Chapter 183 – Time In Toronto
After a nice drive in the country and short flight to Toronto, everyone was feeling a lot better. Once they had gotten on the jet, there was no more talk of business. They were there to enjoy the evening and each other. Only Jack and Doug had been to a St Regis hotel before. Even though they hadn't been to the one in Toronto, they had been to the one in the city as well as the one in Washington D.C. They knew that each of the hotels were different, but they knew what to expect and that was part of the reason that Jack had chosen the hotel. He knew that wasn't fully open, due to renovations, but he was confident that the hotel was what he was looking forward to.
The rest of the group was looking around and taking everything in. The hotel was in the heart of the financial district. It had only been about a thirty minute drive from the Toronto Pearson International Airport. Since they had a driver and a luxury SUV limo, they were all able to take in the sights along the way. Jack knew that they could have just gotten the car and one of them could have driven, but he knew that his grandfather had insisted on them having a driver. At least they were able to have a nice time. It was something to see that vehicle going down the road.
Elizabeth, Nathan and Frank were all impressed when the group pulled up to the St Regis Hotel. Elizabeth stared wide-eyed. Nathan let out a low whistle.
"That is an impressive building." Frank said.
"I agree." Doug said. "It is an amazing building. It was originally built as the Trump International Hotel and Tower Toronto in two thousand and twelve. It just recently became the Marriott St Regis Hotel." (*3)
"We are staying in one of the penthouse suites on the thirtieth floor." Jack said. "It has two bedrooms with a large queen bed in one room and two king size beds in the other room." (*4)
"So us four guys can stay in one room then." Frank said. "As long as Nathan doesn't mind, we can easily share a king size bed."
"I am okay with that." Nathan said.
"Good." Jack said. "Then it is settled. We can share the suite. Doug and I have no problem sharing."
They entered the hotel and Jack went to check in while the others looked around the lobby. Once Jack had the key cards, the group is taken up to the suite by a member of the staff. He showed them around, then left them be. The group agreed that they will just stay and enjoy the very large suite until it is time for them to split up for supper.
"Do you think I have time to lay down for a bit?" Elizabeth asked.
Jack looked at his watch.
"It is three thirty." Jack said. "Our dinner reservation is at six thirty."
"Then I am going to lay down until five." Elizabeth said.
"I will make sure that you wake up." Jack said. "That will give us plenty of time to get ready."
"Thank you." Elizabeth said.
Elizabeth went to her room in the suite. They guys put their things in their room and then went to sit in the living area of the suite. Doug flipped on the TV and finds sportscenter. The others grab a drink and also sit back to relax for a bit. Frank and Jack talked more about what Jack saw for his new property. Nathan listened to Frank and Jack talk, because he knew that somehow he factored into Jack's big plans.
The guys have a great afternoon watching sportscenter and talking about Jack's plans for the future of Coal Creek and his new property. Frank realized that Jack had put a lot of thought into what he wanted and then to think of him as someone he trusted to help his vision to come about was humbling. Frank knew that Jack hadn't just jumped into anything and had thoughtfully made a choice to have him as a part of his and Elizabeth's future.
At five o'clock Jack knocked on Elizabeth's door to make sure that she was up. He then went to wash up and chose what he was going to wear. He had his black dress jeans and boots, so he pulled the three shirts that he had brought. He had an ivory shirt that was designed in the manner of an Oxford button down. It was a Cavalry Twill Architect shirt by Huckberry. The second shirt that Jack pulled out was a spring pool cool silk camp shirt from Tommy Bahama. Jack immediately ruled it out. It wasn't that he didn't like the shirt, because he did. He just didn't think that it would look good if Elizabeth chose the pink dress. It wouldn't be that bad if she wore the black and white one. The third shirt that Jack pulled out was a Ventana plaid linen shirt from Tommy Bahama in a rose ash color. Jack also realized that there was a charcoal blazer, but he decided against it. Jack decided that he liked the plaid linen shirt the best and was going to wear that with his black jeans.
