Читать книгу Elmo Eveings - Gregory J. McKenzie - Страница 3

Arriving at the hotel well ahead of the scheduled meeting time meant that Elmo had plenty of time to reread the sales contract stored on his smartphone. He worked out how to delete the offending clause after noting that it was designated as Clause 36. As he tried to work out how he was going to get the client to agree to its deletion, a mature aged woman approached him. She said in a polished tone of voice,

"The concierge pointed you out as the sales rep I have come to meet. Lucky that because I was expecting someone much older. What happened to Barney? He usually handles my account. Poor man, he often crosses the city street when he sees me out and about. I am afraid I hound him relentlessly. But why is he not here today?"

Realizing that this overpowering woman had paused for a breath, Elmo got in before she got a second wind. He said in an apologetic tone of voice,

"Barney...I mean Mr. Simpson is down with the flu. It is going through our firm at the moment. Probably in the air conditioning system. I am Elmo Eveings, his replacement. Our head negotiator whom you must have met sent me to get your signature on a sales contract."

Laughing in a not unpleasant way, this forceful woman replied,

"Sorry but you don't look like a hardened sales negotiator. What could Janet Elsebrook be thinking or was this all Gerald's idea. But no, little Gerald is a mouse in kittens clothing. He would never send such an innocent into the slaughter....Ah that is it...This is all Janet's idea of a joke isn't it? Still hasn't forgiven me for pinching her last assistant. Well Elmo Eve....sorry is that Evenings or Everings?"

Elmo was not ready to lose his one advantage over this woman, so he smiled before saying in a casual tone of voice,

"Just call me Elmo. Everyone else does."

The steely gaze he got convinced Elmo that he was up against a formidable negotiator. But this woman let the opportunity to pull him up slip away by saying in a gregarious tone of voice,

"Where are my manners? My name is Henrietta Hunt! You may want to call me Ms. Hunt but my friends call me Henri."

The battle lines having being drawn, the two of them went into lunch when they heard the maitre d'hotel call out their names. After making sure they were both happy with the table allocated, the Head Waiter was called to take their order. She was asked in a smoothly professional tone of voice,

"Could you give this table your special attention Mila. Ms. Hunt is a great frequenter of our restaurant."

Mila nodded before saying in an even smoother tone of voice,

"Of course. How are you this afternoon Ms. Hunt? It is always a pleasure to welcome you back to our restaurant."

Henri Hunt thanked both these people by saying in a pleasant tone,

"Louis you are always welcoming. And Mila has helped me before. But I am just the guest this time. Elmo is my host for this lunch!"

As seamlessly as only a true veteran Head Waiter can be, the attention of the restaurant staff switched to Elmo. Milan called over the wine waiter. She said in a neutral tone of voice,

"Mr. Eveings is ready to order the first wine. Could you give him the update on our cellar range."

This highly polished veteran of many lunches saw Ms. Hunt watching with amusement as he handed the wine list to Elmo. Then she got her first shock when Elmo ordered exactly what she would have ordered herself from that list. It was not the most expensive wine on the list but certainly not cheap. Added to that Elmo specified the year 2011 for the French vintage chosen. He indicated by that qualifier that he knew his wines.

Impressed with this selection, the wine waiter went off to quickly open up a bottle of this wonderful wine.

The Head Waiter called over a passing waiter then excused herself for a moment. Elmo looked at the menu before glancing at Ms. Hunt and asking in a subdued tone of voice,

"What is good here? I must admit to never having had the pleasure of this restaurant's chef specials, which are listed without elaboration on the menu."

Ms. Hunt was still off balance from the surprisingly excellent wine choice so she said in a factual tone of voice,

"I always start with the Sushi then order the Seafood Pie. The chef here is a master of ocean cuisine."

Elmo spoke before thinking and gushed his next comments,

"In that case I will have either, the Lobster bisque or the Takoyaki whichever one you think this master chef does best. Followed by ...Yes by the Pajeon. I had those in Osaka on my last holiday to Japan! They were brilliantly delicious."

Lost for words Henri Hunt merely said,

"I will have my usual. They know what that is and the Head Chef does it to a treat. As for the Lobster bisque I never eat lobster so I will have to recommend the Takoyaki. I did have that once finding it to be exceptionally delicious. In fact I will replace my entree order of Sushi with the Takoyaki."

