Chapter Thirteen BIN
To distract myself from the inevitable humiliation of the first practice session this weekend, I get back to my goal of becoming an award-winning entrepreneur with the inaugural BIN session.
I’ve been to Charlie’s before but the place never ceases to enthral me. I could get lost here for days. Books, books and more books, and not the tasteful classic literature that you find in many a middle-aged bookshelf, but ream upon ream of general knowledge. Travel books of course, piles of them, but ‘how to’ guides too. How to Hypnotize, Bluff Your Way in Wine, Decorate like a Pro, Train Dogs, Escape an Avalanche, Speak Portuguese, you name it, he has a book for it. I’m sure I could take a holiday in Charlie’s house and come out a fortnight later a qualified surgeon. I love it.
Caroline has brought along Ed, although from our very brief meeting, I wouldn’t have thought this was his type of thing. She volunteers to lead the session and kicks off by giving us each a book and a random object. We have to think of a trip inspired by these objects. I’m given The Goldfinch and a pencil sharpener, and pulling a face, I start.
‘Goldfinch, golden triangle, Bermuda Triangle, Bermuda,’ I babble not having a clue where I’m going with this one, ‘sharp, harp, carp — deep-sea fishing in Bermuda.’
Ed has TheDice Man and a teabag. Caroline obviously spent an absolute fortune on these props. He goes for it, too.
‘Dice, blackjack, casinos — tea, cups, win the cup,’ he says, ‘winning weekends — Ascot then the World Cup with a casino in the evening.’
He might be quiet but he has something there.
‘And we could also draw one of the customers out of a hat at the end and they get a bottle of champagne. It could be our thing, when you book with us you might win something,’ adds Charlie.
We all like this concept — you book up for a few trips with us and it becomes a sort of a social group with surprises thrown in. Customers would get to know each other and eventually start to book up together.
‘Charlie,’ I think out loud, ‘we could call it the Mercury Travel Club. Customers sign up for a year and every quarter we take a week away. We could add wine themes to the book weekends and then the prize would be a case. For example, we might go to France for the Bordeaux while reading Madame Bovary.’
‘It’s not only wine, but cocktails are making a comeback too. They’re being served in jam jars now.’ Josie knows these things.
‘Ooh, that might be a bit different — where did cocktails originate?’ I ask.
‘London,’ Ed tells us in a dour but factual voice, ‘but most people would associate them with New York, Manhattans and all that.’
‘Now we’re talking, Manhattans in Manhattan. I’d go for that,’ declares Patty.
‘Reading Breakfast at Tiffany’s, that has to be your Christmas trip,’ adds Caroline.
By now the room is buzzing and Charlie looks rather gobsmacked. We all stop talking and he starts asking lots of questions like, ‘Won’t that be expensive?’ and ‘Will people sign up for a full year?’ None of us know the answers but it would be an amazing club to join.
We have to give it a go.