"Tonya, would you get me a cup of coffee please?" I asked as I walked in the door.
I sat down and opened my Day Planner and began thumbing through my contacts. Finding the one I was looking for I dialed his number.
"Hello" said the voice on the other end.
"Tom, this is Samantha Taylor," I said. "How have you been?"
"Samantha, it's nice to hear from you. What can I do for you?"
"I need to know what warehousing is available in the Foreign Trade Zone. How soon can you get me that information?"
"I'll have to put some time into it, tomorrow morning probably. Is that soon enough?" he asked.
"Tomorrow will be fine, thank you." I replied.
The private line on my phone rang and I picked it up, wondering who would be calling me this early.
"Hello," I said.
"Good morning Sam, it's Bob Eyestone. I wanted to let you know that I have a ship arriving from Australia in 8 days. Can you have the FTZ warehouse set up by then?"
"Eight days is pretty quick. I won't be able to answer you until tomorrow at the soonest." I responded. "Will that do?"
"It will have to do. Remember, you have a vested interest in making this happen. I'm paying you your cost plus 5% for the first year."
"I know, and I'll do my best. What kind of square footage will I need?" I asked.
"Not that much for starters, I only have 4 containers on this shipment, but I have another ship leaving Australia tomorrow with 6 containers. I expect the max containers per ship to be about 8, but the frequency of ships will likely increase. You'll need to empty that warehouse as quickly as you can. Will you have enough trucks?"
"I'll handle the loads one way or another," I responded.
"I'll call you tomorrow," and I hung up.
"Tonya, call Jesse and tell him I want to see him," I said.
A few minutes later Jesse arrived from the warehouse.
"Jesse, our business with Australian Beverage is going to explode. I'm going to need 2 trucks next week and 2 more a week later. Can you arrange that?"
"I'll get on it right away miss Taylor," Jesse replied as he hurried out the door.
This next week is going to be very busy, I thought. I don't want to fail at this. The business opportunity is enormous, and my client is a hunk. Funny that I think of him as a hunk when he's obviously very smart. I better not let myself get distracted with thoughts of him; I have too much to do.
A week later, with all the pieces in place I decided to call Bob and give him an update.
"Hello?" Bob answered his phone.
"Hi Bob, its Sam. I just wanted to let you know that I have space in a warehouse large enough to handle our immediate needs, with an option to increase it with a month's notice. I also have additional trucks lined up, so I think we are set to handle the business for the immediate future. I believe you have a ship arriving tomorrow. That will be the first load going into the FTZ."
"Excellent Sam," he said. "I have another proposal for you. Care to meet me for lunch?"
"Lunch I can do, but I can't make it all the way to Century City." I said.
"I'm sure you are familiar with The Reef in Long Beach," he said, "Can you meet me there at 1:00?"
"1:00 it is," I said.
The reef is a very nice restaurant on the water right next to the Queen Mary that I had frequented many times. I loved the location on the main channel where I can watch the large ships entering and leaving Long Beach Harbor.
As I pulled my Lexus into the parking lot I saw Bob getting out of an older model Land Rover.
"Nice car," he said as we walked toward the entrance.
"I like it," I said.
Once again Bob had a file with him.
We were seated on an upper deck overlooking the channel. Lunch was a repeat of dinner the week before. I sat next to him as he showed me his numbers.
"As you can see, our orders from the Eastern part of the U.S. are increasing at a pace that I think will soon justify a distribution center somewhere east of the Mississippi. I'd like you to handle that for me. Same deal as before, cost plus 5%," he said.
"I need to put some more work into this analysis before I can be sure, but right now I'm leaning toward Chicago or Philadelphia. Do you think you can handle this?"
"I can handle the technical side of it, but I'm not sure I am comfortable fronting the money required to make all of this happen," I replied seriously. My heart told me this was a good bet, but my business mind told me not to brush caution aside. I trusted his intelligence and his business mind, but I was a little afraid that my attraction to him might influence my decision making.
"By the time you need to invest any money you will be seeing increasing cash inflows from our business. If that isn't enough for you to see that this is a good investment for you I can find someone else," he said, with a grin.
"What time frame are you looking at?" I asked.
"3 to 4 months, but that's a little flexible," he said. We need enough volume for the distribution center to be cost effective. Instead of dropping the containers at the warehouse, breaking them down and shipping from there by truck, we'll load them directly onto trains and ship them to the Eastern distribution center. We should be up to about 4 containers a week in 3 months. If my calculations are correct 3 containers a week should be about breakeven."
I was silent for a moment then told him I wanted a day to think it over.
Bob got up and walked over to the railing to watch the water traffic. After a few seconds I joined him, standing close enough that our arms were touching. We stood there in silence for a bit, and then he turned toward me and leaned against the rail. He was close to me, but no longer touching me. I turned and looked up at him briefly, then back at the water. He was so close that if I turned toward him our faces would be only inches apart. I could smell his aftershave and it was having an effect on me. It had always been my policy not to mix business with pleasure, but right now I really wanted to break that rule.
I looked at him again and he was looking past me, but his eyes turned to meet mine. He said nothing, but I could read his expression and I knew that this was no longer just business for him. The thought excited me. I turned toward him without moving back, and leaned against the rail. We looked at each other in silence for a few seconds, both knowing what the other was thinking.
Our lips met in a soft kiss, our eyes open and searching, reading the others reaction to the kiss. I saw awareness and sincerity in his eyes, and I closed my own as I kissed him back. My tongue parted his lips and the tips of your tongues met. We moved closer to each other and our bodies came into contact. His lips were sensuous and his body felt firm against mine.
Suddenly he pulled his head away and looked at me.
"You are a beautiful woman Sam, and intelligent. Why aren't you attached to someone?" he asked.
"I've been too busy running my company for any social life," I responded.
"My father didn't leave me with a strong company. He was in debt when he died, and it's taken me two years to become financially sound."
"Well," he said, "the next two years are going to make you rich."
"Why me?" I asked.
"Because you were in the right place at the right time. It's just your good fortune, but I'm beginning to think it's mine also."
He put his arm around my shoulders and directed me back to the table. He paid the bill and we walked out to the parking lot. As we parted I told him I would call him tomorrow and give him my answer about the eastern distribution center, but I already knew I was going to do it.
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