Hidden Gem

Chapter 3 - Fake Business Lunch

It doesn't take long for us to get to Étoile Country Club in Bradley's BMW. However, it wasn't fun sitting in the backseat and practically being forced to listen Bradley and Valerie dance around the topic of their mutual attraction to each other. I wish I had brought my headphones so I could block them out. I tried my best to maintain a pleasant smile as I sat there.

The maître'd seats us immediately at a table close to the patio which also had wonderful view of the golf course. Bradley quickly orders the promised bottle of Zinfandel for the table. The waiter brings us the bottle and allows Bradley to sample it first. He takes a sip, pauses and then gives the waiter a nod of approval. The waiter pours each of us glass and leaves. We all enjoy the wine as we peruse the menu.

To be honest, I don't really recognize any of the apps and mains that were offered. I never tried a spiced lamb terrine and I know I wouldn't like chilli almond kale with gribiche, since I thought kale tastes like armpits. So, I take a look at the dessert section and I'm faced with more confusion. What would a deconstructed cranberry tart taste or look like? Why is small selection of fine artisanal cheeses and preserves considered dessert? Thank goodness I saw lemon crème brûlée and feel relief that there is one on this menu that I know I will enjoy.

The waiter returns to take our order and other than dessert, I still don't know what to get. It puts me into a small panic.

"If you can take my order last, I would really appreciate it. I still can't decide what I want." I tell him before he can open his mouth. Maybe listening to what Bradley and Valerie get, will help me makes sense of what is edible here.

"Of course, Miss. Have the rest of you decided what you would like to have today?" He asked politely.

"I shall start with the green salad with the green goddess dressing on the side. Then I would love to have the roasted quail fricassée." Valerie told the waiter as she closed the menu. The waiter smiled at her, I could tell he was charmed with her cute French accent.

I considered what she had just ordered and decided against ordering the same. It all sounded too healthy and I honestly had too much health food at home.

"Very well, Miss. And what would Mr. Carmichael like today?" The waiter prompted.

"I would like to start with the niçoise salad, no dressing. Then I will have the steak frites, but please substitute the frites for duck fat roasted potatoes." Bradley ordered.

"And how would you like your steak today, sir?"

"Medium rare, please."

Thank goodness for Bradley ordering some worthwhile. I could definitely go for steak and fries right about now.

"Excellent. And so Miss, have you decided yet or will you need more time?" The waiter asked, returning his attention to me.

"I'll have the steak frites as well, medium rare too." I reply, excited for some steak.

"Anything to start with, Miss?"

"The chilli almond kale." I blurt out, because honestly I wanted to fit in with Bradley and Valerie. Also, I couldn't remember any other items from the menu.

"Very good, Miss." The waiter said with a curt nod and he left. I noted that I didn't get the same smile that Valerie did.

We make some small chit chat as we sip our wine. It's more business related and I can easily contribute to the overall conversation. I regaled them about my interaction with Mrs. Smith this morning as accurately as I can, expounding her entitled ways. Bradley snickers and Valerie giggles a bit.

"But no surprises here, she really is our most difficult client," I tell them as I finish off my wine in one quick gulp. I am of course, the epitome of class.

"Speaking of difficult clients, Bradley... What do we need to do to get your brother to come to his senses? My boss and I have been bending over backwards for your family. He may lose interest if he continues to be toyed like this." Valerie gently threatened with a perfectly amiable smile on her lips.

"He's likely looking for more money. We have been offered more in the past." Bradley replied easily, showing no concern for her veiled threat. Bradley was a pro at hiding his emotions when it came to arbitrations, it was one of his strengths.

"I honestly don't see Monsieur Bisset offering more than the 95 million that he already has, unless you're ready to make some more concessions elsewhere." Valerie responded.

"I think we're willing to make few concessions here and there." Bradley replied. "But not right at this moment. I see our food on the horizon and I know you're ravenous. I think you'll be more amenable to a new deal on a full stomach."

"Mais oui, I need food in my belly. All this lovely wine is making me lightheaded." Valerie admitted and they put negotiations on hold.

