All people having sexual activity in this story are eighteen and over.
This chapter may be a little slow as it is putting in place the action that will happen in the following chapters. There will be ten chapters.
I came out of the spa and into the Bistro for a quick lunch. I messaged May and Liz to inform them of the funeral arrangements, Liz to inform her as I said I would. May, to let her know mum's reaction. Which I agreed with as she wasn't giving dad time to decide, I knew he wouldn't be there.
My phone beeped, I had a long informative message from Fay, it read, "Dear Barry, thanks so much for inviting me to the tasting, I thoroughly enjoyed it, Judy's wines are all from an excellent wine negociant in Burgundy who handles the grapes from some of the best plots in the region. Their table wine is the best I've ever tasted, I can't drink your current table wine. I've made a list up of the best producers in six different regions, including Champagne. If you give me your email address, I'll email it to you with all the contact numbers you'll need. Any interaction we may have, I'd prefer them to be private, most importantly discreet. My French is good, I'm also an excellent negotiator. If you'd like to know anything about my private life, please ask as I'd like to get to know you better. Regards Fay."
My reply was immediate to Fay, thanking her for her help, as the information would help me immensely. I also told her I'd love to get to know her better, but my time was limited with all the work I had to do to make my mark on the hotel. I told her I wasn't dating anyone at the moment. Discretion and honesty were important to me. I mentioned I'd love to know more about her private life, as I found her a very attractive, voluptuous woman. Finally, I suggested we message each other with the understanding anytime we could meet, we would do so.
I sent the message as I did, I received a new message from Fay, it read, "Barry, I forgot to mention in the email I can make a suggestion of a local haulage company who I've used for deliveries. Their prices are competitive with a three-day delivery, including Customs, from France. At the Burgundy company, you'll probably be ordering a container load from them, but please ask this company for a quote. If you need me for anything else, please let me know."
In the office, Jo and Jim, the Food and Beverage manager, were working on the new wine list. I was so happy when Jim told our wine stocks were low; we had enough for this weekend as we'd need to order on Friday to get delivery on Monday.
This got me thinking as I'd now printed out Fay's email with all the six regional best with links to their vineyards. Fay had also named their best wines, which would allow us to only order our wines on pallets.
We couldn't speak to France as we were an hour behind them. I took a chance and called the Transport company Fay had suggested.
It was answered on the third ring, I knew the name and the voice when the recipient said, "Gary Harper, how can I help you?"
"Is that Gary Harper who regularly takes weekend breaks at the Spa hotel?"
"It is indeed, who are you?"
"I'm Barry. You do not know how happy I'm talking to you."
"Barry, I'm so sorry about Tom, how can I help you? What do you need moved?"
I told him we were setting a wine company to import our wine. I explained I'd be ordering the wines tomorrow, hoping I'd have the wines next week.
I told him I'd need a container from Burgundy and pallet loads from another six regions. He told me he was so happy I was doing this as the wines we served let the Spa down.
I told him I'd emailed from my private email account to his company. He checked his email, telling me he deals with all these wine companies regularly.
If I could pay cash with order as a lot of the companies were waiting two months or more to get their money. He then suggested he would approach the companies, tell them he'd a new wine company as a customer who'd pay the invoice on order for a fifteen percent discount.
I told him that was a great idea, but I'd need to get my lawyer to set up a company, I needed time.
He told me I didn't need a lawyer. I could register online with a six-hour turnaround time with the Company name registered, tax number given I'd be in business.
He told me he'd send the emails to all the companies tonight asking for prices. He was sure he'd have prices first thing tomorrow morning. I was so grateful I told him I'd need to get a warehouse to store the wine. He laughed and said, "I can give you secure storage until you get your warehouse, I'll phone you tomorrow morning.