Seven Years Later
"Come on Kurt, you've been at that paperwork for hours! You are hardly home anymore. Let’s go and celebrate! " James pleaded with Kurt.
Kurt just smiled. He had built his empire over the last 7 years and his friend had always been at his side. "I can’t believe you are the head of my operations up north!" Kurt teased.
"Is that what we call it now? Operations? " Mocked James as he took a cigarette and lit it. After inhaling the first puff, James stared at Kurt. "Kurt, you are head of the biggest "operation" in Europe and, on top of that, you are CEO of an extremely lucrative technology company!" James pointed out.
"What is your point, James?" Kurt said. He could sense that James was about to give one of his famous "Stop and smell the roses" speeches.
"My point is that you need to stop and smell the roses, man! Find yourself a good woman and settle down. I know Nancy has always been interested. She would make a good Queen of your operations! " James suggested casually.
"You know, I am not interested in her!" Kurt said sharply. It was true that he had been with women over the last seven years, but he never really wanted them. Not after meeting her.
"Oh no, I forgot, the only woman you want is your saving angel!" James said with a sigh.
"Which reminds me..." Kurt asked.
"No, there is no new information on Grace Evans. If I hadn’t seen her myself, I would have thought she was an actual angel! " James said, taking a few more puffs on his cigarette. "Come on, Kurt, let me take you to see the new club. It has been refurbished, and, of course, we will get the VIP treatment, " James pleaded.
Kurt sighed. He did want to see the new club. They had brought an old church and refurbished it to a high standard, making it the only place to be in Sheffield. He had let James choose the name, and had selected Nightshade. "OK, OK, you win! Give me 10 minutes to get ready! " Kurt said, laughing as James punched the air in joy.
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"I can’t believe you got us into Nightshade! It is so glamorous!" Grace said, looking around her. Everything screamed money, from the Chesterfield leather seats to the large crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. The old church had been tastefully converted and expanded into a nightclub.
"I can’t believe you came back from Senegal to come to my 30th birthday party!" Said Annie, excitedly.
"I am sorry I can’t stay long!" Grace said sadly.
"Oh please, your work with the World Health Organisation is really important!" Annie said.
Grace smiled and hugged her best friend. "I missed you," she said.
"I missed you too! Can I just say you look like one hot babe in that dress? " Annie said, looking at Grace.
Grace had on a dress that was dripping in gold sequins and had a close-fitting silhouette that was suspended from delicate shoulder straps. Grace finished off her look with a pair of simple gold heels, a clutch bag, and waterfall earrings. Grace laughed with pleasure. "You don’t look too bad yourself! Come on, let’s get a cocktail, and I want to dance! " Grace said as she dragged Annie to the bar.
Half an hour later, Kurt and James walked into the lobby of Nightshade, both dressed impeccably in Amani suites. There was no doubt that these were two wealthy men."Well, what do you think?"James asked nervously.
Kurt looked around for a few minutes and said, "I love it, James. You have done an awesome job! I love how you worked around the original features. "
"Thank you, it does mean a lot coming from you. Shall we get a drink? Wait till you see the dance floor! " James said enthusiastically. They walked over to the bar and James said, "Stephan, can I have a bottle of your most expensive champagne, with two glasses?"
"Sure thing, Boss!" Stephan said as we rushed to fulfil their order.
"You know you are eating into your profits, right?" Kurt said.
"Jeeze, can you take the night off?" James said as Stephan poured two glasses of Champagne Cristal 2006 Mathusalem. "It's not like we can’t afford it!" James pointed out.
Suddenly, Kurt heard a giggle as two women walked through an archway.
"Please, please Grace, I can't dance anymore! I need to sit down and have a drink. " Said a woman in a red dress.
" OK, as it is your birthday, I will let you off! In Senegal, when they are celebrating, they dance all night! " Grace laughed.
It was her! It was his angel! After all this time, she stood there looking like some heavenly vision. "Hey, Mate, are you OK?" James said.
"She is here!" Exclaimed Kurt.
"Who?" James asked, confused.
"Grace!" Kurt whispered.
"Are you sure?" James said sceptically. Kurt gave him a look that meant it would be damaging to his health if he asked another stupid question.
"OK, so what is the plan?" James asked. Kurt always had plans, that was his role.
Kurt ran his hand through his hair in frustration. His main focus was to find her. He had not thought about what to do when he met her. "s**t! I don’t know. What would you do? " Kurt said in a panicked voice.
"Erm, OK, don’t panic buddy, we’ve got this! Why don’t we send a drink over to their table and get Stephan to point us out? If they accept the drink, that is like a universal signal for us to go over! " James said, impressed with himself.
"Ok, Stephan, send a bottle of this champagne to the women on that table over there!" Kurt ordered.
"You want me to send a £10,000 bottle of champagne over to the ladies over there?" Stephan asked, with his eyebrows raised in shock.
"Why do you have a more expensive bottle of champagne? " Kurt asked. He only had one shot at this and he wanted it to be perfect!
"No, sorry boss!" Stephan replied, confused.
"Please just do as he asks before he has some sort of stroke. Make sure you point us out when they ask who sent it! " James said.
"Okay!" Stephan said, unsure of what was happening.
"Oh, and check if they have any rings on, " James said suddenly.
"OK mate, look cool!" James advised Kurt.
"Look cool? What the f**k does that mean? " Snapped Kurt
"You know, not like you need medical help. Even though that seemed to work the first time! " James joked.
Kurt threw him a murderous look and said, "I will not be the one that needs medical help if this does not work!" James suddenly looked nervous. Kurt was not a gang boss for nothing.
Stephan walked over to the table with a bottle of champagne in a silver ice bucket and two glasses. The ladies stopped talking as he approached."Can I interest you ladies in some champagne?" Stephan asked.
"I am sorry we didn’t order any and, to be honest, it is a little out of our budget!" Grace said with a smile.
Stephan smiled back. He completely understood where they were coming from. "Please rest assured that all has been paid for."As he placed the bucket and glasses down. He started to pour the champagne when Annie said, "Stop! We don’t accept it! "
"Wait, why?" Grace said, surprised. She was normally the cautious one.
"Grace, this is Champagne Cristal 2006 Mathusalem." Anne whispered. Grace looked blankly at her and Anne rolled her eyes.
"Grace, this bottle alone is about 10 grand! Whoever brought it wants something, no one buys expensive champagne for a date drink! " Anne explained.
"Date drink?" Grace asked.
"You know, a man buys a drink and sends it over to a woman whom he is interested in. If she accepts it, then it's like a green light, " Annie explained, like she would do to a child.
"Oh, well OK, so who sent it?" Grace asked.
"Ah, it was those two gentlemen over there by the bar!" Stephan pointed towards Kurt and James.
Grace's jaw dropped and she said, "It’s him!"
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