Chapter 21: A Nice Evening

"You did? That's great!" Dave said, talking into the phone. "It looks like we'll be seeing more of each other then. I'm one of the producers." Dave paused, "Dinner? I'm sure that would be OK, the 5th? I think we'll be in Capri that afternoon. I know you have a place there... OK. Cool, see you then. Bye babe," He snapped his phone shut.

Jess was staring at Dave. "The lovely Miss Hilton wants to have dinner with you?" she asked.

"With us," Dave replied, "Assuming you guys want to go," he added. The girls excitedly nodded.

"You're going to be a producer, Dave?" asked Missy. "I didn't know you were in the film industry,"

"I've worked on a few films before, mostly on the soundtrack side, but Richard is one of my better friends, and he wanted me to help him with this film. I'm an executive producer, which means I have a little bit of influence on the creative side, but it mostly means that I'm footing the bill for some of the movie," replied Dave.

"Did you know I was in a movie once, Dave?" asked Missy.

"Really?" Jess asked, looking at Missy.

"Yeah, I was in Steel Magnolias, when I was about 8. I probably had about 30 seconds on film, I was one of the little girls in the town," said Missy.

"That's awesome," said Dave. "How did that happen?"

"My parents know a lot of Hollywood people and I guess my Daddy wanted his little girl to be on film," Missy said simply.

"What do you parents do, Missy?" Jess asked. Dave had met Missy's parents a number of times, but all he knew about the Davidsons was that they lived in Dana Point and that Missy's father was in real estate. He'd been to Missy's house before, and could easily tell that her family was wealthy, but didn't ask any questions; it wasn't in his nature. He figured if they wanted him to know, they would tell him.

"My dad is a real estate developer. I know he also does some work with other companies though; he's on the board of a few companies in Orange County." Missy replied. Her family wasn't one of Missy's favorite topics, but she was telling the truth. Phillip Davidson was on the board of directors of Taco Bell, Pacific Life, and First American, three of the largest companies that were based in Orange County. Missy had been sort of anonymous since she had come to UCI and although she still got some occasional questions about it, she was surprised that she'd never really talked about it with Dave and Jess.

"Missy, is it OK if I talked to your dad sometime?" asked Dave, "I want to ask him a few things about real estate, I'm working on a few things in Orange County,"

"Of course, Dave. I don't want you guys to get the wrong idea. I love my parents, and I would never want to feel like I was hiding anything, especially from you two, it's just throughout my life I was always 'Phillip Davidson's daughter' and not Missy, you know?" Missy said.

"Yeah totally, I can see how that would make it tough for you, especially as an only child," said Jess. "I don't know about you guys, but I think we should continue this conversation in our suite, I could use a drink,"

Everyone nodded and made our way into the hotel lobby. "Wow!" bubbled Jess, as we entered the lavishly appointed lobby. It really did look like we were entering a 18th century palace. The floor was marble, with double marble columns against the walls, flanking old master works, and tapestries of brilliant colors. The ceiling was oval, with large curved glass windows letting in natural light surrounding the oval overhead. The manager, Rene, quickly made his way over to us. "Sir, Madams, if you'll please follow me, I'll show you to the Presidential Suite. Your luggage has arrived and we've taken the liberty of putting your items away for you."

Dave was a step behind Rene, and Jess and Missy only a few steps behind as they entered one of the lavishly decorated elevators and made their way up to the top floor. The Presidential Suite was the largest in the hotel, and took up a large portion of the top floor, which was entirely composed of suites. It also featured a very private pool and fitness center. Rene opened the door to the suite, and we entered, quite impressed. The living room was large, and the décor was amazing. Colorful tapestries and lovely paintings covered the walls, and the floor was covered by thick carpeting. Dave kicked off his shoes and sank ankle deep into the rug. "Wow!" he said.

Jess walked over to one of the paintings, "Is this a Monet?" she quickly asked Rene, who nodded.

