Revolving Doors (12 page)

CHAPTER
19

~*~*~

On my
23rd birthday, I launched Goodie Bagg as a subsidiary of Romantica. It boasted a line of glass birthstone dildos, created with the help of a designer, various services, and couples parties were also incorporated.

Goodie Bagg wasn’t born without struggle. I thought in the beginni
ng that it would happen easily because the ideas fit so well, but that wasn’t to be.

Travelling to Romantica headquarters nine times in a six-month period was exhausting. Each time they contacted me, I thought it was with good news and with plans to finalize, but it was always a request for more information on the particulars of my plan.

I came close to giving up a few times because there were moments when it seemed like the whole process was more trouble than it was worth. 

I had to meet with company heads and a few stakeholders, each time, talking for hours on end. It was one gathering after another with me in the hot seat and them dissecting my plan to the core.

It became the norm for the powers-that-be to produce additional lists of questions that I felt were in place to trip me up. Unfortunately for them, I was able to provide legitimate arguments for each one.

I considered approaching Romantica’s competition:
Las Vegas based Passion Parties, with an offer to gauge their interest level, when it seemed the doors were closing around me.

However, once I resolved to seeing my goal all the way through, my focus was set on making it happen, whether that meant with Romantica’s backing or my own.

Several presentations, demos and months later, Goodie Bagg was finally approved for launching.

My business degree came in handy while delivering speeches before several individuals on why my business venture could benefit the company as a whole.

I was able to fluidly discuss financials, as well as the multitude of perks that a collaboration between the two companies could bring forth.

Initially, I ran the business from my home office, but a few months in when sales boomed, I established both an office and warehouse in
San Francisco.

When I started to hire a full staff, there were more than a few who followed me from Romantica.

I also contracted the services of a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist for couples interested in counseling.

Business was good!

My consultants ranged from the housewife who needed something extra to do, to the husband who came home one night during his wife’s party and while listening from another room, realized he’d missed out on other ways to please his wife, and decided to sign on part-time in an effort to educate other men.

I was extremely proud that I listened to my first thought and made an attempt at bringing Goodie Bagg to life.

It was Romantica’s
no-men
policy that ultimately forced my hand. I recognized that there were many opportunities being missed.

For one, a major population that Romantica let fall by the wayside, were the fabulous gay men! I had a ball whenever I attended one of their parties. No holds barred, open and honest dialog among everyone in the room and outright fun.

Added to that were the many times I found myself in situations where women asked if I could speak with their husbands and discuss with them the benefits of allowing toys into the bedroom.

While not all men were open to engaging in that discussion with me (and I could understand why), some of the talking often produced
encouraging results, but I believed inviting the husband would prove more effective and that’s what I set out to incorporate.

All-inclusive didn’t fly with everyone, because some women became uncomfortable with men in the room, or didn’t feel as free discussing their sexual desire
s with males present. It wasn’t uncommon for me to hold individual couple sessions to alleviate the discomfort.

There was something for everybody and after articles in Inc. Magazine, Essence and Cosmopolitan, Goodie Bagg had become somewhat of a household name in the adult toy
/party industry.

~*~*~

With the success of Goodie Bagg, it made sense to keep going. There was always new energy born and waiting to be acted upon.

The first two years that Goodie Bagg was in business, it grew exponentially.

I bought my first house that boasted 4 bedrooms.
Like I really needed that much space
. 3 bathrooms, a swimming pool, 2-car garage and a redwood deck like the one Di had at her house.

My trips to
Brazil were still going strong, life was overall a blast.

Whenever I did go to
Brazil, I took toys for the girls. Valentina even had my products in stock for anyone interested. 

I saw Victor each time I went, but he finally understood that I couldn’t make my trips solely for his pleasure.

As much as I enjoyed him, I had to put the brakes on exclusivity. My trips had always been about having fun, relaxing and mingling, and that is exactly what I needed to do – not to be tied down to one person every time.

At home I worked hard, so there I needed to play equally hard. After he and I spent our two days together, I often had another guest to complete the duration of my stay.

Much to my delight, I still had yet to entertain a guest I merely had to tolerate. There was something interesting, and nicely endowed about them all.

The times I didn’t have another guest scheduled, I hung out with friends I’d made at the resort, spent time with Valentina
, or Natalia and I would head offsite to visit with family.

Whenever I returned home it was always with new breath and fresh ideas to launch.

One of those ideas, having a nightclub, was one I had imagined years earlier, and around the time I first began frequenting Paraiso Belo.

I had thought of having a nightclub many times,
but felt it would be too much trouble. All the ones I had ever heard of had short life spans, due in large to toxic crowds who didn’t appreciate the entertainment outlet provided to them.

I wasn’t interested in anything that would be around today and gone tomorrow, but
the dream never died.

