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“I don’t exactly make it easy for people to communicate with me,” I said. “It’s my fault too.”
“I appreciate that,” said Jamie. “I really do, Eric.”
She turned, and suddenly I felt like Jamie was about to go. And I realized that, as much as she annoyed me, as rude as she’d been despite the trouble and the worry she caused me, I kind of liked having her around.
“Hey,” I said. “Do me a favor.”
“What’s that?” she said.
“It, uh…it bums your dad out, that the two of us aren’t friends,” I said, scratching my hair and looking nonchalantly at the horizon. “Why don’t you have lunch with me? You can do one of your posts about it.”
“All right,” said Jamie
TheMarina Tavernwas a beautiful place, and since it was the first stop on our way back into town, I thought it would serve our purposes handsomely. But when I got to the door, I saw the look on the waiter’s face and realized I’d been recognized.
“Mr. Slade,” he said, as we approached the door. “I didn’t know you’d be joining us for lunch today.”
“Good afternoon,” I said politely. I looked inside. It was a fancy kind of place, with white tablecloths and silver service. Around us, the waiters moved with speed and precision, delivering beautiful plates of food to the tables and pouring glasses full of champagne. And everyone in there was wearing a suit and tie.
Except for me, of course. A sign hung over the desk which readGentlemen Must Wear Ties in the Dining Room.
But the waiter didn’t even seem to mind. “Please,” he said, “let me escort you up to the terrace. There are some beautiful views of the harbor today.”
On the roof garden, we were seated at a table, shaded by a few trees, looking out across the bay. It was a beautiful view, and as we sat together with our menus, Jamie looked at me.
“They recognized you by sight!” she said.
I grinned. “They probably heard I was in town. Or knew aboutThe San Diegocoming into the harbor.”
“Why is it called that?”
“Well, at the time I bought it, I was still missing California. I’d been stationed there for ten years or so, maybe more.”
“Stationed? You mean, you lived there.”
“Rarely for long. But sure, I guess you could say it was my home for a long time.”
“Were you often away in other parts of the world.”
I smiled and nodded. “Of course. I was a SEAL. We go all over the world.”
“And why this? Why did you want to work in rare metals?”
I sighed and crossed my arms. The waiter had appeared at our table with a bottle of champagne.
“Compliments of the house, Mr. Slade,” said the waiter and poured us both a glass.
“Well, isn’t that nice?” Jamie said.
“To being friends,” I said.
She blushed and raised her glass to me.
Was it just the alcohol, the hot weather, or the way Jamie’s story had pushed me back into the past? I began to feel a little more relaxed than I had been in a while. If I closed my eyes and let the sounds of the sea wash over me, it felt like I was on vacation.
“On leave, I went to South Africa once,” I said. “It was just a few days. But I visited a diamond mine. I saw the conditions of the place. Mining is incredibly dangerous, even today. And in most places where there are deposits of rare and precious metals, there aren’t safety regulations. I wanted to help change that, I guess. So instead of thinking about what products we could market, I thought about technology that would help us get these things out of the ground.”
“That’s incredible,” said Jamie. “I mean, I knew you were passionate about it. But I had no idea you focused the whole company on that.”
