The Chauffeur(#11)..Making it Great Again (part two)

The Chauffeur, Making it Great Again (part two).

By: PABLO DIABLO

Copyright 2018

CHAPTER 1

As we all piled into the limos, our drivers already knew where to take the group. Jill and I believe that we have succeeded in surprising even our personal assistants, Tina and Dakota.

We are peppered with question.

“Where are we going?”

“What hotel is the restaurant located in?”

“It’s not the one from last night is it?”

“Is it Steak, Seafood, or a culture restaurant, like Japanese?”

“Who’s the Chef?”

I saw everyone holding their phones hoping that either Jill or myself would give a hint, so they could look it up. Occasionally, technology sucks it can ruin a surprise.

Everyone looks so elegant and regal. John, the one I was worried about was quite impressive looking. He told me while we were waiting to get into the limo, that his Mother got him this suit because I suggested that the guys needed a suit. I reminded him that he MUST buy Mom a present, non-negotiable. He agreed.

As we neared the Wynn, eyes bugged out. Diane’s crew were busily punching into their phones, using Google, trying to figure out what restaurant we were going to eat at. I began to tell the group, “This is the best buffet in all of Las Vegas.” Mouths fell open aghast.

“What the fuck?” John asked.

“What’s the matter John, you don’t think you should have to wear a suit to a buffet?” knowing full well that I had him completely snowed.

“Hell NO! Um, I mean, no sir.” John said correcting his language.

“Well John, not to worry, I wouldn’t have you dress all up in your Sunday best for a buffet. Heck why go to a buffet when Taco Bell is on the next corner.” I said with a huge smile. Even Jill couldn’t keep a straight face at this point.

Tina and Dakota were on to us. They smelled something fishy.

I looked at our assistants, they were stunning. Tina wore a full-length red gown with black stiletto heels. Her makeup was exquisite. Dakota, her counter part wore a long black dress with a low-cut neckline and highlighted with a beautiful diamond neckless. She also wore 9” stilettos. My mind was jumbled up. I am married to Jill, who owns my heart and soul but is pregnant with someone else’s child. I dated Tina, who clearly still has strong feelings for me. Then there is Dakota, who desperately wants me to father her baby, all with Jill’s approval. It dawns on me that without even trying I have ended up in the eye of a category 5 hurricane. The damage that Katrina laid upon New Orleans and the Gulf Coast towns would be nothing if I screw these relationships up.

We arrive at the Wynn. The driver adds to the joke, “Here we are sir. The best Pizza in all of Vegas just as you requested.” He was better at the straight face look.

John’s head spun around like it was on swivels. Tina whispered in his ear. He just smiled and didn’t say anything.

I held my hand out helping Jill out of the limo. I saw Roger doing the same thing for Donna and Marcus doing the same for Ronda. Dakota got out on her own and took my other arm, opposite Jill. Tina took hold of Jill’s free arm. Here we all were walking into the best restaurant I could find that would accommodate all the different palates that we had in the group.

Apparently, the two gay boys had some sort of falling out. One of the boys stepped over to Paula and put his arm out to escort her inside. The other boy waited for Amy to get out of the car, holding her hand as she got out. Then he extended his elbow for her to grasp.

Yes, our group of 14 was headed for SW Steakhouse, inside of the Wynn. The concierge met us and escorted all of us to the restaurant entrance. The concierge turned us over to Andre, the personal host. Andre was a tall good-looking guy, olive skin color and very well spoken, clearly well educated.

He asked if the entire party was present. I said yes. He asked about the missing two, the reservation was for 16. I explained that due to business they had to leave (basically I lied to him because I forgot to have the suite hostess change the reservation to 14).

I looked around at our group. Everyone was very happy with allot of whispering and pointing. Andre took us to our table. It was very nice to see all the gentlemen pulling out the chairs for the ladies. I pulled out a chair for Jill first, then Dakota, and finally Tina. Our table was a large round table, no head, no foot.

The wine sommelier approached our table. I asked Roger if he would do the honors of picking the proper wine for everyone to enjoy no matter what they ordered. The sommelier offered him several choices, he picked two. The gentleman was off to get everyone wine glasses and get a couple bottles of the first wine choice.

Our waiter appeared and introduced himself as Douglas…. NOT Doug he said.

I asked what he recommended as this was everyone’s first visit here. He made a couple of recommendations: the Sanuki Wagyu steak 4 oz. at $220 with each additional ounce at $55 per ounce. The second offering was Ohmi, Shiga Prefecture at $184 per 4 oz. with additional ounces at $46 per ounce. The second choice was essentially a strip steak using Wagyu beef.

