Читать книгу Vintage Sterling - Charles A. Witschorik - Страница 5

Sterling Sánchez knew he had this one in the bag. The night was cool and misty, and he’d had his usual round of drinks downtown. It was late and the alcohol was starting to work its magic. In others, it might have induced drowsiness or stupor, but not so for Sterling. He was a happy drunk, even a courageous one. Nothing like a couple drinks to take away the few inhibitions he had and send him headlong, laughing, into danger.

Tonight was no exception. Feeling no pain while barreling down the deserted, slippery road that lead from L.A. to his secluded rural estate, Sterling was in a mood to kick some ass! His wine-exporting business had never had such a year. A recession may have been gripping most of the country, but people still needed something to console them—a sentiment Sterling himself had affirmed that very day with the new luxury car he’d just bought with cash. Speeding him along the highway at ever greater speeds, it was a new acquisition—a proud addition to his collection of rare, classic BMWs. And now here he was tooling along in his new black beauty, without a care in the world. It seemed like everything he touched these days turned to gold. And he just couldn’t allow himself to even think about the bottom dropping out, even though his sixth sense was telling him something was off and doom was just around the corner. Ha, who gives a damn, he thought. I’m on top of the world. Really, who could possibly stop me?

Best of all, Sterling had all the women—and the woman- that he wanted. He was considered hot, he thought, by everyone he met. Standing just over six feet tall, with a trim, athletic build from years as an award-winning competitive swimmer, he was more than willing and able to hold his own in all areas of romantic warfare. His girlfriend, Tess, was a perfect physical match for him, with her raven hair and sleek, slender body. She was a safe bet, and he didn’t mind the security that their relationship brought. He could play around plenty and yet still head home to the safe haven of Tess’s arms. She’d been with him since they met in college and had continued with her career in physical therapy even after he’d made his first million. In many ways, Sterling didn’t understand why she stayed with him. His trips home were increasingly brief and he knew he wasn’t giving her the attention she longed for, and probably deserved. She said she loved him and would never leave him, but really he wasn’t too concerned even after what had transpired at tonight’s meeting. If she felt like staying, it was fine, but there certainly were others to turn to. Though he occasionally felt an ever-so-slight pang of remorse over Tess, Sterling enjoyed the thrill of the conquest. At work. On the road. And especially when it came to the ladies. There were many occasions and ample opportunities for adventure in the life of an unstoppable young impresario.

That night, in fact, Sterling had just come from a meeting with Tess and other important members of the board of his company, the eponymously named Sterling Enterprises, Inc. Having built the company from the ground up, Sterling was very proud of his achievement and of all the successes he had accumulated as CEO. The meeting that night had been typical of Sterling’s freewheeling-yet-focused approach. Gathering together a group of several dozen important stockholders, donors, and their entourages, Sterling had called the meeting to celebrate the company’s latest acquisition. Sterling, Inc. was by now a globally recognized brand, and as its chief executive, Sterling had important clout in the world of the most important vintners, restaurant entrepreneurs, and beverage companies. And yet for the longest time there had been one business he had set his sights on which had not been so easy to win over.

Belonging to his parents, the small-scale, local vineyard called Sánchez Vintage, located in northern California in the fertile, secluded hills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, just south of San Francisco, was a plum target. Sitting in a remote mountain valley, where he’d grown up, and enjoying some of the most favorable wine-making land and climate conditions, the Sánchez business had so much potential in Sterling’s mind. His parents, who had inherited the land from his father’s family, going back many generations in his Mexican-California family roots, had always seen their business on a local scale—more as a part of the community than as an enterprise with national or international ambitions. Sterling, at least at this new point in his career, saw things very differently. Here was a chance, he thought, to seize an amazing opportunity and incorporate the family business into a company he had already grown at a phenomenal pace. His parents had been against the idea from the beginning, not objecting to the choices he made with his own company, but wanting to stay true to their own approach to the life they’d always known. The “big bucks” and all that goes with that lifestyle was not something they ever wanted. They were simple folks with simple needs. Family and friends were more important to them than the things that money can buy. Certainly they appreciated making a good income that afforded them a comfortable way of life, but beyond that they didn’t want the hassle of what comes along with too much fortune.

Still, Sterling wasn’t one to take no for an answer. He’d begged and pleaded with them for long enough, and had finally decided to move things along in a way that would secure his objective. Maybe he would have preferred a different method, but he had to do what he had to do. At least that’s what had passed through Sterling’s mind once again earlier that evening as he surveyed the room back at work, taking in the sight of the guests at the party he had decided to throw, mingling, toasting, and congratulating him and the other board members at their newest acquisition. Cracking a smile with a clever smugness Sterling felt sure he’d earned, he was astonished as he looked out the window at the night sky and the parade of city lights below to see reflected in the glass panes the sight of the elevator door at the rear of the room open, and Tess walk out, staring him down with an expression he could detect, even through the dark reflection of the glass, was anything but happy or approving.

Turning around, Sterling barely had time to start uttering Tess’ name before she had made her way toward him, barely containing her unmistakable rage.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, you selfish, self-centered jackass?” Tess managed to get out with an intensity that, though not yelling, telegraphed to all present that something was terribly wrong.

