Iwao winced. “Oh yes. Sansi system work real good.”
“Yeah, hey, you seen Rube? He’s here with that wife of his. She’s a treat, huh?”
Nikki assumed he meant the Pearlmans. “Good thing she isn’t always around, for Rube’s sake.”
“It’s always so nice to see you, Juan.” Lulu picked up her wineglass.
“You, too, Mrs. Sansi. Nice to see everyone again. And the newbies, that’s always good. New blood is always good. I better get back to my table. My stomach isn’t working real good right now. I think I’m feeling starved,” Juan said.
Nikki pointed to the servers, who were now beginning to come down the car’s aisle and serve delicious entrees. Nikki had ordered the grilled prawns marinated in a Serrano lime sauce. “I think you must be right about the S.E.E. program.” She knew she was schmoozing, but if that’s what it would take to help Malveaux Estate, then she’d do it. Nikki had her own selfish reasons for wanting to pave the way for a deal to close between Alan and Derek. She wanted Derek to be proud of her. She didn’t want to blow it. “You asked for food, Juan, and now you’re receiving it.”
Everyone laughed. “You’re good. You’ll get this,” Juan said. “I better get back to my table but I had to come say hi. I got some new guy at my table, Kurt Kensington. Boy, that guy definitely needs some of the Sansi spirit. He’s kind of full of himself. And you might want to watch him, Alan and Mrs. Sansi. He’s coming on heavy to your daughter.”
“It’s not our job to interfere, Juan.”
He pointed at him and laughed. “Right. Nice to meet you, Nikki.”
Lulu grabbed and squeezed Alan’s hand.
Alan maintained his complacent smile. “Interesting gentleman, working his way through the journey.” He stood and excused himself for a moment to wash his hands.
It was possible that Alan had lost some of his cool there for a minute. Juan seemed the type to shake up a person, and maybe he’d shaken the guru a little.
There was an uncomfortable silence at the table for a moment. Eli Sansi finally broke it with, “Do you think the bar has anything stronger than wine?”
Nikki was kind of taken aback, but replied, “I’m sure they do. It’s-”
He held up his hand. “I know where it is. Thank you.”
“I think I’ll head to the restroom as well,” Lulu Sansi said.
What was it with the Sansis? Did they travel in packs? Kind of the way women friends did to the bathroom? A bit strange.
Nikki now found herself sitting alone with Iwao and his wife. Iwao said something in Japanese to her and she answered him in a bare whisper.
Nikki didn’t know what to do. It was awkward being left there at the table with this strange man and his silent wife. “You’ve followed Alan Sansi’s system for some time?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
“And what do you love about it? I’m learning what it’s all about. It’s rather interesting.”
“It horseshit. That is what you say in United States? Horseshit.” He smiled.
Nikki stared at him, not certain if he was joking or not. “Excuse me. I don’t think I heard you correctly.”
“You did. This all horseshit. These people no want to improve. They want to think they better than everyone. They only want more money. Everyone always want more money. If they think there is easy way to do it because they listen to Alan Sansi, then that is what they do.”
“But you said that you loved Alan and-”
“I do love Alan. He going to make me lot of money. I like money, too. That is why I going to publish big-time guru. Lot of money in that.” He rubbed his fingers together. “He good guy, but he like money, too. Don’t let Alan Sansison trick on you. You American people all like money, do and believe anything for it. Alan and his son will make deal with me this trip. You see. I bring this horseshit to Japan.”
Nikki was speechless. “Yeah. Okay.” She stood. “I’ll be right back. I think I’ll check on the wine train. They’re, um, serving our wines and I want to make sure that everything is good back there.”
He nodded. The wife still never looked up.
Nikki glanced back at Iwao Yamimoto speaking in hushed tones to his wife. She shook her head. Something was brewing here. Nikki didn’t know what it was, but it sure in the heck didn’t smell of enlightenment. In fact, it reeked of downright nasty.
Serrano Lime Grilled Prawns with DuckhornNapaValley Sauvignon Blanc
A little nasty brouhaha is mixing up there on that Napa Valley Wine Train. How will Nikki handle all of these enlightened souls? She might have to drink a couple of bottles of wine to make it through the evening. No. Then she’d become a big lush. That’s not a good idea. Nikki will do as she always does-grin and bear it and drink a couple of glasses of wine instead of full bottles. Hey, what can go wrong at this point? She’s eating grilled prawns and drinking Sauvignon Blanc!
Nikki loves grilled prawns, and with the spice from the Serrano marinade, the Duckhorn Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc is an excellent pair. The Duckhorn has a little Semillon on it. It’s not too herbaceous and is slightly rounder and fuller than many Sauvignon Blancs. This is a great summer dish.
⅓ cup peanut oil
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1½ tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 small garlic clove, minced
2 Serrano chilies, seeded and finely diced
3 tbsp honey
1-2 tbsp minced fresh coriander
48 tiger prawns
salt (pinch of)
In a small bowl, combine the peanut oil, olive oil, white wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, lime juice, lemon juice, garlic, honey, chilies, salt, and coriander. Whisk to blend well. Marinate for 20 minutes.
Preheat grill for medium-high heat. Thread prawns onto skewers, piercing each first through the tail, and then the head.
Brush grill grate with oil. Baste with marinade glaze on each side again while cooking. Cook prawns for 5 minutes, turning once, or until opaque.
Five
THE setup for the evening was a little different, but Nikki found herself having a good time. Okay, so the wine helped. But seriously, she was meeting new people, and although most were a little to the left of center, as far as she was concerned, they were all basically nice.
With each course, she found herself seated with a new group of people. The idea was to rotate tables as the separate courses came in and talk about what you learned in the past year about yourself and others. It was kind of difficult because it was on the train, but Hayden insisted it was the exercise her father wanted to do. Nikki and the wine train event coordinator made it work.
It was an exercise that Alan suggested everyone try, and “everyone” apparently included her as well. So she threw caution to the wind and, in true Sansi spirit, “went with it.”
Luckily for her, as things turned to more personal-type questions, she found herself seated across from Marco when it was her turn to “share.” The problem was she was also next to Sierra Sansi, who had put away plenty of wine, and kept leaning on Nikki. “You are so cool. Like a normal chick. I want to be your best friend. You know, BFF? I need a friend,” Sierra slurred.
Sierra’s sister, Hayden, was also at their table, looking completely disgusted by Sierra. Instead of friendship, Nikki offered the tipsy girl a bottle of water or some coffee.
Marco clapped his hands together. “Bellissima,” he said to Nikki in his beautiful Italian accent. “You tell us what you learned this year.”
“Oh God, I don’t know.”
“No, no.” He shook a finger wildly in front of her face. “You know and I know you’ve learned many things about yourself and people around you.”
Marco was her “go-to” guy. He knew more about her than most people, and that was because she trusted him to keep her secrets, even from Simon. Now here he was trying to expose her!