Chapter Fourteen: Explanations

What happened afterwards?

Alice was the manager for quite some time, and we understood that she converted one of the premier downstairs rooms into her own accommodation. She painted the walls a dark purple, with strange symbols, and in the middle of the room from floor to ceiling she had an extra built in as a special feature. A pole so she could practice her hobby and maybe have an alternative career.

Moaner decided that she wanted to continue being in charge, a role she performed with great aplomb until she was peremptorily dismissed by Mark as she was costing him too much with very little signs of actually doing anything. She found herself a boyfriend, lived on a boat, and got a menial job in the local hospital. It has been a great surprise to me not to have seen her when visiting as a patient.

Yarik went back to Poland, where he got married, and now lives on a farm with his extended family.

Anya and Artur still live in the area, Pam and I still see them occasionally, we get on very well with them because we always treated them with respect. They are a lovely couple, still together after all these years.

Trish and Dereck are still our best friends.

What happened to Mark and Deanna? The saddest part of all this sorry story is she contracted cancer, and passed away after a short battle. I subsequently understood that they had initially purchased their share of the hotel so he may have an English business interest after her passing, especially as they both loved the UK so much. She was a lovely lady, completely under his influence when it came to business, and in thrall of his ability to provide the funds to underwrite her spending.

I do not know for certain what occurred to Mark, but can only surmise. I know that his financial problems worsened, and it must have been a very difficult period for him. His problem with me was lack of communication. I have had many years to reflect, and have come to the conclusion that had he bothered to be open and honest with me at all stages, then we would have been able to work round the financial difficulties. However, he regarded me as an employee, not partner, so didn’t bother to share relevancies. He may have sold his Californian car part business, and I have researched it online with no mention of him being involved. His published e-mail address is still active and relevant to his former business but this may be an internet anomaly.

That doesn’t mean to say that he is not still interested, but he now lives some hundreds of miles further south, towards the Mexican border, in a desert community.

The subsequent story of Pam and me is not so straightforward. We had a period of reflection after departing the hotel, but finances took us over. The bank contacted us for payment of the £40,000 overdraft, as we had stood guarantee. Mark denied any knowledge of this huge sum, said it was all down to me, he hadn’t signed anything, he hadn’t gained any benefit, he had paid out enough already and refused to admit any degree of responsibility. Pam and I had already maxed out our credit cards on the hotel’s behalf, to a further £30,000, and we were right up the creek without any way of creating a forward motion against the tide. What we found particularly galling was the fact that we had paid out all that money over the hotel ownership, sunk literally everything we had into it, committed our futures, and were left holding the baby while he was nursing his financial wounds back home. He certainly didn’t get off without losing a great deal of dollars.

The following Spring, we went bankrupt.

At the time it cost us £495 each, money we didn’t have, so had to be subbed by Aunty Joan, who continues to live with us.

The bankruptcy court even took my three original ERNIE savings bonds from the first 1955 draw, which I had held onto for all those years. I did everything right, declared all known assets as well as debts, and for the next two years struggled emotionally with the shock of losing everything. And then something wonderful happened. I looked in the cupboard under the stairs, and realised that I still had my late father’s collection of vintage comics. They were to be the financial basis for me buying and selling unusual items. I would attend auctions, then sell on a Sunday morning at boot fairs. I never made a lot out of it, but it was sufficient for us to keep our heads above water until we worked out what we wanted to do.

I am now a funeral celebrant, taking non-denominational services. And I am also a public speaker, on a variety of topics. So all’s well that ends well. It is now early 2019, Pam and I have just celebrated our 45th wedding anniversary.

My publisher, Joe at Andrews UK, is very pleased with me. My first book in the ‘Secrets’ series, Buried Secrets, is selling very nicely, so he wants another to complete a trilogy. This will be called ‘Chauffeur Secrets’, and the first few pages follow as a taster.

What Happened to the Hotel?

Mark continued with his ownership, with Moaner in charge, and Alice responsible for the day to day running. However, he knew that he was on a financial loser, continuously trying to negotiate with the bank. The accountant was a great help to him during this period, realistic advice that was mainly ignored. However, the bank were pulling all the financial strings, they had the greatest potential fiscal disaster. By this time the mortgage commitment was just over £600,000, the hotel was worth in the region of £50,000 more. Any potential buyer would have to re-vamp, with books that were hardly healthy, and a management structure sufficient to put off most buyers.

The bank ultimately had no alternative but to foreclose.

It was placed on the market, we were kept aware of developments through insisting that we were still in the loop. It was quite an effort, rumours abounded, various people were allegedly interested, but in reality no firm offers were made.

An empty hotel with no trade with the bank as the seller meant it went for peanuts of £500,000, just about half we paid less than three years earlier. Mark and Deanna took the greatest financial hit of course, the new businessman buyer had quite a project on his hands.

I won’t go into too much financial detail here, it’s not my place to do so, but what has occurred is some of the rooms were converted into larger executive ones, walls removed, and instead of a 28 bedroom hotel, he was left with one of twenty. The hotel went so cheaply, it was possible to invest. The new owner however had other business interests in Europe, so he decided to lease it out, which is now the case.

The couple who are now running the hotel are really good at it. They do everything they can to increase trade, no evening meals any more and it’s called a bed and breakfast, no hotel in the name. They are doing everything right, and deserve all success that hopefully comes their way.