Whenever I watched Valentina at Paraiso Belo’s receptions, I got the bug all over again. I loved looking around seeing everyone enjoy themselves, hearing the music play and the calm of the atmosphere.

One day while I was brainstorming, I thought of an idea to have a couple’s café – a nightclub of sorts, but not in the traditional sense. 

I had visions of music playing…
not blaring
, groups of people,
but not lines down the street
, and something more on the side of intimate, and for a distinct group of people.

~*~*~

From that, my brainchild was born…
Club
Rendezvous
: A couple’s café that would cater to all couples – the happy, struggling, brand new and even
it’s complicated
.

It became my next plan of action.

NEW BEGINNINGS

CHAPTER
20

~*~*~

I was on the way to meet the girls: My mom, Di and Kelli for brunch at the Marriott.  We made it a point to do meet ups as our schedules…
more like my schedule
, allowed.

There was a certain irony to it all. I met Kelli at school, and she ended up becoming one of my best friends. She introduced me to her mother, who in turn, introduced me to what turned out to be the avenue to my own success. I introduced my mother to Di, and they became best girlfriends.

Everything happens for a reason.

I could have ended up being one of those people with a false sense of entitlement, with my hand always out because my parents were well off, but I was far removed from that.

Early on something resonated with me to pursue a success-filled life much like my parents, who were very successful in their fields. Seeing them work hard for all that we had and being able to afford a certain lifestyle geared me in that direction.

In deep thought, I was driving along and heard my phone’s notification. I knew immediately it was my mother texting to see how far away I was and how long it would be before joining them.

They were probably already seated and going on about how I was always the last to arrive.
They were right
. Not on purpose, just that I was always leaving from one place, or meeting, to another.

When I caught the red light, I seized the opportunity to reach for my phone to let my mother know I was en route.

“
Ten minutes away, Mama
!” was the text I sent.

As soon as I hit send, I looked up anxiously to see if the light had given me permission to go. As I did so, something caught my eye.

Sitting pretty on the corner directly across the street was a split-level, brick building. It was a stunning piece of architecture.

I wanted to view it up close to make sure that I indeed spotted a “For Lease” sign affixed to the window because that would mean it was unoccupied.

“
Damn! This has to be the longest light ever! Come on, already
!” I yelled out.

The light turned green and impulsively I pulled in front of the building, parked and exited my vehicle.

I had no idea yet what the building looked like on the inside, but I was already drawn to it and knew immediately that it was what I had been looking for.

I wasn’t solely attracted to the cherry brick building, though it was what caught my attention first with its striking color. It was also that it sat back off the street, instead of immediately at the sidewalk, and that it was a corner location with an obvious sense of privacy. All those attributes added to its character. Plus, plus, plus.

When my phone started to ring, I was snapped back to reality. Before my mother could even speak or begin yelling, I intercepted.

“Mama…I’m almost there, just waiting for this light to change. Don’t order without me! Be right there. Promise.”

Liar, liar.

I rushed back to my car, and dialed the number that was listed on the “For Lease” sign. After the beep, I left a message:

“Hi my name is Gabriella Sandoval. I am sitting in front of your property located at 427 Harper Lane. I hope that it is still available, as I would love to speak with you regarding signing a lease.”

I left my phone number and found myself so restless I couldn’t concentrate.

The agent I was working with had shown me a few different locations. Some were promising, but there was always a missing component: short on square footage, or lack of character, or a complete disconnect with the area.

That wasn’t the case with
427 Harper Lane. It spoke to me the moment I saw it.  I was instantly mesmerized. Whatever the square-footage, open space or partitioned, concrete floors or carpeted throughout – none of that mattered. I was sold.

Had I not taken a detour to avoid traffic, I would never have happened upon the location. I was excited that I might be mere hours away from having found the location for my couple’s café.

I had my fingers crossed that the agent would call back soon to schedule a date and time to tour the property. I was dying to see the inside.

CHAPTER 21

~*~*~

Lunch proved to be the distraction I needed. As excited as I was about hearing back from the leasing agent, when I walked in and saw those beautiful faces, the reality of how much I missed them set in.

“Hey, Beauties!” I gushed rushing the table.

My mama was the first to respond. 

“It’s about damn time,
bizzy
!”

“
I know
…
I know
…
I know
,” I said apologetically, then made my rounds to plant kisses on each of their cheeks.

“Kisses will solve everything pretty girl,” Di said. “It was beginning to look like you were standing us up.”

Kelli smiled and reached over to give me a love tap on the shoulder. “Glad you got here, Chica.”

“I had to see y’all. I missed y
a too much to stand ya up. That would never happen. Just caught some traffic is all.”

I decided to keep mum on the property until I heard back and knew whether the space was already spoken for.

