Race to the Top

Chapter 16

-Ginger-

The next few weeks fly by. Before I know it, it's the week before Jackson and I start our trek to nine national parks across the U.S. We've completed our model call and picked several different models to feature in photos for Adair Knives. We also booked a photographer, several assistants, a lighting designer, and a photo shoot stylist. In all, about 15 of us will be traveling to different parts of the states for three weeks. In some locations, we booked hotels and in others, a large house so the bulk of us traveling together can be in one place. Plus Callum and his assistant plan on joining periodically so it could get a little...crowded.
I leave in two days but Nadia is not handling it well.
"Ugggghhhh what am I going to do without you for three fucking weeks?!" Nadia whines and wraps herself around me like an octopus.
"Oh my god, you'll be fine! Remember the month I spent in London to work with Fiat?"
"Ugh don't remind me," she says, untangling her arms from mine. "So...I slept with a guy last week..." Simon and I instantly groan.
"LET ME FINISH," Nadia holds up her hands. "I slept with a guy last week who has the inside scoop on access to a new club!"
Simon and I groan again.
"Come ON guys! When was the last time we had a club night?! We need to go tomorrow and give Ginger a proper send off, this trip is a big deal for you!"
"Don't use me as an excuse to go overpay for drinks," I wave my hand.
Nadia clasps her hands in front of her in a prayer position.
"Come ooooon! Simon you can leave the bar for a few hours right? Ginge you haven't gone out with me in forever and when you get a few drinks in you, you love to dance!"
I roll my eyes and look at Simon. He shrugs.
"I'll go if Simon goes."
Nadia looks at Simon and starts silently pleading. He picks up his schedule from behind the bar and looks it over.
"Ahh technically I ave two bartenders on tomorrow so I can get away until midnight fore I should come back and close up," he says.
Nadia starts applauding like a giddy schoolgirl, I drop my head in to my arms and Simon laughs.
*********
The next night, I'm getting ready at home and trying to find a killer outfit that makes the fact that I'm going to a club slightly less annoying. I settle on a short, cobalt blue dress with long sleeves and a scoop neck. I finish it off with tall, black heels and put my hair up in a curly bun. I look at my watch and tell Nadia I'll meet her at the club at 9PM. I decide to meet Simon at Finn's first so we can travel together.
"Aye Ginger, you look great," Simon says.
"You don't look too bad yourself," I say. Simon is in slacks and a simple button-up shirt which he looks extremely uncomfortable to be wearing. Instead of his normal backwards hat, his hair is styled and his long beard is combed and trimmed.
"Let's get this over with," he says.
Simon and I waltz up to the club arm in arm and approach the bouncer. Nadia said she put our names on the list and, after he looks, the bouncer simply moves and ushers us inside.
Of course, it's a club so it's louder than I prefer but it's also pretty spectacular. Even though we walked in on the ground floor, there's a balcony all the way around a sunken in dance floor. Looking up, the next three floors are also balconies and random staircases. Everything is low lit with pops of yellow and blue neon and there's a DJ suspended on a platform about 20 feet above us.
Nadia said she'd be at a table on the second floor so Simon and I make our way through the crowd to the second floor and start looking around. We see Nadia draped over some guy surrounded by other people. As soon as Nadia looks up and sees us, her eyes light up and she squeals.
"Yaaaaay! You're here! Sit down, sit down," Nadia gives us both hugs and then sits back down where she was. She gestures to the man next to her. "This is Lance, Lance these are my best friends, Ginger and Simon."
Lance leans forward and shakes our hands. He's smaller, but clearly muscular. His hair is perfectly styled and his Prada shirt is unbuttoned by one too many buttons.
"Isn't this place great?!" Nadia shouts over the music.
"Yes, so how do you know about this place Lance?" I ask, mainly just trying to be nice.
"I am friends with the owner. He may stop by in a bit so be sure to tell him you like it," he says casually. He stretches his arm around Nadia who is in a low cut, black body con dress. "Please, have a drink if you'd like."
Lance gestures to the table in front of him to various bottles of booze.. I look at Simon who nods so I pour us each a glass of whiskey.
We chit chat with everyone for a bit and we're actually enjoying ourselves. Simon seems to be relaxed and Nadia is in a great mood.
"Hi, my name is Cassidy, are you two together?!" A leggy blonde woman next to us points to Simon and I.
"No, no, we're just good friends," I reply and Simon nods.
"Then would it be too forward of me to ask you to dance?" She looks at Simon who lifts his eyebrows in surprise.
"Uh, sure, I mean, no," Simon says.
Cassidy giggles then grabs Simon's arm and hauls him off towards the dance floor. Nadia takes note and drags Lance off too. I grab my whiskey and walk to the edge of the balcony to watch them. I'm not much of a dancer but I do enjoy people-watching. As I scan the crowd, I spot a familiar dark-haired, olive-skinned man chatting with a female at the bar.
Jackson is leaning over saying something to the young woman as she giggles and playfully slaps him on the chest. A ping of jealousy hits me in the gut as Jackson pulls away with a big smile on his face and takes a drink of the beer he's holding.
Why am I jealous? Jackson and I are not together. Though, I had thought–I shake my head before I go any further down a trail of thought I don't want to explore. I look back to them.
The woman, a petite brunette with thick, gorgeous curls and, frankly, a killer body, is clearly feeling Jackson as she shows with her body language. Now she's leaning up and whispering something in his ear.
"Looking for someone in particular?"
I turn my head to find the source of the deep, accented voice speaking to me and see a broad-chested, slightly older man with thick, salt and pepper hair and bright green eyes. He has a dark, very trimmed mustache and beard with several stray white hairs. He leans the elbow of his expensive suit on the railing and looks at me.
