Page 24 of Menage a Passions
“Jane,” Damon greeted. “Ah, Caitlyn. You’re looking very well.” He flashed Jane’s wife his fake charismatic smile while Jane continued to watch Damon’s wife set up the paperwork for the meeting. Technically, this washerdeal, since the lounge would be under her hospitality label, but Jane couldn’t help but feel like Alice was more of an assistant here. “Jane tells me you’re going to be in a big pageant this November? Congratulations.”
She blushed. “You really shouldn’t be telling people, Lin.”
“I am not telling people,” Jane retorted. “I told Damon. Do you think he’s people?”
His look denoted,Flattery, as usual.Jane ignored him while Alice finished setting up her things. “I hope you two are hungry,” she said, “because we have salmon and macaroni and cheese for dinner.”
Jane withheld a hoot of laughter. “Macaroni and cheese?”
“Homemade by our excellent chef, I assure you.” Alice fixed up her place setting before tackling her husband’s. “It’s our daughter’s favorite dish right now, and she’s been having a rough go at school so far this year. Besides…” she cleared her throat. “It’s the only thing quelling my stomach as well.”
“Ilovehomemade mac and cheese,” Caitlyn said.
“That’s right, you’re on baby number three, aren’t you?” Jane looked directly at Alice, who kept her eyes downcast on her tablet full of spreadsheets and charts. “Congratulations.”
“Er, thanks.”
Damon interjected before his wife lost her train of thought. “Isn’t your niece also attending Winchester Academy?” The butler entered with the starting course of freshly tossed salad and homemade vinegarette. “What does she think of it so far?”
“Oh, she doesn’t tell me much outside of what’s due and when such an event is happening.” Cecelia shared a bit more than that, but Jane didn’t want to drag her niece into the conversation.Not when there’s nothing juicy to share, anyway!The biggest thing her niece struggled with so far was her French homework, but that was nothing a tutor couldn’t solve once Jane found a good one. “The administration is attempting to force her to pick a sport to play, though. I was under the impression that it wasn’t mandatory there, but I suppose they think it looks too good on those college resumes. Wait, doesn’t your girl go to the primary school there?”
“She does,” Damon said. “Clarise is in second grade this year because time doesn’t go by quickly enough.”
“Second grade and already struggling with math,” Alice muttered.
“Yes, well, that’s why she has an appointment with the child development specialist.”
“Oh, hope everything’s all right,” Caitlyn said as she began eating her salad.
Damon grunted in approval. “We’re suspecting she might have a learning disability or even be neurodivergent. I’m confident we can get to the bottom of it, though. Better to find out now than later.”
“And howisDamon Jr.?” Jane asked, ignoring her salad. “Teething yet?”
“Are you seriously pretending you care about child development, Jane?”
She stuck her tongue out at one of her oldest friends. “Don’t know if you have heard, Mr. Monroe, but I am sort of a parent myself now. Yes, popped out fully formed from my sister’s head. We will all greatly miss Lilian and her ability to talk at sixty kilometers per second.”
Alice nudged the charts in her husband’s direction. “Right,” he said. “Suppose we should go ahead and get started so we’re not here all night. I’m sure you two want to get home at a reasonable hour.”
Jane was already aware of most of the details. This dinner was mostly for Caitlyn, who had been so busy with house hunting and the pageant affair that she didn’t have time to look over the fact sheet her assistant had compiled over the past two weeks.Here we are, September.While the locals still lamented how hot it was in New England, Jane was already in her turtlenecks and wool socks. She thought she could face New England weather after spending so much of her youth inOldEngland, but at the end of the day, she was forged in the sweaty fires of Hong Kong. Something for her to chew on while Damon and Alice pitched the investment opportunity to Jane’s wife.
She had already determined her opinion on the endeavor. Jane merely waited to hear Caitlyn’s thoughts.
“We don’t usually invest in real estate or hospitality,” she said after Alice sat back from giving her spiel. “I will admit, though, that it’s quite the ambitious project you have here. Are you sureyou don’t want to open something like this in your building here? I’d think it would save quite a bit of costs.”
“The base fact is that any floor that could accommodate such an undertaking is already occupied by other tenants. Or our restaurant,” Damon said. “Which we have no intention of closing since it’s as successful as always. No, what we have marked down in the proposal is the best location we’ve scouted. We intend to buy the penthouse outright and remodel it to the proposed specifications, which is a large chunk of the change.”
Alice took over. “There are alotof licenses and permits involved, though, since we intend for this to be a private business instead of a residence. But that penthouse has been on the market for over a year and the building’s owner needs to sell it. They’re willing to work with us if we can get adequate funding before the end of the year.”
Caitlyn flipped through the info that she had downloaded to her phone. “A members’ only club could be dicey with this kind of money upfront. Do you have the interest necessary to make a splash upon opening?”
“We can’t give out exact names, no,” Damon answered, “but I believe on page thirteen you’ll see the structure for recruiting new members and the preliminary fee structure.”
Jane was starting to check out. This was herleastfavorite part of her job, even if she was with friends talking about something that piqued her interest.Numbers. Debates. What-ifs and going at loggerheads.Jane wasn’t knowledgeable about American permits and business licenses, anyway. That was Caitlyn’s purview, so this was her time to shine.
“Is there really enough room in this town foranothersexy playground for the rich?” she asked the Monroes as their salad dishes were taken away. “Between The Dark Hour and Le Salon, I feel like there’s only so much more to be done here.”
“Fact is, this is still a prime business destination in New England,” Damon explained. “It’s the second largest after Boston, and either the third or fourth in the entire northeast depending on which metric you follow. We may not pull in pure tourists, but we have a consistent convention population that has only bounced back in full force since the pandemic. Hotels remain largely booked up and the rental market remains hot. And an uncomfortable fact that Alice and I must admit is that The Dark Hour has been around for over a decade now. While we’re not unhappy with its numbers, it’s not the shiny new thing it once was. When Monica Warren opened Le Salon a couple of years ago, she slapped us in the face with its success.”