Love By Chance (Chance Series Book 1)

by Blake Allwood

  I smiled, knowing I’d at least intrigued the guy. “Two things,” I replied. “First, a free trip to Dallas, all expenses paid. And two, you get to spend some time in my valuable company.”

  Martin choked on his coffee before he responded. “You are sure of yourself, huh?”

  “Oh,” I added, “I also pay about seventy-five dollars per hour for a consulting fee. I think you’ll find that is the industry standard.”

  Martin slowly raised his left eyebrow. “You are willing to pay me that much to review your restaurant?”

  “Yep,” I responded without hesitation.

  “OK, no, I won’t take your money, but if you will pay for my flight, a rental car, and provide a good place to spend the night, I’m game. You can take me out to eat at fancy restaurants instead of paying me to be there.”

  “Whatever you wish,” I replied. “If you do this for me, I can also pass your name around, and you will for sure get calls from restauranteurs across the nation. You have no idea what the need is for someone who can offer the types of strategic suggestions you seem to think of naturally.”

  Martin ignored my compliment and potential business offerings. I could see the internal war regarding whether or not he’d like doing that kind of consulting work or not. I knew he generally loved doing what he did for the customer and less for the business side of things.

  Instead of responding, he redirected the conversation by saying, “One more thing: I will not spare your feelings with what I see. If it is a mess, I’ll tell you straight up.”

  “That’s what I’m hoping for,” I replied.

  We planned the trip, which took up most of the rest of our coffee date, and I left for my meeting feeling like I’d managed to accomplish a big part of my ‘woo Martin’ plans. Even if they didn’t work out, I really could use his advice on the restaurant, and the man was much more adept in the restaurant business than he realized.

  Martin

  I went into Kristine’s office, and when I arrived, I sat down and asked, “So, is it a conflict with my contract to do consulting work outside of the city?”

  Kristine shrugged, “I doubt it, but why?”

  “Because Elian just asked me to go to Dallas for the weekend to consult about his restaurant there. He offered to pay me a ridiculous amount of money to do it, which I turned down, of course.”

  “You turned down a weekend with the Cuban prince?” she said with a sneer.

  “No, I turned down the money but made him agree to pay all the expenses.”

  “I seriously doubt it is a problem. A lot of our reporter's moonlight, but if it makes you feel better, I’ll send the question up to legal to find out for sure.”

  “I’d appreciate that,” I said, then turned to leave.

  Before I could left, however, Kristine asked, “So, is this going somewhere… the two of you?”

  “No, I have the breaks fairly well secured, but I admit, he is beginning to get past my defenses. God, he smells like heaven, Kristine! But seriously, I’m in no way ready to be in a relationship, especially with a guy that throws a date into the deep end of meeting his family pool! All I can think of is the witch mother of my ex. I am not ready to take on another momzilla anytime soon.”

  “You didn’t make it sound like his mom was a momzilla when we were out the other night, do you think she is?” she asked.

  “I didn’t spend enough time with her to know,” I replied honestly. “What I did have enough time to know, however, is they are tight and would stick together against an outsider. I’m an outsider and one who is still nursing his wounds from the relationship war I lost.”

  Kristine came around the desk and leaned on the edge just across from me. “Honey, I know that had to have been bad, but eventually, you have to give people a chance to be better than the ones who hurt you. You are a marrying kind of guy. You aren’t going to be fully happy until you have that husband, two kids, and the picket fence, wrapping you up neatly.”

  I gave Kristine a look of disgust. “You don’t paint me in a very exciting light,” I said.

  “Just because you don’t think domesticity is exciting doesn’t mean it isn’t what you crave. Don’t feel bad. Most girls want the same thing.” Then, she winked at me.

  Later that afternoon, Kristine came to my office and relayed that legal said as long as I didn’t moonlight in any of the restaurants I am reviewing or potentially could review for the paper, I was free to consult for them. “The paralegal said, the attorney thought you should consult outside of the Fort Lauderdale area just to be safe.”

