by Nancy Adams
On my side, there would only be about a hundred people present, so that wasn't so bad. Unfortunately, Nate was stuck with inviting all of their corporate staff, every store manager within two hundred miles, and goodness knows how many other people who were associated with the company in one way or another. He was estimating between six hundred and a thousand people, and we had to find somewhere for all of them to party after the wedding. That meant a place big enough for everyone to sit down and eat, a dance floor and a bandstand. No big deal, right?
Well, that's what I thought, but when we started looking at different possible locations it became obvious quickly that I was living in a dream world! We looked at every major hotel in town, every reception hall, every church and just for good measure, we checked out every high school gymnasium! While a few of them were big enough, they were already booked for the date we had in mind, and others simply couldn't hold as large a party as we expected. After our first day of searching, I went home with a headache so bad I didn't even want to come down for dinner.
There was a knock on the door to my room, and I quietly called out, “Come in," because I was sure that it was Nate coming to check on me.
He opened the door slowly and peeked inside. "Baby?" He said. “Are you okay?"
I was laying on my back with my arm over my eyes, and nodded my head slowly so that it wouldn't start to throb. "I'm okay, just got a headache."
He came over and sat down on the edge of the bed beside where I lay, and reached over gently to lift my arm off of my eyes. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
"I'll be okay in just a bit," I said. "I just need to rest for a little while."
"Sweetheart," he said, "I hate that you're feeling badly, and I wish there was something I could do. Your Mom says you're getting over-stressed about a reception hall?"
“Yeah, a little bit." I looked up at him and tried to smile. "I don't know if we're ever going to find a place; everything that's big enough is booked, and everything that's available is just too small."
He laughed at me, but sweetly. "Baby, I can assure you that there are plenty of places in town to hold a reception. It's not going to be that big a problem. You just need to relax a bit, and don't try to make yourself do everything all alone. Have you thought about calling a wedding planner? I'm sure they have plenty of places they know, they deal with big receptions all the time."
"Babe, this wedding is going to cost a fortune as it is! Can you imagine what a wedding planner would charge? We could be talking as much as ten or fifteen percent of the total cost, and you're already looking at spending more than a million freakin' dollars on it!"
Nate laid his hand on my forehead and caressed it gently with his thumb. "Baby, I'm trying to make you understand that there is no way we can never spend even a portion of the money we have. I mean, I could hire winos off the street to give the stuff away, and we'd still never run out. Whatever the wedding costs is immaterial. We've got plenty more money than we need."
I nodded my head slowly. "I really do understand," I said, "but when I think of all the people who don't have enough, I have a hard time thinking of money as just something we can throw away. Don't you?"
His thumb was caressing my forehead in little circles, and it was actually starting to make me feel better. "I do," he said, "but there are times and places where we have to maintain an image, or we can damage the company, its reputation, and even its stock values. Think of it as spending money to help the company maintain its reputation, rather than as blowing money on a fancy wedding. Our company does a lot of good, and we'll be giving a lot of money away to programs and people who truly need it. I don't have a problem with that, not at all, but it's the company that keeps that money coming in and available. So just think of it as part of the marketing budget, and enjoy yourself with a wedding that a Disney princess would dream of."
I suddenly saw myself as Belle, in Beauty and the Beast, but somehow I just couldn't see me Nate in the Beast costume. The mental image made me chuckle, though, and I reached a hand up to stroke his face.
"I guess I can look at it that way, and maybe that will help. That still doesn't mean we'll be able to find a reception hall that's big enough to handle it."
"Then give in, and get the wedding planner. I guarantee you that any of them you choose will be so excited they'll just about pee their pants!”
I knew he was right, that a wedding planner would make sense, and he was also right that I should stop worrying about the money. Thinking of it as promotion expense for the company did make it a little easier to justify spending so much, and between accepting that and the gentle rubbing he was doing to my forehead, I was suddenly feeling a whole lot better.
I sat up on the bed, and turned so that I was sitting beside him. I pulled him down for a kiss, and then looked into his eyes.
“Do you know how lucky I am to have you in my life?” I asked.
He smiled at me. “Baby, I'm the lucky one.” He kissed me again, and I told him to go close the door.
We came downstairs a few minutes later—okay, a half hour later—and found my parents sitting at the table with his folks. Their chef was almost finished with dinner, so we sat down to eat with them.
“So, Mom,” I said, “Nate says I should stop worrying so much about spending so much money on the wedding, and just break down and get a wedding planner. What do you think?”
"I think you are marrying a very wonderful man," she said, "and I think he makes a lot of sense. You're trying to do all of this on your own, but Sweetie, you're out of your league in this one! This isn't even a world we understand, so maybe we should consult with an expert.”
I smiled. "I think you're right," I said. "This is definitely not a world I'm accustomed to, but I don't want to do something stupid that can cause problems for Nate or the company." I turned to Nate's mother, Katherine. "Don't suppose you know any wedding planners, do you?"
