The bar at the Hilton was nearly deserted when Dan and Ellen arrived a few minutes after eleven. Dan led Ellen over to a table near the corner where they could talk without being overheard. The waiter came over and took their orders. Dan went with a coffee while Ellen ordered a gin and tonic. Once they were alone, Dan said, "I was rather surprised to see you at the restaurant. Are you here on business?"
"Not really. I thought I would come by and see how you were doing," Ellen answered. She was still reeling from the impact of the painting she had seen.
"You're kidding," Dan said.
"Not at all. I really enjoyed our conversations in Las Vegas," she replied. Now that the moment had come to tell him what she wanted, she suddenly felt very unsure of herself.
"I enjoyed them as well," Dan said. After a moment of silence, he said, "You remind me of my friend, Tom. He's one of the smartest people that I know. He and I used to talk about all kinds of subjects. You're smart like him."
Smiling at the compliment, she asked, "What kinds of things did you talk about?"
"Mostly, we talked about life. You know, what we wanted to accomplish with our lives. He was the one who gave me the idea about opening a pizzeria," Dan answered.
"Tell me why you are so focused on opening a pizzeria," Ellen asked.
"When I graduated high school, my future looked pretty bleak. There was no way for me to go to college and you don't have much of a chance of succeeding in this world without a college degree. I was pretty sure that I would end up in construction or something else like that. I wasn't very happy with the choices that I believed I had," Dan said. The waiter came over with the drinks interrupting the conversation. It took a minute for the man to set the drinks on the table. Dan paid for the drinks somewhat amazed at how much it cost.
While Dan was dealing with the waiter, Ellen was wondering why Dan felt that there was no way for him to go to college. He definitely seemed smart enough. Even if his parents were poor, he worked hard enough to pay his own way through the state college system. Once the waiter left, Ellen said, "So you weren't happy with the choices you had."
"That's right. Right after I got out of high school, Tom gave me three articles to read. I read them even though I have difficulty reading. Those articles changed my life. They helped me understand the world around me. They helped me define what I wanted out of life. They identified how I could take control of my life. All of a sudden I realized that I had more choices than I had ever thought possible."
Ellen interrupted and said, "I have two questions. Why do you have difficulty reading? What were those articles that they had such an effect on you?"
"I have Dyslexia," Dan said feeling embarrassed.
"Ah, I know all about Dyslexia. Let me guess. They didn't diagnose it early enough," Ellen said.
"Right," Dan answered feeling relieved that she didn't require an explanation about it.
"I had a classmate with a mild form of Dyslexia in college. He told me that he had to memorize words rather than sound them out phonetically," Ellen said.
"Oh," Dan said. He shrugged his shoulders and said, "They didn't catch it early enough. For years they tried to teach me to read phonetically and now I fall into that habit when I don't recognize words."
"I swear our school systems are a disgrace," Ellen said with more than a little anger in her voice. She took a sip of her drink and then said, "Tell me about the articles."
"There were three of them. The first was titled, 'The Facts of Life.' I know what you are thinking. Everyone thinks that it is about sex. It wasn't about sex. It presented ten facts about living that are true no matter who you are or what you do. I mean, they are the real facts of life," Dan said.
"Give me an example," Ellen said.
"Life is not fair," Dan said.
Laughing, Ellen said, "Everyone knows that."
"I know, but not everyone believes it. There are a lot of people who live their lives thinking that life should be fair. They complain that it isn't fair rather than accepting it as a fact of life. They never let go of it," Dan said.
Frowning, Ellen said, "I hadn't thought about it that way. Give me another example."
"No one is exempt from death," Dan said.
That was a little too depressing to think about. Ellen said, "That's true. Give me one that would really surprise me."
"You are responsible for your own happiness," Dan said.
"Now that one is a little more surprising. I'm sure that you could write an entire book on that one," Ellen said.
Dan smiled at her comment and said, "That was the second article, 'The Pursuit of Happiness.' It made the argument that if you are responsible for your own happiness then you have to know what happiness means for you."
"I can see where that would follow," Ellen said nodding her head thoughtfully. She had come there to have a little fun in bed, but the conversation was getting too interesting.
"I read the article very carefully. I sat down afterwards and wrote out a personal definition of happiness. I've been working on achieving that ever since," Dan said.
