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“Excellent. I’ve taken the liberty of having a tuxedo delivered.”
“What would I do without you, Seth?”
“Why, you’d have to be patient, sir.”
I laughed and signed off the call. I checked my email accounts and discovered I had a bunch of emails from Jim Callahan.
I called him up.
“Excited for the party, Jim?” I asked.
“I need to meet with you. Can we talk somewhere private?”
Ihadalightsnack in the private room of the second-floor restaurant and checked on how things were going.
Janine the stylist had just left and was currently being flown back to Honolulu by Charlie, who’d just dropped off the suit. It was 7:00 p.m., and in an hour my guests would be arriving, on the helipads upstairs. A swing band had materialized in the lobby an hour ago but had currently been escorted into a dressing room where they could change and warm up. Seth informed me by text, regretfully, that he’d had to triple their fee in order to release them from another engagement on Hawai’i Island for which they’d been booked that evening. It put us ever so slightly over budget, but I wasn’t too worried. All in all, two private chartered jets were currently in use, and three helicopters, two of which I owned personally. All for one party.
“The things I do for you, Lena Chambers,” I muttered as I looked at the reams of information arriving on my phone. When Jim Callahan finally sat down, I snapped out of my daydream. I could see something was wrong.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Are you aware that Jared Alson has just launched a planning application in Honolulu?” said Jim.
I laughed. “Jared? My brother?”
“Yep. He’s just registered a private company—Alson Hotels—and he’s filed for permission to begin construction work.”
“You’re joking,” I said. Jared? He doesn’t have that kind of capital. Last I heard he was struggling to pay for his apartment.
“I’m not,” said Jim. “Jared’s just signed a deal with Allen Mank. Mank’s investing ten million dollars into his operation.”
“Well, good for him,” I said.
“No,” Jim said. “Not good for him. Don’t you see, Alex? He’s trying to muscle in on our business! Can’t you talk to him?”
“We don’t really have that kind of relationship,” I said. I remembered Jared’s awkward phone call to me the other day about him trying to track down his girlfriend.
“Well, you’d better start talking. Because with the money this guy’s got behind him, he’s going to be your biggest competitor by next year.”
“I don’t understand,” I said. “Isn’t Jared working in LA?”
“Yup,” said Jim. “And he’s getting a hotel built there too.”
“Look, we’re good for the next, what? Six, or seven months? And how far along is this place booked up?”
“I can’t deny, we’re in a good position. All in all, I’m worried. I just got a call from him today.”
“From Jared?”
“He’s here. And he wants to see you.”
“Well,” I said gruffly, “he’s not seeing me today. I’ve got a party to attend. And I’ve just sunk the equivalent of half Jared’s construction budget into planning it.”
“You’re awfully cool about this,” said Jim.
“Thank you,” I replied sarcastically.
“Don’t you feel a little … betrayed?” said Jim.
