Chapter 4 – Diana
I arrived at the restaurant, a few minutes late – on purpose. Janet had told me being late pisses Swanson off so much he might refuse to speak to me again if I did something like that. And that’s what I was hoping. The more I thought about him throughout the afternoon, the more I realized I had to get myself out of this situation. I’d write one column for the website based on our discussions so far and let someone else take over. I needed to get away from this man.
I did my best not too look attractive. I threw on a plaid shirt and blue jeans, and pulled my hair back in a ponytail. No makeup. Let Mr. Sexy see the dark circles under my eyes. It probably made me look older and less attractive. And I was not going to show skin like I had earlier.
I figured this would pour some water on the fire.
The hostess comes up and says Swanson is late because of a meeting, but she’ll take me back. The restaurant is packed – its right on the harbor and there are tons of tourists here enjoying the idea of eating seafood right on the ocean. She takes me all the way back to a secluded room – one side is all glass looking out on the water which is right there – motions for me to sit down and gives me a menu. The only lights in the room are the candles on the table. Its definitely romantic.
“Your waiter will be Henri, he should be here in just a few minutes.”
I thank her and she walks out. You can still here the crowd in the main dining room but it feels completely private. The only intrusion will be from the waiter.
For a few minutes I get lost going over the menu. When I look up by pulse quickened. Swanson was standing there in the doorway just staring at me. His gaze made me feel like I was naked, exposed.
“How long have you been there?”
“I just got here, but, well I have to admit I was taken aback by how beautiful you look.”
A flush came over me and I glanced down at the menu. He walks in and sits down.
“Well what do you think? I saw that this place was for sale, and I had to have it. I eat here once a week. It’s going to be one thing I really miss when I have to spend so much time in Washington.”
“Yeah, its lovely,” I say, feeling relieved that we’re having some normal conversation. He almost seems human now.
The waiter comes in with a bottle of wine. Kyle looks at me and smiles. “Diana, I hope your OK with a Chateau Lafite Rothschild. Its $1,200 a bottle.”
“Good Lord Kyle, You don’t need to be wasting your best wines on me. I’m a journalist who graduated from Cal State.”
“No I insist,” he says, starting to laugh. “Not to brag, but when you’re a billionaire a $1,200 bottle of wine, well its like it costs a penny.”
Yeah sure Kyle, don’t brag. Henri goes ahead and opens the bottle. Kyle immediately starts swigging it down. Oh boy, wonder what he’s like when he gets tipsy. I remind myself that we’re in a public location.
“So I imagine you have some more questions for me. We didn’t get through much material at the office.”
“Yes that’s true.” I leaned into him staring straight into his eyes. “What are you going to do with yourself, if you lose this race?”
I had become more interested in what made the man tick than I was in his boring policy details.
He laughs and looks out the window out over the water, “Well that’s easy Ms. Bates, I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing now, having the time of my life buying up San Diego.”
Strange – suddenly he’s calling me Ms. Bates.
“Why do you want to be Senator? Tell me what really drives you.”
“Ms. Bates, what drives you? Why did you become a journalist, and why are you focused on politics?”
I looked straight into his eyes and gritted my teeth. “Are we here to talk about me? I don’t think so.”
The question had made him uncomfortable. He was deflecting. I started sensing some kind of insecurity.
“I’ll try again.”
Just then Henri pops in, wanting to take our order. Kyle seemed relieved that my efforts to press him had been interrupted. Henri stayed a few minutes and we were joking and laughing a bit, and by the time he left I had lost track.
I finished a glass of wine and was feeling a little light headed and relaxed. I decided to do some more digging.
“Tell me about yourself. Where does Kyle Swanson come from. Who is he?”
He leaned back in his chair and paused. “Where do I begin? My parents were Australian, but had always wanted to live in the states. They immigrated here before I was born, that was about five years later. Over that time they discovered they really had a knack for doing business, and started the hotel chain. You know the one today that has 150 hotels, at least one location in every single state.”
“By the time I was 11 or 12, they had built up three different businesses that were all worth millions. I guess I inherited that multi-tasking ability from my dad. You know I own five companies right? Be sure to put that in your article.”
“Sure thing Kyle,” I was sensing the insecurity again. He was too easy with emphasizing accomplishments. There was something wrong.
“Well let’s see, they sent me off to boarding school when I turned 14. All the way to Connecticut.”
“What was that like,” I chimed in. I noticed he avoided eye contact the entire time he was talking about growing up.
“Well to be honest, I hated my parents for doing it. Sending me all the way across the country? I protested about losing all my friends and said I wanted to stay in southern California. They shot back, ‘KYLE, YOU’RE THE SON OF WEALTHY PARENTS, AND YOU NEED TO MAKE FRIENDS FROM SIMILAR BACKGROUNDS.’ They had this idea that I had to make ‘connections” in the world of the 1%. We didn’t call it that back then but that’s what it was. The idea was that you go to a boarding school with other rich kids, the ones who are going to be lawyers, CEOs, Senators.”
“Yes, Senators,” I shot back.
He fell silent. “How did you feel about this?”
“Diana I already told you how I felt. I hated my parents for doing it. And I hated all four years I was there. It was almost like being a prisoner of war. I avoided making too many friends. But then I went to Yale for college that was nearby. I graduated number one in my class at Yale you know.”
“Of course Kyle, everyone knows you graduated top of your class.” I winked, “But I’ll mention it again in the article, just to make sure nobody misses that.”
“So you went to Harvard didn’t you?”
“Tell me Diana, why did you become a journalist?”
I shook my head. “Like I told you, this isn’t about me. We’ll leave that for another time.”
He reaches out and grabs my hand as my heart soars. “I knew we’d have more than one date.”
“This isn’t a date,” I tell him. “Strictly business.”
We both burst out laughing and he pours some more wine.