There were also other options, a domestic Wagyu NY style strip steak at $98 per a 10 oz. steak. You can also add a Maine lobster to any entrée for $45. There were other options, but he pretty much sold the table on those options.

John and Diane got up and walked around the table to Jill and I. Diane started the conversation, “David, sir, you have been so generous, but you don’t need to spend this kind of money to buy us a steak. I mean, seriously, $220 for four ounces of steak? Seriously? That’s the same price that it costs to add an ounce.” John didn’t say anything, but he nodded in approval.

I leaned over and kissed Diane on the cheek, “Thank you for caring, but we’re fine…really. Think of this as a celebration. We are going to discuss how to get Jaxson’s Inc. back on track. I want to Make it Great Again! And everyone at this table will contribute.”

John did not miss the opportunity to kiss Tina, Jill, and Dakota before he walked hand in hand with Diane back to their seats.

The sommelier returned with 14 glasses and two open bottles. He poured a small taste for Roger to approve, which he did. He then proceeded to pour 14 glasses distributing them to the ladies first then the men.

I stood up and held my glass high.

“I would like to make a toast. This is to all our new friends and the fun we have had this weekend. I have found out much about each of you. From John’s favorite word to Amy’s ability to be a good assistant, to Diane’s brother Marcus who has really been smitten with Dr. Ronda, to our personal assistants Dakota and Tina. Let me go around the table. When I call your name please stand so everyone knows your position in Jaxson’s Inc. Let’s start with Roger Johnson, he is our new Director of Security for all our brands. Next is Donna, she is our new Director of our Call Centers. John, please stand. John has accepted an offer to work in our Pasadena call center. John stay standing, Diane if you and the rest of your crew would please stand. Diane’s crew along with John will be our committee to bring important issues to Jill and I. Dr. Ronda has accepted an offer from Jill to put together a medical group to help some of our employees get low-cost checkups and the such. Paula, we haven’t offered this to you yet, so we will now. We would like you to head up the limo team. We have acquired two limo companies and the need to move inventory and rearrange employees and sort customers’ needs a strong leader. Jill and I would like you to lead this project. Then there is Tina and Dakota the personal assistants of Jill and me. Whom we would be in a world of mess if it wasn’t for these two wonderful women. And of course, Jill my beautiful and gorgeous wife is the new Director of Financial Affairs. I am your host, David Greene the Director of Operations across all our brands. Here’s to a successful year, success in the budding relationships I see forming, success to our lives, and may the friendship we have begun here last a life time. To us!”

Everyone clinks their glasses saying, “To Us!”

CHAPTER 2

As the serving staff began arriving with the salad course, everyone was amazed at the salads, the size, and the home-made dressing options.

Paula got up from her seat to come see Jill and me.

“Jill, thank you for the offer. I’m not sure that I’m the one you really want to head this project. I mean I’m happy to do whatever you want, but are you sure that I will be the right one?” Paula asked.

“Paula, both David and I know how hard you worked at Happee, Happy Limo. You were well-liked by the staff, the customers, even that horrible boss Sasha. I never heard even one negative thing about you considering that you worked only a few seats away from the twin trouble.”

Paula stood silent.

I added, “Paula. You’re a beautiful woman who gets along with everyone. You’re conscientious, courteous, and efficient. Here’s what we would like to offer you. A base salary of $100,000. The usual full medical/dental/vision/hearing package. Plus, a bonus of ½ of 1% of all the limos net sales, with a cap at $250,000.”

Paula still stood silent.

“Paula…Paula…. Congress doesn’t take this long to decide. Do you need time to think about the offer?” I added.

“Yes.”

Jill asked, “Yes, you need more time?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Yes, I accept your offer. I was just stunned. I’ve never in my wildest dreams thought I would have the opportunity to make this type of money.” Paula said.

Jill reached up to her and pulled her down to give her a kiss on the cheek.

As we all sat there eating, Roger asked a question of the table, “Does anyone have someone that they know personally who has been in law enforcement or military. I’m only beginning to put together some names for potential staff. However, if you are willing to recommend them then they will move to the top of the pile.”

I was very impressed. He used a long-standing technique on finding great people.

Maybe the saying from that baseball movie with Kevin Costner, “If you build it, they will come” rings true here. Jill and I are building a team, a cabinet if you will to make Jaxson’s Inc. great again!

There was lots of discussion about the hotel chain, the restaurant chain, even the trucking/logistics company had some discussion. However, the limo companies got the lion-share of the discussion. I figure it was due to the number of people who worked at the limo company, Jill, Paula, Tina, and of course myself.

