Surprise Melody Flintkote. Part Two
Copyright© 2019 by Old Man with a Pen
Chapter 10
I know the family has money ... wouldn’t have been able to buy a hundred foot catamaran without it ... the same pile of cash would buy a hundred fifty foot monohull. Dinner out? Sure. Many times. Posh places? Uh huh. Sailing the world put me in exotic restaurants wherever we went. Our nanny would pick up a phone book ... find something interesting, and call for reservations.
“Party of four,” she would say. “Flintkote ... yes, 8:30.” She always included a credit card number...”In case we don’t make it.”
We always did ... sometimes to the consternation of the receptionist. Since we were ten when we started all the person behind the podium could see was three “children” in the company of a person who absolutely was NOT their mother.
Since we’d grown and were out on our own, Cyn always wanted to go places to see and be seen ... JW just rode her coat-tails. So, I’ve had meals ... excuse me ... dined ... with the best.
But nothing ... nothing prepared me for Ming.
Hong Kong has always been gaudy ... dragons and fireworks ... brilliant enamels and gold foil ... expressive silks adorn wives and concubines. The understated magnificence of Ming must be seen to understand.
Mr. Kwan impressed me ... the maître d’hôtel seated ... yes seated like a king or potentate ready to bless or curse the supplicants ... those peasants waiting to be noticed. Seated behind a massive walnut desk, he terrified rich men hoping to be seated without reservation.
The maître d’hôtel terrified me. He had the MOM look to perfection. In a glance, he cataloged my person to the penny, “tailored but off the shelf.”
The change in his expression when his eyes wandered past my hair...
“Winnie!”
“Arthur.”
“My Lord. The family table?”
“Unoccupied, Arthur?”
“Your cousin and her latest, my Lord.”
“That will do ... it’s too damn hard to get a reservation here.”
“Two years, my Lord. There’s been talk of taking over next door. We have the clientele ... and the lease is available. What made them think a comic book store would be profitable?”
Arthur handed two menus to a server, “The Royal Table, Amy.”
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