"Damn!" he groaned as he hurtled full speed towards the toilet, "I should have stuck with lemonade. What a honeymoon this turned out to be."
Noelle grabbed a glass full and sipped it down.
"Maybe you shouldn't have done that," Ginny suggested helpfully, "especially if it's a bad batch."
"Oh, I must insist," Noelle replied, "I cannot possibly let this be sold without having tasted it myself. That's bad business!"
"If you insist."
Ginny watched helplessly as more people turned up to sip the wines.
She hoped and prayed that they wouldn't target the plasma one, but it appeared they all made a beeline for it and gulped it down. Including the rather snooty and unhelpful Jolene.
In the bathroom, Ambrose hurled up everything he'd eaten and drank for that day, which wasn't much really, then proceeded to splash his face and brush his teeth.
"Can't possibly go out there," he thought to himself, "with puke breath. Not nice at all."
He came out slowly, feeling a little shaky and nauseous, his skin paler than normal.
"You okay sweetie?" Ginny asked gently.
"Um, I think so."
Ginny reached into her handbag and brought something out.
"Try this," she said helpfully, "I always keeps some handy ... you know ... just in case."
She grabbed a clean glass from the shelf, went over to the sink and ran some cold water into it. Then she poured the powder in, stirring it up with a handy spoon and handed it to Ambrose, who'd decided his safest option was to sit down. He drank it in several sips.
"Feeling better?"
"Yes thanks, what was in that? It tasted weird."
She leaned in and whispered in his ear.
"It's an old family trick," she said quietly, "works every time. Never failed yet."
She turned to Noelle.
"I always carry these around with me," she explained, "just in case. I think I've got plenty to go around here, but I suggest that you get rid of that batch of nectar you've already bottled up and check the rest of the stock, to make sure none of it's contaminated."
"How can I thank you?" Noelle beamed, obviously happy at Ginny's suggestions, "we put so much time and money into this new brand."
"Oh, I can only imagine."
"Is there anything we can do for you to make your time here more enjoyable?"
"Um, well....."
"We can give you a discount at the store ..... plus, if you wish, you may purchase some of our rarer grapes to take home with you. That way you can have some much better memories of your stay here!"
"Oh that's lovely, thank you."
"Just speak to Elliott at the counter and he'll only be too happy to oblige."
"Wouldn't that put a big dent in your profits?"
"Oh don't worry about that, discovering a bad batch of nectar and stopping it from being sold wholesale, is doing us a HUGE favour. Can you imagine the thousands of Simoleans lost, and the family name being dragged through the mud with court cases and illness claims???? This is nothing compared to what COULD have happened."
"Can I be cheeky and ask for something else too?"
"Sure, anything."
"The 'pink champagne well' ..... is it true?"
Noelle laughed and handed Ginny a key.
"Go check for yourself."
"So it's true?"
"You'll see."
"But please excuse me," Noelle cut in, "I'd better head off to the bathroom, I'm not feeling so good. You were right, we need to pull that brand of nectar immediately."
With that, she dashed off in the same direction as Ambrose had headed not an hour ago.
Ginny and Ambrose took off towards the back of the building, to the vats and fruit presses. Ambrose stopped dead and gasped.
"Hey Ginny," he said, awestruck, "I think I've found it."
Sure enough, behind a fence and heavily padlocked gates, they found a well that had shimmering pink liquid bubbling up inside it. Ambrose gave a low whistle.
"Talk about your 'best kept secrets'," he said, shaking his head, "this one just has to be the coolest!"
Ginny wandered towards one of the presses and paused, deep in thought.
"Say Brosie?" she said rubbing her chin, "do you think we could try this at home? Make our very own nectar using whatever we've got around the town?"
"I can't see why not?" he replied, "it'll make for interesting parties....."
They grinned at one another.
"Let's go get us some grapes then and take them home."
So, the two of them went outside into the enclosure and started picking the grapes.
"Do you suppose they'd mind if we picked a variety?" Ginny asked, pausing over a vine of luscious light yellow/green grapes.
"Don't think so," came the reply, "as long as we leave plenty for everybody else."
It was mid afternoon, going into early evening when they finally finished their grape picking and already they were feeling hungry. So, Ginny decided to enter the shop.
There, she saw another pair of tourists mulling over the selection of nectar that was available, and hoped that none of it was from that batch of bad stuff they were tasting downstairs. She didn't want to alarm them, so she approached the counter where a young man was manning the cash register.
"Are you Elliott?" she asked.
"Oui, I am he," he replied smiling, "ah, you must be the young lady my wife was telling me about. Just let me know what you need and I'll see what I can do for a discount."
"I'm looking for some advice really, there were some lovely grapes outside but I couldn't tell you what they were."
"Ah, the Cranerlet Nuala, perfect for red nectar, Cherimola Blan, that's a light sweet grape, ideal for white nectar, the Meloire is a rich heady grape that's more suited for our vintages, and the Renoit is our own special breed of grape that we nurtured ourselves."
"Interesting, but can I ask you ..... could we grow any of these back home?"
"But of course, if you nurture them well, give them the right fertilizers and the perfect conditions, they should all give you a sizeable crop, year in year out."
"How about making my own nectar? How do I go about that?"
"Oh, there's nothing more rewarding than making your own. It's a matter of your own personal taste though. What appeals to some, however, doesn't to others. But there are plenty of books around that'll help you along. And if you're particularly interested, we could order you your very own nectar making machine ... at a vastly reduced price. Just because of your help."
"Ohh, I'd like one of those, thanks."
With that, Ginny purchased some more grapes that weren't in the enclosure, and ordered the nectar making machine.
"It'll be delivered to you, right to your doorstep. I just hope you've got plenty of room and a decen sized basement for your new hobby."
"Thank you for your help."
"No, my dear, thank YOU!"
After that, they both headed back to base camp.
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