Donna suggested setting up special teams in the call centers to handle the customers vs. the clients. She suggested giving all the clients an id number. Her idea was that the clients would just present their id number and they would have all their preferences set up along with a charge card on file to pay for the limo ride.

Jill added a great idea that the finance company could issue a special credit card that would automatically debit a client’s bank account, that way the driver would get the same tip instead of having to handle large amounts of cash and thus keeping themselves under the radar of law enforcement. Roger agreed that it should keep it within the grey area of the law. He referenced the initial thought of Jill and I running drugs by finding the large amount of cash in her car at the accident. This would eliminate any interest by law enforcement should anything happen, such as an accident.

Jill’s cell phone buzzed. She was getting a text message. It read: “Bought limo company in Vegas as you suggested. Bob’s brother was happy to unload it for about 8 cents on the dollar. They have 63 limos in the inventory. Talk next week. Mel”

Jill handed me the cell phone, smiling her beautiful smile. After reading it, I handed the phone to Dakota and Tina. They were both smiling.

As our entrees arrived, everyone agreed the food both looked and smelled delicious. Everyone ordered steaks. I whispered to Dakota that she was paying for the dinner. She looked stunned. I smiled, and she figured out that I was just teasing.

She leaned into me saying low enough so that only Jill and I heard, “You just wait until I get my hands on you.” She smiled. Jill smiled. I smiled. My cock was beginning to stir. Jill said to me, “Hun, why don’t you take Dakota to the second bedroom. That way you and her will have some alone time.” I sat there stunned.

“Darling, are you sure?” I asked.

“Absolutely. You’re always trying to please everyone else. Maybe if you show Dakota some personal attention, she’ll relax knowing that you are trying to give her what she wants from you. Besides, I’m pretty worn out already. This week has been go-go-go and next week doesn’t seem to be any less hectic.” Jill said to me.

My mind began to wander off from the table. I was dissecting what Jill had said to me.

Is she ok? Is her pregnancy starting to take its toll on her body? Does she think that Dakota needs alone time with me? Is Jill worried that I’m spreading myself to thin? What about Tina, how would she feel if Dakota held my baby inside of her? My mind was swirling around and around.

Tina came over to me and whispered in my ear, “Would you mind if I spent the night with Roger and Donna? They asked me to join them, but I wanted to ask your permission first.”

“Tina, you don’t need to ask my permission. Go! Go have a great night. I think personally that Roger may have a small crush on you.” I said to her.

“That would be great. I have a big crush on him.”

“Just be careful. I have no idea on how much Donna fits into this equation, be it a weekend thing or something more. Please, please be careful.” I cautioned her.

She agreed and padded off.

Diane came over next. She also was asking for the night off. She wanted to see if this ‘what-ever-it-is’ with John could develop into something. I wished her well and told her that I favored him and to take good care of him tonight. She agreed.

Ronda was the last one to come over. She came to see Jill. I heard them chat a bit about how gentlemanly he was with her. He opened doors, pulled out chairs, ran and got things for her, he even surprised her with a small bunch of roses. She had no idea of how he found the time to get them, but she had them none the less. Jill wished them the best and that there were no worries about missing tonight.

As I looked around the table, the two guys I thought were ‘the gay boys’ turned out to be bisexual. The taller one, Derrick was intently listening to Paula. They were leaning into each other, talking, giggling, even rubbing each other’s thigh.

The shorter, stockier guy was sitting with Amy. They seemed to be getting along fine, but it didn’t seem to be any sort of sexual type of fine. It appeared to be more of a friendship.

Roger’s phone began to buzz as he was now receiving a text. He looked at his phone, got up and walked away from the table.

He was gone nearly a half hour. When he returned, he walked over to Jill and me showing us his text message: Call your Captain. Sasha made bail.

Those six words sent a shiver down my back. Jill’s face went from smiling to pensive.

Roger, Jill, and I discussed whether we should be worried or not. I asked if we should tell Tina. Roger suggested not to as she would be with Donna and him at least for tonight. He said that we will figure something out when we get back to LA.

That one text message put a real damper on what was an extraordinary evening.

As we were finishing our entrees, the wine sommelier came around filling glasses of any who wanted more. The wine that Roger had picked out was tasty, even though I rarely drink. I usually drink water, soda, and of course pineapple juice.

Our waiter came by directing us to the dessert menu. Everyone chose their favorite.

Jill and I really didn’t feel much like having dessert.

As I looked across the table, I saw Tina kissing Roger.