I live in a state that has a calendar full of various festivals celebrated in every corner. Each festival crowns a queen, a princess, or some semblance of royalty to preside over various activities and reign until the next year. What I didn't know is each of these festivals sends its crown-bearer to a state-wide competition where they have a coronation of the queen of queens or princess of princesses.
My office intern, a charming college freshman from a nearby town, was one of those festival princesses and ascended to the state-wide throne. A lovely specimen with bright blue eyes and a never-ending smile, Hannah greeted those entering our office in such a warm and personal fashion that I was constantly the beneficiary of compliments about her. We were fortunate to have her as an intern and hoped she would work for us during the entirety of her college years. Hannah secured house-sitting, dog-sitting and babysitting jobs from the young mothers and others in the office; all due to her trustworthiness and work ethic. We all loved Hannah.
Hannah talked freely among the staff about her social life, the life of a festival princess, and her suitors. It was obvious she had no problem having a date when she wanted but only a few were able to secure that coveted second date and "third dates" were rare, indeed. As the summer months approached, appearances throughout the state kept Hannah's calendar full and she chose to keep her options open as she traveled to each venue, meeting new people and expanding her social contacts. The young mothers in the office were mesmerized by the social (and sexual) activity of our young college intern. As they inquired, Hannah shared and I would eavesdrop when I could for I was mesmerized as well. It seems our young festival princess enjoyed her popularity at every stop.
Only twenty years of age but a typical college student, Hannah would occasionally imbibe. In controlled settings like an after-hours glass of wine in the office or a flute of champagne to celebrate an office victory of some sort, we would allow Hannah to enjoy an adult beverage and she rarely refused. Such was the case following a demanding off-site board retreat where intense discussions had resulted in a well-formulated action plan that pleased me and the rest of my staff. As the board members started their journeys home, we packed all the materials and pulled a waiting cooler into the middle of the room, circled it with chairs, and popped some bubbly. The toasts began, each of us extolling the virtues of the other as glasses clinked and bottles emptied.
One by one, the group grew smaller as each reached what they thought to be her limit before starting the drive home. Eventually, only Hannah and I remained along with a couple boxes to haul back to the office and the cooler.
"Hannah, why don't we carry everything out to my car, do a final cleanup, and have one for the road," I suggested.
"Well, Rex, I rode to the retreat with Mary so I'm going to need a ride home," she meekly professed.
"Not a problem," I declared as the champagne worked my brain with naughty thoughts.
With that understanding we grabbed what we could, a "lazy man's load", and made our way out to the vehicle, loading the trunk and taking note of a warm summer evening on the college campus where the retreat had convened.
Returning to the meeting room, we gave it the once over to find only the cooler remaining and on a table in the corner, the digital camera we had recently purchased for the office which we had failed to pack with the other materials. Happy to have not forgotten it, I placed the camera strap around my neck and reached for the half glass of champagne that I had been sipping as Hannah reached for the bottle to fill her empty flute.
"Since you are the designated driver, I'll have another," Hannah stated as she eyed my curious examination of the camera, and added, "I remember when Mary bought that. It's a very nice camera. She spared no expense."
"I remember approving the invoice. I do hope we use all of its features and it doesn't go to waste." I responded.
The college campus was void of activity. It was between summer terms and such a small school that it was barely staffed during the break. We had been given the keys to the rustic log building that sat in a wooded area on the backside of campus. It had all the amenities and was perfect for board retreats or other executive getaways and the college was happy to make it available. From the outermost parking lot on campus it was a fifty yard walk along a cedar chip trail through a dense wood that surrounded most of the campus perimeter. Secluded would be an understatement.
I continued to examine the camera, occasionally looking through the view finder and changing the settings as I did. I purposely avoided aiming it at Hannah for fear of embarrassing her or appearing to portray the dirty old man. At 43, I hardly considered myself old but then again, Hannah is barely twenty.
"Do you mind if I pop the cork on another bottle?" Hannah asked interrupting my examination of the new-fangled camera.
"Go right ahead as long as you fill my glass, too."
As I sipped the freshly-poured and tasty bubbly, I congratulated myself on having the foresight to grab my cooler and stop at the liquor store for champagne and ice. I had hoped we would be in a celebratory mood after wrapping up the retreat. Having a few extra glasses alone with the beautiful Hannah was an added bonus, and I was in no hurry to call it a day.