A hush came over us when the wait staff place our colourful plates of salad in front of us, as well as refilling our wine and water glasses. Now, I may not like kale, but even I had to agree that they made it look appealing. I stab my fork into the deep green foliage and shovel it into my mouth. I painfully chew it but it's not as gross as I expected it to be. The kale still has this strong earthy taste that I despise but the chilli almonds and this gribiche really made this vegetable more edible. It reminded me of the egg salad sandwiches that my grandma used make, except this was zestier. However, this by no means has converted me into a salad lover, but I could tolerate it.

"How is your salad, Ruby? You appear as if you're enjoying it." Valerie inquired before she twirled her forkful of green salad into her mouth.

"It's not bad. It's probably the best kale salad I've ever tried." I said honestly.

"I sincerely loathe kale, its flavour is too strong for me." Valerie admitted. I hide a look of surprise, because honestly she looked like someone who loved all types of rabbit food.

"Actually, I'm not a big fan either. My little sister, Topaz, is a bit of health nut, so there's always kale in our refrigerator. " I explained.

"And how is little Topaz doing? I think you were saying she was trying out for the basketball team?" Bradley asked with a lazy smile on his face.

She was actually trying out for her highschool soccer team. And she also hated being called "Little Topaz." Well, this will be anecdote from work that I wouldn't be sharing with her tonight. For some unknown reason to me, she really disliked Bradley and this wouldn't help.

"She's doing great, actually. She actually made the soccer team. I'm so proud of her, especially since I'm quite the opposite and never had any talents for sports." I say with an emphasis on the word soccer.

"Oh la! That is fantastique! I am a big soccer fan, although we like to call it le football." Valerie exclaimed, her green eyes lit up with actual delight. "I wish your sister all the best and perhaps a championship cup in her future."

"Thanks Valerie, I appreciate it." I reply, with some inner conflict. Her genuine excitement over my sister making the soccer team almost made me like her.

"I love 'le football' too. It's my favourite sport." Bradley stated unconvincingly.

"Oh yes? What's your favorite team?" Valerie quizzed as she crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Easy, the Los Angeles Chargers." Bradley declared.

Valerie sniggered at his response, her emerald eyes twinkling.

"Mon Dieu, you really are too much Bradley! For a moment, I thought we had more in common. But unfortunately, it isn't so. If you must know, American football is inferior to European football!" She challenged.

I know my sister would agree, but I was indifferent. Both sports were fairly boring. I would rather binge some Netflix show or curl up on the couch with a good book and hot cocoa with cookies.

Before they can get into a heated debate over which variation of football is superior, the same wait staff return with our entrees. They remove our empty salad plates and leave our enticing mains in the place. The presence of the new dishes silences the two of them for a moment as they check on them. Valerie verifying that the quail is cooked through and Bradley ensuring that his steak is correct shade of rosy pink. They appear satisfied, so they wave the waiters away and return to their football discussion.

I'm just happy with the look of my steak, it has those beautiful grill marks that you always see on those cooking competition tv shows, a cute little jug of gravy and fresh cut golden fries. If Bradley and Valerie weren't here, I would probably pull out my phone and snap its picture. I surpress that urge and focus on my meal. The savory smell of my steak manages to make my stomach grumble, even though I just filled up on salad. I take a tentative bite and boy is it delicious. The texture is soft and juicy, but the taste is incomparable. Just the right balance of salt and smoke. I'm a decent cook, however I could never make steak taste this exceptional. I sigh blissfully after another bite, absolutely oblivious to their arguments.

"Ruby, what do you think?" Valerie asked me, pulling me back in from my steak reverie.

"I'm sorry? What is this about again?" I say as if waking from a trance.

"You are going to be our tie-breaker. Which do you prefer? American or European football?" Valerie inquired.

"Remember who signs your paychecks..." Bradley threw in before I could open my mouth.

"Don't be such a trickster, Bradley! Let her answer honestly." Valerie scolded, swatting his hand.

I hold down my laughter from Valerie's use of the word trickster and try to keep out this dispute.

"Honestly, neither. I don't really like sports in general." I admit with a shrug of my shoulders.

"But what if you forced to watch one over the other. Which one would you prefer? Two teams of superb athletes elegantly trying to capture the ball to score. Or would you rather watch two huddles of hooligans slapping each other's behinds?" Valerie did paint a descriptive picture.

"Well, when you put it that way, I do think it would be rather entertaining to see a bunch hooligans slapping each other's bottoms." I deadpanned.

