25. The Talk
THE TALK
“ T his place never fails to impress me when I come into it,” Elias said when Ben met him at the front to bring him in the back of Fierce.
There were lines of people ready for a tour, the bar would open soon, food was provided, and the store was big on the other side.
That was only part of what people saw right away, all open and viewable.
His place was set up completely different.
Picnic tables were all over the concrete floors for people to get a drink at the bar, grab some food from one of the food trucks outside, and sit and relax. No fancy seating, just a laid back vibe he’d been going for.
They could look over all the glass walls below and see the workers and the brews being made.
The beers in vats all in a row like dozens of soldiers marching in line and doing their jobs without missing a step.
“We said the same about your place,” Ben said. “Both set up differently but hoping for the same outcome. Mason is stuck on a call but will be down in a minute.”
“No problem,” he said.
He followed Ben through a series of doors to get past where customers were and up a set of stairs.
“How are things going with Phoebe?” Ben asked.
“We’ve talked multiple times since I’ve been dating your sister. Do I get the big brother talk now?”
Ben laughed. “Nope. My sister is wonderful at taking care of herself. She’d kick my butt if she found out I gave you the talk.”
“My sisters would too, but I’ll still do it,” he said.
“If I didn’t know you and your character, you’d get it. But since I do, you get a pass,” Ben said. “We only care about Phoebe being happy. I have heard nothing to say otherwise.”
“She always seems happy to me,” he said.
“Which is funny because no one else she’d ever dated would have said that.”
He snorted. “I’m not like anyone else she’s dated. Or so she’s told me.”
“You’re not,” Ben said. “You’re more like my people and that could be why I’m chill about it. You haven’t met Matt yet.”
“Got it,” he said.
They walked down the hall to Mason’s office. Ben knocked and they entered to see Mason off the phone and a woman in there.
“Good timing,” Mason said. “This is my wife, Jessica. Jessica, Elias Carlisle.”
Jessica stood up. “It’s so nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot of good things and I love your beer. I’ve had at least twenty different ones.”
“Really?” he asked.
“My wife has the same passion for brewing as Ben and I,” Mason said. “She does a lot of other functions in the brewery but keeps her hands in things too. Every time I bring something back from your brewery I have to make sure there is enough for her opinion.”
“That’s great,” he said, smiling. “Not any of the women in my family are beer drinkers.”
“Their loss,” Jessica said. “I’ll get out of your way. I’ve got a meeting with some of the staff now.”
“Our contracts are all set,” Mason said. “You’ve got your ingredients with you?”
“I do,” Elias said. “It’s in my truck that is out back. I walked around the front.”
“We’ll get it inside,” Ben said. “You saw the recipes of our test runs, correct?”
“I did,” he said.
They were going to produce his mash today with him overseeing it, then Ben and Mason would test recipes to get it exactly right before they started production.
“I’m excited about this,” Mason said. “Our first. I know it is yours too.”
“It is,” he said. “I’m not sure I’d do it with anyone else. I expect others might reach out after.”
It was one thing they hadn’t discussed. Elias had no right to tell Fierce they couldn’t collaborate with anyone else.
“The same,” Mason said. “We are committed to you for this first year. If things work the way we project they will, I don’t see a reason we can’t try it again.”
Neither one of them was going to promise anything. No one knew the outcome of this.
“I feel the same,” he said.
“I heard you had a new barley that you’re trying out,” Ben said.
He frowned, not sure how that was possible. No way Phoebe would say anything. That had only been a light conversation the two of them had. He didn’t even tell her how annoyed he was over everything.
“We are,” he said. No reason to lie. “We got the wrong shipment and someone didn’t catch it.
I used it in two of my regular brews and two of my new ones.
We dumped the regular one once we realized it.
But we kept it in the new ones to see how it worked.
So far everything seems fine, but we won’t know until the final product. ”
“We’ve had shit like that happen here,” Ben said. “People just don’t pay enough attention to details like us. But one lousy thing can cause a batch to not taste right. Something could get contaminated or the wrong measurements. Drives me nuts.”
“Employees don’t understand it the way the owners do,” he said. “Can I ask how you found out about that?”
“The barley?” Mason asked.
“Yes,” he said. “It’s not as if it was public knowledge or anything and not a big deal.” Elias wasn’t about to make it out to be one as if he didn’t have control of things in his plant.
“It was on a message board,” Ben said. “One of my brewers saw someone talking about it. Nothing major, just that it was there.”
“We’ve always been nervous about trying new supplies,” Mason said.
“Just as I am,” Elias said. “What message board? I want to check it out myself.”
Because if he had a staff member posting shit, the person was going to get fired.
As it was, there is no way that could get out unless staff told someone else on top of it.
“I’ll text you the link,” Ben said.
“Thanks,” he said.
The last thing he wanted to worry about was that this collaboration could fail before it even started because of an employee running their mouth.
At the end of the day, he picked Phoebe up at her old law office. He thought for sure they’d be going to dinner tonight, but she’d texted him earlier to say there was a change of plans.
He was fine with that. It’d been a long day and he’d rather relax at the hotel.
“How was your day?” she asked when she climbed into his truck.
“Good,” he said. “Busy. Got a lot done and hashed out. How about you?”
“Spent most of it in meetings. Hope it was okay for me to change dinner plans.”
“It’s fine,” he said. “I’m flexible about it all. Why did you change it though?”
“A lot of moving parts and I didn’t want everyone to be rushing around. I’m assuming Ben was fine today?”
“More than fine,” he said. “Your name came up once. It’s actually the first time since he found out we’ve been dating.”
“I figured,” she said. “Ben is that way. He’s laid back and kind of funny.”
“I got that from him,” he said. “But I think we are a lot alike.”
“You are,” she said. “And Ben will notice that. Matt and my father will have more questions.”
“So I was warned too,” he said. “Just know nothing they say is going to be nearly as crazy as my family when they are all together. You haven’t met my sisters or mother. My brothers are all good.”
“Thanks for the warning,” she said. “I think women can be worse than men.”
He laughed. “That is the case in my family.”
“Are you hungry? I am and I had a huge lunch.”
“I saw the picture,” he said. “Thanks for doing that without me.”
She reached over and patted his leg in the truck. “It was just as much for me as it was for you. It takes the fun out of my enjoyment if you’re making faces at me stuffing my face with sushi. But it’s so good.”
“I’ll take your word for it. Give me ribs and mac and cheese any day.”
He turned to look at her. “You’re going to want to go to BBQ tonight?” she asked.
“There are some awesome BBQ places here. What’s wrong with that? Not fancy enough for you?”
“I suppose we can,” she said, crossing her eyes at his grin. “I got my sushi fix.”
“I’m just picking on you,” he said. “We can do whatever you want.”
“Since I know our options are limited back home.”
“You called it home,” he said quickly.
She paused and turned to look at him. “I guess I did.”
“I’m happy to hear that.”
“Me too,” she said. “It felt natural to say it. But as I was saying so you don’t think I’m deflecting—there aren’t a lot of options back home. Let’s get something we can’t get there.”
“We can do that,” he said. “We can do everything and anything you want.”’
“Don’t you know never to say that to a woman?” she asked, laughing.
“It’s easy to say when you’re not worried about the answer.”