Elizabeth pulled out both dresses. The first was a pink lace midi dress with spaghetti straps. Elizabeth thought it was really pretty, even if she hadn't been sure about the pink when she had first seen it. Once she tried it on, she realized that it looked good on her. She then looked at the black and white butterfly dress. It had a high waist and flared out from there. It also had spaghetti straps. Jack had also gotten her a white shrug that would actually go with either dress. She remembered that Jack said that he liked the black and white one better, so she chose to wear that one. She wore a shrug as well. Elizabeth had brought her black wedge sandals to wear with the dress. She decided to just leave her hair down and pull a couple of sections back, which she held with a couple of bobby pins.
Elizabeth walked out to the living area and saw that Jack was sitting there watching TV with the other guys. She noticed that each of the other guys had similar polo shirts. She liked how they matched without matching. Doug noticed Elizabeth first and motioned to Jack. Jack turned his head and smiled when he saw Elizabeth.
"Hello, Gorgeous." Jack said.
Elizabeth blushed a bit at Jack's greeting.
"Hey there." Elizabeth said.
Jack stood up and walked over to her carrying something.
"This is for you." Jack said, holding out a jewelry case.
Elizabeth opened it and saw pearl earrings and pearl necklace.
"They are beautiful." Elizabeth said.
"This is the white gold set that I got." Jack said. "Remember when I said that I got three sets. This is one of them. I will give you the other two sets when we get back to the house. Then you will be able to wear them when you want. I was just waiting until I could give you one set for something special first."
"I love them." Elizabeth said. "I have always loved my mother's pearls, but she never let me wear them."
"Now you have your own." Jack said. "Three identical sets to be specific."
"And you said the others are yellow and rose gold?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yes." Jack said. "The pearls in them are all from the same region, but set in different color gold."
Elizabeth smiled and put on the earrings. When she was done, Jack helped her put the necklace on. Elizabeth took the case back to her room. While she did that, Doug called down to make sure that the car was ready for them. Jack thought that Frank looked nice in one of Doug's polo shirts and his dockers. Frank was also wearing the heathered green polo. Doug had chosen the heathered red one with his black jeans and dress boots. Nathan had chosen to wear the heathered blue one with dark blue dress jeans and dress boots. If Jack didn't know better, they looked like three businessmen and that was the look that they were going for. He was glad that they were all getting along and that they agreed to spend time together to give Jack and Elizabeth some space.
When Elizabeth came back out, the group left. Jack and Elizabeth rode down in the elevator with Frank, Doug and Nathan before going back up to the thirty-first floor and the restaurant with amazing views of downtown Toronto. Jack just hoped Elizabeth was comfortable at the restaurant. It was set up as a high end bar with fine dining. There was lots of liquor on display, not that they were going to drink, but could if they wanted. Jack just wanted everything to be perfect for this first official date for them. Jack thought it was a bit weird taking Elizabeth on a proper date after they were already engaged, but it was what it was. He knew in his heart that Elizabeth had been created by God for him and him alone. It still angered Jack when he thought about someone hurting Elizabeth. He was glad that he had Devin and his team tracking down who it was. Jack wasn't sure what he was going to do with that information, but he knew that he needed it. Jack shook his head as he didn't want to think about that at the moment.
Frank, Doug and Nathan left the hotel and headed to the Lobster Burger Bar for their supper. Nathan had been hesitant to leave Jack and Elizabeth. Doug picked up on Nathan hesitancy.
"They will be fine." Doug said.
"What?" Nathan said, shaking his head.
"Jack and Elizabeth." Doug said. "They will be fine. I know that you feel that it is your responsibility since you were hired to protect Jack and Elizabeth, but you are entitled to some down time as well. They will be fine. I am almost positive that there are at least a couple undercover security members in the hotel. If not, there were two members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in the lobby."
"Fine." Nathan said. "I will try to relax."
"That is all I am asking." Doug said.
The guys talked about the Mets baseball game in Colorado that night. They talked about who they thought would start and why they wanted the Mets to win and whether they would or not. It was a short drive to the bar, but Doug had the driver take a bit of a scenic route down by the harbor, just because they had time. Once they reached the restaurant, Doug let the driver know that he was free for a bit. The driver assured him that he would be close and only had to text when they were ready, he wouldn't be more than fifteen minutes away. They walked in and were immediately greeted by the hostess. The hostess wasn't the only person to notice the three gentlemen that had walked in. As they were led to their table, the head of nearly every female in the place turned to watch them; not that any of the three of them noticed.
