Thinking about Alan, Nikki remembered that she needed to go over the notes Derek had taken during their meeting the other day. Regardless of the situation, she still wanted to approach Alan on the product deal he’d discussed with Derek. With all the ickiness that had gone on, she’d almost forgot that one of Alan’s reasons for choosing the vineyard as a replacement location to hold the workshop at was because he was interested in working out a licensing agreement deal for the spa products and the organic wines that Malveaux made.
She went into the house, took the notes off Derek’s desk in the study, and walked back outside with the coffee. Ollie hadn’t changed positions. She would really have to get him up for a run today. They could both use it to burn off some steam.
Nikki started reading over the notes. Luckily for her, she’d learned to read Derek’s chicken scratch and then could write things out on a separate piece of paper so they were legible and made sense to her.
Derek had written down what type of payment there would be to Alan and what Alan’s responsibilities to the winery and spa would be. He’d notated a basic marketing campaign and put Marco and Simon in charge. This was all stuff he’d mentioned to her. A note at the bottom of the second page was what caught her eye and made her go “Hmmm.” Derek had written down VisionS cope and next to that Iwao Yamimoto’s name. What was that all about? VisionScope? Nikki knew she’d heard that name before, but maybe she was thinking of the dream boards? No. VisionScope. Nikki wracked her brain. Wait a minute. She got up and went back into Derek’s study, scanning the books on the shelf. There was one on organic viticulture. She pulled it out. She’d thumbed through it before because Malveaux grew their grapes and processed through organic means. She looked on the side of the book; the logo read VS. She knew that didn’t stand for Victoria ’s Secret. No half-naked women in this book. She turned to the inside cover and found the copyright and the publisher to the book. There it was: VisionScope. They were located in Ontario, Canada. What did any of this mean? And how could she call Derek up and ask him? She had to call Derek and tell him what had happened to Mizuki. How could she in the same breath try to tie in this note he’d written in a more nonchalant business discussion? She closed the book. Impossible.
She took the book back outside and closed her eyes for a minute. What was it she was missing?
“Ah, you do breathe.”
Nikki’s eyes shot open to find Alan standing over her, dressed in a pair of blue jogging shorts and white T-shirt soaked in sweat. “Hi. I see you’ve been out for a run.”
“Beautiful morning. I needed the exercise and to think.”
“I’m sure. Hey, would you like a cup of coffee? It’s fresh.”
“Normally I would turn caffeine down, but today I feel more human than I have felt in years. I didn’t sleep last night at all. I suppose there’s still quite a bit of ego left in me after all.”
“Is that a yes to the coffee?”
He laughed. “Sure. I’d love some.”
“Why don’t you come on in? I’d hate for you to get a chill.”
He followed her into the house. Ollie came up, sniffed him, and then trotted right behind.
“That’s Ollie.”
“Hey, boy.” Ollie pushed his head under Alan’s hand, forcing the pat and causing Alan to laugh.
“He likes you.” Nikki handed him the coffee.
“He knows I love animals.”
“Come in. Sit down.”
They sat down in the family room and for a few seconds sipped their coffee silently. Surely Alan felt as tense as she did. Ollie broke the silence by laying his thick head in Alan’s lap. Although Nikki had pretty much decided that Alan Sansi wasn’t a murderer, that moment with her big silly dog trusting the man implicitly cemented it for her. Ollie had good instincts.
“I suppose you’re wondering what I’m going to do about the workshop,” Alan said.
Nikki set her cup down. “Kind of. I’m sure everyone is.”
“I forgot how good coffee can be.” He smiled. “I’ve been thinking about it all night and then out on my run and maybe this isn’t the best time to conduct a workshop. Maybe everyone needs some space to digest what has happened and then we can regroup at a later time.”
He looked sad. Really sad. Nikki thought about it for a moment. “Can I suggest something?”
“Of course.”
“I found it kind of weird that when Iwao was killed, the group moved on so quickly, you know. We didn’t change up the program. Nothing. I understand that you were trying to get people into a different frame of mind, but isn’t there something to be said for talking about what occurred and how people might feel about it?”
“There is and it’s also something that I was thinking about while on my run. I’ve tried so hard to get people to live in their spirit mode that I tend to forget we are also humans and we have to acknowledge that humanity in all of us. I tell people that we are spiritual beings being housed by a body and we are here for the human experience. I suppose that I have forgotten the latter part of that teaching-the idea that we are having a human experience, and if that’s so, then we need to feel the feelings. It’s possible I’ve mixed up feelings and ego a little too much and clouded everything when my intentions were to only make things clearer.”
When he looked at her again, Nikki could see the lines framing his blue eyes. The passive smile he’d worn since being at the vineyard had faded, and he appeared drawn and even frightened some-he now seemed human. “Maybe, and maybe it’s that recognition you acknowledged that makes you the great teacher you are. Instead of bailing on the workshop, can you change it so that the members work through whatever it is they need to around all of this? I would imagine that for some it could be sadness. I mean, you seem pretty sad about it, and for good reason. Iwao was a student of yours.”
“Iwao was not so much a student in the way that, say, Simon and Marco are. They truly believe they are working on their souls.”
“Aren’t they?”
“Absolutely.” He took a sip from his mug.
“Then what do you mean about Iwao?”
He closed his eyes, squeezed tight, and then opened them. “Iwao wanted to be a part of the movement of New Age philosophy. Directly in the sales of it. What he failed to understand is there is nothing New Age about anything that I, or many of my colleagues, teach. These teachings have been around since the days that Christ walked the earth and spread his message, or the Buddha, or Krishna. Many of the great teachers of the past have been preaching the same messages that I do. The difference now is that there is what I call a movement in which people who are not necessarily serious about their own personal growth, or that of others, are trying to capitalize on the teachings because they see dollar signs. Look at what the book The Secret did. Since then, and even somewhat before that book and movie, people all over were trying to get on the bandwagon to make a buck all in the name of enlightenment.”
“How about you?” Nikki asked.
He shook a finger at her. “That’s what I like about you. You don’t hold back at all.”
“No I don’t. I’ve been accused of that and I’ll plead guilty.”
“Some might say that I am only out for the almighty dollar, but it’s not true. I’ve been spreading my beliefs for over twenty-five years and I truly believe what I teach. The reason we have the money we do is because I don’t believe in lack; therefore, I never live in a lack of.”