I wanted to tell them badly, if for no other reason to hear the words I knew would come from my mama’s mouth –
You got it baby. Why else do you think you drove by there today of all days? There are no coincidences…”

Any other time those words of encouragement got me over the
threshold, but that day the risk was too great, so I held onto the secret.

“
I’m starving
,” I said. “I haven’t eaten at all today…” as soon as I allowed the words to escape my mouth, I knew I’d made a mistake.

Di lifted her wrist to check the time on her watch and headed straight to Mamaville. 

“Now, Gabriella. You can’t become so busy with things that you neglect eating. It’s almost two in the afternoon,” she stressed. “…And you’re
just
putting something in your stomach? You shouldn’t do that, sweetie.”

“She’s right,” my mother cosigned.

“
You’re both right
. I know. It doesn’t happen often, today just---”

“She’s lying,” Kelli tattled. “She does it all the time and I tell her the same thing.”

“
Wowww
…Thanks, Kelli! So much! No group is complete without a snitch in the midst!”

For the next ninety minutes, we talked and laughed, managed to get some celebrity gossip in and caught up on a few TV episodes.

Toward the end of our meals, Di lifted her water glass and tapped it lightly with her fork.
Ding, ding, ding
. She wore the biggest smile and had a look of mystery about her.

“Can I get you guys’ attention real quick?”

She looked as though she was about to burst from excitement. All our eyes were on her.

“So…” she began. “I’ll just beeline straight to the point and let you know that…Joseph asked me to marry him last night…
and
…I said
yes
!”

Joseph was a colleague of my father’s, who my matchmaking mother set up with Di, on a blind date, a year earlier. The four of them were inseparable. They were always at dinner, concerts or off doing other couple things.

It didn’t surprise me that their union led to a proposal, and wedding plans.

I looked at Kelli, awaiting her reaction. She had her mother to herself for so long, I wondered how she would take the news. Or had she already known?

“Mom!” she cried. “
That is great
!”

Kelli rushed to Di for a hug
. It was a beautiful moment to witness between mother and daughter that brought tears to my eyes. Before long, the entire table was caught up in emotion.

“I am so happy for you, mom. Joseph is the perfect guy and I couldn’t have picked better myself and I was starting to think I was gonna have to!”
she joked.

After their shared moment, my mother and I grabbed our moments to extend well-wishes and hugs as well.

Joseph had been around the family for as long as I could remember. I’d seen him with girlfriends sporadically over the years but never with anyone more than twice that I could recall.

Apparently, Di had what he was looking for.

Ha
!
Probably all that Romantica talk and toys
! 

“
Umm
…Di? Wherefore art thou is thy ring?” I kidded, holding up and tapping my own ring finger.

“I actually left it at home,” she blushed. “I wanted to share the news with you guys first before I began wearing it officially. Silly, right?”

“Not at all,” we managed simultaneously.

“I’ll be over tomorrow to see it in person,” I informed her.

“Well, I’ll be over
tonight
dammit,” my mother added. “I might just leave my car here and ride with you!”

Laughter ensued around the table.

“Of course you will, my crazy, impatient, Mama,” I said, shaking my head.  “Of course you will.”

“Yeah, so Auntie Alexis…” Kelli began with a raised hand, “…since you found my mom a guy, what stats do I provide you to find me one?”

“I don’t think you or your sidekick need my help finding guys. I’m sure between the two of you, there’s plenty of
secret
boy candy! Mama’s no fool,” she said shooting me a side eye glance.

Kicking Kelli’s leg underneath the table, I shot back, “How’d I get involved? I don’t even like candy, Mama! Give Kelli that side eye!”

~*~*~

When we left and headed in our individual directions, I felt
hugely fulfilled.

I walked away thinking how important it was to take the time – to
make
the time – for fun, family and relaxation. No matter what comes up in life, that should be mandatory.

My mother called me that night over-the-top excited about having seen Di’s ring.

Full of thrill, she admitted to accompanying Joseph to the jeweler and that the cut Di ended up with, was one of the four she had helped narrow the choices down to.

It was good to witness my mother engaged in a friendship.  When I was growing up, she had colleagues who
visited our house on occasion, but I had never known her to hang out with them outside that.

As a young girl, I worried that she was lonely because she didn’t have many friends, but as I got older, I
realized that she and my father were each other’s company.

She and my dad dated…each other…
a lot
and they also participated in couple’s outings as well.

I had worried unnecessarily.

She chose the time in her life when she wanted to entertain a friendship of her own, and her bond with Di was the result of that.

Better late than never.

Twenty minutes after our call began, and I had all the deets on Di’s ring, plans for a surprise bridal shower, and anything in between, we issued
goodbye’s
and
I love you’s
.