Romantic Acquisition (4 page)

The waiter came and took their
dinner
order.  Kate
requested
a plate of pasta
with a cream sauce and fresh vegetables
and Carlo ordered the chicken
parmesan
. 

“Would you like something from the bar?” the waiter asked.

Kate started to shake her head but Carlo ignored her.  “The lady will have…” he looked over at her and considered her for a moment, “A chocolate martini.  I’ll have a bourbon on the rocks.”

Kate laughed.  “That sounds interesti
ng.  I usually have a marguerita
but a chocolate martini sounds wonderful.”

“You look like a chocolate martini kind of person,” he said.

“Why do you say that?” she asked, curious about what he thought of her.

Unfortunately, he just shrugged his shoulders instead of answering her. 

Kate watched him.  “Are you always so calm and in control?”

“Yes
,” he said without hesitation
. 
“
Is that a bad thing?”

“No, just an observation.”

“How would you describe yourself?”

“No, that’s not fair.  How would you describe me?  I described you,” she said and plucked a breadstick out of the basket to munch on. 

Carlo leaned back in his chair and
considered her for a moment.  He knew exactly how he would describe her but wasn’t sure she would appreciate his observation so early in their relationship.  It also gave him time to just look at her lively face. 
“You’re not calm but very in control,” he replied.

Kate’s eyes registered her shock.  That wasn’t what she was expecting.  Most people thought of her as a little chaotic but he saw something else in her.  For some reason, that terrified her. 

“What makes you say that?” she asked quietly, too shaken to just shrug off his comment. 

He watched her face calmly for another moment before responding and Kate wanted to squirm.  It was like he was reading her mind again and that made her nervous.  “You’re ability to absorb a huge amount of information, quickly learn the task and be able to teach it to someone like Jeff or Peter.”

“And you consider that control?”

He nodded in response. 
“Well, you have to have focus to learn things so quickly,” he explained.  “You’ve accomplished a great deal in the twelve years you’ve worked for Jamison’s.  It’s impressive.”  He let his words sink in for a moment before continuing.  “I also think you’re style of dress is a façade in a way,” he said. 

Kate’s fingers shook as she lifted her glass of water to her mouth for a sip.  “In what way?” she couldn’t help asking. 

“You
only
want people to see one side of you.  But I’m guessing there are multiple layers to your personality.  Not all of them do you allow others to see.”

Kate couldn’t respond to that.  She’d never thought about how she dressed as anything other than her own personal taste.  But she knew if she’d considered it, he might be right, at least partially.

“I don’t think I’m that complicated,” she said, trying to smile but it came across as forced.  “What you see is what you get.”

Carlo didn’t respond since their drinks arrived at that moment. 

Kate quickly took a sip, eager to change the subject.  “Oh my!  This is delicious,” she exclaimed, liking the sweet, chocolate alcohol.

He changed the subject then, turning to business and started asking her questions about some of the processes she’d discussed with Jeff or Peter during the day. 

Their meal arrived and Kate’s hunger came roaring to life with the smell of the pasta in front of her.  “This looks delicious,” she said and dug into her food with relish. 

“Why have you worked in so many of the departments?” Carlo asked after they’d tasted their meals. 

Kate took a sip of her chocolate martini and smiled, appreciating the tart sweetness.  “I started actually working here when I turned sixteen.”

“Were you working here before then?”

“
Absolutely not.  Phillip wouldn’t think of hiring me illegally even though we desperately needed the money.  No, I was just always underfoot, I guess you could say
.  My mother started working for Phillip Jamison when I turned five years old. 
She
would pick me up from school and
bring me back
to the store
so she could finish whatever she was doing for Phillip.  I would sit next to her and
do my homework.
  Sometimes Phillip would even help me with my math homework.  It was fun most of the time.  But because I was always around, especially th
e president of the company,
I heard everything that was going on in those days. 
He used to run his ideas by my mother for her feedback or he’d discuss issues with his other vice presidents as he was walking somewhere.  I’d hear snippets of things that were going on or whole conversations. 
So I know more than I should, I guess.”

“Wha
t do you mean, ‘in those days’?  And where was your father?”

Kate
raised one shoulder, dismissing the past as unimportant now
.  “It’s just a different environment now that David is in charge.”
  She ignored his question about her father. 

“How so?”
Carlo asked.