"Don't hesitate to let us know if there is anything at all we can provide," said Rene, who bowed deeply and left the suite. The three friends explored their suite, and found their belongings put away in three similar rooms, all complete with king-sized beds. Each room had its own décor, and the suite seemed marvelous. Jess found a bottle of 96 Dom on ice, with a card that informed her that it was compliments of the management, and she gratefully poured three flutes and passed them out. Dave said that he had made arrangements for them to dine at the restaurant 'Chantecler' in the hotel the following day, but that tonight he figured they should just wander and find something to eat and check out the nightlife. Dave didn't have any lines on clubs in Nice so it was time to explore. The girls found this a welcome change, and hurried into their rooms to change.

Dave explored the layout of his room and found most of his clothes hanging in the large armoire that dominated the left side of his bedroom. He quickly selected some linen pants and blue/white striped polo for his attire of the evening, and threw on some Sperry Topsiders. To complete the nautical theme, he selected a Rolex Submariner in stainless, and he was ready for an evening out.

Missy was similarly efficient in selecting a pink floral sundress, along with comfortable shoes, and she'd put her hair up in pigtails with a flower in her hair. She looked young but very pretty, and Dave said so, giving her a hug and soft kiss. Missy melted into his arms again, and they held their embrace for several minutes before they heard Jess clearing her throat from behind them. "Get a room, you two!" she said, smiling brightly as she made her entrance.

Jess was wearing a navy blue strappy tank top with short denim miniskirt and black leather boots that went to mid-thigh, and looked stunning. "Wow Jess!" Missy said, looking at her friend. Missy wished she was daring enough to wear something like that.

Jess smiled at Missy. "Your sundress is so cute, Missy!" With her hair in pigtails and the pink sundress she looked like she was about 13, and the overall effect was very endearing. "Shall we?" she said, and they padded out of the suite and onto the Promenade des Anglais. The promenade was packed with hotels and cafes, and the Bay of Angels directly across the street was calm and the reflection of the nearly full moon could be clearly seen.

Dave glanced over at Missy. She was looking in Dave's direction but her eyes were rather dreamy. "Missy, what do you feel like eating?" he asked.

Missy shrugged, "Whatever, I'm not in the mood for anything really heavy though," Jess echoed this sentiment and they stopped in front of a charming looking Italian café that featured pizza. Dave escorted the ladies to a nice table on the patio with a view of the sea, and the server brought menus for the trio. After some study, they decided on a pizza with smoked salmon and spinach, and a bottle of the house chianti, and they sat looking at the setting sun while waiting for their food.

"So, what's the plan for tomorrow, Dave?" asked Jess, leaning forward in her seat.

"Well, I figured we could do our workout, then hit the beach, then maybe do some tourist stuff and shopping before dinner, then go out. The concierge told me a place called "Before" was supposed to be pretty cool, more upscale so our attire from dinner should work well," replied Dave.

The girls' eyes lit up at the word shopping, and Dave could see his sister's mind working overtime. Not only was she pondering a night out, but also an afternoon of shopping! "That sounds like a plan, Dave!" Jess said, brightly.

The pizza arrived, and they dug in. Jess hadn't had too much experience with old-world pizzas and was intrigued by the very thin, cracker like crust, and different style of cheeses. The saltiness of the smoked salmon went well with the mild spinach and the dryness of the crust. The house wine went quite well with the pizza. They sat, eating contentedly for a while. They were just getting ready to push their chairs back from a nice meal when Missy's phone rang.

"Hello? Oh hi Dad!" Missy was happy to talk to her dad, as she hadn't chatted with him in some time.

"Hi sweetie, how is Europe?" asked Phillip.

"Great so far! I've seen a lot of fabulous places and met a lot of nice people. We're in Nice at the moment," replied Missy.

"France huh? Where have you been so far?"

"Well, we started out in London, then went to Ibiza for a few days, took the ferry up to Barcelona, and drove here today. So far it's been a really nice trip. We've been lucky and gotten great weather too!"

"That's great! Your mother and I are coming to Europe as usual next month. Where will you be in July?"

"We were planning on being in Italy for the beginning of the month, then at some point going to Switzerland before going to the Greek Isles for a bit. Dave mentioned that we'd go back to London then driving through Paris on our way to Central Europe," replied Missy.