the middle of the room.
“Now, open them.” George said softly.
“Wow!” Sam said as she saw the room before her.
The ballroom was big enough to fit a thousand people in it, and still feel like it was at least half empty. It was a 2 story room with a balcony around the entire second story The columns that lined the wall were spanned every 10 feet, and looked like they came from old roman ruins. It gave it the sort of ancient charm that most ballrooms lack. There were floor to ceiling deep purple curtains lining the long walls. There was a stage on the far end with a gold stage curtain. There was a single table set for two in the center of the room. Sam was intrigued with the room. It made her feel lucky and loved in a weird way.
“What do you think?” George said as he led her to the candlelit table.
“It’s amazing. Whoever designed this place was a genius.” Sam said still looking around at all the details.
“Yes, I am a genius.” George said.
“You designed this?” Sam asked as he pulled out her chair for her.
“Yes. I designed and own this whole hotel.” He replied as he signaled the waiter for their first course. “I hope you don’t mind, but this won’t be a traditional dinner.”
“I don’t mind. I have learned to not mind what I can’t control.” Sam said laughing.
“That is good.” George replied.
“So how do you own this whole hotel?” Sam asked.
“Do you remember my great uncle Mitch?” George asked as the first course was laid in front of them.
“Vaguely.” She said as she started to eat her salad.
“Ok. Well he died 2 years ago and he left everything to me. He had a lot of money and stocks but most importantly he had a chain of large hotels in Europe and Asia. Since my cousins were all cut off a long time ago, I inherited everything. So I threw myself into the hotel business and started building this hotel within a month of inheriting everything.” George replied.
“Oh. I am sorry about your uncle.” Sam said genuinely.
“It’s ok. I think that his legacy is living on well through my work.” George said as the waiter came back and took the first course plates and delivered the second course.
“Dessert before dinner?” Sam asked as the waiter uncovered the piece of cheese cake on each plate.
“I told you it wasn’t going to be a traditional dinner. Dessert now and dessert later.” He chuckled.
“Ok then? I can go for that. This is from the cheesecake factory isn’t it?” Sam said taking a bite of her cheesecake.
“How did you know?” George said.
“It is the only place we have ever eaten cheesecake together.” Sam said.
“I had forgotten that.” He said.
“No you didn’t. If you had forgotten we would not be eating cheesecake at all right now.” Sam said back at him faster than he could have possible thought.
“Ok. You got me, I didn’t forget. I forgot how well you knew me Sammy.” He said finishing his cheesecake.
“Yea well that is because I have always known you. I used to be able to tell you what you were going to say before you even thought about saying it. I am not so sure about that now though.” Sam said quietly. “I am not really in the mood for another dessert.”
“That is ok.” He signaled the waiter who turned to a switch. Music starting playing as the stage curtain opened slowly. There was a string quartet playing Beethoven.
“May I have this dance?” George said standing up and putting his hand out for her to take.
“You may.” Sam started as she took his hand and followed him to the dance floor. “Since when are you this polite?”
“Since I became a business man. Plus, I figured that being a little polite after so long it would be nice. Don’t you like me this way?” He said as he spun her.
“I’m just not used to it I guess.” She replied.
They danced for an hour before heading up to the balcony to have some wine. They sat on one of the couches and grabbed a glass of wine from the table. They