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“As should the products of Elysian.”
“Exactly!” My reply excites him. I see his passion for his company is inspired by the beauty of this city.
“Get those ancient castle windows and frames Miss Banner.” He commands.
I click away, handing him the printout and he looks at them carefully. “First impressions are always refreshing.”
“Yeah, like first meetings.” Why do I keep saying stupid things! But now it has been said.
“Thank you, Miss Banner, we can now go back to the hotel. You have captured a lot of good detail. I hope you can share these with your team as well.”
“Of course, Mr. Knight. Do you mind if I capture a selfie of both of us with that beautifully lit castle behind us?”
“I would mind, Miss Banner, I don’t like to get my picture taken.”
“Just for the heck of it, you know what? I am just going to do it.” I take the liberty of pointing the camera at us, but the camera is so large and old-fashioned that I fumble with it.
“Give that to me Miss Banner,” he takes the camera from me, and then turns the camera around with his dexterous long fingers. He clicks to capture the both of us with the castle in the background.
I try not to be hurt but the contrast from the man in Hawaii and the man in Portugal is evident. The camera spits out a print and it is actually a pretty good picture, though he clearly looks like he is doing me a favor. The picture frame contains a smiling image of me andlet’s get it doneimage of him.
“Are you done looking at it? Miss Banner?”
“Yeah.” I hand it back to him.
“It’s pointless really because I am going to throw it in the trash can.”
I swallow my hurt and feel embarrassed about why this means so much to me.
I realize he doesn’t like his pictures to be taken and I don’t need to be a baby about it. We walk on the hilly road back to a main street which has a wonderful tram that allows us to hop on. I have never sat on a tram before and the world around me comes alive.
There are bars with beautiful sounds of traditional folk music, people sitting on roadside cafes drinking their wine, and most interesting are the sudden appearances of open-air plazas that are large squares just for walking around. These are filled with excited travelers and street performers. I am so mesmerized by these sights that I don’t even notice that we have reached the hotel.
“This is where we must get off Miss Banner.” He looks amused at how lost I am.
We get off the tram and standing in front of our hotel, I have this sudden urge to thank him.
“Mr. Knight, I want to thank you for hiring me and trusting me and bringing me along on this trip.”
He nods politely, “Good night, Miss Banner.”
THE TRIP TO ALENTEJO
BROOKE
Alentejo, Portugal
We are in the Alentejo region of Portugal which is a two-hour drive from the city of Lisbon. We were brought here in a large luxurious bus rented by Elysian. Ethan Knight was already here when we arrived at the village, situated in a beautiful oak forest. We have had a delicious breakfast and now we are touring the Oak forests from where the cork materials are harvested.
The whole design team is here along with other employees of Elysian. Ethan Knight stands before our group looking stunningly handsome in a white cotton shirt and light blue jeans. There is also an official cameraman to record the event for our company newsletter. Standing with him are two local farmers. Each farmer loosely holds a special rounded axe that is pointing downwards.
I cannot help but think about that moment back in Hawaii when Edith asked the handsome stranger (now our CEO, Ethan Knight) if he were an axe murderer!
Ethan Knight is clearly inspired.
“Well, I am glad to see our Design Team here in Alentejo. Some of you are wondering why we left Lisbon in the first place. I assure you there will be time to see Lisbon. For now, focus on this moment. We have hired a cameraman, so I strongly recommend you put your cameras away.”
Several hands go down and people start powering off their phones.