"So the pizzeria is what will make you happy?" Ellen asked with a frown.
"No. My definition of happiness describes the physical, social, emotional, and spiritual environments in which I can be happy. It defines a kind of lifestyle that will be satisfying to me. The pizzeria will provide some of the physical, social, and emotional environments that I want. It isn't that the pizzeria is my goal, but it is a means of achieving my goal," Dan answered. He didn't mention the sexual environment.
The conversation reminded Ellen of her days in college. She used sit around with her classmates talking about her goal in life. It was strange to think that once she had started pursuing it, that she had forgotten why she was pursuing it. She took another sip of her drink and said, "You know, it has been years since I thought about why I'm working as hard as I do."
Nodding his head, Dan said, "That was the point of the third article, "Taking Control of Your Life.'"
"What did it say?" Ellen asked. It was hard to believe that Dan was so young. It seemed to her that he understood things that old men still pondered.
"It was about setting ten personal goals that would give you a direction in life and allow you to balance your life. It described what constituted good goals, how to identify them, and how to use them. The basic idea is that if you know where you are going that it is a whole lot easier to make the decisions that will get you there," Dan answered.
"What are your goals?"
"I have to admit that I'm still working on defining some of those goals. I've got three finished so far and I've got drafts of four of them," Dan answered.
"What is taking you so long?"
Dan gave a weak smile and said, "I'm making decisions about the rest of my life. I think that I should take my time in making those decisions."
"You are a very wise man," Ellen said getting more impressed by the minute. He really reminded her of her father. Too bad there was such a large age difference between them.
Dan said, "I feel embarrassed. All we've done is talk about me. What about you? What do you want out of life?"
Ellen thought about his questions and how to answer them. Her answers were tied very much to her father and the company. She said, "You don't know who my father is, do you?"
"I like your father, but I know very little about him. In fact, I don't even know his name," Dan said.
Ellen laughed and said, "That was intentional. My family name is Derkins."
"Oh, like the restaurant," Dan said nodding his head thinking that would be easy enough to remember.
She smiled and said, "My father is Harold Derkins, founder of Derkins."
"Oh, so it is really like the restaurant," Dan said feeling a little stupid that he hadn't realized that immediately.
"When I was a kid, I used to work in the restaurant with my Dad, my Mom, and my two brothers. I loved it. I was just a little girl when I started busing tables. When I got a little older, I waited on tables and cooked in the kitchen. I liked having my whole family around me," she said.
"You want to continue in the family business," Dan said.
"That's right," Ellen replied nodding her head.
"You want to help it grow and become something even greater," Dan said thinking that they weren't all that different.
"My brothers aren't all that interested in the business. I want to be able to take it over one day when Daddy retires so that it doesn't become one of those corporate chains without a soul," Ellen said.
"That's a remarkable goal," Dan said. He took a sip of his coffee and then asked, "So what are your other nine goals?"
Surprised by the question, she answered, "I don't have any others."
Frowning, Dan said, "You should. Having a single goal will leave your life unbalanced."
"Why? It was good enough for my Daddy," Ellen asked feeling offended by his comment.
Seeing that she was upset, Dan said, "I think your father had more in mind than just starting and running a restaurant. I'm sure that one of his goals was to have a business of his own. You don't start a business just to earn a living. I'm sure that one of his goals was to provide for his family and to give you a standard of living that was better than average. You don't grow it into a chain without wanting that.
"I think that he had a goal to keep his family actively involved in his life. Actually, I'm sure of that. He included you and your brothers in the business. From the way you talk about it, it was a loving environment that he created for you right there in the middle of a business. That isn't easy to do and I'm sure that he had to work at it. It was clearly one of his goals.
"I think your father wants to help people. He spent time looking over my business plan. An important man like him didn't need to do that. He took the time to give me advice. I think you don't do that without wanting to leave the world a little better than you found it."
Seeing the shocked look on her face, Dan smiled at her across the table and said, "One of your father's goals is to help you be happy. I'm sure that he could have been in all kinds of business meetings that night in Las Vegas. For that matter, he could have gone down to the casino. Instead, he comes to the restaurant to have dinner with you and some busboy who worked in one of his restaurants. You are very important to him."