She sat there and thought for just a moment, and then smiled. "As it happens, I do. One of the ladies in our hospital committee has a daughter who is in that business. Let me give her a call, and see if she's available."
She took out her cell phone and scrolled through her contacts for a moment, then pushed a name and told it to dial. Moments later, her face lit up and she said, "Carla, its Katherine. I'm wondering if your daughter is available to help plan my son's wedding?" She listened for a moment, and then begin to nod enthusiastically. "Yes, that would be wonderful! I'll be waiting for her call!"
She turned to me with a huge smile on her face. "Carla does a lot of volunteer work with me at the hospital, and she says her daughter, Angelina, is free right now. She'll have her call me in just a few minutes.”
It was actually less than two minutes before the phone rang again, and she put it on speaker phone so that we could all hear.
"Angelina, I've got you on speaker. My son and his fiance and her parents are all here with us, and it seems were in need of your services.”
You could hear the smile in Angelina's voice when she answered. "Oh, my goodness, I'd heard that Nate was getting married, but I never dreamed you'd be calling me! You do realize that I'm fairly new in the business, right? I mean, I'm good at what I do, don't get me wrong, but if you're looking for someone with a bigger, more renowned reputation, I'm afraid that wouldn't be me."
I smiled. "Angelina, my name is Katelynn," I said, "and I'm the lucky girl who managed to take Nate out of circulation. First, I want to thank you for your honesty, but that's enough to make me say you're the girl for us, all on its own. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's someone who is pretentious. You just showed us that you're not that way, and I can't wait to get started with you."
We all talked a bit about what problems we'd been running into, and she suggested several possible solutions. When I mentioned my concern about finding a reception hall large enough, she actually laughed.
"Oh, trust me, I understand," she said. "But don't worry, I know of several places that are pl
enty big enough, and I can get in touch with all of them tomorrow. I'll make sure we have a fantastic reception hall with a wonderful dance floor, and everything else you could dream of."
We agreed to meet up the next morning so that we could begin working with her on getting this wedding show on the road. The stress fell off of me so quickly that I suddenly felt exhausted, and asked for a cup of coffee to help keep me going. Katherine got it for me herself, and I thanked her.
Dinner there at the house was wonderful that evening. Their chef, whose name was Armando, made us braised chicken with grilled vegetables, and I don't think I've ever eaten something so good in my life. I learned that Nate and his family were into very healthy eating, and if all of the things that they enjoyed tasted this good, I announced that I was definitely in!
Nate and I went for a ride in one of his cars after dinner, and he showed me the private lake on the estate. It was absolutely beautiful, one of the most picturesque settings I have ever seen outside of a movie, and we sat on a little beach and watched the sun go down. I leaned against the man I love, and he put his arm around me to hold me close.
"Nate," I said, "this is the most wonderful life any girl could ever ask for. I can't believe that I was so lucky to find you, or so lucky that you would choose me to fall in love with."
"Katelynn, I can tell you that there is absolutely no one in the world I would rather be with than you. I have never known anyone like you, and I can't imagine marrying and being with someone for the rest of my life, if she didn't have the very qualities you possess. I am so in love with you that it overwhelms me at times, sort of bubbles up inside me and demands to get out. I catch myself whispering your name when you're not even around, and feeling like I'm drowning when I don't have you close to me. I love you, baby."
We sat there and just enjoyed the sunset and being together. It was an absolutely wonderful way to end a day.
Nathanael
Chapter Five
Hello, New York
* * * * *
Albert, Jim and I flew out on Sunday to New York so that we could be ready for the hearing Monday. A hearing in federal court is never something pleasant, and this particular case was one that had me a little nervous. While we were fairly certain no one in our employ had ever bothered to read our competitors' business plans or operational policies manual, if they looked like legitimate similarities, the court may rule that we were guilty of some form of plagiarism, or even worse, industrial espionage.
A ruling like that could seriously damage our company's reputation, and drop its stock values drastically. This was something we could not allow to happen without putting up a fight, and no matter what it may cost in terms of legal fees, etc., there was no way I was going to let it. Our company was founded on solid principles of honesty and fairness, watchwords that my father insisted on having as part of our entire operation. there was no way I was going to let her reputation get sullied on my watch.
New York is not my favorite city in the world. It's huge, and full of people who have their own personal agendas in mind. While many New Yorkers may be wonderful folks, in my personal experience most of them were out for whatever they could get. This applied doubly to attorneys there. A New York lawyer had only one goal in mind when he went into the courtroom, and that was the utter destruction of his opponent.
We arrived in the late evening and were met by a limousine from the Hyatt Regency, where we would be staying. We had an early morning meeting scheduled with the law firm that represented our interests in New York City, so that we could go over our approach to this preliminary hearing. If we were lucky, we could bring the whole case to an end before we even went back to California. There were possibilities which didn't necessarily thrill me, such as making a settlement with the company that had filed suit against us. If a chunk of cash would bring problem to a close and keep it out of the news, it might be worthwhile to simply pay up and let it go.
