We had a new year’s party at Greg’s house.
Greg has a beautiful house in the Los Altos Hills above silicon valley. For those not familiar with silicon valley - Los Altos Hills is where the gazillionares live. Once your company does an IPO or is bought by Google for 9 figures you go buy a house there. Needless to say, these folks no longer have any need for the phrase "how much does that cost?".
A bunch of us from work went. Janet was there, as was Lynn. Lynn (my BFF) came with Jim (her SO), which seemed to me a bit awkward (for new readers, see the earlier post where I stupidly put the moves on her after work). If she was feeling awkward, she wasn’t showing it. There was really good food and wine – there was a particularly good cabernet that Greg was serving from Australia (Barossa Valley) called “The Reward” from a winery called Hallett. I’ll need to see if I can’t get it from K&L wines in Palo Alto. Worth seeking out.
There are a couple of rules when dining with Greg. First, when the food is served you are at the table immediately. The cook, in this case Greg – he fancies himself quite the gourmet – did a lot of work to produce some great food. And to enjoy the food at the peak of flavor - all you need to do is sit down promptly. So, sit down promptly. Second, never season anything before tasting it. Both of these are an insult to the chef. If you want to come back, don’t insult the chef. Actually, I agree with both of these rules – being a foodie myself I can see the logic in this.
Anyway, it was a sit-down affair for about 25. His dining room accommodated all quite nicely. Greg had hired 2 sous chefs and some wait staff for the party. On the 31st Greg is having a “business meeting” type new year’s party – clients, partners etc. Tonight was for friends.
I sat across from Lynn and Jim. We discussed a number of topics. Jim wants to go windsurfing again. He made a number of rude remarks. I don’t get why Lynn is with him. But this is probably just jealousy.
Dinner wound down and most folks left, including Linda and Lynn. I was talking with Greg about his recent wine acquisition trip to Italy (I'm so jealous). He offered to show me some of his buys. He led me down into his wine cellar – which was amazing. It had to be 40 feet long and 20 wide, under the main house.
“Room for over 15,000 bottles” Greg said.
It was amazing. Did I say that already? We walked through his cellar and he showed me Barolos, Chiantis, and we stopped at some bottles of champagne. He had a case of Dom Perignon sitting on the floor, unopened. I must have looked thirsty or something, because he asked me if I wanted some. I hesitated (I was going to politely decline), he didn't hesitate, he immediately pulled open the case and grabbed two bottles. “I’ll chill them for you” he said. “They’ll be cold in 15 minutes.”
He invited me out to the Jacuzzi. “I didn’t bring any swim trunks” I said.
“That’s OK he replied, we rarely use them here.” He replied. “Don’t be shy”
The Jacuzzi and pool were outside on the downstairs level in back of the house. It was awesome. You could sit in the pool and look over the whole valley. Only the pool lights were on. I walked out to the pool deck and stripped down and sat in the hot tub. There were 4 people there, three girls and one guy. No one that I recognized. Greg came out a minute later with the 2 bottles of Dom Perignon and 6 glasses.
He popped one open and filled the glasses and passed them out. We all toasted the new year. The Dom Perignon was good, but not really – IMHO – worth the $100+ that it costs. I would stack it up against a $30 Mumms any day. But, good wine is wine that you like. (and I like Mumms)
“So,” Greg asked “I wonder what the poor folks are doing tonight?”
That was a bit tacky, I thought.
We talked about a number of topics. I was probably talking about Lynn more that I should have. Greg said, “It sounds like you have a bit of a crush on that girl”
“She’s a sweetheart” I said.
“You know," Greg said, “Jim is a bit of an asshole. I’d be careful hanging with them if I were you.”
“Well, it’s really Lynn who is my friend”
“Did you ever wonder why Lynn is with him?” Greg asked.
“All the time” I replied, staring up at the stars
“You really should consider that, you know” said Greg. "Beautiful young girl... balding, fat, middle aged asshole - who's not rich, I might add... Why?"
“Dunno, why is she with him?” I asked.
“There could be a lot of reasons. You figure it out.”
“You don’t know either?” I asked
“There are some things you need to learn on your own.” He sighed and looked out over the valley. If he knew, (or thought he knew) he wasn’t going to tell me. He ran a wet hand through his hair and inhaled deeply. He sank down under the water. A moment later one of the girls screamed then giggled. How do you do that, put your head underwater in a jacuzzi? That's crazy.
In total, we killed four bottles of Dom Champagne, more being brought by the hired waitstaff. One couple left together, leaving Greg, me and two naked women. I felt a leg slide across my thigh. I looked over at the girl (I can’t remember her name, but she was cute) she smiled at me. Somehow, it just wasn’t right. I don’t know – maybe it was the kiss with Lynn. On any other night this would have been really welcome. Tonight it was just totally wrong.
I did end up staying the night at Greg’s house. He has several guest rooms off the pool deck. The girl stayed, too. In a separate room. We talked in the morning. She did not seem (too) insulted that I did not accept her advance (WAS I CRAZY!?!? Throwing away beautiful women is bad thing to do. One day they may not be so plentiful. WTF was I thinking!?!?! Aaaargh, I regret it already)
I drove home wondering what Greg meant when we had talked about Lynn and Jim. Why was Lynn with Jim? I usually try not to question folk’s taste – good food is food that you like, after all. But I am really starting to wonder about Lynn’s.
