XDSI - 2. XD Ch 2

When Sebastian learnt of my plans to build an exact replica of the Eifel Tower in Perth, he thought it was a crazy idea, especially when I asked for some financial support for the project. It was almost a week later before he contacted me back and let me know that he has agreed to build the 324-metre tall building, which is 125 metres in diameter.

I had also offered to build four new bridges over the Swan River, which will have higher clearances, and wide gaps between the support beams to allow bigger boats to go further up the river. The four bridges would be the Fremantle Railway Bridge, which will increase by one metre, and the original Fremantle Road Bridge, which will increase by two metres.

Once they are completed the Stirling Highway Bridge will be next, also with a two metre increase in height, which will also pass over the Canning Highway, and when completed, they will have doubled the height clearance and doubled the width between each support beams.

The final bridge would be the bridge that crosses the river between South Perth and Perth City, known as the Narrows Bridge, will increase in height by one metre, so all four bridges will have a nine-metre clearance. The main aim of increasing the heights of the bridges is to be able to get larger private yachts to come further up the river, including my yacht, M/Y Toodyay 2, which is a bigger class of yacht than the first yacht, made by Turquoise Shipping.

At 54.7 metres long and 9.3 metres wide, this yacht is far bigger than the first yacht, she was very sleek and very luxurious, with four decks instead of three, it has two queen and two twin guest cabins on the lower deck, as well as two additional crew cabins.

On the main deck, there is the Owners suite, a VIP suite located just behind it, which is my suite, as I reserve the owner’s suite for when Sebastian and Lewis are visiting, and both suites have an owner’s lobby hall, just ahead of the Entrance Lobby and the main stairs. On the bridge deck, the captain has a bigger cabin and office space, with a gym and sky lounge located behind the lobby and stairs.

Even the crew are happy with the much larger yacht and with the top half of the Technology mast capable of being lowered, reducing the clearance by two metres. This means that this yacht would be able to fit underneath the new nine-metre clearance bridges, but only at low tide, when that work is completed, and in the meantime, it is based at our jetty at Rouse Head in North Fremantle.

I was looking forward to been able to have the yacht moored at my private jetty outside my home in East Fremantle, and the bridges support spacing would also be wide enough to allow my friends to bring the Aquarius and the Oceania to my jetty, when they are visiting.

Over the next three years, I watched as the three bridges in Fremantle are replaced with higher bridges, and as soon as the third one was completed, I asked the Captain Anton, to relocate the Toodyay 2 to my private jetty, just below my castle home.

The captain was pleased about this, as it is alot more sheltered, and less movement when onboard. For the past two years, I have had an increase of crew numbers by two, with a 2^nd Engineer – Pippa Langley and Boson – Giorgio Silvani welcomed onboard, and with this bigger yacht, every crewmember has their own cabin to themselves, and when Wyatt joins me on the yacht, he gets to enjoy one of the guest suites.

When Sebastian made a surprise arrival at the office on a Friday early afternoon, just days before my 25^th birthday, I had a feeling that he had come with some bad new. “In the conference room now, if you please,” he said to me, before he turned and headed down the hallway.

“What have you done now?” Wyatt asked, as he was at the office every Tuesday and Friday, as he has been for the past three years as a trusted advisor. “No idea mate, but he doesn’t sound too happy, you better come and join me,” I replied, and we headed for the conference room.

Both Wyatt and I were grilled for details on all projects that I have in progress now. With the third Fremantle Bridge completed, and the replica Eifel tower was progressing very slowly, with the second level now complete at 390 feet of 118.8 metres tall.

After hearing everything that we had to say, there was a long period of silence as Sebastian considered his options. “Ok, this is my decision, there will be no forth bridge project, and the replica Eifel tower, will remain at its present height.

This still should be plenty, to have restaurants and cafes on both of the upper levels, with some nice views of the city and the Swan River, and I believe that it will be the 12^th highest building in the city.

You will not get any more finance from me for any more large projects, as you already have plenty of land around the city, as well as this waterside office, your home in East Fremantle and your yacht.

I am pleased that your apartments and hotel across the road at the former Police headquarters are doing very well, and I have had a tour of the old Trinity School site, and approve of improvements you have done there, and with incorporating it in with the WACA ground.

