Nicole nodded her head, “Crap! I totally forgot about the promise! Okay, so we can’t do that, but maybe there’s a way we can work with Jasper to keep Oktoberfest going and reduce the bad behavior of some of the guests.”
They both sat in silence for a minute thinking. Zaina’s face was blotchy with stress and Nicole played with her hair absently while she tried to think of a way to fix things. Then Nicole spoke up, “Maybe I can talk to Sean? Explain how serious the situation is and ask him to get Jasper on board to fix things.”
“Would you? Do you think Sean can get Jasper to see the light?”
"I think if anyone around here can, it’s Sean. He was telling me about when he first arrived in Marley Creek. Did you know he interned at Jasper’s place before he opened Jesse’s Pub?"
“I had no idea."
“Not only did he intern for him, that summer Sean lived with Jasper, and they became super close.”
Zaina nodded, “Makes sense.”
“Sean was telling me about some of their adventures that summer. He mentioned that for Jasper, Hop’s Heaven isn’t just his livelihood; it’s his identity. He may seem like a casual guy who's always dating at least one girl who looks like a model, and he plays like he doesn’t keep track of each and every sale made at the brewery. But the reality is he’s obsessed with making a name for himself in the craft brewery space. His goal is to franchise Hop’s Heaven.”
“Then it’s got to work; he has too much riding on this to let it get canceled.”
“I know you haven’t been able to stand Jasper since high school, but do you think you could put that aside and maybe you could go talk to him too?”
“Oh, goddess, no,” Zaina said abruptly.
“Okay, okay, I’ll talk to Sean. Maybe you could think about talking to Jasper, just in case, if it would make a difference?”
“I don’t see howIwould be able to talk sense into Jasper.”
“You’re probably right,” Nicole said, sensing she shouldn’t try to push Zaina further.
Zaina went back to eating her cheesecake then piped up, “I have an idea.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“It sounds like Hop’s Heaven needs extra help and some good PR in the town.”
“For sure,” Nicole nodded.
“So maybe I can talk to some of the other shop owners, you know, people who are benefiting from Oktoberfest, like Donnie over at Books and Breads, and we could help serve in the tent. We’d work to help defray the cost of extra security, and it wouldshow that the local business community is willing to do what it takes to keep Oktoberfest around. If we all pitched in, then Oktoberfest won’t seem like it’s just a brewery event. I’ll post about the problems Oktoberfest is having in our Marley Creek Business Group and see other solutions the group can come up with to make Oktoberfest a community-focused event and not a big boozy fest that bothers the neighborhood."
“That sounds genius Zaina, I’m sure that Jasper will go for that, if you can get the buy-in from other businesses.”
“We’ve got to save Oktoberfest. Some of these businesses won’t survive without it. Heck, I would barely make it! The Mistletoe Market used to be the only chance I had to stay out of the red, but when Oktoberfest came around, I’ve had some room to breathe the last couple years. Do you know what a relief that is for me?”
Nicole squeezed her friend’s hand. “We are going to do this, I promise you.”
***
SEAN
Sean was laying down on his couch, too tired to get up and brush his teeth and go to bed when his phone started ringing.
“Hey baby,” Nicole said. "Did you have a good Saturday?"
Sean loved it when Nicole called him 'baby'. It was so out of character for her. She wasn’t a nickname or call people pet names kind of woman.
“My feet are killing me, and we sold out of all the bratwurst I had for the week.”
“Why don’t you come over and I can massage your feet,” she offered.
“Darling, I’d love to, but I’m so tired, I’d fall asleep on the drive over.”
