Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 53349 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 267(@200wpm)___ 213(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53349 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 267(@200wpm)___ 213(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
“I have another appointment soon, so it needs to be now,” Liz added. She always seemed to have a next appointment, whether she was trying to set up new clients or talking with suppliers. It was probably one of the things that made it possible for Married in Malibu to continue to run so smoothly.
“And you want me in on the meeting?” Nate asked.
Liz nodded. “Yes, please. I’ll set up a meeting with Yuriko to gather most of the details, but the technical side of things needs an expert. He’s not going to be impressed if no one on the call understands what he’s talking about.”
Nate nodded. “Of course. I’ll be right there.”
It was a good thing to have something like this to deal with right now. He had a job to do, and his friends were relying on him to do it well. The others had all had big moments in some of the previous weddings. Now this was his chance to shine. Or at least remind everyone there was a reason he belonged on the team.
So, he needed to focus on work, and if he could throw himself into it, then maybe he could get Tamara out of his head, and everything could go back to normal. It was just a question of time.
He followed Liz into Married in Malibu, waving bye to Kate. He began to think through the kind of technical considerations that would be required when trying to broadcast a wedding over the Internet. Bandwidth would be a big part of it, and they needed to get enough servers involved to handle the demand. Then there would be issues of frame rate, pixilation… His mind began to work overtime.
They went up to Liz’s office and placed the call. A day or two ago, this meeting would have felt like something out of a fantasy. Now, he was actually going to talk with Zach Jarrs himself. He had to concentrate.
Soon, Zach Jarrs appeared on the screen, and both the video and audio were pretty flawless. He was in his forties now, but he still had a youthful look about him. In fact, he looked as if he’d only recently left college. A slight thinning of his hair told the truth, and that hair was artfully out of place, as though he hadn’t thought about it in a while. He immediately smiled at Liz and Nate.
“Hi, you must be Liz,” he said. “I’m Zach. It’s good to speak with you face-to-face… well, more or less. And you must be Nathan Waterson.”
He’d obviously looked at Married in Malibu’s website. Nate found himself wondering how much else he knew about them. Probably nothing. Zach Jarrs was too busy to concern himself with that kind of thing.
“Nate’s here to help with the technical details of the wedding arrangements,” Liz said, gesturing to Nate in a way that reminded him of a game show host unveiling a prize.
That brought another smile. “That’s good to hear. As you can imagine, Yuriko and I are looking forward to making this a very special day for us, for our families, and for the people around the world who have helped to make my technologies so successful.”
“With that in mind,” Liz said, “the more you can tell us about what you need, the better we’ll be able to make sure we can provide it for you.”
“Well, some of this is Yuriko’s department,” Zach said. “I’m sorry she can’t be here for this call, but she has a TV appearance. I know she’s looking forward to chatting with you. But, basically, we’re looking for a real fusion of styles for the wedding. A meeting of our worlds and our cultures, but without anything feeling forced or out of place. We want it to feel as natural as it was when I finally asked her to marry me.”
“When you finally asked her?” Nate asked.
That brought a nod from the businessman, although Nate was aware of Liz’s slight frown.
“That’s right,” Zach said. “I never thought I would fall in love. I guess I always assumed that I was just going to be this solitary guy, stuck behind a computer. Or maybe I never imagined I could find someone like Yuriko.” Just the way he said his fiancée’s name made his love feel tangible through the screen. “The crazy thing is that we tried to fight it for so long. Finally, we realized that it was simply meant to be.”
“So,” Liz said, obviously trying to bring the conversation back to wedding details, and probably very aware that her next meeting was coming up, “how can we help you to make things the way you want them to be?”
“I’m the luckiest guy in the world,” Zach said, “and Yuriko is my best friend as well as my fiancée. We want our wedding to reflect both of us—small and private for our friends and family, but big and open so that the world can see how much we love one another.”