Chapter 4

The car was waiting for me as I walked out from my apartment. Instead of one of the usual restaurants that our company frequented for corporate dinners, I was driven to a small lodge about thirty miles northwest of the city. It was very remote, there were not even signs identifying it to passing motorists. Either you knew what it was and where it was, or you drove right on by. I was impressed that nearly all of the vehicles in the front were limousines. This place must be really top drawer, I thought to myself.

As I exited the car, the driver said, "Have a wonderful evening sir. I am sure that you will enjoy the meal here."

I stopped. "Have you been here before?"

"Yes sir," he said. "But I only have a very few clients that can afford to eat here."

I entered the restaurant area of the lodge and gave my name to the hostess. She directed me to a private dining room and as I entered, handed me my favorite cocktail without me having to order it. I was the first to arrive, but she told me the others had just pulled into the driveway. I stood, waiting and looking at the original artwork hanging on the wall. It was a scene from the south of France. How appropriate for the evening.

The door opened again and Mr. Larson walked in, accompanied by two women. The first was blond, attractive, and very familiar to me. I smiled at her immediately and took one step towards her when I saw the second woman. She had hair the color of chestnuts!

"Win," Mr. Larson said, I believe you are acquainted somewhat with each of these women. Let me introduce you to Madam Angeline Chalmers and Mademoiselle Sarah Jamisson. Miss Jamisson is here representing her father's company, and will be your main contact in the development project in France."

I kissed their hands and expressed my pleasure in meeting them formally. "Yes, Mr. Larson, I have met these beautiful women before. I met Mrs. Chalmers on two occasions, most recently during my vacation to France last summer."

"And you have also met Ms. Jamisson?"

"Yes we have met, at the ski lodge last winter."

He kept it up. "Ahh, yes. The one that you said you cared so much for but who disappeared before you could tell her."

"Yes, Mr. Larson. You are correct again." Was he trying to embarrass me, or tease me, or what?

"Then how could you allow her to get away?"

"I must have misunderstood her last name, sir?'

"I see. Well, make certain that you have no further misunderstandings."

"Miss Jamisson says that she has known you for more years than you realize."

As we sat down at the table, she began to tell the story.

"I first met you at University. You were two years ahead of me, but we lived in the same housing unit. As a young girl, I had a weight problem and I rebelled against my parents in every way that I could. I wore no make up, my hair was dull and flat, and I tried to be as plain as I could, mostly as a teen's rebellion toward her wealthy parents. When I first saw you, I had an immediate crush. I followed you around like a puppy. Later I even took some advanced classes to be with you. But you were handsome, popular, and surrounded by pretty coeds, and I am sure that you never noticed me, in the two years we were together at school. I almost passed out when I saw you walking towards my sisters and I at the beach in France that summer after you graduated.

"You are all sisters?"

"But then, before I could even say hello, you managed to spirit away Angeline and convince her you were a native son. She only learned of your true identity when you had finished with her, three days later. When she found out how crushed I was over the entire episode, she became furious at you for deceiving her. I ended up defending you to my family, for some reason."

"It was then that I decided that if I was ever going to be able to be noticed by you, I was going to have to shed my weight and do something about my appearance. It took two years of hard work, but I was determined. Then, by chance, my other sister, Claudia, saw your picture in a promotion for a seminar. We discussed it, you and the seminar and decided that she should attend, so that she could meet you. Yes, she did color her hair differently, so that you wouldn't recognize her right away. Then she went to a second one, in another city, about a month later and she was certain that you had spotted her. But nothing came of it. So she made the direct approach and arranged a dinner at your hotel. You may recall."

"I do indeed. We had a very pleasant evening."

"As she said to me the next day. She thinks very highly of you."

There was a pause in the story as our dinner was served. I was anxious to hear the rest, but dinner conversation was mostly small talk about inconsequential things. One of the little things that came out during dinner was the need for a false name.

Angeline explained it. "The last name Jamisson is well know in France. Our father has built an enormous conglomerate, and he is an extremely wealthy man. We learned early on in school, that some people would befriend us because of his wealth, and only for that reason. So we all adopted an alias to use in normal life. Sarah's degree even says Sarah James, not Jamisson."

Two hours, and several bottles of wine later, we finished our dinner. Sarah continued, "So, then it was up to me to meet you again and see if I could get you to notice me, for a change. If I could, it would be an excellent opportunity to see if my attraction to you was valid or wishful.