  “Cool,” I replied.

  “What’s up?” Kristine asked, noticing my distraction.

  “Well, you got my mind all messed up, Kristine. I’d convinced myself I was happy being alone. Now, you brought the truth up and threw it in my face. What the hell am I supposed to do with the truth?”

  Kristine smiled. “You were just fooling yourself, Martin,” she said. “The good news is, you don’t have to get married today, but you really should give the man a chance before you kick him to the curb.”

  “I’ll think about it,” I said.

  “Want a hug?” Kristine asked.

  I nodded, feeling glad my boss was my friend, as well as my employer. Kristine hugged me and told me to hold my chin up. “If things crash and burn, I’ll be there for you, and it isn’t like I haven’t become an expert on stupid breakups.”

  I laughed as I remembered nursing her through a couple of the last ones.

  “OK, I’ll think about it,” I said again. “Maybe I’ll test the waters this weekend and see what comes of it.”

  Kristine wagged her eyebrows and said, “I hope someone comes,” and walked out the door.

  I laughed at her silliness. I’d been damned lucky with my friendships with Janice and now Kristine. Two women who had made life richer and more fun. I knew I needed to set up a time for the two to meet each other officially. They’d met two years ago when Janice had pulled me to a New Year’s Eve party to help me get past my Peter breakup misery but never since then.

  I knew they would either hit it off or hate each other. The latter, a very likely possibility, being why I hadn’t put them together before now.

  Thinking of Janice, I texted her and told her I was going to go to Dallas this weekend to hang out with the guy I’d already told her about. “Can you come to meet me while I’m there?” I asked. “I’m going to review a restaurant, and I need a date.”

  “You want me to drive 3 hours to be your date to a work event?” she asked.

  “Yep, pretty much,” I responded, “and to spend time with me. You can spend the night with me at the hotel.”

  “OK, I can come Friday night, but I have to leave the next day,” she texted back. “I have a hot date Saturday night with the sexy redhead again… Oh, and I get the bed.”

  “We’ll share the bed. How about that?”

  “Do I get to sleep with the sexy Cuban?” she asked.

  “No, he has to stay in a different room,” I responded with a smiley face.

  When she forced me to send a picture of him she quickly replied, “He is too damned hot not to share a room with you or me! You are no fun!”

  “OK, I’ll see you Friday night.”

  “OK,” was her final response.

  Then, I texted Elian with, “My girlfriend from Austin is going to drive up Friday and join me. We can do the restaurant critique that night. She can stay in my hotel room, so no need to book another room for her.”

  Elian texted me back with, “That sounds perfect. I can’t be there until Saturday anyway. I’ll book your ticket and give you directions on how to get into my flat above the restaurant. You can stay with me if that is OK.”

  I wrote back, “Won’t your staff see me coming out of your apartment? If they know we are friends, it could possibly corrupt the critique.”

  Elian responded, “No, the apartment is one of three others, and they are all occupied. They will probably just a
ssume you are staying with one of the other residents.”

  I was not too sure how I felt about staying in Elian’s flat. When Janice left, that meant I’d be alone in the apartment with him. I decided to text him back, “How many bedrooms does your flat have?”

  Elian texted back, “Three, but I use the third bedroom as my office. I can put a blow-up mattress in there for your friend, though.

  “That’s fine,” I replied, but not without some trepidation. Did I have the willpower to spend the night with him? Of course, I did, I thought to myself. I’m not a horny teenager, and I’d put really good boundaries down. I just needed to stick with those and all would be fine.

  The rest of the week went by fast, and I was becoming more and more excited about the weekend. I was desperate to hang with Janice again. I’m also looking forward to spending time with Elian. Besides that, I was curious about what Elian had done with his new restaurant in Dallas. I’d never been involved in the business development process, and I was becoming a little intrigued by the idea.

