Free The Heartbroker by Kate O'Keeffe Page B

wearing pointy elf ears with long cloaks, or re-enact violent battle scenes or something.”
    “No, I don’t do that,” he chuckles. “Definitely not. Although I am a big fan. I’ve read all of the books, seen all the movies, and I have to admit I put my hand up for this trip as I’ve been keen to visit New Zealand ever since I saw the first Lord of the Rings movie years ago. My buddy Chad, who was with me at the restaurant, travelled around with me. In fact, that’s why we left with Lu that night. She showed us a bar we’d heard the stars in the movies used to drink at.”
    “Oh, I see.” I know full well she would want to show him a lot more than some bar. “Where did you and Chad go on your travels?” I ask, thanking the waiter for my margarita as he put it on the table in front of me.
    “Well, before I came to Wellington to meet you I did the tour around Hobbiton in the North Island. They shot a lot of Middle Earth scenes there. I also went to Roto-ah—” he struggles with the name.
    “Rotorua? Where all the thermal activity is?”
    “Yes, that’s the one. With all the geysers, hot pools, and the boiling mud. It was all so amazing. Stinky, but amazing.”
    I laugh. Rotorua’s thermal activity makes the whole place smell a little like a rotten egg, but once you’ve been there for a while, you barely notice it.
    “And then before you got here I did a tour of all the sites they filmed around Queenstown. There are loads of scenes shot here for The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, as well as others, like The Narnia movies. It is such a beautiful place. You have no idea how lucky you are to live here.”
    Although I’ve enjoyed The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings movies, I wouldn’t call myself a big fan, and I can’t imagine ever taking a tour of the filming locations. But his enthusiasm is so cute, making him even more attractive: something I thought wasn’t humanly possible until this moment.
    Any second now I’m going to melt into my chair so I change to a neutral, non-melty subject. I choose a topic close to my heart: our potential partnership deal. “What do you think of our operation so far? I know you haven’t seen us in action yet, but you’ve had a chance to look through the material we provided and get to know us a little, right?”
    “Yes. I have. And I have to admit, Live It is one inspiring organization. You’ve got quite the business there, Brooke.”
    “Thank you. We think so too.” I swell with pride. It’s been hard work and years in the making, but I have to agree with Logan: we’ve built a fantastic little company. It’s up to him and You: Now to help us get to the next level.
    “Brad Stephenson is arriving in the morning. He works closely with our seminar leaders and is excited to meet you and attend the seminar.”
    “Yes, I’m looking forward to meeting Brad. I’ve only ever talked with him on the ’phone.”
    “Brad’s great. He’s been working for us for a few years now and has an amazing rapport with our attendees. He started out as a leader, but now is in a senior management role. He can’t help but get involved, though. I guess it’s in his blood.”
    Brad Stephenson is the final piece in the puzzle. If we get his thumbs up as well, our partnership deal is all but signed.
    “It all kicks off tomorrow afternoon?” he asks, draining his margarita and signalling to the waiter to bring us each another.
    “It does. The attendees are set to arrive at the venue at four and we start at four-thirty sharp. It’s important we stick to our schedule, I’m sure you’ll agree, as we have so much to get through. The Friday session runs until ten with a dinner break about half way through. I like the Friday sessions as we introduce what we’re going to do for the rest of the weekend, and get people fired up about it. There’s always lots of excitement and energy in the room.”
    “I bet,” he replies. “What’s your involvement?”
    “I’m the first speaker of the