9. Flora & Fauna

9

FLORA but every time I see Cara surrounded by something she’s passionate about, this is exactly how she acts. Every time .

There’s a big wooden sign that says Camp Aramoni followed by a gate. Cara gives me the gate code, and we follow the gravel path toward the main house which looks like a barn. The place is surrounded by nature; from tall, slender trees forming natural archways, to wildflowers and ferns marking paths. There are ruins near the entrance showing what once was here, and on the far end, you can see little houses on something resembling stilts. Once I park and open the door, I can hear nothing but the encompassing sounds of nature. There are no vehicles or people chatting but nature is speaking. I can hear water from a stream or river and I feel immediately calm. Like the symphony of the forest is connecting with my senses and telling them to relax.

Cara stands by the door, with her hands on her hips and a cross body bag around her chest. She looks up at the sky and smiles at me. “Come on, hotshot, let’s see what they’ve got for us.”

I’m in between confused and amazed but I follow her inside anyway. Stepping in here is like opening a book. The space screams rustic but with a touch of modern. It’s not luxury, obviously, but it has high ceilings adorned with strings of soft twinkling lights. Warm sunlight filters through the large windows, casting a glow over the wooden floor and the furniture. The walls are full of trinkets and artifacts that I’m guessing have stories to tell and a fireplace I’m sure keeps everyone warm in the cold months. There’s a small shop to the right as well, with clothes, sunscreen, snacks and bug spray.

We walk up to the registration desk and are welcomed by a tall guy wearing casual summer clothing and a friendly smile. “Welcome to Camp Aramoni, how can I help you?” he greets.

“Hi! I’m so happy to be back. I called and someone said that you have room for one more reservation?” Cara asks.

“Sure, let me look it up real quick.” Julian—that’s what his name tag says—types on the computer for a minute before returning his attention to us.

“We do have Flora and Fauna left. We had a last minute cancellation so it’s open today. It’s the last tent in our lineup, does that sound good?” he asks and Cara nods, grabbing her bag presumably to get her wallet out. I beat her to it and put my credit card on top of the counter.

“Manny, I got this,” she snaps.

“No, I do. Here, Julian, put it on my card, will you?” I also hand him my ID. He emails us the packet with information—since this is a green spot and they don’t waste paper to print unnecessary things—and he proceeds to let us know that our ride to the tent will arrive in five minutes.

As we’re walking out to grab our bags, Cara turns to me and says, “You know, I can pay for things too. You didn’t let me pay yesterday at the store or gas station, or anything for that matter. I’m a big girl, I can handle it.”

“I know you can, but again, it doesn’t mean you should. Think of this as a bonus for teaching the children. My treat,” I insist. The truth is, my sister was a teacher for a long time. I know how underpaid they are. It’s not fair that I can make in a month—hell, sometimes in a week—what they make in a whole year. And on top of that, judging by the one interaction I saw from Cara and that little boy, it looks like she’s a good one. Allie always mentions how Cara was meant to teach, that it comes naturally to her. The least I can do is help ease some of her financial worries with this trip.

“Well, fine, but don’t do this with everything, okay?” she retorts, using her teacher voice on me. Borderline bossy but still sweet. Like the sound of a stream crashing over smooth rocks, it shows its presence but it doesn’t break the surface.

“Or what, sunshine?” I tease, and as soon as it leaves my lips I want to take it back because it came out flirty as fuck. Not uncommon for me, but I don’t want to push it.

“Try me and find out,” she snaps and I smirk at the same time she smiles and bites her lower lip. We’re suspended in this moment, with this air of electricity. Like a storm’s brewing between us .

The truck that is taking us to our tent shows up, snapping us out of our moment—whatever that was—allowing us to walk away without talking about it.

The drive is serene. The driver tells us a few things about the camp and when dinner and breakfast will be. He tells us that our tent is the last one but as we pass the others, I realize tent is a loose description. They are like small rustic houses in the middle of the wilderness. Made from a canvas-like material, each boasts a small porch and seating areas right next to them on the grass. There are all sorts of people staying here. We see some children playing with their parents and couples cozying up together. Some guests are lounging in hammocks, some are reading on porches, and some of the yards are empty. Each site blends seamlessly with the natural landscape and I’m intrigued to know what they look like on the inside.

