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Hunter Railways housed the entire building, and the credit union available to all employees had offices here too. So, I figured they must be here for a mortgage refi or something. But when they exited on the twelfth floor with me, I was confused.
“This is marketing,” I said off-handedly.
“Yes, we have a meeting with—” Kara said and was interrupted by Kyle Hunter’s administrative assistant.
“Welcome! I’m Delia. We spoke on the phone.” She had her hand out for an enthusiastic shake for both of them. “I see you’ve already met Jared.”
Kara’s eyes widened with a fair amount of embarrassment as she took a short breath. Then she smiled at me, and I swore I could have seen a star sparkle off her teeth. “Not quite,” she said.
Cole reached out his hand. “I’m Cole Swanson, and this is Kara Lin-Swanson.”
After I shook Cole’s hand, Kara reached out. “Kara plus Cole,” she said as if it were one word...as if it should ring a bell somehow if she put it that way.
“Well, nice to meet you.”
“You’re meeting with Kyle in the main conference room, J.P. I’ll take our guests over and see you there,” Delia said, ushering the two down the hall.
Ah, the social media gurus in all their glory. I had sweatshirts older than them. The idea made me laugh. One day I turned around and I was the old guy around this place. Kyle Hunter was just a cadet in military school when I started; the kid his father was so fond of bringing to work during holiday breaks. Now he’d taken daddy’s place as the chairman, and I might have a few sweatshirts older than him too. I mentally committed to adding another two miles on the treadmill, just to prove to myself forty-five was not prehistoric.
“Showtime!” Rick said, passing me in the hall on his way to the meeting. That fucker was gunning for my job, and I don’t even think he cared if I knew. Little weasel.
I grabbed my tablet and invited Janie to join me in there. I’d take all the backup I could get.
In the conference room, photos of our trains lined the walls alongside our most successful ad campaigns of the past. On five easels stood the storyboards Rick had put together depicting the vision we’d hashed out for the launch.
I sat down in the chair next to Rick just before Kyle came in. “Kara-plus-Cole” were perched across from us, looking picture-fucking-perfect.
“Thank you all for accommodating the meeting change, but it couldn’t be avoided,” Kyle said and took a seat at the head of the large table. Delia tells me she made the introductions already, so now that we’re all here, I’d like to cut to the chase.” He clapped his hands together, prompting the room into dramatic silence. “As you know, leisure travel via rail has been on the decline for decades. It’s one of the reasons we’ve been focusing on freight acquisitions. However, recent trends in Europe and Japan have been indicating a shift towards ultra-luxury trains as an exclusive experience. We should be at the forefront of that trend here in the US.” He grinned widely. “I’m happy to announce The Lux, Hunter Railways state of the art highspeed hotel in motion is completed ahead of schedule and ready for its maiden voyage.” He raised the shield on the widescreen display behind him.
Damn, even I had to admit the thing was a work of art.
“It’s truly going to revolutionize how we look at travel in this country. Most people spend three hours in an airport before they can even get on a plane, then even in first-class you’re stuck in a seat the entire trip. Discerning vacationers would rather travel on their own terms, with people they want to be with. Just look at how the luxury RV industry has taken off, and you can’t fit a glass-topped sauna in an RV.”
Kyle gestured to the attractive couple I’d been introduced to. “I’d like Kara and Cole, who I’m sure you recognize from, I don’t know, everywhere...to be our first passengers, and I’d like them to document the experience for their millions of followers.”
I frowned. What the fuck kind of leftfield surprise was this? “Okay, and when did you want to let me know about this?” I asked.
“I’m letting you know about it now. I ran into these two at an event last week, and I think it’s the perfect marriage for us.” He laughed and smiled at the couple. “No pun intended.”
Cole grinned, and the dimples on that guy should have been illegal. “No offense taken.”
“Traveling on The Lux is a lifestyle choice, choosing to celebrate the journey and not just the destination. It’s a romantic concept. I want it to be a sexy one too. The passengers for our prototype should be a who’s who list of tastemakers. Then once we have a whole fleet of these trains, we’ll be booked for months. Who better to show the world how special The Lux is than the most envied couple in the country?”
“I love it!” Kara chirped. She pressed her hands together in front of her lips and peeped sideways at Cole. I wondered if she had any clue about how adorable she looked right then. A second later, she relaxed back in her chair and swiped a lock of loose hair behind her ear in a cool, fluid motion that looked either practiced or masterful. Both, I supposed. Then she crossed her long legs, and I couldn’t help but admire the slit up the side of her skirt. “How long is the trip?”
“Two weeks, with eight stops.” He turned to his assistant. “Delia, would you hand out the itineraries?”
Delia sprang into action. I looked over the neatly typed flowchart. “So, eight stops, sometimes more than one in a day, with an attraction in each different city.”
“From the stations, a car will be waiting to take you to the best wineries, exclusive farm-to-table experiences, a small venue concert, a polo match perhaps, and some of our country's most amazing natural treasures all in one trip.”
Rick looked at me and then at his storyboards and then at Kyle. “I’ll get to work on a new suite of ads.”
“Not so fast,” Kyle said. “I want you to take the trip with them, to get a firsthand look at the experience yourself and help document Kara + Cole in real-time. We’re planning for embarkment thirty days from now.”
“Oh geez...” Rick said. “My wife is due to give birth next month. I can’t be out of town.”
“Oh! Congratulations!” Kara beamed. “I’m so happy for you.”
Cole cleared his throat. “We only have a narrow window between Fashion Week and Coachella. Unless you want to push this whole thing to November, but by then, it’s all holiday stuff.”
“No, I don’t want to wait that long.” Kyle turned his attention to me. “Normally, I wouldn’t ask a VP to step into such a hands-on project, but I need to have my marketing team represented. If Rick can’t go, I need you to make it happen.”
“Well, I think the timing is perfect,” Janie piped in. The comment was more about my divorce than my calendar. “Thirty days is plenty of time for me to move your schedule around and I’ll rope you in remotely, if necessary, on the more pressing matters.”
