Chp. 7

*** Mark ***

Mark sat where his mom used to sit and work in the brightly lit, sparsely decorated, spacious office. As he stared at the open Excel sheet on his mother's laptop, he mouthed, "Unbelievable."

The initial renovations had actually had an effect. And quickly, too. He'd noticed the increase in foot traffic, but he didn't know things had picked up at this pace. Things have gotten much better than he expected in such a short time. So the free condoms worked, huh? How about that? He couldn't help but smile.

But he quickly reminded himself that he had only scratched the surface of the beginning. It was a great start. He must maintain this momentum for the next five months, give or take. That meant continuous improvement. Or kaizen, as the Japanese called it. At least the very least, he must constantly do something new to spur the steady increase of guests.

At some point in the last few weeks, he realized he couldn't do this alone. Joe and Ugo were a great help with security,