Chapter 2 - Opportunity

Kai - August 2012

BEEP BEEP BEEP

The start of a typical work day for Kai. 430am wake up, at the gym by 5am. 30 minute sunrise yoga, into the showers and walking across the gym entrance way to the cafe by 5:50am to turn on the coffee machine and display cases ready for another day. It was the same blueprint of every single day.

Not only was Kai the manager of this cafe, but also the produce manager for three other cafe’s around Sydney. After the morning rush of gym rats leaving to go to work, Kai spent the next 3 hours accepting deliveries, organizing stock in the walk-in fridge and freezers, working through the requests  from the other cafes and organizing for stock to be either picked up or loading it all into her work truck to deliver it herself.

“Kai, Come here!” a voice she recognized called out from somewhere in the parking lot behind her. As she turned to face the voice, Richard Branson was stepping out of his town car and walking towards the stairs leading to the gym entrance. Kai finished place the last few things on the fridge shelves, closed and locked the door and walked over to him.

“Richard! Its been awhile, how have you been?” She asked extending her hand towards him, taking his in a firm hand shake, “I was wondering if we would see you any time soon. What with the new gyms scheduled to be built, Bianca and i were expecting to sit down for a meeting with you to discuss logistics and timeline of future openings.”

Richard merely smiled at Kai, “There are some business matters that i need to discuss with YOU, that Bianca will not be present for. Why don’t you come inside so we can sit and talk about it?” He placed his hand on the small of her back, in an old-world chivalrous manner, leading her up the stairs and through the gym main entrance towards the cafe. As they approached, Kai saw the pandemonium of lunch rush starting to take hold of her staff.

“Ehhhh.. Give me 20 minutes will you?” She looked up at Richard with an apologetic face, who merely nodded before she ripped around the counter to assist her team. Kai took over the coffee machine and cash register. Lucy, the chef was delivering meals that were coming from the kitchen, Justin was placed on smoothies and juice, while Jess was in charge of bagging “Grab’n’Go” sandwiches and anything else from the display cabinets.

It took 25 minutes before the chaos was under control again, Kai made a latte for herself and a flat white for Richard before walking around the counter to deliver them herself, “if you need me i will be right over there in the alcove,” she called out to her team, moving towards the semi-formal seating area in front of the kids swim less pool. Placing the cups down on the table, Kai slid into the seat next to Richard.

“You really are in your element behind that counter, a force that keeps your team calm and focused,” Richard mused, turning his cup in his hand a couple times before picking it up to take a mouthful of coffee, “And you make the best coffee.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere,” Kai burst out laughing, taking a drink of her own latte before setting it down and pulling the hat from her head to try and readjust her pony tail, “So you wanted to discuss something with me without Bianca?”

“Yes,” Richard paused for a moment, taking another measured sip of coffee deep in thought, as if needing to collect the right words. As he set the cup down again he looked straight into Kai’s face as a serious expression crossed his own, “We want to go in a different direction with the ownership of the VCafe franchise. Bianca was the choice of convenience when the gyms were first built, but the relationship between Too Delicious For Words has become strained under her management. The only reason we are still partnered with her is because of your initiative. You have done more to foster the relationship between Virgin Active departments, board of directors and clients in the last 6 months than Bianca did in 2 years.”

Mouth meet floor. Kai stared at him open-mouthed, barely able to contain her racing heart as it pounded in her chest, swelling with pride. She had never received so much praise for what she considered part of her job description, and definitely never from the owner of a multi-billion dollar organization. Richard let a full blinding smile stretch across his face at her shocked silence, pleased that he now had her attention.

“You take so much of yourself for granted, i don’t think even you know the full impact that you have had on this place,” he waves his hand behind him at the gym as a whole, “The Board of Directors don’t want Bianca to lead the future of VCafe, they want you. With your determination, tenacity and precision we know that all cafes will not only meet but exceed expectations and standards that you have so diligently built here.”

“But that means that Bianca will loose 2Delicious4Words, i can’t do that to her.” Kai had never been one to step over or on another person to get ahead in life, if the last 3 years had taught her anything, it was through her own strength of will and determination that yielded the greatest results, “It’s her baby, D.A.R.E is starting to take off. What would that mean for the production company she is trying to build? What about....”

“You really can’t help yourself but think about everyone else before yourself can you?” Richard cut off her rambling, already seeing the spiral that Kai’s mind was taking her down. Reaching up with his left hand, placing it on her shoulder and giving it a subtle squeeze, drawing Kai’s eyes up to his, “Breathe, this isn’t happening tomorrow, nor is this a decision that was made lightly.” Kai took a deep breathe in and blew it out of her mouth, head dropping back against the booth seat, eyes fixed on the ceiling taking in every detail of a cobweb that was being blown around by the air conditioner.

“You are telling me that you want me to take over the franchise of all 2 Delicious4Words, which includes not only the current cafes and D.A.R.E, but also the 4 new cafes that will be built over the next 2 years,” Kai already knew the proposed timeline for building the new gyms and subsequent cafes because Bianca was already complaining how much she hated the hiring process and having to run between all the cafes to ensure consistency across the food.

“Bianca is a business woman who will understand the reasoning behind the boards decision and be compensated handsomely after Virgin finalizes her buyout,” Richard continues, looking up as Justin comes over with 2 Ham/Swiss on Rye sandwiches, smiling as a thank you and sliding one of the plates in front of Kai, “I have seen the improvements that you have made to the operation of the business since you started here, you have been using your business degree to its full potential. I can see the future potential of you being able to turn VCafe into a national brand if given the right opportunity and support. I want to see what you can do here in Sydney first.”

“As much i appreciate the vote of confidence, there is no way i can do the buy in,” Kai finally sat up, rolling her head on her shoulders to pin Richard with a disapproving look, “There is no point to even entertain this as a fantasy when the investment alone would be astronomical for someone like me.” She went to reach for part of her sandwich but stopped and let her arms lean onto her knees.

“What if i were to find you an investor?” Kai snapped her head up to stare wide-eyed at Richard, “If they only thing stopping you from considering this proposition is money, what if i was able to introduce you to an investor to secure the funds, to buy 2Delicious4Words outright, with a reasonable percentage return for the investor?”

“That has to be close to $5million there is no way you know anyone...” even as the words were coming out of her mouth, Kai knew she was wrong and Richard merely chuckled as the realization crossed her face, “What am i saying of course you know people that have that laying around.” Rolling her eyes, she took another deep breathe in puffing up her cheeks and blowing it out through her mouth again, “If.. Big if.. If i do this, im keeping my office based here, this is the first cafe i started with. The team that i have built here is second to none but i would have to work with Virgin Active to make much needed changes to the cafes overall,” her mind was already making plans and contingency plans, thinking about the renovations that really needed to be done to serve the gym clients better as well as being able to run and operate the cafes more efficiently.

“We can discuss all of that over the next couple months and incorporate the changes into the design of the future locations now, to save any hassle down the road,” Richard was already relaxing back into the booth eating his sandwich. He could see the faintest of smiles creep onto Kai’s face, “After everything that you survived, I've watched you come back from a shell of a girl to probably the most confident and intimidating woman i know. Are you really going to tell me that you are going to turn down the opportunity of building a legacy for yourself?”