“I don’t know . . .” Sterling tried to get out a few words, but Tess was having none of it.

“Oh don’t even go there. Don’t even think about denying what’s going on. I mean, how could you take such advantage of them and of their trust in you? You know what that land, that place, and that business, mean to them. You know it’s all they have. You know it’s your family that’s at stake here. And we both certainly know that going global was never anything they wanted for the family business!” Tess did her best to hold in both her rage and the tears she could also feel welling up inside.

“Oh come on, Tess. Let’s talk about this some other time, I’ve got . . .”

“Yeah, I know, Sterling. You’ve got all the V.I.P.s here. All of your pawns assembled! Ever ready to dutifully present themselves to bow down and worship at the feet of your massive ego. You self-absorbed asshole!”

“Tess, please . . .”

“No, I really don’t care anymore, Sterling. I helped you start this business, I’ve been your advisor, working remotely while I try to build my physical therapy career back home. I’ve been your friend, your girlfriend, your lover, and your long-waiting fiancée, and I’ve put up with a lot for the sake of supporting you and our so-called relationship. But no more! This is the last straw. You sell out your family. You threaten them with eviction and legal action as the majority stakeholder in their business if they don’t sell out completely to you. Well, good for you. Congratulations on getting all you ever wanted. I hope you enjoy it. You can keep the cash, the fame, the fortune, the connections, the society friends. But in exchange for all of that, you have lost me. I’m out of here and I’m not coming back. Goodbye, Sterling, and good luck keeping the wolves at bay, because you’re gonna need all the luck that you can get. Perhaps, someday, you might just realize that you’re going to need more than your success and your status and your oversized ego to keep you going!”

With that, and with the party stopped cold in its tracks and everyone around listening with both shock and fascination, Tess bore into Sterling’s eyes with a look that could have both killed and broken hearts, slid the engagement ring she’d worn for years off her finger, and grasped it in her hand. Visibly shaking with emotion, she seemed ready to throw it across the room, but closing her eyes she slowly raised the ring, placed it over the glass of high-end champagne Sterling held in his hand, and let it drop, fizzing and clinking, into the glass. Turning around she walked with her head help high to the elevator, stepped inside, and disappeared behind the closing door.

The room remained eerily quiet for what seemed an eternity, all eyes fixated on Sterling and his reaction. Slowly bringing his mouth closed again after staring in shock in the direction of where Tess had walked, Sterling surveyed the room, drew in a deep breath, and cracking a sly grin, exclaimed, “Well, ladies, guess this means I’m a free agent, again!”

With a wave of nervous yet audibly relieved laughter, the room went back to normal, conversations continuing, deals developing, and the future of Sterling Enterprises, Inc. appearing more secure than ever. As Sterling wrapped up conversations that night and sealed more connections, he tried to look on the bright side of things while he fingered the engagement ring he had transferred to the bottom of his suit jacket pocket. Sure, it was embarrassing losing Tess in that way, and no doubt he would miss her on occasion. And yet, to think of all the opportunities that awaited in the future with his company. Other people’s moral scruples were not going to stop him, and nor, back in his car, was the speeding night train Sterling viewed on the horizon as he sped on, careening along the highway, high on life and the thrill of an acquisition signed and sealed. Bearing down on the train crossing the landscape in the distance, now outside the city limits, traveling at what seemed to be exactly the same speed as his new ride, Sterling was not about to let this mega steel monster get in his way! Slamming his foot on the accelerator, he raced toward the now-closing gates, ever so slightly gaining on the intrusive locomotive. This was going to be a close one, but Sterling wasn’t worried. It was do or die and he wasn’t about to give in, not with the roll he’d been on.

And so the gates were closing. Just a few feet away now, Sterling realized he wasn’t going to make it under them in time. But he had made the call. He was going to beat this massive thing and, sure enough, he did. Whizzing around the closing gates in a tight zig-zag, Sterling actually felt the blast of speeding air from the train push against the back of his car, as it cleared the far side of the tracks. This had been a close one. Perhaps closer than any before, judging by the sweat-drenched clothes now clinging to his shaking frame. But he’d done it. There was an air of triumph in what he’d accomplished, and he knew he was even more of a badass than he’d thought, even as he felt the sweat drench down his temple. Rocketing through the night air, he was on top of the world, and he couldn’t help but look down to see how fast his muscle car was rocketing him forward. 107 mph. Bad! Ass!

And then it happened. His eyes had only glanced down for a brief second to check his cell for a possible text from Tess, yet when he looked up again something was very different. Where just a moment before there had been black pavement and white lines illuminated by his headlights, now there was only brown. It took just a split second for Sterling to realize that the road had not changed color. Before his brain could even process it, he knew that a pack of large coyotes lay directly in his path and that any impact at this speed would kill him and them both. Instinctively, his hands took hold of the wheel and spun it furiously right, narrowly missing the animals but jetting the car instantaneously into a series of rolls too numerous to count. After a mere handful of seconds, the damage was done. Sterling’s new speed machine lay upside down on the desert floor, its windows blown out, its wheels still spinning in the night breeze. Sterling dangled inside, his body suspended from a seatbelt and his life hanging precipitously in the balance.