Kate thought back to the years before David took over as the president.  “It’s just a different world.  David Jamison and his father are two completely different people.  For instance,
” she leaned forward, eager to relay the memory, “
Phillip used to have one of those huge gumball machines in his office.  It too
k up a whole corner of the room where my mom’s office was located.
  His staff would come in and get a gumball during the day
, just to take a break
.  Once the gumball machine was empty, he’d have a meeting with all the people on the staff and they’d vote to see which charity would get the money.  He’d then pay
out of his own pocket
to fill up the gumball machine again and the whole process would start over again.”

Carlo smiled with her at the memory.  “And now?  Who get
s the gumball money?
Or does David just decide for himself?
”

Kate’s hands dismissed the idea. 
“Oh, that’s gone now.”  The nostalgia in her eyes instantly disappeared and she took another bite of her pasta. 

Carlo wouldn’t let the subject go although he could tell she wanted to drop the idea.  He suspected that the gumball machine meant more to her than she was willing to admit.  It represented more than just a previous president that she respected.  The way she told the story, the gumball machine represented the difference between Phillip’s management style and David’s. 
“Where did it go?”

Without any expression on her face, she explained,
“David Jamison had it stored somewhere.  We have no idea where it went.
  It just disappeared one day and no one had the guts to ask him where he’d put it.
”

“What did the staff say when it disappeared?”

“Well, most of the old staff
left soon after Phillip’s retirement
. 
The people who work here now don’t know about the old days and the gumball machine.”  She tilted her head to the side slightly, “I don’t think some would like the idea.”

“Why?”

She shrugged slightly.  “I just get the impression that most of the people on staff now are too career oriented to think about contributing to charity.  And none would be caught dead chewing gum,” she laughed slightly.

“Would you?”

“Oh sure.  Especially if it…” she stopped.  “Yes, of course.”

“That’s not what you were going to say. Finish your thought,” Carlo asked.

“No, it isn’t relevant.  Anyway, the gumball machine is gone and it is a very different place to work now.  Not just because of a silly gumball machine.”

“Good or bad?”

“Neither, I suppose, just different,” she said but wouldn’t look him in the eye.

Carlo knew she wasn’t telling him the truth about her
opinions on David Jamison’s management of the stores.  But her lack of response said volumes.  Both about her opinion and about herself. 

Carlo decided to change the subject and come back to David’s management style another time.  Hopefully, he could get her to trust him enough to voice her opinion of the current management team and give him some insight. 
“Why did you stay
on
?
  You could work in any store with your experience and knowledge.  You also have a great reputation within the industry.
”

Kate
smiled, flattered that he knew about her
.
  In answer, she shrugged slightly,
  “Because they kept promoting me and I love this place.  It kind of got into my bones.”

He nodded, understanding that she had a great deal of loyalty to the previous owner which translated to loyalty to the stores but not necessarily to the current owner.  Would it transfer to the future owners?  That was the big question.  He suspected that it would. 
“Is your mother still around?”
he asked
, extremely curious about the woman who raised such an intelligent and loyal woman on her own
. 

Kate smiled fondly.  “Yes. Phillip left her a huge amount of money after he died.  That, plus her retirement, has her
living
in relative splendor down in
Florida
.”

Carlo nodded, glad that her mother was taken care of. 
“What does she think about the changes?”

Shaking her head, Kate looked away.  “She might have a few things to say about them.”
  She didn’t elaborate, not wanting to talk about her mother’s frustration with David Jamison and his management style. 

Carlo wasn’t going to let her get away with that statement.  He was too curious. 
“What would she say?”
he asked, watching her face carefully. 

Kate smiled brightly.  “She’d probably say if you don’t have something nice to say about someone, don’t say anything at all.”

Carlo chuckled at her evasive answer. 
“I take it she doesn’t really like David all that much?”

“He’s different than his father
,
”
was all Kate would say, her eyes challenging him. 

“Is that why she didn’t stay on as his secretary?”
 

Kate nodded.  “Phillip and David Jamison have two completely different business philosophies.
  I don’t think David would have kept her on even if she’d wanted to stay.  My mother was not a passive woman.  When she disagreed with Phillip, she said so.  I don’t think David would have liked that.
”

“David likes yes-men around him?” he asked.

“That sounds negative.  He’s kept me around and I’m definitely not a yes person, nor a
yes-
man,” she teased. 

“I can definitely see
that
,” he laughed.  “But they disagreed with each other on the direction of Jamison
’
s?” he continued. 

“My mother liked the way Phillip ran the company.  I don’t think she likes the way David does.  But that doesn’t mean David is wrong, just that the two of them disagree.”