the role; do you think his granddaughter, Susan Lovely, celebrity model, might consider taking up the challenge?”
This question completely caught Mr. Ostrander off-guard; he knew that Susan Lovely was probably the beneficiary of Cornelius Lovely’s will, and that she would also inherit the bulk of his estate, which would probably include the majority stock holdings of the chocolate company. He hated the idea of a young to middle-aged irresponsible, untried, and uneducated in business, someone, who had never shown an inkling of interest in the company’s business, being over this chocolate empire. She would also become his new boss, and he didn’t want to have to prove his worth to an upstart, after having served his whole adult life one man, Cornelius Lovely.
He cleared his throat, then said, “Well, of course, I can’t really say anything about this since the will, of course, hasn’t been read, or probated just yet. I’m sure we will know the answer to this sometime in the near future; I’ll have to get back to you on that.”
Darla Bell wasn’t through with the subject, though, and threw another curve when she said, “We have Susan Lovely with us in our studio…” and at that, Hal Ostrander looked shocked that an outsider, perhaps soon to be an insider, would meddle in the affairs of the business.
The picture on the city’s television screens immediately showed Susan Lovely, well dressed in a tight outfit, seated in the KDBC studio in downtown Lovely, along with another newsperson, the charming and dapper Gregory Jouglard. Greg was the man-about-town reporter, a newer reporter from just across the border, who was thought to appeal to viewers from Louisiana. He smiled to the camera, and said “Good morning. With us today is Susan Lovely, model and granddaughter of Cornelius Lovely, our founding father and benefactor to the city of Lovely. Miss Lovely, first let me express my condolences for the passing of your grandfather, Cornelius.”
The camera showed Susan Lovely, who was checking a mirror, but quickly put it away, saying, “Thank you, Greg. Yes, it was hard on the whole family losing my beloved grandfather.”
Greg Jouglard then asked, “Can you tell us how close you were to Mr. Lovely? Can you tell us about him, his life, his beliefs, his work ethics… the whole man?”
Susan Lovely looked as though she were caught offguard by the question, but tried to answer it the best she could: “Like I said, it was hard on the whole family losing my beloved grandfather. He loved us all so very, very much. I don’t believe anything has hurt me as deeply as losing my Pee-Paw.”
Mr. Jouglard looked at her, and Susan continued, “That’s what I used to call him when I was little.”
“I see,” said Mr. Jouglard. “Well, do you have any stories to tell about Mr. Lovely? Did you ever spend any time with him growing up?”
“Yes, I used to spend summers with he and Mee-Maw here