“This is beautiful,” she said, running her hand gently across his chest.
Patrick liked the feeling of them being together, and yet he had a small pain in his chest concerning the lie he’d told her. He needed to confess, but now that they were moving forward, he didn’t want to risk losing her. But he knew he’d have to tell her soon.
He turned his wrist and looked at the time. “Listen, I need to leave, but I want you to think about going to the winery. Like I said, I’ll give you until Tuesday.” He kissed her on top of her head.
“I don’t need to think about it anymore. I’ll go with you. I think it would be a good thing for me to get away for the day. I’ve got so much going on, and the gala is approaching quickly.”
Patrick smiled. “I’ll pick you up on Saturday morning, bright and early, so that we can get a good start.”
Renee stood, as did Patrick. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her softly on the lips. “Thanks for a great Sunday afternoon.”
Patrick was surprised when she kissed him as well. “No, thank you. I haven’t had such a fun date in a long, long time.”
“If you let me, we’ll have many more,” Patrick said, walking to the door.
Renee pulled his coat from the rack and handed it to him. “I’m looking forward to Saturday,” she said, kissing him quickly before stepping back.
Patrick opened the door then stepped into the hall. When she looked at him, he blew her a kiss. Watching Renee smile, he waited until she closed the door and put the deadbolt on before he walked down the hall, out the building and to his vehicle. Today was a good day.
* * * * *
Renee pressed her back against the door with her arms wrapped around herself. She reveled in the wonderful way her body felt after her encounter with Patrick. Confident that the connection she had with him was real, she wanted to write down her feelings. She pushed herself away from the door and went to get her journal.
Plopping down on the bed, she got comfortable as she rested her back against the headboard and opened the book.
Turning to a clean page, she wrote:
I don’t even know how to put my feelings into words. Patrick is so funny and down-to-earth, which makes being around him easy. He seems to care about my feelings and wants to make sure that I’m okay emotionally. That is a first for me, because most of the guys I’ve gone out with only look out for themselves. I’m excited about our trip to Michigan and I hope I find out more about him and his family.
Physically, she and Patrick were a perfect match. She loved the way he touched her and how his lips felt against her.
* * * * *
Patrick strolled into the building Monday morning because his brother had called him so they could meet and finish their conversation in person. Skeptical but curious, Patrick accepted his invitation and went to the office.
When Patrick pulled into the parking lot, he knew that there was going to be trouble, because Robert hadn’t yet arrived. It would be just like his brother to call a meeting and not show up. Willing to wait him out, he went to see if Kathy knew Robert’s whereabouts.
“Good morning, Kathy.”
The older woman smiled genuinely. “Good morning, Pat. What brings you by this early?”
“My big brother summoned me, so now I’m here and he’s not.”
Kathy giggled.
“What’s so funny?”
“The way you and your brother go at it. You guys used to do the same thing when you were children,” Kathy said, clicking through the online calendar. “I don’t have a meeting scheduled, sweetie.”
“Knowing Robert, he probably just thought about it this morning. I’ll wait in his office.”
“Do you want coffee or anything?” Kathy asked.
“No, ma’am.”
Patrick walked through the area and down the short hallway to his brother’s office. He took a seat and waited.
After fifteen minutes, Robert walked confidently into his office, placing his briefcase on the desk.
Patrick stood. “You could at least have the courtesy to show up on time.”
“I showed up, didn’t I?” Robert responded, taking a seat in his leather chair.
“Fine. Whatever you have to say, Robert, let’s get with it.”
“Ever since you came back, there have been questions about the business.”
Patrick shook his head at his brother’s pettiness. It hadn’t been Patrick’s idea to return—he needed to help their father.
“Pat, I don’t need you to tell me what to do,” Robert said.
“This is much bigger than me telling you what to do, Rob,” Patrick said.
“So you say. I don’t think there’s a bigger problem. The business is fine,” Robert snapped back.
“We aren’t fine. We’re losing revenue while our competition is gaining on us. Pop spent too much time building one of the top luxury transportation companies in Chicago for us to let this happen.”
“Every company has peaks and valleys. It’s been slow, yes.”
“Rob, you’ve got to understand. You’re never here, and the drivers are looking to you. They don’t respect you.”
“Well, you’re just running around here playing chauffeur instead of helping me in the office.”
“I’m trying to figure out what to do to turn things around,” Patrick all but yelled. He could feel a vein protruding from his forehead.
“Why don’t you just turn around and go back to where you came from?” Robert said before storming out of the room.
Neither Patrick nor his brother saw their father standing in the doorway until Robert collided with him, nearly knocking him to the ground.
Patrick rushed over to assist their father.
“Pop, are you okay?” Patrick asked, catching his father by the arm, balancing him.
