“My concept? That your voice can take you anywhere if you let it.” Max said motioning for her to enter.
“I love it.” Sam said as she took the whole room in.
Max had obviously hired a painter. The room was phenomenal. The back wall looked like a stage surrounded by hundreds of fans. There was a single gleam of light on the top of the wall. On the side walls were murals of New York City and Los Angeles. The piano was against a blank wall with a stool and a music stand.
“It is a very inspirational room Max.”
“I hope everyone appreciates it as much as I do.” He said shyly.
“They will. I have some boxes of sheet music for you in my room.
“Thanks Sam. For everything.”
“No problem.” Sam said heading toward her room.
Sam had chosen the first room at the top of the stairs. She had put a few music quote wall appliques on the light blue walls. Keyboards were in a semi-circle around the middle of the room. She organized the sheet music for a while, then decided she would see how the big recital room turned out.
When Sam was planning the concept of the re-model, she wanted a bigger room for the kids to be able to perform in front of their peers. She almost cried when she walked into the room. Everything was perfect, exactly like she wanted it. The room had a lounge feel to it. There was couches, arm chairs, stools, and a beautiful stage. Sam wanted the students to get the feeling as if they were performing at home in their own living rooms. The baby grand sat center stage along with some music stands and a sound system. Sam sat on one of the arm chairs and started to daze when she was suddenly startled.
“Hi!” Jeffrey Johnson all but yelled at her.
“Jeffrey how did you get in here?”
“Clare let me in.”
“What do you want?” Sam asked annoyed.
“I was wondering if you would hire me.”
“As what?”
“I don’t know. Your assistant perhaps. I want to learn everything I can.”
“Well I guess I could use an assistant. I will give you one shot. You will have 2 months to prove to me that hiring you as my assistant was the right decision.”
“ Thank you Sam. I really appreciate this.”
“It is a trial period. That is all. You can thank me if I decide to keep you on.”
“Ok.”
“Meet me in my office in 5 minutes. We will go over your job expectations.” Sam said as Jeffrey ran out of the room and down the stairs.
Jeffrey was a 19 year old kid who insisted on learning about owning a store from Sam. Liz had offered him a job once, but he had refused telling her that he would rather wait until Sam had the time to teach him. Sam had always thought he was a little too eager. She figured, though, that with all the craziness in her life lately she should probably give him a chance.
Sam let out a sigh and walked to the balcony overlooking the whole store. She stood there for a moment, appreciating her creation. She ascended the stairs and walked into her office. She was mentally wracking her brain for what she could possibly have Jeffrey do for her.
“Thanks again.” Jeffrey said looking up from a magazine as she appeared in the doorway.
“I told you not to thank me yet.” She walked over to her computer and pulled up a blank page in Word.
“So what do I do first?” Jeffrey asked excitedly.
“Give me a second.” Sam said rapidly typing her list of expectations for him. When she had finished, she printed 2 copies. She handed one to him and began rattling off what she had come up with.
“If you want to be successful in this job here is what you need to do. You need to be here by the time Max is every day. You will need to coordinate with him. You will be keeping my schedule as well. That means every appointment I have. After all orders are written out for you, you will call them in on time. You are also going to be doing anything else I need done. Like I said this is a trial period. There are no guarantees when it is over.” She finished not letting him get a word in edgewise.
“I can do all of that.” Jeffrey said looking over the paper she had handed him.
“Great. You can start tomorrow. Find Max and coordinate.” Sam said walking back out of her office.
Sam gathered her things from the front counter and yelled to Max that she was leaving. She walked out the door with a twinge of nervousness for the next day.
When Sam arrived the next morning everyone, including Jeffrey, was waiting for her. She was surprised to see a curtain hanging over the doorway. She looked around at the mischievous smiles on their faces.
“Ok. I give up. What is going on?” She said when they stopped her from putting the key in the door.
“It is already unlocked.” Max said.
“We thought of something to make today a little easier.” Kylee said slowly.
When Max opened the door Sam saw exactly what they meant. The group of them had come up with red velvet ropes. The ropes were in a line to the tables at the bottom of the stairway. If Sam had to describe it she would describe it as movie premier minus the red carpet.
“It is amazing guys!” Sam exclaimed still staring at the scene before her.
“It was our pleasure.” Kylee said walking passed her into the store.
The rest of the morning went by faster than anyone expected. By noon they only had 3 spots left for each of the classes. The amount of people wanting to have music lessons was amazing to Sam. So amazing, that they had all agreed to take on 2 classes a day instead of just 1. Jeffrey had proved himself useful by making sure everyone got into the right lines. He had stopped ultimate chaos from erupting.
Sam ordered in pizza for lunch. She figured that everyone would need some nourishment after the long, busy morning. When the pizza got to the store Sam made an announcement that she would be closing the store for half an hour. When all of the customers were checked out and gone Sam all but yelled “Pizza Party!!”
“What do we need a pizza party for?” Kylee asked laughing.
“Why not? Do we really need an excuse to have pizza?” Sam replied as she opened one of the pizza boxes.