Jack and Elizabeth stepped off the elevator and immediately looked around. Even though the place was still undergoing renovations, they could tell that it was going to be an amazing place.
"We will have to come back some time when they are done with the renovations." Elizabeth said.
"I think that we can do that." Jack said. "Depending on when we get married, we will have to figure out a trip during one of the breaks during school. We will also have to think about where we want to go during breaks. I mean I am fine staying in the city or we can go up to Saratoga. I also thought that if you wanted, we could take the jet and visit different places. Just something to think about. We have plenty of time. It was just something that Grandpa John suggested."
"I will think about it." Elizabeth said. "Like you said we have time and it will depend on when we get married. It will also probably depend on if and how much work we have over breaks."
Jack leaned over and gave Elizabeth a kiss.
"Let's just enjoy our time together tonight." Jack said. "Just try to relax. We are safe here and can just enjoy a nice night out."
"I will try." Elizabeth said.
Hand in hand, they walked into the restaurant and bar. Jack smiled at the hostess.
"Welcome." The hostess said. "Do you have a reservation tonight?"
"Yes." Jack said. "Two for Thornton."
"Ah, yes." The hostess said. "I see that you have requested a private corner. Let me just make sure that your table is ready."
The hostess walked away for a moment to check and when she returned, she picked up two menus and led Jack and Elizabeth to their table in the far corner away from most of everyone else. Elizabeth leaned over into Jack.
"Thank you for requesting a private corner." Elizabeth whispered.
Jack smiled and gave Elizabeth a quick kiss.
"Here you go." The hostess said. "Your server will be right with you."
Jack and Elizabeth chose to sit side by side, instead of across from each other. They both started looking over the menu.
"Don't worry." Jack said. "Order whatever you want."
"Thank you." Elizabeth said.
"Do you want a glass of wine?" Jack asked.
"No." Elizabeth said. "But if you want something, go ahead.
"No, I am good, I just wanted to offer." Jack said.
"Thank you." Elizabeth said. "It is still a little weird that we can legally drink here. I guess I am not used to having alcohol."
"That is fine." Jack said. "I don't have it often, but sometimes with a nice meal it is nice."
"I can see that." Elizabeth said. "Maybe doing it more often with your grandparents will make a difference. I don't even know what I like as far as alcohol goes."
"That is fine also." Jack said. "It is a learning curve and if you never want to, that is fine as well."
"Thank you." Elizabeth said.
"No problem." Jack said. "How about we stick to water and soda for the evening."
"That sounds good." Elizabeth said. "I wouldn't mind a cherry Coke."
"Sounds good." Jack said.
It didn't take long for their waitress to arrive. She took their drink orders and went to get them while Jack and Elizabeth continued to look at the menu. Jack ordered them a charcuterie board as an appetizer. It had a local artisan selection of meats and cheeses along with crackers and grissini breadsticks (which are small hard dipping breadsticks). Jack knew that it was a lot of food, especially with them wanting to order main dishes as well, but he also knew that they could take it back to the room and have a snack later.
Finally Jack settled on a burger. It was a sixty day aged beef blend with apple-wood smoked cheddar cheese, a truffle relish which Jack left off, but added two strips of thick-cut bacon. It also came with butter lettuce, red onion and an heirloom tomato on a brioche bun. Jack opted for a side of fries. Elizabeth decided on the pan seared king salmon with a romesco sauce which was a tomato based sauce. It also came with steamed summer vegetable medley drizzled with fennel infused oil.
*3) It wasn't officially named as the St Regis until November 28, 2018. But I didn't want alter my story since the hotel was in operation as The Adelaide Hotel Toronto during renovations. (from Wikipedia page on the St Regis Toronto)
*4) The penthouse was later renamed after St. Regis founder, John Jacob Astor IV, this exquisite two bedroom suite honors his passion of innovation and love for entertaining from the Marriott page of the St Regis, Toronto