I also approve of you making the remainder of the site east of the tower, into a village environment, with a mixture of shops and fresh-food markets and entertainment space, with wide streets, which will complement the tower. Now, you still have some land in on the corner of Hay and Plain Streets, as well as the corner of Goderich and Hill Streets, what were your plans for that land?” Sebastian asked me.

“I also have the land on Terrace Road, which the demolition has just been completed and cleared away. For the Goderich Street property, the State Government is planning a redevelopment of Royal Perth Hospital, which is directly across the road from my land there, and I had submitted a development project to assist with the hospital, while the other blocks of land I had not quite decided what to do with them,” I replied nervously.

Once again, there was a long period of silence, and Wyatt looked at me and shrugged his shoulders, not knowing what decision that my cousin would make in regards to that land. “Right, my decision is that I will purchase the Plain and Hay Street property plus the Goderich and Hill Street property from you, at the current land value, and I will deal with the submission that you sent in.

With the money you get from those two parcels of land, you should be able to build something on that land on Terrace Road, I will leave it up to you to decide, but I will not help you out if the project goes over budget,” Sebastian said to me.

“Thankyou for all of this, I appreciate it, I was beginning to realise that you response to my Eifel tower project, was indeed a bit too ambitious, and I agree that even with it being at level two, it can still become a spectacular landmark, for the eastern entrance to the city,” I replied.

“Now that business is over, Lewis and I have checked in onboard your yacht for a few days, and I suggest we have a family dinner tomorrow night, while we are here,” Sebastian announced, “That will be nice, I look forward to it,” I responded.

“The twins fly in tomorrow afternoon, so they will be staying onboard as well, and I have invited June Cooper to join us for dinner, which means that Wyatt and Xavier are also invited,” Sebastian said smiling.

“Thankyou sir, I look forward to that,” Wyatt replied, and he exited the conference room, no doubt to give his brother a call, which he has not seen in nearly two years. He was still on his mobile fifteen minutes later when Sebastian and I exited the conference room, and Sebastian said goodbye before leaving, as I spotted a limo parked out the front.

As we arrived home in East Fremantle later that afternoon, I was emotionally drained from the conference earlier in the afternoon, and I collapsed in to my favourite chair in the upstairs family den, which looks out to the Swan River, and the jetty where the yacht is moored.

Wyatt brought me a drink, before setting off back to the kitchen to prepare dinner, and a few minutes later, I too headed downstairs. “Just a very light meal for tonight please, I am not in the mood for a big meal,” I said to Wyatt, “Very good sir, do you have any plans for tomorrow?” Wyatt responded.

“No, I am going to do absolutely nothing. So take the day off tomorrow, so you can catch up with your family, just don’t forget about dinner on the yacht,” I announced, “Thankyou sir, that is appreciated,” Wyatt replied. The following day, I took my time getting up, having a long shower, and as I was dressing, I wondered why I could not smell breakfast been cooked.

When the doorbell rang, and Wyatt did not answer it, I suddenly remembered that I had given him the day off, and I dashed downstairs to answer the door. When I opened it, I was very surprised to see our family friend Kyle Davies standing there, as I tucked in my shirt.

“No butler today?” was the first thing Kyle asked, and I blushed a little, “No, I gave him the day off, and I only just remembered that just now, when he did not answer the door,” I replied, before I was pulled into a bear hug. “It is great to see you again my friend, I hear you have been very busy with building projects over the past few days,” Kyle said to me.

“I have come in; I will make us some tea. How about you, last time I heard from you was… goodness it must be around eight years now,” I replied. “Yes, it was when you came to my graduation ceremony, just before you started university yourself,” Kyle said to me.

“How is Sue and the boys, my they must have grown a lot since I last saw them both,” I asked, “Sue is doing well, she teaches Music at TAFE College in Northam now, and she loves it. “Huon is now eleven, while Alexander is now nine, and they both attend Grammar school just like their old man, Kyle said to me.

“What about you, have you been ordained as a minister after graduating from university, or have you gone on to do more studies?” I asked, “The latter, after doing the double Bachelors Degree in Philosophy and Theology, at Notre Dame in Fremantle, I continued on to do a Doctorate in Psychology, and Bachelor in Criminology and Criminal Justice, and I currently work with the Department of Corrections,” Kyle announced.