Sixty-three-year-old James Dunlap was just as tall as his sons with the same skin tone and features. As the years had come and gone, he’d developed chronic heart disease. “I think so,” James said as he reached inside his pocket and pulled out a bottle of nitroglycerin.
“Does your chest hurt?” Patrick asked, knowing that the unexpected jolt probably caused his father’s heart to race.
James pulled out a little pill and placed it underneath his tongue, ignoring the question. “What was that all about?”
Patrick hated seeing his father like this, and his brother’s behavior only caused him to resent him even more. Robert hadn’t even come back to see if their father was okay.
“Your ungrateful son is pissed off with me yet again.”
James inhaled deeply then exhaled before resting his back against the wall. “I just don’t understand why you two can’t get along.”
Patrick hunched his shoulders. “I don’t know either, Pop. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine, son,” James said, pressing his hand against the wall to help steady himself.
Patrick led his father over to the chair. “Do you want some water?”
“No, but I want to know what the hell happened in here.”
Patrick wondered how much of the conversation between him and his brother their father actually heard. “Well, Pop, you know Robert is bitter because you asked me to come back and work with him.”
“I didn’t bust my butt every day for thirty-five years to build this company to have you and your brother destroy it over a power struggle,” James said.
“I explained to Robert before you even came back that I asked you to come and help us because we’ve got to do something or the business is going to go down the tube. He told me that he understood, but I should have known that boy would flip the script on me. I don’t appreciate this at all.”
Patrick felt embarrassed and ashamed that he had behaved the way he did, but Robert knew which buttons to push to set him off.
“Pop, I don’t understand what his problem is.”
James stared at Patrick so long, Patrick wondered if his father was having some sort of episode. “Pop, are you okay?”
“I’m wondering why whenever I talk to you, it’s your brother who has the problem and when I talk to him, it’s you with the problem.” His father stood. “I think both of you have a problem, and if you don’t fix it, to hell with trying to create a Dunlap legacy. I’ll sell this business while it’s worth something before I watch you two run it into the ground.”
Without another word, James walked out of the office and Patrick followed him. His father never turned around as he walked through the reception area and out the door.
Patrick had to make things right, and the first step was seeking professional help to improve the company’s image, and he knew just the person who could help. Gaining insight from someone else would help him to see if he was making the right decisions for the good of the company and not just for himself.
* * * * *
Renee didn’t see Julia standing in her doorway until she looked up from her computer. “Julia, how long have you been standing there?”
“Long enough,” Julia responded, stepping just inside the office.
“What’s up? Did you hear that we’ve moved to the second phase of the soda campaign?”
Before Renee could say another word, Julia was rushing over to her desk, but Renee didn’t flinch. “You know why I’m here.”
“Say whatever it is you need to say, Julia.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that I’d been kicked off the P & B team?”
Renee got up from her chair and walked around to the other side of the desk. “Julia, you know it wasn’t my place to tell you that. I think Priscilla told me as a courtesy. She said that she was going to talk to you.”
Julia stepped so close to Renee that she almost stepped on her toes. “You’re supposed to be my friend.”
Renee took one step back because she didn’t like Julia being in her personal space. Julia was trying to provoke an argument, so Renee had to hold on to her temper. She didn’t want things to get out of hand between them.
“I am your friend and have been for a long time. Whether you accept it or not, I had nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with what happened.”
Julia shifted her eyes.
“I don’t even know why they asked that you be removed. I actually felt you were an asset to the group,” Renee said, going back to her desk. She picked up a stack of papers. “Now, let’s not talk about that situation again. We need to focus on the projects you’re currently working on. Are you ready for the next phase of the soda project?”
Julia stood in front of her desk silently, but Renee didn’t care. She was tired of Julia’s elementary school attitude. If she continued with it, Renee could easily have her removed from this project as well. “Julia, I’ll need you to take the driver’s seat on this.”
Without another word, Julia turned around and walked toward the door. “I’ll have it together,” she said before disappearing.
Renee continued to stare at the door, wondering what was going on with her friend. They’d always had their differences, but Julia had never been this abrasive at work. Did she really think that Renee was after her? Or was it just that she needed someone to blame and Renee was the easiest person?
The buzzing of her cell phone captured her attention, so she grabbed her purse in hopes of getting to it before it stopped. Renee could hear it ringing, but couldn’t find it. “I hate these purses. Everything falls to the bottom,” she said aloud as she sifted through the contents of her handbag.
Finally grabbing it, she swiped the screen without seeing the identity of the caller.
“Hey, babe,” Patrick said.
“Patrick. Hey,” Renee said.
“What’s wrong?”
“Why do you think something’s wrong?”
“You don’t sound as joyful as you usually do.”
“Well…” Renee said.
