Vacation (2)

Hawaii has a tropical climate. Temperatures and humidity tend to be less extreme because of near-constant trade winds from the east. Simon and Sarah spent most of their time during the day on the beach. Either just relaxing under the sun or doing activities near the shore.

Sarah especially liked the music of Hawaii and dragged Simon around many of the bars during the evening, just to listen to the music.

Traditional Hawaiian folk music is a major part of the state's musical heritage. The Hawaiian people have inhabited the islands for centuries and have retained much of their traditional musical knowledge. Their music is largely religious in nature, and includes chanting and dance music.

Simon himself wasn't as excited about the music as his female partner, but enjoyed the peaceful emotions and atmosphere too. But he accompanied her willingly because she promised to surf with him the next day. Surfing on the beach of Waikiki with a beautiful girl wearing a white bikini was simply a dream. 

But Simon was a little disappointed as he simply couldn't content with the many surfers on the coast. It really seemed like some professional surfers were currently on the waves and he was a little jealous when he saw Sarah's fascinated eyes while observing them.

Surfing has been a central part of Polynesian culture for centuries. Since the late 19th century, Hawaii has become a major site for surfists from around the world. Notable competitions include the Triple Crown of Surfing and The Eddie.

The only problem Simon faced during those days was Sarah's wish for them to go hiking in the mountains. There was no way he had any energy to spend on climbing a mountain during his holiday in Hawaii. The only way to avoid this problem was to exhaust and distract Sarah during the night. That was a battle they both lost and won at the same time.

To finish the nice vacation Simon prepared a special surprise. When they returned to the New York airport on July 10th 1970, Sarah was overwhelmed by the gift Simon prepared for her.

He prepared two cars for both of them, one black and one red. The 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO was produced only 36 times in total. Simon had to pay roughly one million dollars for both of those cars together.

When Sarah was told about the story of those two cars and that they would own such a rare car together she was overjoyed. This story would spread all over New York as one of the most romantic gifts ever. She was absolutely sure that all of her friends would be beyond themselves because of their jealousy.

But when she came back to reality and realized that Simon would most likely have to return to manage the company and they would not be able to spend more time together she threw herself into his arms and even started crying a little.

Of course Simon knew what the young woman had on her mind but he couldn't give her anything more at this point. Spending such a memorable vacation with her and gifting her a car that would be worth tens of millions in the future was already quite generous of him, at least in his opinion.

But he didn't quite know how much trouble this gift would cause him in the future. If you give such an amazing car to a girl you only spent a few weeks on vacation with, what should you buy for a girl that you truly love and want to spend your life together? Well, he would find out about this the hard way in the future.

After returning home he didn't spend much time alone when the doorbell was already ringing. When he opened the door Caroline was walking in without even acknowledging him at first and she seemed to be fuming. Simon stopped with the door handle in his left hand and just watched her sister walking into his apartment, constantly throwing curses around.

After walking a few rounds around a large table in his dining room she finally calmed down and turned to her surprised brother.

"Simon Smith, are you NUTS? You walk away a few days after handing me such a large project and just go without any contact for many weeks?! And then my mother tells me you go on a vacation with the little bitch of the Harrison family? And that's not enough, no. Upon your return you come back and give her one of the rarest and most expensive cars in all of New York?! Do you want to piss me off?" 

Simon stood there stupidly listening to the rant of his big sister and was a little confused. After a few long breaths he understood. Caroline was under immense pressure from all sides and the scientific research of Red Bull would need time and patience. For her there was a time bomb ticking in her head and while she was working on the success of Red Bull her little brother who caused the mess, was having the time of his life with a little girl she looked down on.

While stepping forward he went up to his sister and gave her a long hug while she constantly struggled. He made countless promises and only after gifting away his black Ferrari, with tears in his eyes, Caroline stopped hammering on his shoulders. After a few minutes of playing around both of them calmed down and sat across from each other in the living room. Caroline was laughing happily and played around with the car key of her new vehicle. She was already full of anticipation when she thought about Sarah's face seeing her in the car.

Of course Simon tried to change the topic towards business.

"How is it going with the company? Dennis and Tanja called a few times and I made sure everything was well with Atari. I guess we don't have an energy drink ready for the market yet?"

Caroline was very annoyed by this question, obviously. She gathered her thoughts and described the current state of the company.