We had a wonderful dinner in the hotel's restaurant, and then went to our rooms to get a good night's sleep. Our wake up calls were for five thirty in the morning, so we didn't want to be dragging our butts at the meeting. There was a possibility that a lawyer from the opposition company would be there as well, so we wanted to make absolutely sure we put on the best impression we could. Our goal was to look confident and certain that we were going to win.
I called Katelynn from my room, as I was getting ready for bed, and of course we spent an hour on the phone just talking about all the things that were happening. Her new wedding planner had turned out to be a Godsend, and was solving one problem after another. I was very glad I had talked her into using one, and even happier that my Mom knew someone in the business. This girl was fairly new, and pulling off this job for us would be a feather in her cap. Just being able to say she put together the big Simmons wedding would help her command much higher prices in the future, and assure her of many more wealthy clients.
My focus, though, was on telling Katelynn how much I love her. After some of the things we had been through, I never want to risk failing to let her know how I feel, especially when we were apart. If something happened to either one of us, I wanted our last conversation to always be about our love for each other.
"Baby,” I yawned, “I really need to get some sleep, but I just love hearing your voice. I'll tell you what, I'll call you as soon as we finish our meeting in the morning and let you know how it went. We don't go to court until one in the afternoon, so we've got time to try to work things out before then. If we can arrange a settlement that would satisfy everyone, we would probably be able to cancel the hearing altogether, or just use it to formalize the agreement."
“I know, Baby" she said, "and I love hearing your voice, too. I'll be here when you call tomorrow. You go on and get some sleep, so you'll be ready to take on that lion's den in the morning. I know you can handle it, I've seen you in action!"
We blew kisses to each other and hung up, and I rolled over to get some rest. I was probably asleep before my blankets settled around me.
The room phone rang at five thirty on the dot, and I rose and went to the shower, then dressed for battle. I was wearing a new suit that Mom and Katelynn had bought for me, and Katelynn told me that she had kissed its lapel just to make sure I had her good luck wishes with me.
We were meeting in the hotel's conference room, and breakfast would be served there, as well. As I stepped out of my room, Jim came out of his and we knocked on Albert's door together. He opened it almost instantly, dressed and ready, so we headed on down to the conference room.
Our New York lawyers were already there, and we introduced ourselves as we took our seats.
"Gentlemen," I said, "I am Nathanael Simmons, and this is Jim Burke, one of our attorneys. I think you all know Albert?"
The lawyers all nodded, and the man who was obviously in charge of the group spoke up. "Mr. Simmons, it's good to meet you. I know your father well, and I'm sure you're precisely the man to fill his shoes. Let me introduce my team; this is John Acres to my left. To his left is Janice Wright, and to my right is Charles Davidson. The gentleman to his right is Walter Burnworth, attorney for the opposition to represent their law firm in this meeting. Oh, and I am Grayson Mitchell."
We shook hands all around, and got down to business. Mr. Burnworth had prepared a power point presentation that was projected on a screen above the table, showing precisely the similarities between the opposition company's documents and our own. Frankly, I could not see enough similarities that would justify this lawsuit, but I'm not an attorney, of course. I looked to Albert and Jim, and Jim spoke first.
"Gentlemen, I'll confess that I'm at a loss to see how this could even be considered a case. If I'm reading this comparison of documents correctly, there are over sixty three thousand words between the two of them, and less than two hundred of those words seem to match. That, to me, would suggest that the similarities amount to nothing more than a matter of chance."
Mr. Burnworth smiled.
"Well, I suppose it may look that way to the untrained eye, but I assure you that we have had an analyst go over them, and they are willing to testify that the similarities are just too great to be anything other than intentional. Because the two hundred words in question relate specifically to policies that involve promotion and personnel, and outline procedures that we pioneered more than twenty years before your company came into existence, we are seeking a judgment of damages in the amount of twenty million dollars, as well as punitive damages for the theft of our material in the amount of two hundred and eighty million dollars."
I stared at him. "Let me get this straight. You're saying that because a couple of hundred words in our policies and procedures seem to be almost identical, not exactly identical, but almost identical, to similar words in your own, you think that we should pay you a total of three hundred million dollars? With all due respect, sir, what kind of idiot came up with that idea?"
Burnworth didn't flinch. "That idiot, sir, would be my father, the founder of our firm. He has assured me that there is no doubt we'll win in court."
I looked at Albert, who was looking at Davidson. "Albert? Any comment on this?"
Albert continued to look at Davidson. After a long moment of silence, Davidson lowered his eyes and said, "I tried to tell them. This is the stupidest thing I've seen in many years, and frankly, I'm surprised that it wasn't thrown out before ever getting to this point. There is simply no way in the world that anyone could justify an accusation of plagiarism on the basis of far less than one percent of a document.”
Albert shook his head and smiled. he looked at Grayson Mitchell. “Grayson, how in the world did your office fail to let us know what a ridiculous matter this was? Frankly, had I known these simple details, I wouldn't have bothered Mr. Simmons to come out here. This is a farce, a carnival. How on earth could anyone believe they could win a case like this?"