There was silence because she was trying to figure out whether she should tell him about the conversation she’d just had with Julia.
“Did you get into it with Julia?” He asked.
“I told you she was going to blame me,” Renee said.
“Listen to me, baby. Like I told you before, this isn’t your problem. It’s on her, and from the way she’s been acting toward you, I don’t blame those folks for not wanting to work with her. She doesn’t know how to treat people.”
Renee listened, knowing that what Patrick was saying was true.
“Babe, you are going to mess yourself up if you keep taking the things she says to heart. Could you have stopped them from taking her off the project?”
“No.”
“There you have it. It’s not your problem. I want you to focus on yourself and not waste your time worrying about her. At the rate she’s going, she’ll self-destruct without any help from others.”
“I hear you,” Renee responded. She was sick of discussing Julia’s pettiness, so it was time to change the subject. “What’s going on with you?”
“I wanted to talk to you about helping It’s A Stretch with some branding.”
Renee smiled. “Sure, I’ll help you. Do you want to meet so that you can tell me exactly what you’re trying to accomplish?”
“I can’t today, but if we could talk about it on our way up to the winery, that would be great.”
“Of course, what did you have in mind?”
“We need something that shows and tells our potential customers that we are a family-owned business that takes pride in making sure our customers can get from point A to B in a timely fashion. We care about our customer’s business and will go the extra mile to get them to their destination.”
“That’s a mouthful, but I get your point. We’ll talk more about it later,” Renee responded.
Chapter Eleven
Patrick had often frequented the family-owned winery and bed and breakfast Chateau Chantel. It was an enchanting place that overlooked Traverse Bay. Patrick thought Renee would enjoy it as much as he did.
The ride was quiet as they traveled up the highway to Michigan. Patrick glanced over at Renee, who had adjusted her seat and closed her eyes. He’d picked her up from her apartment at five-thirty in the morning, so he wanted her to sleep as long as she wanted.
Patrick used that time to think about how he wanted her to help with his family business. The biggest problem that he had was trying to get his brother to see the situation clearly. Everything he’d tried so far wasn’t working, and was only making them angrier with each other. An internal audit was clearly necessary, and he would have to ignore Robert’s feelings against it.
He also thought of his father and how easily he got upset. Knowing that his dad had a heart condition concerned Patrick greatly. At first, he had been surprised that Robert had never mentioned their father’s failing health, but once Patrick thought about it more clearly, he realized his brother never thought about anyone but himself. Maybe it was because Robert had been running things on his own for so long that he saw Patrick, the younger brother, as an intruder.
“I’m surprised the winery is open this time of year. I thought weather conditions played a big part in the running of a winery,” Renee said, moving her seat into an upright position.
Patrick had been so deep in thought he hadn’t noticed that Renee had woken up from her nap. “They have a bed and breakfast attached to the winery as well,” Patrick said in response.
“You didn’t tell me that. So, it’s like a romantic getaway?”
“Or it could be part of a family vacation. I think it can be whatever you need it to be.”
“So…you asked me to give you some help with the limo business.”
“Yes. We’re in desperate need of a facelift,” Patrick
said.
“How does the owner feel about you interfering?” Renee asked.
Patrick hadn’t thought about how his deception would affect him working with Renee on branding the business. He could slip up and that would open up a world of trouble. He’d have to be careful and not get emotional while talking to her. Truth be told, he didn’t know how long he could keep information from her anyway. She needed to know the truth, because he wasn’t ashamed of who he was or where he came from.
“I think if I make a good enough case, I could get them to listen to me,” Patrick responded.
Renee reached down and lifted her purse off the floor. She unzipped it, pulling out a notebook and a pen.
“Let me ask you some questions.”
“Okay, shoot.”
“Does the company have a website?”
“No.”
“What about social media? Do they have Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram accounts?”
“No.”
“What do you want to focus on the most? Are you trying to market to a certain demographic?”
“I want people to know that we’re providing the same level of service as we did when the business started.”
“Who is your target audience?”
“Everyone.”
“That’s not a good answer. Everyone can be the target, but we have to concentrate on one particular area. Let’s say that you want to target corporations. With that we would have to create a marketing campaign that would speak to their wants, needs, and beliefs.”
Patrick frowned. “What do you mean, beliefs?”
“Different races, age groups, and genders believe different things. For instance, religion plays a huge role in the life of most African Americans. They are more likely to go to church than any other race, so if you were to market a product that has to do with church, you would place ads in Black Enterprise, Ebony, or Jet in order to get the right consumer.”
“What do you suggest then?”
“I think that you could market to all age groups by having representatives of them all. Like a magazine ad that has a man or woman in a suit with a briefcase or a family getting ready to go on vacation. It’s A Stretch can get them to their destination. Something like that,” she said.
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