Free In Her Wildest Dreams by Farrah Rochon Page B

could choose what type of basketball setting they would like: a school gymnasium, an NBA regulation court, an inner-city playground. A person could pick the environment they were most comfortable playing in, and it would be as if they were there.
    He couldn’t take this on. He was a chocolatier now. He loved being a chocolatier, was beyond content with the way things were.
    “Give me some time to work with it,” Gavin heard himself say.
    “Really?” Dalton asked.
    No , that little voice told him. He was no longer a computer guy. He dealt in chocolates now. But Gavin nodded. “You’re meeting with the guys soon, right? Let me play around with it, see what I can do.”
    Dalton pumped his fist. “I knew you’d come through, man.”
    “I’m not saying I’m in one hundred percent,” Gavin warned him. “I just said I’ll take a look.”
    Dalton held his hands up. “That’s all I’m asking. Just give it a little of that Foster magic.”
    Gavin grimaced. There was that “magic” word again. Erica called the kitchen where he made his chocolates the “magic” room. He’d become a regular Merlin.
     
    ***
     
    Erica kept her eyes on the clock as she went over the final details with Steven Aristophonicholi for the Valentine’s Day experience she was creating for him and his girlfriend. He was the kind of client Erica adored. He gave her specific instructions on what he wanted, which took all of the guesswork out of the job and almost guaranteed a satisfied customer in the end. He also gave her a money-is-no-object budget. Oh, how she loved to hear those words.
    “I’ll have a preliminary itinerary ready by the end of the day, and once I have your approval, I’ll set all of this up,” she said. “You’ve taken great care in selecting the events for the night, but I want to know whether you’re okay with a little surprise being slipped in?”
    Earlier, in Your Wildest Dreams’ infancy stages, Erica would always incorporate a little something extra for the couple, but she’d learned that powerful men didn’t always like surprises, no matter how much their mates—or even they themselves—enjoyed them. After a couple of clients complained about being left in the dark, Erica started asking whether they were opposed to something special being thrown in. It took a little of the spontaneity away, but it was better than having unhappy clients.
    She ended the meeting with Mr. Aristophonicholi just a few minutes before her scheduled meeting with Hilton Banks of The Hawthorn Group. Erica had a few minutes to freshen up her makeup before she was back at her computer. The request to join the virtual conference call popped up on her screen at precisely 12:30 p.m. Erica answered the call and was surprised to see three people at a table, two men and one woman.
    “We wanted to go over the preliminaries and let you know exactly what we had in mind,” the woman, who had been introduced as Sheena Henderson, started.
    She went through what Erica could tell was a much repeated spiel about the different companies The Hawthorn Group had helped to launch. She then discussed how their consulting firm would develop a franchise concept, marketing and sales strategies, and an in-depth feasibility study for Your Wildest Dreams.
    “This is what we envision for your company,” the woman, whom Erica learned was one of the firm’s financial advisors, continued. A virtual sketch of a storefront with a whimsical logo done in turquoise, fuchsia, and zebra print popped up on the screen.
    “The way we see it, someone can walk into a location of Your Wildest Dreams and order a package for any occasion: birthday, anniversary, Valentine’s Day, Christmas, graduation.”
    An uncomfortable weight settled in Erica’s stomach. “When you say packages, it almost sounds as if there will be a menu that someone can just point to and say, I want the “Over the Hill” Fortieth Birthday Package.”
    “That’s exactly what I’m saying,”