Page 18 of Irresistible

Chapter 9

Richard let Scarlet drive them to the restaurant, as he did not have a car in the area. He was taking cabs to and from the branch every morning and evening. Cody was driving him around before he left, so Scarlet supposed the duty would have fallen to her in an emergency. She also suspected that Richard was used to a much higher class of car than the ten year-old sedan she drove. But if he took exception, he certainly didn’t show it. The two made small talk on the way to Café Hilario, a local coffee shop that everyone in town seemed to frequent. None of the big chains really took root in Mainsport. The people were dedicated to their local businesses. Some chains tried to open up shop, but they always seemed to close within six months at most. Everyone knew each other, and they all knew that they didn’t want to put small business owners out of a job just because somebody came by and offered slightly lower prices. In any event, the product was almost always worse.

Café Hilario was no exception. They had the best dark roast in town, and everyone stopped by to say hello to the owner. Roberto was one of Charlie’s best friends. The two served together in the Korean War, then came back to their hometown and started businesses. It was the kind of story you didn’t hear much anymore. Every time Scarlet came into Café Hilario, Roberto always asked how Charlie was doing. Charlie did the same almost every time Scarlet stopped by the restaurant. Of course, the two saw each other weekly at their poker game, so the question was not entirely necessary. In any event, their bond was nearly unbreakable.

“Scarlet! It’s so good to see you. How’s Charlie?” Roberto called out, completely ignoring Richard.

“Roberto! Good! I just saw him a couple days ago. He and Rebecca seemed great! How have you been doing? I know I haven’t been by in a couple weeks,” Scarlet responded. She was so drawn into her routine that she didn’t even think of introducing Richard.

“I’m doing well. Christie’s at a doctor’s appointment, but I’ll tell her you stopped by,” Roberto said, referencing his wife of forty-one years.

“Please do. I miss her,” Scarlet said, turning to look at Richard. “Oh. Right! Roberto, this is Richard Grant. He’s the CEO of Local Citizens Bank. He’s here for the next week or so to take care of a few issues with the branch. Nothing terrible, but apparently there’s an accounting issue that will take a while to fix.”

Roberto stopped and adjusted his thick glasses to take a better look at Richard.

“You’re the CEO?” he asked.

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, it’s an honor to meet you! What can I get you? It’s on the house, of course. My wife and I use your bank for both our personal and business accounts. You guys have always had fantastic customer service. Thanks for doing what you do,” Roberto gushed.

Roberto was, of course, the same man who railed against the entire banking industry any time he heard about its misdeeds on the evening news. Even he knew the importance of the man who stood in front of him. As soon as most people heard the three letters “CEO”, they stood at attention. Adding the prestige of Local Citizens to the mix made the situation that much more intimidating.

“Oh, no sir, I insist on paying. Thank you for the kind words. It’s great to see businesses like yours thriving. We need more of that spirit in the rest of this country. Too many giant chains are taking over where small businesses once thrived. Thank YOU for doing what you do,” Richard said, again sounding like a politician in the last days of an election cycle.

The two ordered their coffee and went to sit down at a small table in the back of the café. The lighting was exactly what you would want it to be in a chic café. It was dim, but had enough light so that everyone at a table could see each other clearly. Café Hilario had signature rainbow mugs that Roberto and Christie sculpted by hand. Richard admired the mugs as he sat down at the table.

“Wow, you just don’t see this kind of stuff anymore. What business owner makes mugs for their own restaurant these days?”

“Yeah. It’s pretty great,” Scarlet said, smiling. She was impatient to get down to business. She wanted to talk to Richard the way they had talked over lunch a couple of days earlier.

“We could really take a lesson from the small business owners in this town. It’s kind of hard with a bank, though. People see us as inherently corporate, well, because we are. But we can always still put a small-town touch on things, you know?”

“Yeah. I think we’ve done that as much as we can at our branch. I think it has more to do with the relationships you make with people in town than any sort of physical characteristics,” Scarlet explained.

Jim actually went to pretty great lengths to make friends with his customers. He knew almost everyone who came into his branch. Since he grew up in Mainsport, most people took an interest in him. Some customers were his parents’ friends or even people he went to high school with. Even though Local Citizens Bank, despite its name, was a pretty large bank in the region, the Mainsport branch definitely had a small-town vibe.

“I can tell,” Richard said, looking down into his mug.

“Anyway, enough about Mainsport. I think the last time we talked, we were talking about our upbringings. That’s the sort of conversation I want to get back to. I want that sort of friendship again,” Scarlet declared frankly. She was never one to mince words.

“As do I. I apologize for any sort of awkward feelings that arose between us. I suppose I overplayed my hand a little bit,” Richard said contritely.

“Overplayed your hand?”

“Well, after our fantastic conversation, I think I let my mind go to a weird place. If I’m being perfectly honest, I think I was wondering whether there was any sort of possibility for something deeper between us,” Richard said, still looking down into his mug. It wasn’t often that he was unable to make eye contact with the person he was talking to.

“I think I wanted that, too. But I’ve been hurt so much in the past, that I’m afraid to even let a deep friendship develop these days,” Scarlet said. She knew she was wading into risky territory here.

“I’m glad to hear you say that you wanted that. Honestly, you’re probably easier to talk to than anyone else I know. It would be very difficult for me to let a connection like that go,” Richard said, clearly emboldened by Scarlet’s response.

“Let’s continue where we left off, then?” Scarlet asked.

“Absolutely. Let’s pretend like nothing happened and just carry on as usual,” Richard confirmed.

“You know, I have to say that this all happened really quickly. Don’t you agree? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m really glad that we’ve been able to get so close. But this sort of thing isn’t really typical,” Scarlet said, broaching one of the many concerns that had been lingering at the back of her mind.

“I guess they say you know the real thing at first sight,” Richard said.