“Wow, now I did not expect that, so you are face to face with criminals in the prisons?” I asked, “Yes, that is correct, and every three months I travel to the regional prisons to do some work there for a few weeks, I have just come back from being in Broome for three weeks,” Kyle replied.

“That must be quite a tough job to do,” I stated, “It is, and there are not many in my profession who are prepared to go into the field of Forensic Science, plus I have to take additional cautious measures to ensure that my family is kept safe at all times,” Kyle replied.

When the doorbell rang again, I saw Kyle smile, “That will be the rest of my family come for a visit,” Kyle said, as I went to answer the door. “Hello Sue, it is great to see you again,” I said as I gave her a big hug, “What about us Uncle Xander, do we get a hug too?” the boys said and I laughed, as I squatted down to give the boys a big hug.

Trust you lot to come on the day that I gave my staff member a day off,” I said as we headed inside, and into the living room, where Kyle was now waiting. “Hi love, how did the sports go?” Kyle asked his wife, “Good, Huon’s team won their match, but the final score was a close result,” Sue replied.

“Are you all living at Deepdale?” I asked, “Yes, it is a lovely place to bring up the boys, I just wish that Kyle here would give up his Government work, as I worry that some day they will get out and take revenge,” Sue said sounding worried. With the boys having wondered out to the courtyard, where we could watch them, but they were out of hearing range, we were able to speak more freely about that subject.

“Are you all coming to dinner tonight onboard the yacht?” I asked, “Yes and the boys can hardly wait to go onboard to explore, but until then we thought we might entice you to join us for an excursion to the Perth Zoo and Kings Park,” Sue said to me.

“I would love to do that with you, if you don’t mind me tagging along,” I replied, “Not at all, the boys have been hassling me to come and see their uncle Xander for quite some time now,” Kyle replied smiling. “Are you the mastermind behind what looks like the lower section of the Eifel Tower in East Perth?” Sue asked.

“Yes I am, but it wont be going any higher as Sebastian has withdrawn financial support on that project, so it will be what it is now, but it with have two levels of café’s and restaurants just like the original tower has. The rest of the land around it will have a village type of atmosphere of cafes, shops and entertainment space” I replied.

“That sounds interesting, we look forward to seeing it when it is completed, sounds much better than what the original developers had planned for the space,” Kyle said to me. About ten minutes later, we were on our way to the Perth Zoo, and day of adventure for the boys.

As we were walking out of the Zoo, and heading to the car park, Kyle’s mobile rang, and when he looked at the screen, he did not look too happy. “I have to take this, it may be urgent,” Kyle said as he stopped to take the call while Sue and the boys continued on, and I waited for Kyle a short distance away.

“What! When did this happen? Is anyone hurt, and is their any other damage?” I heard Kyle say, and I stepped a little closer, as I saw that Kyle was starting to shake. “Go and find Sue and the kids, get in the car and drive to your place, make sure it is secure, I will explain when I get there,” Kyle said to me, after placing his hand over the mouth piece of his mobile.

It cannot be good if he is telling me to get his family safe, so I dashed after Sue and the kids, who were almost at the car when I had sight of them, and suddenly I thought that maybe the car… “Sue, don’t go near the car, come hear, there has been an incident at Kyle’s workplace, and the car may not be safe either,” I shouted out, as I now sprinted towards them.

I shouted the warning again, this time she heard me as she grabbed the hands of the boys, swung around and walked towards me. “Is it his work?” Sue asked, and I nodded yes, as I retrieved my phone and called for a limo to come and collect us right away.

After organising the limo, which would be twenty minutes, I called the police. “Hello, this is Alexander Devonport speaking; this call is ion connection to the explosion at the offices of Dr Kyle Davies, in West Perth.

Dr Davies and his family are with me, we have just exited the Perth Zoo and just heard about the explosion, from his staff and we are concerned that his vehicle may also tampered with. We are parked at the Car Park, at Windsor Park on Labouchere Road, can you send police to this location to check the vehicle please,” I said into the phone.

I listened to the response, which I was not happy about, “This is not a hoax, I am very serious, check with your people attending the incident in West Perth, it is the office centre for Dr Kyle Davies,” I said getting annoyed with them.