  __________

  The plane ride was uneventful, and when I collected my luggage and started toward the exit, I saw a man outside the security panel holding a piece of paper with my name on it.

  I walked over to him and with confusion asked, “You are looking for Martin Williams?”

  “Yes, sir,” he responded, “I’m your chauffeur.”

  “Chauffeur?” I questioned. “Who hired you? I wasn’t aware a chauffeur would be waiting for me.”

  The man glanced at a piece of paper he’d brought with him and said, “Mr. Elian Whitman with Whitman Fine Dining is who hired me.”

  “That’s who brought me here. I guess he just forgot to tell me about you.”

  The man shrugged, took my luggage from me, and led the way to the limo.

  As I climbed into the back seat, I shook my head, thinking this was too much. I texted Elian when I got settled. “You didn’t tell me about the limo part. I thought I was going to have a rental car.”

  Elian didn’t reply right away. We were almost at the restaurant before I got a text back. “Sorry, I didn’t want you to have to navigate traffic on a Friday night. I meant to tell you, but I’ve been in meetings all day. You have him all night, so if you want to go anywhere after the restaurant critique feel free.”

  I texted Janice and told her I was almost there. She was standing in front of the building, and when she saw the limo, her eyes grew. “You are doing well,” she exclaimed as the chauffeur got out and opened the door for me.

  “This wasn’t my idea,” I replied.

  “I don’t think it’s a bad idea,” Janice said, shaking her head.

  “Good news: after dinner, my man here,” I said as I patted him on the shoulder, “is on the tab to take us out wherever we wanna go.”

  Janice yelped and bounced up and down. “We’re going dancing!”

  “Apparently,” I said with a smile. “Business first. Let’s get unpacked, and then we’ll get the work part out of the way.”

  We found the door to the upstairs rooms and—using the combination Elian gave me—went into the front door of his flat.

  We both stood in the doorway and gawked. The flat was beautiful. It had been updated with exposed bricks and old plank hardwood floors. Elian had decorated the place with modern, yet comfortable décor. We walked in and found a note on the kitchen counter telling us the kitchen had been stocked, and the guest bedrooms were made up and ready for us.

  We explored the flat and found a room with a queen bed that was clearly the guest room, and then Elian’s office that had a very nice blow-up mattress already made up for Janice.

  “Looks like your man thinks of everything,” Janice said with an impressed expression on her face. “If you don’t want him, I think I do.”

  I popped her on the arm with the back of my hand.

  “Back off, sister,” I said. “I’m still pondering on the ‘if I want him’ part. Besides, he plays on my team, not yours.”

  “Clearly,” she replied. “No straight man would own a place this tidy unless he could afford to hire staff. She turned to me with squinted eyes. “He is so wealthy he has hired staff, isn’t he?” she asked.

  “I honestly don’t know,” I replied. “I ain’t shopping for a man at the moment, and I don’t really need a sugar daddy, so his financial standing hasn’t been a relevant conversation.”

  “Sometimes I hate you, Martin,” she said as she threw her arms around me for a bear hug.

  “OK, let’s get ready so we can go play,” she said before rushing off to her room.

  I went into the guest room to change also and smiled when I saw a mint had been placed on my pillow. Even though my first thought was the same as with the limo, this guy is too much, I couldn’t help but be impressed at the same time.

  The restaurant was similar in style to Elian’s brewery that initially brought us together. It was both modern and warm at the same time. So the man had a common sense of style. Good thing it was a nice style, I thought.

  The host was very young, I guessed around eighteen or so, but she was friendly and bubbly as she showed us to our table. She gave us both three menus and told us our server would be with us in a moment.

  As promised, the server showed up within seconds after the hostess walked away. “Can I get your drink order?” she asked politely.

  I said I’d stick to water until I knew what I was going to order, but Janice asked for a Long Island Iced Tea. When the server left, I said, “You’re getting started early, I see.”