I called in a few favors from old friends, and suddenly, you were sent on vacation to a ski chalet, right next to one that we happen to own. At an opportune moment, I managed to get tangled up in some bushes on the ski slope and the adventure began a minute later."

"So how does this steel project enter into anything?"

"You told me in Colorado that you would love to live in France, but there was nothing for you to do there. So I told my father that he needed to do something that would require you to live in France, so he sent his steel people to see Mr. Larson, and here we are tonight."

"You're his steel people?"

"Eh-- no! We had some others with us that actually know something about steel. It didn't matter, but I think it is a good thing anyway. You will make it work. I know you will."

"We can discuss this further tomorrow. Right now, Angeline has indicated that she is very tired from our flight today. I think we should consider this first meeting a success and continue the discussions tomorrow. We are staying at this lodge which is connected to this restaurant, and if you would be so kind as to escort us there, I would greatly appreciate it."

As Mr. Larson headed to the city, I walked the women to the lodge. It is a private hunting lodge with about fifty guest rooms and a full facility for hunting, and relaxation after. We escorted Angeline to her room, made sure that she was safely in and secured for the evening, and then headed to the other end of the hall, to the owner's suite. Why was I not surprised?

I didn't know if this evening would be a repeat of the Colorado evenings, but as she unlocked her room door, she asked me if I'd like to come in.

The owner's suite had a decidedly masculine decor, appropriate for a hunting lodge, I suppose, but definitely masculine, all the same. The walls were solid wood paneled with rustic hardware on all the doors and drawers. There was a large sitting room furnished with leather upholstered chairs, end tables inlaid with brass and pearl outdoor designs, and most surprising, a gun rack containing shot guns and rifles of the highest grades, standing ready for use by the occupants. On the other side was a fully stocked bar, complete with small snacks and hors d'oeuvres. Sarah walked to the bar directly, poured a drink for each of us, and turned to face me.

"Well, Mr. Winston Young III, what are your thoughts at the moment? Are you mad at me? Upset with me? Furious with me? Have I messed up completely?"

"Sarah, I am so confused right now, I don't know how to answer you. First, I am extremely happy to see you again. I tried hard to find you, but you are very good at disappearing."

"I know, but I had to, because it was becoming to serious to quickly, and I needed time away from you to decide, and then develop a plan."

"I should be angry with you for toying with my emotions so much. I have gone from a level of happiness and optimism to an immediate low when I found you were gone. Since then, my life has been building into one giant turmoil. The promotion, the opportunity to move overseas, to expand the product line--I had no idea or even a hint that it had anything to do with you."

She just smiled and sat quietly on the bar stool. I was standing, walking around, almost pacing back and forth in front of her as I allowed my emotions and thoughts to be expressed.

"You told me your father owned a clothing business."

"He does. He owns the largest chain of department stores in France, and we have two stores in the U.S., one of which just opened about two months ago. I just left off the part about how large the store was." She had a naughty grin on her face. How can I be angry about that?

"And the mystery with your sisters? Appearing, disappearing, never telling me their names, laying a guilt trip on me for my first summer in France, how did that all enter into this relationship?"

"That was a little more serious. That summer when you first appeared that evening, before I could believe it was actually you in person, my sister was on the dance floor with you. That was the last we saw of her for three days. By then, it was too late to tell her you really were. Are you mad at me?"

"No, of course I 'm not mad at you. But, you have to understand, this is all pretty overwhelming. I mean, I was ecstatic at the opportunity to work in France, and I had no idea it would involve you. Now, I don't know how to describe it."

"Is that good or bad? Do you still want to do it? I don't want to force you into..."

"No, NO! You're not forcing me into anything. I very much want to do this. And I very much want to continue to see you."

"Some people will say that I bought you."

"Do you care what they think?"

"Not really, but I don't want to embarrass you."

"Well, since I don't know them, and not married to them, I really don't care what they think either. Right now, the only thing I care about is figuring out how to continue where we left off in Colorado."

She looked at me, with a very serious face and said, "If we are going to continue where we left off in Colorado, in won't be in this room!" She set her drink glass on the bar and immediately walked into the bedroom. She walked directly to the bath room, closing the door and, with a flick of her wrist, dimming the lights in the entire room. I was out of my clothes in record time, waiting discreetly covered by the bed sheet as she reappeared. He hair was down, laying around her shoulders. She wore a midnight blue negligee that was the sheerest material I had ever seen, Her breasts, even in the dimmed light, were clearly visible from across the room. Sarah Jamisson was and is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. How she managed to hide all that beauty for all those years is beyond me, but I am thankful that she has chosen to share it with me.