Читать книгу An Exquisite Challenge - Jennifer Hayward - Страница 10

CHAPTER FOUR

MONDAY MORNING AND Alex was once again cooling her heels in the reception area of De Campo’s San Francisco office. This time Gabe was on a call. She tapped her foot on the floor, the small amount of patience she did have fading fast in light of the amount of work she had in front of her if Gabe deigned to give the go-ahead on this concept.

Her tapping foot drew Danielle’s eye. “He shouldn’t be much longer,” the PA murmured sympathetically. “I saw the light go off on the line a few minutes ago. I’m sure he’ll be right out.”

Alex checked her watch and glared at the door. He was forty minutes late now.

“Does he always have so little respect for other people’s time? I’m sure that thinking you own the world inevitably leads to thinking your time is more valuable than everyone else’s, but I would—” She broke off midsentence as Danielle’s gaze slid to the right and her eyes widened. Oh, no. She turned around and found Gabe leaning against the doorframe, his tall body arranged in a deceptively relaxed pose.

“Per favore,” he murmured. “Go on. I was getting some keen insight into what you really think of me.”

She lowered her gaze, the sickening feeling she might have just blown it flooding through her. “I was just venting. You’re supposed to be in your office, not sneaking around the back way.”

“I’ve been on calls since seven. Nature called.”

She stood up, refusing to cower in the wake of the arrogant tilt of that nose. “If we’re going to make this into a contest, I’ve been up since five.”

His eyes glittered. “I wasn’t, but how very five-year-old of you.”

Danielle was watching them as though they were a prime-time reality show. Gabe inclined his head toward his office. “Shall we do this?”

Alex picked up her storyboards and followed him in, laying them out on the oval conference table near the window. The designer had done an inspired job on the visual representations of the concept and event. “On our tour,” she began, “you said the complexity and individuality of a wine depends on the chemistry—how you as the winemaker make the choices. Whether to use man-made or naturally occurring yeasts, how long the different varietals should be aged, the proportion of one versus the other.”

He nodded.

“I started playing around with the concept of chemistry. How that would work as an event theme. And came up with these concepts.” She flipped to the first storyboard. “The initial touch point is the invite. Guests are invited to fall in love with their ‘match’ at De Campo’s The Devil’s Peak launch.” She flipped to the next board. “When they arrive, they’re handed a computer generated ‘chemistry’ match, someone attending the event who is like-minded. It can be either a networking match or a romantic one. Throughout the evening, they’re tasked with finding their match and exploring it.”

He arched a brow. “What if they’re the jaded, unimaginative type who couldn’t be bothered?”

She flipped to the next board, which had a photo of the De Campo Tuscan vineyard on it. “We incent them. We offer them something fabulous, like a trip to the motherland. But only if the matches sign in during the evening and prove they’ve met.”

He looked skeptical. “Go on.”

She flipped to the next board. “Everything that happens throughout the evening is about chemistry. The decor, the quiz at the bar to match guests with their perfect De Campo wine, the gift bags tailored to each individual’s chemistry and finally,” she said, smiling, “the fireworks at the end of the night. They represent the chemistry of The Devil’s Peak. We end with the tasting of the wine and the fireworks for a big last impression.”