He sighs. “But he’s not supposed to be here,” he whispers.
“We have to deal with it, and we’ll do so professionally and with manners. Can you try, please?”
He gives me a defeated look. “I’ll try.”
“Thank you. He brought us coffee.”
Samuel scoffs. “Gonna take more than that.”
I smile, patting his arm. “I know. Let’s do this.”
Samuel gives me a reluctant smile, glancing over my shoulder at Gabriel. “Fine.”
We walk back to the desk where Gabriel is looking down at his notebook, seemingly nonplussed by my and Samuel’s side conversation. He glances up and nods in the direction of the coffee.
Samuel takes his with a tight smile. “Thank you.”
“No problem,” Gabriel replies.
Samuel opens his notebook. “Here’s what I have for the total event. The first week in February, we’ll do two nights where we extend the hours from six to eight. Those nights will be more of an open house to draw people in. I think light refreshments like water, coffee, maybe hot chocolate, and some cookies. Just nibbles.”
I nod as Gabriel does the same.
“But we’ll advertise it as something like Fall in Love with Space or Find Romance in the Stars, something like that, to give it a romantic feel leading up to Valentine’s Day.”
“Great,” I comment.
Gabriel is scribbling notes.
“On Valentine’s Day,” Samuel continues, “we go all out. I propose we get a DJ and set up a dance floor. I already researched a temporary event liquor permit, and I think we need that. It’s adult oriented and we push the LGBTQ stance.”
“Does this area have a lot of people in the community?” Gabriel asks.
“It does,” Samuel replies. “College crowd, you know, plus the town overall is pretty friendly and accepting.”
“It’s why I live here,” I add. “Cambridge is a great place overall, but I would love to have events where it’s called out, you know, so there’s no doubt. Especially in a romantic setting.”
Samuel nods. “I agree. It’s important to me to have safe and open places.”
“Yeah, I like it,” Gabriel agrees.
“Are you?” Samuel asks.
“Samuel,” I chide, giving him a look.
“What? I’m just asking.”
“Am I what?” Gabriel asks.
“LGBTQ plus?”
“Oh, yeah.” He nods, as if he expected we already knew. “I’m the G.”
My stomach flutters with this news. I noticed he assumed I was gay when I mentioned Aiden, and likened his roommate to mine, but maybe on some level I hoped he was straight, reducing the unlikely chance of us hooking up. Until now, my attraction was in a vacuum, encouraged purely by my imagination, but now, it’s confirmed he’s an option, at least theoretically. I imagine I’m the furthest thing from being his type. He would likely be into more athletic types. They could go jogging or workout together on the weekends. They could talk about sports and watch highlight reels of games. They could admire their sinewy toned physiques in the mirror.
I highly doubt he would enjoy watching space documentaries, visiting historic libraries, or our once a month eat at a new restaurant tradition. He probably drinks protein shakes and thinks about his carb intake. I release an unintentional long sigh, drawing the attention of both men in the room.
I force a smile to my lips. “Great ideas so far, Samuel. What’s the budget?”
“Easton did some calling around. We could offer a simple wine and beer selection for a reasonable cost, and I have some catering estimates for finger foods.” He slides the papers across the desk.
“Are we charging an entry fee?” Gabriel asks.
Samuel practically scowls until I shoot him a look. “We haven’t discussed it.”
I exhale slowly. “Do you have thoughts about that, Gabriel?”
“Not thoughts exactly. I was thinking about the difference between charging an entry fee, and then you get everything inside free, or going à la carte, and they pay for anything they want, like the auditorium shows or cocktails.”
I think about that for a second. “Hmm.”
“Personally,” he continues. “I think I’d rather pay a fee to attend, and then once I’m inside, I can do whatever. Especially if I were bringing a date here.”
Samuel’s face falls. “That’s actually a good idea.”
“We could have two levels,” Gabriel continues. “A single and a date package.”
“Oh,” Samuel says. “We could even offer a February package so they could come to all the events in February.”
“I like that,” I add.
“Okay. I’ll work on package pricing tonight. I think it should include a show, all entertainment, appetizers, and a drink?”
“Maybe two drinks?” Gabriel questions.
“Two drinks per person? What do you think, J?”
I nod. “Yeah, if they’ll be here for hours, two drinks is good. They could also pay if they want more than two, but we can have the bartenders make sure no one drinks too much.”
“Right. Not sure we’ll get a heavy drinking crowd for a night at the planetarium, but just to be safe.”
“Do we need special insurance?” Gabriel asks, drawing a confused look from Samuel.
“Why?”
“I don’t know if we do. I just remember a fundraiser we did for my team, and we had to have special liability insurance for offering alcohol.”
“Oh,” Samuel says. “I’ll check. Thanks.”
“Sure.”
“The other part,” Samuel continues, “is the memberships. Like I told Richard, I think we offer our annual unlimited package with a fourteen percent discount if you sign up during an event.”
“I love that,” I reply.
“What's the most popular package?” Gabriel asks.
“We don’t sell a lot of packages,” Samuel explains. “But I’m trying to change that, so we have a more predictable revenue stream. Most of our tickets are monthly passes or just individual shows during theme months. My goal in having this February event is to show we have a lot to offer that makes the membership an easy choice.”
“That’s really smart,” Gabriel says. “Get them in here doing something fun, put them in a good mood, and they sign up.”
Samuel nods, shifting his eyes to me in frustrated defeat. It’s hard to hate the guy when he’s so nice and complimentary.
“Yeah,” is all Samuel manages in response.
After our meeting, Gabriel excuses himself again.
“Ugh,” Samuel says. “He’s nice, and kind of smart.”
“I know.” I lean back in my chair. “Not a good sign for me.”
“Not true. He doesn't know anything about running this place. Payroll alone takes a week. Can he do that?”
“Not yet, but maybe he’ll kill it when it’s his turn.”
“He can’t learn everything you’ve been doing for two years in the two months before the board meeting. He just can’t.”
I shrug. “I have to show him everything. It’s my integrity on the line.”