“I’m all for it.” Max said.
There was a knock on the door. All that they could see was an arm full of pink tulips. Sam walked to the door and unlocked it. She stuck her head out and said “Sorry we are closed right now.”
“Does that apply to me?” George replied as he stuck his head out from behind the bouquet.
“No, I suppose not. What are you doing here?” Sam asked with a puzzled look on her face.
George walked in ducking to avoid getting clotheslined by Sam’s arm which held the door open. He walked to the counter and carefully placed the massive bouquet next to the register
“What brings you here?” Kylee asked skeptically.
“I came to see Sam. Is that ok with you?” He replied wit-fully.
“No.” Kylee fired back at him as they both started to chuckle.
“Let’s go into my office.” Sam said grabbing two slices of pizza as she waltzed by the mob of people that she considered family.
George followed her smiling and shaking his head. ‘They looked like nothing could ruin their day.’ He thought. When they walked into her office he was not surprised at all. It represented who she still was when he first met her. It represented the girl, he hoped, he would someday marry.
“So thank you for the flowers.” Sam said.
“It is my pleasure dahlin.” He replied quite seriously.
Sam broke out into almost hysterical laughter. She could not believe he had just said dahlin. “Why would you say that?” She choked out.
“I’m sorry.” George replied looking hurt.
“I didn’t mean to offend you. It is just the way you said!”
“Oh.” He squinted when he finally realized what she meant he joined her in laughter. A few minutes passed until the laughter stopped. George got serious. “Sam I wanted to know if you would join me for dinner tonight.”
“Ok. Well I have to get back to the Hotel. I will call you later then.” He said leaning over to give her a kiss on the cheek.
Sam was sad to watch him go. She had a twinge of realization. She realized that he was trying too hard. Sam didn’t know why but she saw the look flash in his eyes that give him away as he left. Sam rejoined her lunch party. Within minutes they had everything cleaned up and ready to re-open. Sam, Max, and Kylee took their seats once again. Jeffrey walked over to the door and unlocked it.
There was a group of people that came rushing in. It wasn’t a large group, maybe ten or fifteen people. About nine of them rushed over to the tables and claimed the remaining spots for the remaining classes. The rest of the afternoon went by rather fast. The class sign up had been great for business. It seemed that nearly everyone whom had signed up for a class also did some shopping.
After Sam had closed the door behind the last customer, Jeffrey was all but in her face.
“Can you please tell me how I did today?” He said rather anxiously.
“You did great today Jeffrey. Go home and relax. You deserve it.”
“Really?” He said over enthusiastically “Thanks!”
“Go Home Jeffrey. “ Sam said smiling as she went and plopped on her couch. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She was glad the day was over. She straightened up her office until everyone else had gone and then went home herself.
Sam took a hot bath when she got home. She let the water soothe her aching muscles. She had almost drifted off to sleep when she heard her phone ringing. She got out of the tub and wrapped herself in a towel. She walked quickly to answer the phone.
“Hello?” Sam said answering the phone as she sat on her bed.
“Hey Sammy.” George’s voice rang through the receiver.
“Hey George. What’s up?”
“Not an awful lot. I just wanted to hear your voice.”
“That is such a line.” She laughed.
“I know. But it is true. I Love the sound of your voice.”
“Yea. Ok.” Sam said.
The two of them talked all night. They talked a little more about the past. When it felt like they were getting too weird Sam switched the topic to the present. They meandered through a variety of topics after that. Topics that included the future, their dreams, whether or not either of them were finally ready to settle down.
They had talked for 5 hours. It was almost 3 a.m. now. Before hanging up George had a weird but compelling question. “I want to invite you and all of your friends to the Hotel for this weekend, Friday night through Sunday afternoon.”
“Why?” Sam asked.
“I want to get to know them. Plus, we all deserve to have some fun.”
“Ok. I will ask everyone. I will see you Friday. Goodnight.” Sam said barely able to hang up the phone before she fell sound asleep.
.
CHAPTER 5: WEEKEND GETAWAY
Sam walked into work the next day feeling somewhat tired but mostly refreshed. Everyone seemed to be the same way. Sam took a few deep breaths and then said “Hey everyone. We have all been invited to go to The Ameslee Hotel for the weekend. So call your significant others and let them know.”
“Really? All of us?” Jeffrey asked stunned that he was being included.
“Yes all of us. Max watch the store and give Jeffrey all the inventory lists. I am going to see Liz for a bit. Jeffrey,” Sam said turning toward him. “After Max gives you the inventory lists I want you to study them until I get back.”
“No problem Sam.” Jeffrey said after her as she walked out the door.
Sam into Liz’s store to find everyone crowded around the center of the room. Sam had not talked to Liz since Max had proposed to Charlee. She wondered what event Liz had going on that would cause people to circle like that. Sam pushed her way into the middle of the circle and was stunned. Liz was dressed up as a clown and trying desperately to stand on her head.
“You have got to be kidding me.” Sam stated loud enough that Liz could hear her.
