“I see.” He looked at me in expectation. Oh that’s my cue. I cleared my throat.
“Ok, um, alright. If I was sitting at home behind my lap top looking up hotel rooms to book for a family holiday and came across a hotel advertising and promoting ‘family friendly’ rooms, I would expect safety as a given. It wouldn’t be a selling point, it would be expected. Firstly, I’m not sure what levels you are thinking of renovating but high rise levels would freak parents out. None of us really want to be 10, 15, 20 stories high with kids, so levels closer to the ground would be better. Secondly, rooms with accessible balconies, again, freak parents out, so either no exterior doors or doors that are key locked with the locks being at the top of the door and the parents having the choice to acquire a key or not.” Bryce sat back, relaxed and put his arm on the head rest of the couch, I remembered how much I liked seeing him like this, he smiled at me so I continued.
“If you’re promoting ‘family friendly’ you need to accommodate for families with children from infants to teenagers. If you can configure the walls in the rooms to give you 2 or 3 bedroom apartments that would definitely be a selling point. Rooms with microwaves and dishwashers are great selling points too, as mums don’t want to be doing dishes on their holiday and washing machines/dryers are great incentives also, as it means you would need to pack less luggage. In terms of furniture, nothing with sharp pointy edges, TV’s braced to walls, high chairs, porta pots and heavy duty and easily cleaned carpets as children are ferrals. Bunk beds yes, but not in all rooms, families with children ages between 1 and 5 will find them a nuisance and dangerous, so a variety of sleeping and bed configurations would be great. I think neutral colours predominantly yes, but kids love colour, colour plays on mood, a good mood equals a good holiday. Have things like Nintendo Wiis and maybe big coloured dots on the carpet to resemble a Twister Game and those wall play centres you find in family feeding rooms in shopping centres.” I was starting to go and on and the more I thought about it, the more came to mind.
“I’m sorry, I’ve babbled on too much.” I sat in the chair and twiddled my fingers, looking up I noticed Patrick was taking notes, he smiled.
“Twister Carpet, I love it! That’s a lot of useful information, there are certainly many things we can implement, that would definitely fall within budget.” Patrick seemed impressed.
“Great, work with the information Alexis just gave you and get back to me with new sketches, designs and figures and we’ll go from there. Alexis, I’ll also need you to organise a meeting with Chris from Marketing.” Patrick packed up his things, stood and extended a hand to me.
“It was pleasure meeting you Alexis, I’m sure we will be seeing more of each other in the near future. Mr Clark, thank you for your time.” He shook Bryce’s hand then exited the room.
“You really are a piece of work, Alexis.”
“I’m sorry?” He was smirking the smirkiest ‘smirk’ to date, I laughed even that smirk was hard to ignore.
“Why? Did I Hijack your meeting? I’m sorry, it’s just when I thought about what you were trying to achieve the ideas and expectations just tumbled out.”
“Exactly, you really are the perfect person to work with in terms of these renovations.” I was over whelmed, he was thrilled with my input, so much so that I think I am now a vital part of the project.
“Well I’m glad I lived up to your expectations.”
“You surpass them Alexis.” The tension was starting to creep back in between us. Nip it in the bud, Alexis. I looked at my watch it was 7pm.
“If that is all you need from me tonight, I should head home.”
“Actually if you don’t mind staying a little longer there is something I want to show you.” He looked like Nate when he had seen a Lego Set in Target and just couldn’t live without it. Please Mum!
“Sure, what is it?” He jumped up with such enthusiasm.
“Follow me, Ms Summers.” He extended his hand. Oh my goodness his hands are glorious, strong, masculine and big. You know what they say about men with big hands? Alexis, you need to slap yourself. He led me into the apartment and to his private elevator.
“In you go.” He placed his hand on the small of my back and gently moved me into the elevator, he hit the button titled Ob. Ob? Oh of course Observatory. Ooooh how exciting. The doors opened into a small dome shaped room, it really was very cosy. Hit flicked a switch on the wall and the dome roof started to open. OMG, the stars looked enormous, I don’t know if it’s because there was not a cloud in sight or if it was because we were so high in the air.