  “Of course I am,” she replied. “We have a chauffeur and a limo to take us where we want. That means I can get sloshed and enjoy myself without having to worry about how I’ll get home!”

  I laughed at my friend. I knew work had been tough for her lately, so I was glad she was getting a chance to let her hair down.

  I read through the menus. For the most part, I didn’t like multiple menus. I often thought they were confusing to customers. However, these seemed well designed. The first, larger menu was for food. The second was appetizers, and the third—which was the smallest but easiest to read—was desserts. The menus nested into each other, which meant they could be viewed separately or together. It seemed Elian had indeed taken my suggestion to focus on appetizers and desserts, not just the Tex Mex food.

  I excused myself from Janice and made my customary track around the restaurant, pretending I was looking for the restroom but really checking the entire place out. I didn’t see any customers who appeared upset, and most of the clientele were smiling and seemed to be having fun. I tried to see what most of the customers were eating, but it was a myriad of different types of food. I’d have to ask Elian for a break down on what foods were ordered the most.

  When I went into the restroom, I checked the level of cleanliness and was impressed that, despite the fact that Elian wasn’t around, the restroom was spotless. That was quite a feat at six thirty on a Friday evening.

  When I returned to the table, it was just in time for the server to show back up. “Have you decided what you want to order?” she asked pleasantly.

  Janice allowed me to start the order, knowing from coming on these escapades with me in the past that I liked to direct the evening, so I could glean the most information out of the service as I could.

  “No,” I replied, “I just sat back down, but I have some questions.” The server nodded. “What is the most popular menu item?” I asked.

  “That depends,” she responded. “Are you wanting appetizers or regular food?”

  “Both,” I replied.

  “The most popular pairing is our Mexican spring rolls and taco salad.”

  “If you were going to order off the menu, what would you get?” I asked.

  “I love the poppers myself,” she said, “but I warn you, they are spicy.”

  “What do you think would go well with the poppers?” I asked.

  “Ah, my very favorite menu item is the Yolanda c
hicken enchilada. I don’t think you could go wrong there,” she said.

  “Great,” I replied. “Give me just a few more minutes.”

  The server smiled and left. I purposefully took my time talking to Janice but pretended to be reading the menu as well.

  One of the things I noticed first was the food she recommended wasn’t the most expensive items but also wasn’t the cheapest. I was impressed that she was honest with me and this wasn’t a trained response to questions from customers.

  Finally, after asking Janice if she was ready, I put my menu down and checked the time to see how fast the server responded to my cue that I was ready. We didn’t have to wait long; the server showed back up within a few minutes. Janice ordered first, then I ordered, putting together a variety of items, substituting and adding in ways that were different from the way they were listed on the menu.

  The server listened, repeated my order twice, making sure she got my order down correctly and left to put the order in.

  In my experience, custom orders seldom came out correctly, so I was curious if Elian had trained his kitchen staff well enough to handle them.

  The food came out in an appropriate amount of time. It was cooked well, and the customized order came out exactly as I’d ordered it. Naturally, I needed to complain to see how the reaction would be.

  I immediately said, “I’m sorry ma’am, but I ordered black beans, not pintos.”

  The server didn’t hesitate. She responded, “Oh, no! I’ll go fix that right now,” and left, promising to return soon. Within a few minutes, she returned with a small bowl of black beans.

  I smiled and said to Janice, “They almost always check their notes. Elian must have trained them not to do that. Questioning a customer over a small item like black beans is never a good idea.”

  Janice shook her head, “You are a dictator, Martin. I would hate to wait on you.”

  “Yeah, but since you are a corporate attorney, it is unlikely you ever will.” Then, I stuck my tongue out at her, making her giggle.

  Janice hadn’t liked her Long Island Iced Tea because it was watered down, and the drink I ordered was a bit off as well, but I couldn’t quite tell why. We sent both drinks back, and they came back with similar problems. We decided not to drink them, to see if the server would comp us since they weren’t good.