“Oh thank you. I almost had it.” Liz huffed. “Thank you for watching ladies and gentleman. I will be trying again in half an hour.”
The pair walked back into the closet of an office that Liz called her own. After getting comfortable they started talking about what each other had missed in the past few days. Sam told Liz about the invitation and told her that she of all people did not have an excuse not to go. When Sam was satisfied that Liz would indeed be attending, she excused herself.
“I have to get back to work.” She made a sour face “ugh.”
“Bye. See you on Friday.” Liz smiled through her clown makeup.
“What is with the clown thing?” Sam asked turning back from the door.
“It’s for a book that I think people should read. It’s about a clown that loses her way.”
“ok then.” Sam said as she walked out of the store.
The rest of the week flew by. Everyone was in high spirits as the weekend approached. Jeffrey had learned how to take inventory in case he ever had to as well as how to make orders and run the register. Sam was pleasantly surprised at how much he was learning and how quickly. By the time Friday came around Sam was sure that if she had wanted to retire and not be in the store every day that Jeffrey would probably be good at taking over for her.
Sam went home Friday afternoon to freshen up before she met up with everyone in front of the store. Since no one else knew where the Ameslee was she was going to lead them there. Sam packed lightly. She decided that if it was really a big deal and she didn’t have what she needed she could always run home. Sam took her duffel to her Lamborghini and headed to the store.
When Sam arrived she was one of the last people there. The only three people not there yet were Claire, Pepper and Jeffrey. Sam stepped out of the car and walked up to the group of people standing impatiently in front of her store. Sam looked down the street and saw Jeffrey’s car heading toward them. When he parked Sam saw another person jump out of the passenger side. It was Pepper.
“What are you two doing together?” Sam asked as they walked up to the rest of the group.
“We have decided that we are going to date. Is that ok with you?” Pepper said smiling.
“You know it is. You deserve it after all the stuff you have been through.” Sam said smiling. “Ok everyone. Time to head out. Has anyone heard from Claire?”
“She said that she had to go see her mom.” Max said. “She will be up when she can I am sure.”
“Ok then. Follow me. I have room for 1. Make sure to compact yourselves so that we aren’t taking up so many parking spaces.” Sam laughed.
There ended up being there cars including Sams Lamborghini. Max and Charlee rode with Kylee and Dillon while Jeffrey and Pepper rode with Tj. Liz, however, had decided to ride with Sam. Sam led the way through town toward the hotel.
“So have you heard from Will?” Liz asked.
“No. I don’t want to either. I am moving on.” Sam said giving Liz a look that said what are you talking about him for.
“So what do you think of George so far?”
“It is hard to explain. I love him but I have always loved him. I can’t help but to wonder if my love for him isn’t in some way affecting how I look at him now.” Sam said.
“What do you mean? Why would you think your blurring your feelings together?”
“You ever have that feeling where your mind tells you that you should hate someone but your heart says run to them?”
“I guess.”
“Well lately I have been feeling kind of like that. I don’t know. I am just paranoid I suppose.” Sam said as she turned up the drive to The Ameslee.
Sam stopped at the guard booth.
“Hi”
“Hel
lo Miss Sam. I assume the two cars behind you are your friends?” The guard said with a smile.
“That is correct.”
“Go on through. Have a nice weekend.”
“Thanks.” Sam said. She started to drive through the gate she decided before they got too far she would warn Liz.
“So this place is like the Hilton on steroids. It’s amazing.”
“Oh. Really?”
“Let’s just say it looks like someone picked my brain, took my style, and multiplied it by a thousand.”
“I doubt..” Liz was cut off by the sight of the hotel.
“I told you.”
Liz was too busy taking in everything Sam had the first time she had been here. Sam pulled under the awning and got out of the car. She walked into the hotel leaving everyone else to follow her once they picked their jaws up off the dirt.
“Hi Roger.” Sam said as she reached him where he stood behind his post.
“Miss Samantha. We have been expecting you. Where are your guests?”
“They are coming. They are admiring the view at the moment.”
“I see.” Roger replied as the others started through the door.
“Everyone, this is Roger.” Sam said spanning her arm to motion toward him.
‘Hi Roger!” Everyone said enthusiastically and in unison. It sounded more like a kindergarten classroom say yes ma’am to the teacher than a group of adults.
“Hello everyone. Mr. Ames has set aside 6 suites for you. The receptionist will have your keys. You may pick your own rooms. Mr. Ames will meet you for dinner at 6:00 at the restraunt.”
While everyone rushed toward the reception desk, Sam held back for a moment.
“Roger, Where is he?” Sam asked lightly.
“Mr. Ames is in a meeting. He promises to see you for dinner. Don’t you worry Miss Samantha, He has always kept his word to me.”
Sam was surprisingly satisfied with his answer. She got her room key from the receptionist and headed upstairs to her suite. Unlike the others, this suite had been especially reserved for her. She could not even imagine what was in store for her. Sam did however know how George had been acting lately. That led her to believe that George had yet again done something extravagant to get her attention.
Finally Getting Love Right Page 7
