Chapter 91

Present – Ben, Jens and others – The trip

The movie is over and I suggest, “How about a night cap before bed?”

Jens motions to a cabinet and says, “The Knob Creek is in there.”

I open up the cabinet, pull out two shot glass, pour two fingers in each, walk back to the bed and hand one to Jens.

Jens remarks, “This isn’t quite what I thought our lives would be like after we got married.”

I apologize, “Sorry about this. I never dreamed the towelheads would still be after me.”

Jens giggles and says, “Ben, that’s not what I meant! I don’t care about the towelheads being after us as long as they never catch us. I just thought we would settle down in the cabin and lead a peaceful life.”

I use my hands to indicate the TSIFFTS trailer and remark, “Jens, right now this is better than the cabin.”

Jens seductively smiles at me and says, “Are you ever going to finish that drink and come to bed?”

I finish the drink with one gulp and go to my wife...

Present – Stacy, Samantha and Inga – Out of the clinic

I’m thankful to be out of the nut house because if I had stayed much longer I would have gone crazy myself. I’m upset that the terrorists are after Ben and Samantha and that Bill doesn’t think we needed to do anything about it.

But now that I’m out that’s going to change. I have a private meeting with Bill and the first thing I bring up is, “Bill, it’s not acceptable that the terrorists attacked Samantha and Ben and we aren’t doing anything about it.”

Bill replies, “Ms. Summers, it was felt the attack on Ms. Stevens was supposed to be a diversion to distract everyone from the real attack on Ben Blaine. So, I didn’t feel it was necessary to react further to the attack on Ms. Stevens.”

I order, “Bill, that’s just not acceptable to me. They could have destroyed the brewery and killed some of the people that live in Leadville. This is our new home and we need to take care of this home. I want you to figure out a way to watch for any possible terrorists arriving in Leadville.”

Bill thought for a few moments and suggested, “Ms. Summers, we could connect some video cameras to the city WIFI system and hand control of them over to the Sheriff.”

I ask, “How is the WIFI project going?”

Bill says, “Great! We were going to roll it out while you were in the hospital, but decided to wait until you were released. Now that you’re out we can roll it out anytime.”

I ask, “How much longer will it take to add the cameras to the WIFI system?

Bill answers, “A couple days, but we should probably get the City Council’s okay first.”

After his suggestion I respond, “How is our relationship with the City Council?”

Bill smiles and says, “It couldn’t be better and I’m sure they will okay this addition - especially since we’re giving it to the Sheriff Department to operate.”

I continue, “And how is our relationship with the Sheriff?”

Bill frowns a bit, “Ms. Summers, when you fired at Ben you really upset Jim the Sheriff since they were best friends in High School. I’ve been working to smooth things over with him and the camera system might really help.”

Samantha knocks on the door so I look at Bill and say, “Well, you have some work to do.”

Samantha walks in, smiles and says, “I wondered where my BFF was. Did I interrupt something?”

Bill answers, “No Ms. Stevens, we were just finishing...”

I ask Stacy, “How are you feeling today?”

Stacy smiles and responds, “I feel great and it’s good to sleep in my own bed again. The stupid mattress in the hospital squeaked every time I rolled over so it was hard to relax.”

I suggest, “If you’re hungry, we could head to your new restaurant and get something to eat.”

Stacy asks, “Are they open for breakfast?”

I smile at Stacy and remark, “They are for us.”

We walk to the restaurant and find Inga is there cleaning the tables. She sees us walk in and quickly comes over, hugs Stacy and says...

I see Stacy and Samantha come into the restaurant and decide I need to thank Stacy for my job. I walk over, hug her and say, “I want to thank you for letting me open this restaurant.”

Stacy smiles at me and says, “I should be thanking you. From all I’ve heard, the chef has never been happier and the people of Leadville love it.”

I ask them, “What would you like for breakfast?”

Samantha replies, “How about a two egg western omelet?”

Stacy agrees, “That sounds good to me.”

I head back to the kitchen and give the chef the order. He smiles and says with his slight French accent, “It is good to have Stacy back since there are some things I would like to discuss with her.”

I smile at the chef and reply, “Henri, we’ve talked about these things. Why don’t you concentrate on the cooking while I discuss them with Stacy?”

I head out of the kitchen, grab the coffee pot on my way, walk over to Stacy and Samantha, turn over their cups and fill them with coffee. Then I ask, “Might I sit and talk with the both of you?”

Stacy says, “Sure, I’d like to talk with you so please join us.”

I sit at the table, pour myself a cup of coffee, look at Stacy and request, “Henri and I have been thinking about expanding the restaurant.”

Stacy asks, “Inga, what plans have you and Henri discussed?”

I smile and reply, “Well, we’d like to expand the restaurant space, be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and also increase the number of items that we offer.”

Stacy looks at me and asks, “How are the current financials for the restaurant?”

I knew she would ask that so I said, “Let me go and get them.”

I walk back into the kitchen where Henri announces their order and then asks, “Their omelets are done, how are things going with the discussion?”

I smile at Henri and say, “Stacy asked to see the financials which I have right here.”

I pick up the financials with the omelets and head back to the table. I serve the food and the slide the financials toward Stacy. She says, “I will look at them after I enjoy this wonderful omelet. The food in the nut house was terrible!”

Samantha adds as she continues to eat, “I personally think it would be a great idea to expand the restaurant. It’s a waste of Henri’s talents to cook just for us so much of the time.”

Stacy finishes her omelet and says, “Okay, let me see the financials.”

I slide the financials in front of her, she smiles and then comments, “You guys are making huge money on this restaurant. Do you have any projections of cost to implement your new plan?”

I reply, “It’s at the back of the documents.”

Stacy flips to the last pages, looks at them and says, “So you will need to hire three other employees as kitchen help?”

I smile and answer, “Yes. Henri says if we’re careful with the menu he can handle it with three others in the kitchen.”

Stacy surprises me when she says, “Inga, you didn’t figure the cost of the three new employees correctly since we have a standard benefits plan that all employees get. Not only that, you didn’t include yourself in this financial projection. Please don’t tell me you want to work for free.”

I stutter, “No ... no ... no. I would prefer not to work for free, but I have been making enough money on tips to survive.”

Stacy looks at me and states, “I hope you’ve kept good track of your tips because they will need to be reported as income.”

I frown and reply, “Stacy, sorry I didn’t do that yet, but I will from now on. So how do you like the plan?”

Stacy looks at the financial information and advises, “Inga, I think it’s a great idea but I want to think on it for a couple days first and have my accountants look at it. You do realize that most restaurants fail in the first three years don’t you? Right now this restaurant is flying high because it’s new in town, but what are your plans after it’s been open for a few months?”

I smile at Stacy and reply, “I did think about that and I was planning on doing some advertising in Denver and of course talking with the local hotels to see about doing romantic weekend getaways.”