Creating an Industrial Empire in 19th Century Parallel World

December 17th, 881. The night shrouded the city of Lower Manhattan. At the New York Stock Exchange, thousands of people gathered and flocked to Eleven Wall Street, visiting to see the lighting ceremony of the New York Stock Exchange. There are food stalls set up along the side of the streets for people to buy food and pastries as they wait for the clock to strike eleven at midnight.

People coming from different social classes attended the lighting ceremony and it was hard to differentiate who is who as they wore neat formal dresses. Poul and Jonathan were having a hard time wading through the crowd, not only there is a small space to go forward, but they also have to watch out for their surroundings so as to not accidentally push people.

Well, even with all those hurdles, the young industrialist duo managed to arrive in front of the New York Stock Exchange. In this specific street, there are hundreds of open-top carriages where the high-ranking society congregates. Caroline said it was true, they were eating dinner on the carriage. There was a table in between two seats where food was served. Their personal chefs prepare the food down the carriage, offering wine and delicacies.

The street for now was illuminated with candlelights and a gas lamp post, but Jonathan and Poul knew it was going to be replaced by an electric lamp post in the coming months.

"Now, how are we going to possibly find Miss Caroline and Amelia in this place? Did she mention the color of the carriage? Or the place where it could be parked?" Jonathan asked as he looked around the surroundings while Poul was buying a hotdog sandwich for the two of them.

"She didn't mention any specifics," Poul said as he paid the vendor the exact pennies for the two hotdog sandwiches. The vendor handed the hotdog sandwich to him and Poul nodded thankfully.

Poul handed the hotdog sandwich to Jonathan while he ate his own. "Here you go,"

"Thanks," Jonathan said after receiving the hotdog and taking a bite of the bread. He hummed in delight, "Mmm…this is amazing~"

"It is pretty good, isn't it?" Poul replied. He took another bite of his hotdog, "Well…we're here. Let's find them," he gestured over his shoulder with his head. "We still got about half an hour before the event starts. We can try asking people of high status if they have seen them."

Jonathan nodded and followed behind Poul, "Fine by me."

Their eyes scanned around the surroundings, looking for Caroline and Amelia. A minute passed, and another, and then another, and ten minutes later. They haven't found them.

This is where they start regretting. If only they had asked where to meet one another yesterday before parting ways, this wouldn't happen.

There are only seventeen minutes before the lighting ceremony starts.

"This is bad, Jonathan. We still haven't found them," Poul said, his shoulders drooping slightly with disappointment. Jonathan looked at him with concerned eyes. "They can't be that far…Caroline said that she was invited to the lighting ceremony, so she's here, we just got to find them…" Jonathan let out a startled gasp. "Oh, there they are."

"Where?" Poul turned and looked where Jonathan was indicating. Sure enough, they spotted two people seated in the carriage. Caroline and Amelia are waving their hands at them to catch their attention. Poul raised his hand and waved at them in response, indicating that he saw them.

Poul and Jonathan walked over to their carriage and hopped onto it. They sat on the vacant seats opposite them.

"Would you like some wine," Caroline offered, holding up the bottle of wine. Poul nodded, and Caroline started pouring wine into their glasses. They each drank a glass of wine, and once again Caroline spoke, "So, how long have you been finding us?"

"About ten minutes," Jonathan replied as he wiped his mouth with a napkin.

"I apologize for not giving you additional details that could help you find us easily, it slipped my mind."

"No need to apologize, we are at fault as we haven't asked for more information. But since we are all here, let's just forget about it and enjoy the rest of the evening," Jonathan suggested, giving Caroline a reassuring smile and she returned it with a gentle smile of her own. Poul and Amelia nodded in agreement.

"The people around here give me vibes, their presence is intimidating I must say."

"That's understandable. After all, those men and women you are seeing are some of the most powerful families in the United States.  The Astors, Van Leers, Whitneys, Harrisons, Lowells, Du Ponts, Cartons, Randolphs, and Roosevelts. You might think that the Du Ponts are related to me but they are not. We only happen to have the same surname," Caroline explained.

"Are they the old money families?" Poul asked.

"Most of them are," Caroline said. "Wait, why is it that I am more well-informed about those families instead of you two? You are the ones who are living in this country and we just moved," Caroline said, chuckling.

"Well, it must be because we don't care?" Poul replied flippantly and shifted his gaze to Amelia, who had been silent ever since they arrived.

"Miss Amelia, is something troubling you? It feels off when you are silent," Poul said.

"Uhm…I don't want to disrupt your conversation so I remained silent. You two are the founders of the Air Brake Company, with the prospect of becoming a multi-million dollar industry. It would be out of place if I speak along with the three of you."

Poul pressed his lips into a fine line and frowned slightly, "You didn't care about that when we were in Astoria Hotel and Bethesda Park. Why now?"

"Because you see, Mister Nielsen, there is something that I would like to tell the two of you, about Amelia's future," Caroline interceded, hoping to explain. "The truth is, I have decided to let her work for your company as your secretary."

The young industrialist duo widened their eyes. "What?" they intoned.

"You said you needed a secretary right? I can let you borrow her for the time being."

"I thought she would never work with anyone other than you, Miss Caroline? What happened now?" Poul asked, still processing what was happening.

"This is to increase her experience. But it doesn't mean I'm firing her. I'm just giving her an opportunity to work with you. Amelia is persistent and determined that only I can tell her what to do. I was hoping you'd hire her, I guarantee you, you won't have to spend a lot of hours going through your paperwork."

Poul and Jonathan looked at one another, voting whether they should take Amelia or not. It's true that they needed a secretary, and they would be glad to have Amelia on their side. But, if they find out that Amelia is just being forced to work with them because Caroline said she should, then they would promptly decline.

"Miss Amelia, if it's okay for you, we can take you in as our secretary. Don't force yourself, if you don't want to be separated from Miss Caroline, that's fine. There are a lot of potential candidates for a secretarial position in our company, so no pressure."

"Miss Caroline and I have talked about this," Amelia began. "And I have accepted her decision. This is to increase my experience by working in another company that works in a different industry. I will surely learn a lot by working with you and expanding my knowledge which I can use to help Miss Caroline's future endeavors. Please, take me as your secretary," she bowed her head respectfully and waited for their response.

Jonathan and Poul both let out sighs of relief, good thing that they were wrong in their expectations. They shared a look of understanding with one another. Then, both Jonathan and Poul smiled, "Of course, Miss Amelia. We will be glad to have you on our team."

"Thank you," Amelia said as she raised her head back to look at Poul and Jonathan.