Author's Note: The usual disclaimers apply. Special thanks to Ermintrude for being such a fantastic beta and for her time and patience with this. Hope you enjoy ?
New FF: A Dangerous Vintage-Part Two
Das Speisekammer Restaurant
Thursday, October 4, 2013
7:00 PM
"That was a very good dinner." Food critic Peter Reichl leaned back in his chair, his hands clasped around his ample midsection. "The service was excellent as well."
"Thank you," Auggie said. "I'll certainly let the staff know."
"Please do."
"Auf wiedersehen, Herr Swann!" Frau Schmidt called out to him as she left. Auggie waved to her.
"One of your regular customers?" Reichl asked.
"One of them, yeah."
"From what I hear, you've built up a dedicated clientele in a short time. Quite remarkable for a relatively new establishment, wouldn't you say?"
"Well, we always strive to please the customer. I used to run quite a few establishments back in the United States—I do have some experience."
"So I've heard. You and Mr. Ellison have certainly made quite a splash with this one. I think what makes your restaurant stand out is this cuisine of yours. Tell me, how would you define 'German-American fusion'?"
"It's actually pretty self-explanatory," Auggie replied. "Basically it's a traditional German cuisine, but with an American twist."
"American twist?" The man's eyes peered at him through thick spectacles. "Such as pairing bratwurst with grilled zucchini and corn on the cob?"
"Exactly, Herr Reichel."
"I must be honest—normally I'm not fond of bratwurst without sauerkraut but the brown mustard on the side was quite good," Reichl told him. "The food also paired well with the wine—the red blend was nice."
"I'm pleased you enjoyed it."
"My only complaint was that perhaps it was not so open to the nose. Perhaps if it was allowed to breathe a little longer?"
"My apologies—I'll certainly let the waiters know that."
"No apologies necessary—despite the nose it was a very interesting little wine. I believe you said it was locally made, is that right?"
"Yes, that's right."
"What is the vineyard?"
The way the critic's eyes were fastened on him made Auggie feel like an insect under a microscope. He could feel the heat rising in his cheeks. "Rhinehassen Winery," he finally managed. "They're located in Armsheim."
"Armsheim?" A flicker of interest gleamed in the man's eyes. "How strange. I thought I knew all the vineyards that operated in that area—I've never heard of Rhinehassen."
"Actually they're fairly new to the supply business," Auggie explained. "Their wholesalers handle all of our wine orders now."
"Explains how you're able to keep your prices down." The critic stood. "I really must visit them when I have a chance—an excellent region for grapes. Thank you again for the meal, Mr. Swann."
"And thank you, Herr Reichel."
SMK SMK SMK SMK
"How did it go with Reichel?" Larry Ellison asked as Auggie entered the manager's office. He was bent over the laptop, going through the financial spreadsheets. "Well, I hope."
"I think so," Auggie replied, taking a seat next to the man. "He asked a lot of questions, but I think he was satisfied."
"Did he have any complaints?"
"Just one—that we need to allow the wine to breathe longer before decanting."
"Then we're lucky. From what I've heard, the man is a pompous SOB." Ellison grinned. "Still, it pays to have his endorsement, and a good write-up will help to bring in more customers."
"That's what I'm hoping."
"Thanks for handling that, by the way—I've never had patience for dealing with food critics. Always feels like they expect you to do a lot of bowing and scraping—somehow that's never been me."
"Hey, it's no problem." Auggie took a seat next to him. "By the way I put in an order for some Halloween decorations."
"Sounds good to me."
"Nothing tacky, of course—but since it's becoming more popular over here we might as well capitalize on it," Auggie said. "Going over the books?"
"Yeah." Ellison gestured towards the screen. "Most of the stuff from this quarter."
"What's the verdict?"
"Unbelievably it's better than last—our profit margins are up two-percent." Ellison said. "And I tell you, that wine has a lot to do with it—switching to Rhinehassen has really helped us to save money."
"Saving money without losing quality," Auggie reminded him.
"That's the best part." Ellison grinned. "Which reminds me—wasn't a new shipment due two days ago? I thought I saw it marked on the calendar."
"It was," Auggie said. "But apparently there was an accident with the original truck. They've promised to send a new truck early tomorrow morning—I'll be here to receive the delivery."
"Ahh, shipping problems." Ellison shook his head. "They happen everywhere, unfortunately. But believe me—if that's the worst problem we have with this company, we can consider ourselves lucky."
SMK SMK SMK SMK
Friday, October 5, 2013
6:30 AM
"Please sign right here, Herr Swann." The deliveryman indicated the spot on the form. "And also check this box confirming that the order is what you requested."
"Looks like the order we usually get." Auggie said, his eyes scanning the inventory listed. He checked the box and signed the form. "And I can expect the next order on schedule, right?"
"I promise that we will certainly do our best to get it here." The deliveryman scanned the form briefly."Thank you again. Please let us know if there's anything else we can do."
"I'll do that, thanks. Good day."
"Good day to you." The man left and Auggie carefully picked up two of the cases of wine and took them downstairs to the basement area, which had been converted into a small wine cellar. Carefully he placed it on the small table and picked up the small box cutter, noticing that the side of the case was marked with a red 'x'—something that had never been there before. Probably something to do with the late order, he reasoned—a way to make sure that his boxes didn't get lost in the shuffle. He opened the box, seeing the usual variety of reds, packed in their usual straw. Carefully he extricated the bottles and began to place them in the wine rack.
They felt wrong—that was the first thing he noticed. The weight seemed right, but the liquid inside—putting it to his ear he shook it slightly—no familiar sloshing sound. There was no liquid—not in his bottle.
So what was in there? Auggie could feel a weight, but nothing seemed to be moving inside. Frowning, he shook the bottle even harder. There was a soft thump as the weight seemed to shift slightly, but nothing else.
"Hello?"
The man's voice startled him. The bottle slipped from Auggie's fingers and fell to the floor. The glass shattered, revealing a bundle of cloth tied with a string. He knelt down, untying the bundle and carefully unrolling the soft cloth to reveal coins.
Gold coins—lots of them. He swallowed hard as he picked one of them up, studying it closely, his fingers trembling as he turned it over in his hands.
Just when things had been going so well—
"Hello?" The voice called out again. He recognized the voice of Jeff Diehl, the sous chef they'd hired only a month ago. "Is someone there?"
"Yeah," Auggie called out. "Yeah, I'm right down here. I'm just putting the wine away."
"Do you need help? I thought I heard something break."
"Well, one of the bottles did break, but I'm handling it." His voice sounded remarkably calm to his own ears, despite the fact that his heart was pounding like a jackhammer. Hastily he rolled up the cloth and stuffed it inside his jacket. "It's not a big deal."
"Okay," the man's voice was doubtful. "As long as you're sure."
"I'm completely sure," Auggie said. "I'll handle it and I'll put the rest of the bottles away. It's no problem."
"Well—I'm going to get on with baking the bread and doing some prep work. Let me know if you need help."
"I will, Jeff—thank you." Auggie waited until the basement door closed. He inspected the other bottles in the marked box. No liquid in any of them—they must all have gold coins. He cut open the other box and pulled out a bottle—just normal wine. So it was only one box—at least so far.
What the hell was he going to do about it? One thing he did know for sure was that he needed to go somewhere alone, to think things over.
TBC
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