Ellen stared at Dan realizing that he understood her father better than she did. He understood her better than she understood herself. She said, "I think that you have the same goals as my Daddy."
Dan was silent for a minute as he considered her comment. Nodding his head, he said, "You might be right."
Ellen finished her drink without even tasting it and said, "I came here seeking one thing, but you gave me something much better. I should go now."
"I guess it is getting late," Dan said thinking that his hours were really out of sync with everyone else. He said, "I enjoyed the evening a lot. If you're ever in town again, please give me a call."
Dan stood up when Ellen got out of her chair. She went over to him and kissed him. It was much more than a friendly kiss. She said, "Thank you so much for a delightful evening."
"You're welcome," Dan said feeling the effects of the kiss.
Ellen walked into her father's office and looked around at all of the people in the room. She recognized the posture of people trying to beg favor from her father. He was watching them present their ideas with the slight frown. She was familiar with that expression and knew that he wouldn't mind an interruption. In a stern voice, she said, "I want everyone out of here, right now!"
Harold sat back in his chair watching the people leave his office. He was rather impressed with how quickly she had managed to clear the room. It wouldn't be a good idea to let her know that she could do that anytime she wanted. He crossed his arms and looked over at Ellen. With a slight chill in his voice, he asked, "Did you have a good time on your trip?"
"Yes," Ellen answered without flinching. She recognized what he was doing.
"Did you get him out of your system?"
Shaking her head, she said, "No."
"No?" Harold asked surprised by her answer. Most of her boyfriends didn't last more than one night. He unfolded his arms and leaned forward now that she had piqued his interest. Curious, he asked, "What happened?"
"We went to the home of an artist that he knows," she answered. She laughed as she remembered the evening and said, "It was really funny. The room was filled with women and he was the only guy there."
"Ah, so there was a bit of competition for his attention," Harold said. That always improved the value of a person's stock.
"Do you remember Aunt May's biker girl friend?"
Harold smiled as he remembered the woman. Now that was a woman with all of the subtlety of a bulldozer. He answered, "The one you were afraid of?"
"Yes. I swear that her twin sister was at that party. She cornered me and grilled me concerning my intentions towards Dan," Ellen said. Seeing the amused expression on her father's face, she added, "Every woman there was a lesbian or bisexual. The lesbians were watching out for him and the bisexuals were lusting after him. I've never seen anything like it."
"I take it that you didn't stay there long," Harold said. He couldn't imagine his daughter putting up with competition over her current boy toy for long.
"That's the weird part. I really had a great time there. We were the last to leave," Ellen said. Sue didn't want them to leave until Ann and Sally worked up enough courage to ask Dan to visit them.
"Okay," Harold said looking at Ellen. There was something different about her, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He said, "So let me get this straight. You went to an artist's house where you spent the evening surrounded by lesbians and had a great time."
"Yes," Ellen answered.
Shaking his head, Harold wondered if something more than that had happened. He said, "So I guess you never did get a chance to be alone with Dan."
"Wrong. After the party we went back to the hotel for drinks. We talked for half an hour, maybe a little more," Ellen said. She got quiet and stared across the room as she thought about the conversation. She said, "It was the most amazing half hour of my life."
"You talked and it was the most amazing half hour of your life?" Harold asked staring at her. He wished that he could have been a fly on the wall at that conversation. He said, "I have to know. What did you talk about?"
"I told him who you were," Ellen said.
"You what?" Harold asked. He was shocked that Ellen had told Dan who he was. Ellen's greatest fear was that a man would pretend to like her because of her money. She never let anyone know that information. It was one of his greatest worries as well. The idea that some ambitious man would marry her for all of the wrong reasons upset him.
Ellen said, "We were talking about life and stuff."
Harold raised an eyebrow. It seemed to him that Ellen was dancing around something important to her, but he had no idea what it was. She wasn't acting like her normal confident driven self. He said, "It sounds interesting, but how did that lead to you telling him who you are?"
"We were talking about what we wanted to get out of life. In order to make sense out of my goal in life, I told him about you. He said my life wasn't balanced because I only had one goal. I said that I was like you. That I was focused on one thing and that was our business," Ellen said.
"I don't understand why you would say that about me," Harold said feeling a little hurt by her characterization of him. It cast him in the role of a ruthless businessman.
