In the days and weeks since Karen and I had been on vacation we talked nearly every day. She had responsibilities to attend to and had several places to be for business. And I had some loose ends to attend to with a couple of breweries I was doing work for, as well as looking into some prospects that had contacted me. Some times It was difficult to focus, Karen seemed to occupy my thoughts often. I missed her touch and her smile not to mention her fantastic body and really just her.
Karen asked if I was willing to take on Sanches's as a project? I told her it would be best if we could meet face to face to go over some of the conditions that made sense to me. I was at first reluctant to get involved because I wasn't sure I wanted to complicate our relationship. I have to admit the dinner date part of it was an excuse to see her. Under other circumstances it wouldn't have been hard to nail down some guidelines by phone or email.
When I walked into the dining room Karen was already there with an associate. Her hair was shorter than when we saw each other two weeks ago and looked great, a little edgier of a cut than her previous cut and was a little spiked and it made her look younger. She was wearing a dress that was appropriate for business but showed enough leg to bring back memories. We greeted each other warmly and I shook Chad's hand when he was introduced.
We decided to meet at a popular destination brewery I had done work for in San Diego. They were known for their ability to provide a fine dining experience as well as some world class beer and wine.
"Chad oversees our winery in Napa Valley as well as the one we have in Paso Robles. He also has Sanches's as part of his responsibilities. And will be your contact if we decide to move forward with the project." Karen was treating this as any other meeting she would have with associates she had a good working relationship with. Her usual smile and at ease attitude was as prevalent as it ever was. She also is confident and displayed what I guess shouldn't have been a surprising amount of business savvy. And as we talked would occasionally look down at Chad's tablet he was taking notes on. There was clearly expectations that he would be treating this as a business meeting and not a tag along on her dinner date. As he was given a list of items to pursue.
"First we need to establish what your vision for both the brewery and the town is." I started out. "And what the options are as I see them." I looked at Karen and said "how much change are both you and Port Orford up for? Here is what I mean, you have a love for that little town. How comfortable is change there going to be?"
We continued to talk about the details of what Sanches's could become and what it could do for the town. Karen didn't hide the fact that the two of us were in a relationship and she made it clear to Chad that this project was his to manage as he would any other venture. Karen made the point that our relationship would not be relevant to the project. I got the feeling Chad was nervous about being in a meeting with Karen and that normally there were a few more layers of Management between them, and given the potential for a land mine here, that might be beneficial to him.
Chad excused himself and left the meeting as soon as it became apparent that Karen and I were starting to change the conversation to a personal level.
We sat close and laughed and enjoyed each other's company. We had already discussed that I would spend the night before leaving in the morning. "I'll have the car brought up front if you are ready." Karen said. We walked to the front and there were several vehicles that the Valet had brought up.
Pointing to a long black limo Karen said "This is us here." Karen read my look. "I can see my life is going to take some getting used to." We got in and the window that separated the front from the rear slid down and a gentlemanly bald headed man smiled as he looked at us in the rear view mirror.
"Karen, where would you like to go?"
"The hotel would be great Al, thank you."
Dropping us in front of the hotel, Al got out and opened Karens door, I could see the valet staff find another gear and it seemed most of them were wanting to attend to what ever Karen needed or wanted. We walked through the lobby and through a door into the "Gold Members" business area and through a door marked private. There was an elevator with an attendant and upon entering he asked "Your suite Miss Karen?"
We were in an upscale National hotel that anyone would want to stay in, but not everyone could. The amenities were top notch and the staff was polite and professional. It wasn't hard to notice the sideways glances we got as we walked through.
"Miss Karen?" I joked after leaving the elevator.
"The staff refuses to call me just Karen, Miss Karen was the best compromise I could get."
"Clearly I'm in waaay over my head." I said entering her suite it was obvious this was Karen's suite. Decorated impeccably. This wasn't her family's, the floor was her family's.
"You aren't. All this is just stuff. And honestly if I wasn't born into this, and knowing what I know now? I'm not sure I would choose it. Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for what I have and everything my father built, and I do love the business I am in, but I'm not in love with the fact that I get treated the way I do because of my last name. I like authenticity. I'm fairly simple...Most of the time."
I walked through the living area and opened the sliding door out to the balcony. There was a large deck with a jacuzzi and teak chairs and tables with umbrellas.
Next to one of the tables there was one of those champagne buckets with ice and the top of a bottle peeking out of the ice. Karen was smiling when she saw that I noticed it. "Go look." she smiled.
"Do you know what this is?" I held it up looking at the bottle. "Of course you do, you own the hotel."
"I have to admit, I don't, but I knew you would love it. I asked Al if he could pick it up while we were in our meeting."
Karen looked excited that I loved this. "Russian Rivera, Planter the younger. This a one day a year release, They don't even bottle this! And I didn't even know they had a barrel aged version." I looked at Karen with a puzzled look.
She shrugged her shoulders, clearly enjoying this and her smile showed it. "Al is good at finding things." I kissed her on the cheek and thanked her.