I sigh.
"Oh, no, honestly, just watching my friends have a good time down there," I say casually.
"And, you do not wish to go have fun with them?"
"I'm not much of a dancer," I shrug. "I think it's the shoes, they look good until you have to move in them." I hold up my black high-heeled foot.
He chuckles.
"I'm Dominik," he says, reaching a large hand over to me.
"Ginger, nice to meet you," I say, shaking his hand and turning back to the crowd. I see Jackson and, who I've nicknamed "Kelli with an 'i" dancing on the dance floor. They're clearly feeling each other. Jackson dances with his hand on her hip, his moves are surprisingly smooth. One of her hands is on his neck and the other rests on his chest. I want to look away but can't for some reason.
"You seem to have an empty glass, would you like a drink? I have a table with plenty of offerings," Dominik says. I look sideways at him and size him up. Everything about him commands power and presents money though he doesn't seem domineering. I look back down at the dance floor and spot Simon (easily I might add) and Nadia nearby so I decide a drink with a stranger couldn't hurt.
"Do you have a decent whiskey with you?"
He leans forward.
"I have all the decent whiskeys my dear lady," his voice is gruff and mysterious which intrigues me for some reason. "Come on, follow me."
As I follow Dominik through the club, we head towards the back wall.
I normally wouldn't go into a random room with a random man but I don't get any weird vibes from him, plus I have my phone and pepper spray on me.
As we approach a door, both body guards nod at Dominik and open the door for him.
Huh, okay.
We walk down a hallway and Dominik opens a large oak door, gesturing for me to enter. The room features the most impressive scotch, whiskey, and bourbon collection I've ever seen. Literally. There are wall-to-wall glass shelves stacked with every kind of brown liquor I can think of. Literally hundreds of bottles. Little lights illuminate the bottles from their resting places.
"Oh my god, who are you?"
"I told you, Dominik. I'm also a little obsessed with whiskey as you can see," he says with zero sarcasm.
"This is all yours?"
"Yes."
"And you own this club then?"
"Correct."
I scan the room, looking at all the beautiful labels on ornate glass bottles featuring every shade of amber liquid inside. I could spend a lifetime in here.
"Oh my god," I zoom across the room. "This is from the Dalmore Constellation Collection of vintage single malt whiskey. I've never seen one in person."
I look back at Dominik with my mouth open.
"Yes, I picked that up at an auction in Prague, I haven't had a reason to open it yet."
Dominik crosses the room and picks up the bottle. The little light beneath it automatically turns off when he removes it from the shelf.
"Care to try?"
I just laugh like a crazed fan who was just invited backstage by their celebrity idol.
"Oh no, no I couldn't."
"Sure you can," Dominik says. He pulls two glasses down from a middle shelf and pops the top on the bottle. I watch him pour a finger in each glass and hand me one. "To new friendships."
I clink my very expensive glass of very expensive whiskey to his then let a sip of the whiskey slide down my tongue and warm my throat.
"Wow."
"Mmmm, yes delicious," Dominik holds up his glass and examines the color. He motions for me to sit in one of the two plush chairs in the room as he sits in the other a few feet away. "So how is such a young, bright woman such as yourself so well-versed in the ways of whiskey?"
I am still looking around the incredible room when I finally bring my eyes back to Dominik.
"I'm in marketing and public relations. I have represented a few whiskey brands but also, I'm a bit of an amateur connoisseur myself," I say. "What about you? How'd you come across all these magnificent specimens?"
Dominik casually shrugs.
"I made a lot of money in my younger years and just started picking up bottles on my travels. Some of these I bought several years ago and they were not as expensive as they would be now."
"So when did you buy this one?" I hold up my glass.
"Hmm the last time I was in Prague was about ten years ago, they were auctioning a private collection. I bought four bottles that day."
I smile at him. He's not arrogant though some might see him that way, just honest. And I tend to be drawn to honest, straightforward people.
"So you are not here with anyone?"
"Just my two best friends but they became pre-occupied with others," I said.
He laughs.
"And you became pre-occupied by whiskey."
"It's much more dependable."
He laughs again. His eyes are kind and little wrinkles show on the outside of them when he smiles.
"You would like my ex-wife very much I think, I wish she was here," Dominik says as he takes another sip.
"Really? You are on good terms?" I ask skeptically.
"Very, we have two daughters, twins, I speak to all of them several times a week though the time difference with Russia can be challenging."
I nod and smile.
"How old are your girls?"
"Ten, they will be 11 next month."
I nod like I know even one 10-year-old.
"Do you have children?"
"No."
"Do you want children?" He asks.
"I don't know, perhaps with the right person but I don't know if that person exists."
"Or you simply have not met them yet," he says. I shrug. "Don't get me wrong, many people do not wish to have children and that is alright, but being a parent is such a gift. I believe it makes us better people."
He sighs.
"Though I do wish I saw my girls more often."
"Why don't you?"
"I love New York City, my girlfriend is here, plus many of my business dealings are here. It's just where I need to be right now."
"You have a girlfriend?"
"Yes, she is out with friends now otherwise she may be here though she is not a whiskey-drinker."
I nod and take another sip of the whiskey, savoring every drop. Dominik removes the glass from my hand. He picks up another bottle and pours a finger and hands it to me.
"Mortlach," he says. He sits back down.
Over the next hour, Dominik and I chat about everything from whiskey to travel to work. I learned he made his money by investing in hotel chains and then moved into commercial real estate. Before I know it, my phone is buzzing and when I pick it up, I see how much time has passed, and that Nadia and Simon have both called me.

