Where Dreams Continue

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Raquel Wells sat in Madison Park, counting an extra blessing that her favorite bench was open. It sat at the edge of the park, under the shade of a tall maple tree and faced Lake Washington. As she opened the paper bag she looked out at the lake: twenty miles long and three wide, it had halted the eastward expansion of Seattle a century before. Most of the park was fronted by a sandy beach and a very popular swimming area. Her favorite stretch was perched above a rocky rip-rap and nestled under friendly maple trees close by the shore.

From here, downtown Seattle was a comforting four miles behind her and the broad lake masked any thoughts of Bellevue on the far shore. Here is where she did her best thinking. Here is where she ate the best chocolate she’d ever found.

Vic Bosco’s Ginger Caramel, the dark chocolate sheen ever so lightly dusted with sea salt, slayed her every time. This is what heaven was like: a sunny day, a beautiful view, and a multi-layered treat for her palate.

As an extra treat today, her outfit had totally gobsmacked Vic’s new assistant. The guy looked as if he’d been paralyzed. Having an outfit that actually made a man’s jaw drop, well, that was a definite bonus. He was six foot of terribly handsome and appeared to be one of those guys completely willing to wield it as a woman-slayer. Absolutely not her type.

Her dress was just one of the many benefits of working at Perrin’s Glorious Garb. Four years ago she’d taken over as store manager on a wing, a prayer, and at the sharp prodding of two of Perrin’s best friends. Perrin had been barely scraping by and Raquel had been doing no better as an underling in the corporate mayhem of Seattle. Perrin had offered her straight commission and a ten percent share in the company if it survived.

Many times it had been close, but Perrin’s talent couldn’t be stopped. Now, with Perrin’s recent successes and Melanie Harper signing aboard as CEO, the company had gained global attention.

Raquel had kept the operation going, taken night classes for an MBA (Stage One of her Personal Life Plan), and scrabbled like a madwoman for four years.

And at a very fine luncheon this afternoon, Perrin and Melanie had presented her with a brand new business card; it read “CFO”—Chief Financial Officer. There had been champagne, there had been tears, and there had been many smiles of well-deserved satisfaction. Soon, if the five-year business plan that she herself had written came even close to being accurate, they were all going to be very wealthy women.

That was completely worthy of two of Vic Bosco’s ginger caramels.

She’d promoted her clerk to store manager and was now free to focus on the on-line retail side of the business. Part of it was straightforward; Perrin’s unusual designs built to stock. But Perrin’s trademark was custom clothing matched to the individual. Turning that into an electronic platform was proving to be a fun challenge and a potentially lucrative one.

It was all running smoothly, or as smoothly as such things did. A lot of hard work lay ahead for all of them. But thankfully it was no longer about survival, rather it was about creating a stable success. That was Stage Two.

So, now it was time to focus on the next Stage Three of her Personal Life Plan: find a suitable partner. That too promised to be a great deal of fun and, if all went well, that too would have life-changing results.

She bit into sweet, salt, and ginger and let her eyes drift shut to fully appreciate the chocolate flavors.