Page 7 of The Boardroom: Jonathan
“Of course it is.” Samantha sighed, and this time I just ignored her.
I walked up to my boat and smiled proudly, looking back towards Samantha. “Here she is.” I had a bad habit of bringing women I wanted to impress onto theCassatt(named for my mother’s favorite painter) and being anything but modest about it. As awful as it sounds, there’s nothing better to a guy than showing a beautiful woman the expensive boat you bought with your own hard-earned money and seeing the glow in her skin when it registered with her:Holy crap, he’s rich too?So, although my intentions with Samantha were quite different, you can see how I would think that bringing her on board the boat would instantly impre—
“Ah, so you’re one of those men who refer to their boats using feminine pronouns,” she raised an eyebrow. “Never would have guessed.”
I tried.
“It might be kind of hard for you to board in those heels,” I said, laughing.
“I guess you’re right,” Samantha admitted, and began to peel them off her feet. I could barely believe the sight of her, wobbling on one foot, her pantyhose-sheathed feet smooth against the dirty pier. She looked entirely out of her element already.
Samantha followed me onto the boat and looked around. My boat was the first luxurious purchase I had made after the Torver Group had really taken off. It could either be called a really nice boat or kind of a crappy yacht. Either way, theCassattwas my escape, my sanctuary from the stress of the corporate world. There was nothing I liked better after a long week at the office than flying across the water and watching the sunset dip below the mountains. Hopefully, Samantha would feel the same.
I walked over to the controls and took a seat. “So,” I said smiling. “I figure we drive out a little bit, towards Mount Rainier, and then we can stop and have the meeting while we take in the view.”
“Sounds good,” Samantha said flatly, and turned away from me to look towards the city skyscrapers. I was almost shocked that she agreed so easily and simply, after her skeptical attitude in the car. Maybe she had decided to turn around our relationship for the better as well—after all, it was the success of her company more than mine that was on the line here. I whipped on my pair of Ray-Bans and started driving out away from the pier, while Samantha took a seat on the chair at the stern of the boat. I looked over at her and smiled. I was determined to earn her friendship by the end of this meeting, no matter what the cost.
“You do stuff downtown a lot?” I yelled over the waves, directing the boat towards the mountain.
“Yeah,” Samantha said, awkwardly trying to pin a loose piece of her hair back into place. “I go to restaurants a lot.”
“So you’re a foodie, huh?” I grinned. The picnic would go over well.
“Not really. Not so much a foodie as much as someone who likes to treat herself.” She smiled with a demure satisfaction.
“Any restaurant recommendations?”
“Hm…” Samantha bit her lip and thought carefully. “Jane’s Tavern, for the fries, and the deconstructed mushroom bacon burger.” She let her thoughts wander for a moment looking out at the waves. “Oh! And there’s a Korean place near the office that has fantastic bibimbap.”
“I’ll be sure to check them both out,” I said, smiling over at her. Samantha already seemed more relaxed, and I was relieved. She had peeled off her pantyhose, and her bare legs dangled over the edge of the seat as the boat powered along.
“So where did you grow up?” I asked.
“Ohio.”
“Oh! That’s…um. That’s…”
Samantha laughed. “Yeah I know, don’t fake your interest.”
“Okay,” I said, determined to keep going. “What’s your favorite movie?”
Samantha suddenly turned away from the water and looked at me with the same intense gaze she had given me at the meeting. “Why are you so determined to get to know me, Mr. Torver?”
We had reached a calm spot with the mountain in view, so I brought the boat to a stop. “I just want this to go well for both of us.”
Samantha said nothing, and I reached next to me for the large tote bag I had covertly carried along. “Here we are,” I said, and began to pull our picnic lunch out of the bag. “Only the very finest for the great runaway boating picnic business meeting of 2017,” I said, and smiled wide at her, trying to establish a sense of camaraderie, an inside joke. “One bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, crackers with brie and prosciutto, primavera pasta, and for dessert, macarons.” I waved my hands with a flourish. “Voilà.”
Samantha looked at me like I had just pulled live animals out of my bag.
“Seriously?” she said.
“You’re right, you’re right.” I joked, shaking my head at the food. “Should have brought a white wine to go with the brie…”
“Snap out of it, Johnathan. What is all this? I mean, I’ve met men who wouldn’t do half this much to propose to someone.”
I sighed resignedly. “It’s really important to me that I start all my business relationships off on the right foot. And to be honest, I’ve never had anyone react the way you did yesterday.”
She rolled her eyes. “You mean someone who isn’t immediately swooning over your charm, and freaking…boat cruisemeetings? I mean…” Samantha sighed, and met my eyes, more gently this time. “It’s really important to you that people like you, isn’t it?”