"I should really get back to my friends before they assume I've been kidnapped," I say to Dominik.
"You must tell me about your trip when you return," Dominik rises and pulls a card out of his front pocket and hands it to me. Then he removes the empty glass from my other hand, gently holds my arms and gives me a peck on each cheek. "It was truly lovely to meet you Ginger, I hope to hear from you soon."

"Thank you Dominik, the pleasure was really all mine."
Dominik and I return to the area he first approached me at.

"Ginger! There you are, you scared the shit out of me," Nadia says as she approaches us.

"Nadia, this is Dominik, Dominik, this is my friend Nadia," Simon looks up from the table, his arm is draped around Cassidy's shoulders. "And the tall Irish one right there is Simon."
Simon nods and Dominik smiles and nods to both of them as well. He turns to me again.
"Talk to you soon Ginger," I smile at him as he turns and walks away.
Nadia gives me a puzzled look.
"That was the owner of the club, and he has the craziest collection of whiskey I've ever seen," I say.
Nadia's eyebrows go up.
"Ohhh so that's the Dominik," she says. I nod.
"Well, guys, I think I've had enough club time," I say.
Simon nods then leans over to say something to Cassidy.
I glance down at the dance floor, wondering if Jackson and that woman are still here.
"You looking for Jackson?" Nadia asks.
I snap my head to hers.
"Because we saw him, and he saw us," she says. We don't say anything else about it but something passes between us.
"Well, let's get out of here."

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