"Road trip!" I announced to Sami and Ali when I walked into the Gallery.
"Road trip?" they both asked at the same time.
"That's what I said; As President of this fucking corporation, I am mandating a get-away sabbatical for us, to clear our heads, and to get in some much needed golf."
Ali and Sami just stared at the ranting bitch standing in the office.
"Seriously, guys, we've been humping it seven days a week since we got back from Hawaii; the Easter weekend is coming up and I've booked us a condo at Gulf Shores, just us, The Three Amigos."
"And besides, I want to take my new ride on a road trip," I said, finally ending my soliloquy.
"It's always about you, isn't it Lynn," Sami teasingly said, with Ali agreeing. The two of them then started trash-talking about me as if I wasn't there until they couldn't keep straight faces any longer and the three of us had a huge laugh over it.
It was true that we had been very, very busy of late. Ali and I were working with our individual mediums almost exclusively, leaving much of the running of the Gallery to Sami and the two girls, Justine and Tiff. Seeing the need, we brought on another full timer, Jason; a nice quiet gay guy that Ali knew from the art scene. He'd run and worked in some of the best galleries for the past five years or so. He was in a very stable relationship and could smooze the rich bitches with the best of 'em.
I had two photo projects going on at the moment, and Ali was doing a couple of private commissions. The web site was getting a lot of traffic and generating a lot of sales, keeping Sami very busy with that as well.
We had decided to close the Gallery on Good Friday through the Monday after Easter, so we had the time, and the girls agreed that we did, indeed, need to get away for a bit.
~
"Damn, but this car is nice," Ali said when the three of us hit I-10, heading east towards Alabama.
I had just taken possession of my first big splurge since I had sold my St. Paul company; I custom-ordered a Cadillac DTS, their biggest road sedan these days, outside of the Escalade-class vehicles like Ali had. I'd always wanted a Cadillac, so fuck it, I bought one.
Tuning in to Bluesville on XM radio, I set the cruise for five above the limit and felt my body relax for the first time in a long while.
We hadn't traveled twenty miles and we were talking business! Hey, I'm as guilty as they were, so I can't bitch too much.
"Sami, have you seen the latest numbers on my Erotica reprints?" I asked as we tossed about several different topics about the Gallery.
"Yes, it's the leading seller of all of your photo-art, with the 'Lower Nine' series a very close second.
"Yeah, I know but I was talking specifically of that one shot of you; that one outsells the others, 2 to 1," I said.
"That's true," Ali piped up, "I get more comments and compliments on that one than any of the others."
"So, I'm kicking around doing another Erotica series with some new ideas I have, interested?" I asked Sami.
"Yeah, I guess so," Sami said, "what sort of new ideas are you thinking about?"
"I'd like to shoot you and another woman, and right now I'm thinking a young, black woman; shoot it in Black and White, using a larger format, like my Hassellblad," I said.
Thinking on it a while, Sami slowly nodded her head, agreeing that the concept, while not new, could be a fun project, saying, "Yeah, count me in; I'd like to be a part of that."
Cool. A new project for me to get obsessed with, but cool nevertheless.
~
We checked into our condo around noon'ish, stashed our trash and clubs and went to look for a lunch place. Spotting a burger 'n beer place, I pulled into the lot, the smell of grilled meat wafting in the air, making me instantly hungry.
Beer ordered first, of course, then our burgers; knocking our bottle-necks together, we toasted ourselves.
"So, I've got some stuff I'd like to throw on the table to you two," I said, "and all I'm asking is that, over the weekend, you let it stew around your brain, okay?"
I had their attention, and while I did, I told them of having second thoughts about opening up a place on the island.
"Look, the bottom line is that I think we shouldn't rush into anything. It's not like we're not busy as hell with the one shop; Imagine two stores, 7,000 miles apart, it'd kill us with the travel and all."
"I'd love to live in Maui, but that aside, I'm not sure we should rush into anything until we have a good handle on what we have here," ending my soliloquy with a long pull at my beer.
Sami and Ali looked to each other, then back to me, Ali speaking, "You bring up some very valid points, and you're right, we should think very carefully about this; you agree, Sami?"
"Yeah, I think I do; A shop in Maui would be nice but not if we can't do it 'our' way."
"Well, like I said, just think about it and we can talk about it further when we get back to the city, alright?"
They agreed, and the food arrived, tasting every bit as good as it smelled.
None of us had played golf in weeks, we were that busy, so we hit the driving range at the course we'd be playing tomorrow. I'm not sure about Sami and Ali but it took me the first bucket of balls just to hit consistently square to the club face. The second bucket was much better for me, and I quit after that; the pain in my shoulders sending me a subtle message that I was getting older.
