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21
Chris Drew lived in Barrington, too, about two miles from Austin and his house was where all the brothers loved to congregate. As much as Austin loved his place, there was something about Chris’s house that always felt comfortable to him. Chris loved all sports and his house reflected that, he even had a putting green in his living room. His house was just fun, always buzzing with something going on whether it was a game on TV, cards with his buddies, or a pick-up basketball game in his driveway. It was where Austin preferred to hang out, and he also knew that when he had Chris alone, he could talk to him about anything.
"How the hell did you manage to get your ass on the plane to L.A. with Jane?” Chris asked as he pushed a beer toward his brother. “You planning on making a move on her?” He chuckled.
“I told you,” Austin said as he cracked open his beer, trying to act like it was no big deal. “Molly basically insisted I come. Besides, you and Dad want me to schmooze with clients, so consider this trip the ultimate in schmoozing.”
“Nobody does it better than you,” Chris said, holding up his beer to cheer with his brother. “I was just surprised to hear you were going. You think Molly’s got something else in mind?” he asked curiously, side-eyeing his brother. He had met Molly before and he knew she was the kind of girl his brother was normally attracted to.
“Molly?” Austin shot back with a laugh. “Oh, who knows with her? She’s a flirt. She’s always been that way, probably always will be.”
“Well,” Chris laughed, “takes one to know one.”
“Ha, ha,” Austin responded. “I will admit that she was pressing pretty hard when she was at The Oxford.”
“What do you mean?” Chris asked, looking over at his brother. It never ceased to amaze him how nonchalant his brother was about the attention he got from the opposite sex. As much as he knew that he and his brothers all looked alike, there was something special about Austin. He had some sort of power when it came to attracting women.
“I don’t know. I mean, you know I love to hang out with Molly. She’s fun to be with, and we always have a good time. She made it a little weird for Jane just before we started the sampling. It was clear she didn’t want Jane to be with us. It was really awkward, and I felt badly for Jane. It was clear that she wanted the sampling to be just for the two of us, and that Jane should make herself scarce.”
“What did she do? Kick Jane to the curb?” Chris said, concerned.
“Actually…” Austin replied, looking over at his brother. “She kind of did. I felt horrible about it. Jane put a ton of work into the sampling, the table settings, the decorations—the whole bit. I knew she expected to walk Molly through everything, and then Molly basically asked her to leave us alone.”
“Yikes,” Chris shot back. “That’s pretty savage and, sorry bro, but that says a lot about her as a person.”
“I know,” Austin agreed. “The whole thing took me aback.”
"How did Jane handle it?” Chris asked. He had liked Jane from the second he met her and knew that work was a top priority for her. “She is a professional, so I’m sure she didn't want to piss off Molly since she has the ability to send more clients our way.”
“I’ve got to hand it to Jane. She remained cool and professional, but she had to be furious and pissed off.”
“The wedding is in three weeks, right?” Chris asked, taking another sip of his beer and plopping himself down on one of his comfy couches.
“Less than that,” Austin nodded, “which is why going to L.A. needs to happen quickly. It is a total waste of time and money in my opinion. In fact, I don’t think the bride even requested this L.A. visit—I think it was all Molly’s doing. I think she convinced Kat she needed to do this.”
“You think she orchestrated this whole thing just to see you?” Chris joked. “Jesus, you think Molly will even let Jane go?”
“She’d better,” Austin added, “I don’t know how useful I would be there without her and besides, I think the bride really likes Jane.”
“Oh, I’m sure Molly could find something useful for you to do,” Chris joked.
“Calm down, big guy,” Austin shot back. “I don’t know, man, women are weird. I really do feel badly about what Molly did to Jane today. It wasn’t right, and I saw a side of Molly I’d never seen before.”
“And so what? You and Molly ended up having a private tasting without Jane?” Chris asked, shaking his head in disbelief.
“Yeah,” Austin replied, taking a sip of his beer.
“I don’t know, man,” Chris added. “That was really shitty. I know Jane can handle herself, and she deals with all kinds of bullshit. But that’s not the point.”
Austin looked over at his brother. “You know, you would never know she has only been with the company a short time.”
“Who? Jane?” Chris replied.
“Yeah,” Austin nodded, “She handles herself like she’s been here for years. She knows everyone. She’s good, real good. Dad was smart to hire her.”
“I know,” Chris said, looking at his brother with a knowing look. “She’s terrific, and she is exactly what we needed to upscale our events. This celebrity wedding is going to bring lots of attention to The Oxford. You know it, and I know it. These kinds of events will bring us new business with built-in marketing and PR. You just gotta promise me something...”
“What’s that?” Austin asked, wondering what Chris would say next.
