Chapter 5: Quiet Night of Quiet Stars...

After they were seated, Charlie and Sid ordered drinks, and Charlie (after asking Sid if it was alright for him to make the decision) ordered a Paso Robles blended red wine to have with dinner.

“You know, this is not a date. We are just two people who are working together having dinner because we were hungry. Right?”

Sid almost laughed, “Yes, Charlie. As your client I know that we can’t date or have a relationship with each other. But, because I asked YOU to join me, I will pay for dinner.”

“No, you are the client, so I’m paying for dinner. It’s a marketing expense.”

“No. If I can’t pay for dinner, then neither can you. We’ll go ‘Dutch’,” Sid insisted, laughing at pushing Charlie into a corner.

Charlie sighed, “Okay. THIS time. But in the future, we will decide who pays before we show up at the restaurant.”

That seemed to satisfy him

“Sid, I meant to ask, what’s with the Mustang? It is a pretty nice car and seems to have a lot of power.”

“Oh, it belongs to Cat, our drummer. She let me borrow it tonight.”

“Now my turn to ask a question: what is with that house of yours? It’s like a castle!”

Charlie’s face brightened up at the mention of his house, and after they had ordered their dinners, he began telling Sid about the house/studio, which was his pride and joy.

The house was in Hidden Valley, on the road past Lake Sherwood, and past the entrance to the Lake Sherwood Country Club and Golf Course. It was a well-known course that regularly hosted professional events. In addition, it was surrounded with very pricy houses with famous actors, athletes and highly paid executives living there.

But Charlie’s house was about a mile further on, on a large piece of land, and had at one time been a convent. When the numbers of Sisters of the order had diminished (as was happening to many of the orders) to a certain point, it was decided to move the remaining Sisters and to consolidate them with another order, this one located in the mid-west.

Charlie and his dad, who was a lawyer and also did land development and custom home building in nearby Westlake Village, heard about the Order thinking about selling the convent from the local Priest after Mass one day. They followed up, and in the end made a fair offer that allowed the Order a good price, but without a lot of the expenses of going through a regular real estate broker. Everyone was happy.

But what do you do with a somewhat run-down building (maintenance had been neglected due to the constant money problems in the Diocese) and was made up of a lot of small cells, chapels, and offices? The gardens were in great shape because the Sisters took care of those themselves, but they were mostly food and herbs for the Sister’s kitchen.

On the other hand, Charlie’s mom and dad, whose house was high in the hills overlooking Westlake, were ecstatic at the thought of getting Charlie out of their house (including his studio, that took up a LOT of space, ) and into his own place. Charlie was already successful, with multiple Grammy’s to his name, could afford to buy the place from his dad, so they made a deal.

Charlie’s tale of his house was disturbed by the arrival of their appetizers. When they had finished the first course, the wine arrived and was poured.

Charlie continued, “We decided, under a certain amount of pressure from the county, to keep the façade of the building much as it was on the two lower floors. We pretty much tore the insides down to the bare walls. While everything was exposed, we revamped the electrical and plumbing.

“On the top floor we installed floor to ceiling windows above the roofline and made that the viewing room. We can see our own gardens in the front and the horse ranch across the street. But in the back, we set up my studio. It is where your band and I will work until we are ready to bring in the musicians for the final production.”

After that, they got their main entrees and they spent the rest of the time eating, including sharing a dessert.

They drove back to Charlie’s house feeling satisfied and mellow.

When they arrived Charlie asked, “Would you like to come in and see the house?”

“Sure, I’d love to!” Sid replied, relieved that she didn’t have to find some excuse to invite herself in.

They walked in through the garden but because it was getting dark, Sid mentioned that she would like to see it in the daylight some time.

“You should. We can take some time during the day when your band is here.” Charlie agreed.

They entered through a smaller door cut in the two large, dark wooden doors, rounded at the top, but probably nine feet tall.

“We had the windows put into the top part of the doors, but otherwise, these are original from the convent.”

As they came in, Sid could see that the ceilings were tall, like 15 feet tall. To the right, where, according to Charlie, the chapel had been, was a large area of common space — the living room, dining room, and a newly refurbished kitchen with a large island separating that space from the others. Sid loved the layout and the brushed nickel appliances. There was a small room off to the side that Charlie told her was the pantry.

To the left, Charlie explained, was a set of glass doors and windows, behind which was his business office.

On the left there was also a wide staircase, with Brazilian Cherry steps and banister that curved up to the second floor. Charlie took her up to the second floor, where, he explained, they had taken out some 20 small rooms where the Sisters slept, and replaced them with the master suite, four smaller bedrooms, two on either side of the hall, and a guest suite (a little smaller than the master) on the opposite side of the house.

Obviously, Charlie was very proud of his place. It had been remodeled as his ideal house/work space. He said as much to Sid. Sid thought she could get used to living in a place like this.