Elmo looked at the waiter who was entering the order on her smartphone. Once she had sent it to the kitchen she asked about side dishes and bread choices. This was speedily dealt with then the waiter slid out of sight.

The Head Waiter arrived back to give a seamless service. She watched over the arrival of both the wine and the food, aways showing deference to the slightest wish of Henri Hunt but not ignoring Elmo at the same time. Only when completely happy with the service did Mila slip away to give them some privacy.

Henri Hunt looked over at Elmo before asking in a friendly tone of voice,

"I must ask you about your wine choice. You look too young to be a wine connoisseur. If that is not too ageist of me to say so."

Elmo looked her right in the eyes before adding a smile to his informative tone of voice,

"Oh you were right, I am no wine expert but my uncle was a mine connoisseur. Before I was twenty years old he took me to many restaurants back home. Always he explained his wine choices. When I visited him in Canada he kept me updated on the best vintages. Even now I keep up with the latest on the award winning wines via a website he introduced me to many years ago."

Despite her determination to grind out profitable terms from this sales contract, Henri Hunt could not help liking this young man. So she said in a revealingly immodest tone of voice,

"I am a wine illiterate...or is that a wine innumerate? Whatever, I wouldn't know a Chablis from a Chardonnay."

Elmo could not stop himself so he sprouted out a bit of wine trivia. In a tone of voice he had often heard his uncle use he said,

"Chablis is in Burgundy in France. The best chardonnay comes from Burgundy. So Chablis is a Chardonnay. At least that is what my uncle used to say. He was usually right about wines."

Impressed despite her hidden agenda, Henri Hunt said in a overtly positive tone of voice,

"I would like to meet this uncle of yours. He sounds like a lot of fun."

Elmo hated to bring in a negative comment but he felt it necessary so he said,

"I am afraid my uncle died recently. I was summoned to a law firm's office to be told I was the sole heir. So maybe I will get his extensive collection of books on wine. It is about all I would want from his estate."

Now Henri Hunt was trapped in the glare of Elmo's charm so she said in an innocent tone of voice,

"Sole heir? You look too young. Why is one of your parents not the heir before you?"

A dark shadow seemed to play across Elmo's features. Seeing it up close made Henri Hunt wish she had not butted into this young man's family affairs. But Elmo shook himself before saying in a controlled tone of voice,

"Both my parents are dead. They died in a house fire along with all my other close family members....Oh it was ten years ago so I am not still in mourning. My uncle was the only other relative I had left in all the world. Besides, my uncle was my godfather and financial guardian after my parents died."

Feeling just awful, Henri Hunt felt like reaching out to hug Elmo. She settled with saying,

"I lost my parents early in an airline disaster. But I have always had my brother and sister to comfort me. There is no way I could even begin to imagine how hard it must have been for you these past ten years."

Elmo smiled weakly but was saved from further embarrassment by the arrival of his main course.

The meal was a bit more subdued after that as Henri Hunt confined herself to safe areas of conversation. Weather, travel, media scandals were talked about to overcome the risk of too much silent brooding.

When coffee was to be served Henri Hunt suggested they take it in the hotel lounge so they could discuss the sales contract. When they began to sip their coffee Elmo sprung his surprise. He said with a disarmingly open way,

"I have read the contract that was negotiated by Mr. Simpson and am not impressed with Clause 36. I have had legal advice on this so must insist on its deletion before signing."

Instead of challenging this, Henri Hunt said in a determined tone of voice,

"I am glad you raised the issue of bad clauses because I have strong objections to some other clauses. I was going to tell Barney that I cannot sign his contract until those clauses were deleted."

Elmo had read the contract closely so he understood her objections. He risked censure later from "the Dragon Lady' when he said,

"How about we delete all offending clauses then go to signing the amended contract?"

Henri Hunt seized on the moment by saying in a firm tone of voice,

"Elmo Eveings on those terms I can say that we have a deal. Such an amended contract I am happy to sign."

Before he knew it Elmo was shaking Henri Hunt's hand on his first ever deal. A contract of intent was singed by both Ms. Hunt and Elmo. The final sales contract would be signed by one of the principals in Elmo's firm the following week. Parting company with Henri Hunt left Elmo feeling elated and excited. He got a taxi back to work then filed the new contract specifications digitally. With nothing else on his digital desk Elmo went home.