"In hind sight, I don't know why I said that either," Ellen said. Dan's comments had led her to see her father in an entirely new light. She had always adored her father, but now he was a greater figure than before. She said, "He met you once, but he understands you better than I do and I've known you my whole life."
"What do you mean?"
Ellen said, "He said that you had a lot of goals in your life. He said that you started the restaurant because it was a way of achieving your real goals."
"He's right," Harold said very surprised that Dan recognized that. He hadn't realized that she hadn't known it. He would be lying if he said that it didn't bother her that she hadn't known that.
Faltering, Ellen said, "He said that you started the restaurant as a way to make a living. You grew it into a chain to provide us with a better than average standard of life. He said that you included us in the business so that you could be close to us. He said that you want to help people. He said that my happiness was an important goal to you."
"He said all that?"
"Yes."
Harold was quiet for a moment and then said, "He's a very perceptive young man."
"I know," Ellen said playing with her earring.
Looking at her, he noticed her tugging on her ear. The only time she did that was when something was really bothering her. He asked, "What's wrong?"
"I want to go back there," she answered getting to the real point of the discussion.
"So go back," Harold said wondering why she was making such a big production out making one little trip. He figured that she'd get Dan out of her system on this trip.
Ellen bit her lower lip and tugged on her earring. She said, "I want to stay there."
Harold stared at Ellen wondering what had happened to her. He barely recognized her based on the way she was acting. He asked, "How long?"
"A year; maybe more."
Wondering if the impossible had finally happened, he asked, "Are you in love with him?"
"No. I like him a lot, but I'm not in love with him," Ellen answered.
"Then why do you want to go there?"
Ellen looked down at the floor for a moment. In a very soft voice, she said, "I want him to teach me how to be a more complete person."
"How was the unveiling?" Diana asked looking across the breakfast table at her brother as he went over to the coffee pot.
"She's a great artist," Dan said turning red. He hoped that his family never saw that picture. He poured a cup of coffee.
"What's with the blush? Are you embarrassed about something?" Diana asked with a sly cat that ate the canary grin.
"I was a little more prominent in it than I thought I would be. I was supposed to be a prop," Dan answered. The man shown in the painting only bore a superficial resemblance to him. He sat down at the table across from Diana.
Diana waited for him to take a sip of his coffee before she said, "I thought that the way you were fondling her breast was particularly sexy."
Coffee sprayed across the breakfast table. Dan coughed and beat his chest. Barely able to talk, he asked, "You saw it?"
"Oh yes," Diana answered wiping off the table. She was laughing at the expression on his face.
Their mother entered the room and, after taking one look at Dan, asked, "What's the matter Dan? Your face is red."
"Your daughter just embarrassed me to death," Dan answered.
Waving a hand in a dismissive gesture, Diana said, "He's exaggerating. He's still alive."
Dan's mother laughed and asked, "What did you do?"
"I mentioned the painting that Sue did with him in it," Diana answered sweetly.
Dan took another sip of his coffee and sprayed it out again when his mother said, "I thought the way he was fondling her breast was particularly sexy."
As Dan coughed, Diana laughed and said, "Are you sure that he's old enough to be drinking coffee? He keeps spraying it all over the room."
Her mother looked at the cup in front of Diana and said, "He is, but you're not."
"Yes, I am," Diana said.
Satisfied that Diana was now the subject of discussion, Dan took another sip of his coffee. His mother said, "I assume that you'll be spending Saturday night with those two lovely ladies that were in the painting."
As Dan coughed, Diana said, "I told you. He keeps spraying coffee all over the room."
Dan woke up from his nightmare and looked around his bedroom. He sat on the edge of his bed and looked over at the clock. It was almost time for Diana to get home from school. Shaking his head, he said, "That was a horrible dream."
Dan left the office building with a splitting headache. This wasn't the kind of headache where one took some aspirin and felt better after twenty minutes. This was the kind of headache where one wanted to crawl into a dark quiet room and never leave. He could hear the blood pounding in his ears.
What he had thought would be a simple task had turned into a nightmare. At least his incorporation papers were going to be filed. He hated to think what it would have been like dealing with someone that Mr. Harrison hadn't recommended. He looked back at the door and said, "I hate lawyers."
Lazlo Zalezac