“Good man,” I nodded before putting him on hold. I pressed a button on the intercom and switched lines. “Ben?” I asked. “What is it?”
“I just got a call from a Ms. Renata Mendez requesting a suite and two rooms for four nights from the twenty-fifth to the twenty-ninth,” he replied.
“We’re not opening to the public till after Christmas,” I reminded him, slightly annoyed that he would interrupt my call for this. “It’s only invited VIP guests till then. You know that.”
“Renata Mendez is personal coordinator to Joseph Everett,” Ben replied dryly.
I frowned. “That name sounds familiar… Wait… Senator Joseph Everett?”
“The very same,” Ben replied, sounding smug. “Should I tell him to fuck off?”
“Very funny,” I replied sarcastically. “Contact Alani and tell her to get the rooms ready. This will bode really well for the resort’s reputation.”
“Should I put the senator in the deluxe suite or the superior suite?”
“The grand suite,” I said promptly. “It’s the best.”
“They’re all occupied.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. “We have five grand suites. They can’t all be occupied.”
“Three of them are, and the remaining two are still under construction. They won’t be ready for guests until the second week of December…at least.”
“Fuck,” I groaned. “Fine, move my belongings to one of the vacant superior suites and give the senator my grand.”
“I’ll get it done,” he replied.
Once Ben had hung up, I switched back to Jason’s line. “Sorry, bro,” I said. “Duty calls.”
“So how have things been going?” Jason asked.
“Smoother than my last two openings,” I admitted. “I think I’m finally getting the hang of this. The trick is to hire a few competent coordinators and then delegate effectively.”
“Is that all?” he teased.
“Trust me, it’s harder than it seems,” I said. “By the way, I can’t thank you enough for introducing me to Jordan and Manning. I don’t think I would have been able to get this resort opened had it not been for their investments.”
“They were looking to invest,” he said, blowing off my thank you. “I just pointed them in your direction. You’re the one who managed to win them over.”
I smiled. “I guess you didn’t do much then, huh?”
“Not really.”
“And to think, I was going to offer to fly you down to Oahu to spend a couple of weeks in one of our luxury suites.”
“You know… Now that I think about it, those contacts were pretty significant.”
I laughed, and Jason joined in. “I’m serious about that offer though,” I told him. “Just say the word, and I’ll have a plane ticket and a suite ready for you.”
“I appreciate that, man,” he replied. “But I’m swamped with work at the moment. There’s this new acquisition deal in the works, and I need to be there to oversee it.”
“You’re buying another company?”
“Stoles,” he replied. “Heard of it?”
“Of course I’ve heard of it, fuck,” I said. “I actually own a pair of Stoles. Their shoes are great.”
“I agree,” Jason agreed. “Hence the acquisition.”