"They really should hire you to sell our brand of football to Europe," Bradley joined in. "The hooligan butt slapping event that cannot be missed!"

Valerie swallowed a laugh as she narrowed her eyes at us.

"The both of you are hopeless." She concludes with a shake of her head.

"Fine. If you had to twist my arm, I would probably choose European football. I've always enjoyed watching my sister's games." I finally admit.

"Well, I concede nothing! You'll never hear my lips utter that European football is better." Bradley affirmed loudly.

"Boss, your lips kinda did just utter that European football is better when you said you wouldn't utter those exact words," I mutter to him loudly.

"Well, you know what I meant." Bradley replied.

"Nah-ah-ah. Your paralegal is absolutely correct. You said those words verbatim." Valerie reiterated as she waved her pointer finger at him.

"But I didn't mean it like that," Bradley insisted.

"Too bad for you, your interpretation is not enough to sway me. I think its unanimous now. European football is by far the more superior version of the two. Now you will have to write a letter to the NFL and convince them to change the name of the sport to Hooligan Butt Slapping!" Valerie asserted.

"For me to be successful, you have to come up with replacement name with fewer syllables." Bradley plead.

"What do you think Ruby?" Valerie asked, turning her gaze on me.

"It's actually not your problem, I think Bradley needs to figure that one out on his own." I retort.

"I like the way you think Ruby. I knew I liked you for a good reason." Valerie said.

I don't know why, but that actually warmed up my heart. Now I went from hating her, to disliking her, to almost liking her, to all the way liking her, even though I really didn't want to. But it was too late, she was too charming, likeable and just plain fun to dislike. It was easy to see how she was the best broker at her realty company.

"Alright, fair enough. I'll figure this out of my own. But what I'd like to know, when did the two of you decide gang up on me?" Bradley said with a shaky laugh.

"We women have our ways," Valerie supplied him with a vague answer.

"Excuse me, Mr. Carmichael. Would you like to get dessert or would you rather have the bill." The waiter interjected into our discussion.

"Hmmm...Do you ladies want to get dessert?" Bradley asked us first, throwing a side glance my way. I am notorious for my sweet tooth.

"I could go for something sweet right about now." I admit with a smile. In fact, I've been looking forward to it.

"But of course! We cannot skip dessert." Valerie agrees.

"Looks like we're staying for some dessert," Bradley tells our waiter.

"Very good, Mr. Carmichael. Would you and your party like to look at the menus again?" He inquired.

"Not this time, I know exactly what I want. I will have the lemon crème brûleé with an earl grey tea." I respond confidently.

"That sounds superb, I will have the same. Except I would like it with a digestif." Valerie instructs him.

"Very well, miss. For our digestifs we have cognac, amaretto and calvados." The waiter responds.

"I'll have the calvados," She answers with an approving nod.

The waiters turns his attention to Bradley.

"And what would you like, Mr. Carmichael?"

"I'll just have a black coffee." Bradley answered.

"Excellent, sir. It won't be too long." He replied and then turned on his heel to leave.

While we wait on our desserts, we quickly go over the contract just ensure that we're all on the same. As it stands, the current deal appears to be more than fair for the Carmichael family.

"I get the sense that Eric doesn't want the ranch to be sold at all." I estimate.

"But he also doesn't want the responsibility of running it either," Bradley mutters loudly under his breath.

"What's his attachment to it?" Valerie asked him as she placed her chin into her palm and leaned forward."If I can get some insight into his mind, I may be able to make our offer more attractive to him."

"Well, it's part of our childhood home. I wouldn't have thought he had any sentimentality over it, but I suppose I was wrong." Bradley told us as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Growing up around horses was pretty interesting, we liked it but not like our parents."

"Hmm... so the ranch was moreso your parents dream than it was yours or his?" Valerie interpreted.

"That's spot on. But I think father was still grooming Eric to take over the ranch. On the night of his highschool graduation party, dad told him he had to take on more responsibility at the ranch since it would be his someday but big bro had other interests he wanted to pursue. They got into a huge blowout and they never really recovered. And Eric has been standoffish about horses and the ranch after that." Bradley divulged. "I don't think I can provide any more insight than that."

"That's fine. I think I can work with this new info to our advantage." Valerie said ominously. "You will be getting a new beefed up offer soon."