Once we reach our spot, I notice there’s one glamping tent—it looks more like a house but made of canvas instead of whatever material houses are made—and bushes that hide what I assume is the nearby river because the water sounds a lot closer than it did at the main house.

We walk up to our tent and the driver waves goodbye as soon as he drops our bags on the porch. There’s a little sign that reads Flora go ahead and I’ll catch up with you,” I insist and she nods at me.

I sit in one of the cold chairs outside and answer the call.

“This is Manuel.”

“Manuel, I thought we were more than in business together ,” Mr. Virgil says, his voice clipped and dense. Conazo, ?que diablos pasó? ? 1 .

“Of course we are, Virgil. We’re friends, no? What’s going on?”

“Well my assistant just told me that you won’t be in our meeting next week. I don’t feel like dealing with anyone else but you! So what? Now that your business is bigger you’re only focusing on larger accounts?”

Que jodia baina ? 2 . “No, no. I’m taking some time off, and it just happened to be during this meeting. But Augusto agreed to take over or I can Zoom in.”

“Just because you two look the same doesn’t mean that he’s the one overseeing my account,” he adds. I can hear the frustration in his voice.

“Virgil, we both own the company. But I understand your frustration. Do you want to reschedule or do the meeting online? I have no trouble joining from my vacation.”

“Must be nice to take a week-long vacation. Send the invite and I’ll be in touch, Manuel. I only do business with you, got it?”

Got it. “And I appreciate your business. I’ll have Lucia send you a new calendar invite and I’ll make sure you have my full attention.”

He hangs up the phone and I cuss loudly. There’s a couple on a porch in the tent nearby and I can see their heads turning to see what’s happening. I guess that’s the downfall of being out here in the middle of nowhere—there’s no noise to drown when shit goes south.

I sit and breathe for a minute and drag my hand through my hair before calling Lucia.

“Mr. Zabana, I thought you were on vacation?” she asks.

“Lucia, why didn’t you tell me that Virgil was upset? He called me fuming. I’m sure someone in the office knew of this prior to him calling me. So how am I the last to know?” I bark. I try to control my tone so I don’t sound like an asshole. If there’s one thing that I take pride in, it is being a servant leader—walking the walk instead of just talking the talk. I learned about servant leadership in college and I connected with the concept immediately. I don’t scream at my employees, and the ones that have not tried to sleep with me have stayed with the company since we opened. I try to stay calm, cool, and collected because the last thing I need is for people to see me as another millionaire with anger issues.

“I’m sorry Mr. Zabana. Your brother said that under no circumstances was I to contact you. So I sent his assistant an email about the meeting, but I guess Mr. Virgil didn’t want to wait. It won’t happen again.”

“I told you I was going to work on this trip, so don’t listen to my brother. Send me important messages and anything that needs to be handled ASAP. Okay?”

“Will do. I apologize, again,” she adds. “Anything else I can do?”

“No, Lucia, that’s all. Go ahead and send him an email with a new calendar invite for a Zoom meeting. Add me to it and make it as early as he’ll allow so I can try and get it done before we get on the road from wherever we are at the time. Talk to you soon.” I hang up the phone and immediately text Gus because what the hell.

Me: Augusto, stay out of my business.

Gusti: Disfruta tus vacaciones, Manuel. Dejate de estar contestando el teléfono

? 3

Me: ?Y los clientes que se van a buscar otra companía que? ?A la mierda esos?

? 4

Gusti: If people can’t understand that you took your first vacation in years, they don’t need to stay with our company. That’s not the people we want around.

Me: You let me handle my shit.

Gusti:

I put my phone in my pocket and get up from the chair. My mood is sour now. Nobody is listening to me and the whole damn company is putting me in a time out. But I can pretend everything is fine and dandy in front of Cara. I refuse to ruin her trip over that.

1 ? Shit, What the fuck happened?

2 ? What an actual shit

3 ? Enjoy your vacation, Manuel. Stop answering the phone.

4 ? How about the clients? Should those just leave us for another company and we can send them to fuck themselves?