22. Luna
CHAPTER 22
Luna
“Please tell me you have good news,” had basically become my mantra since the beginning of this damn casino project.
Turns out my dream was riddled with roadblocks.
Parvati and I fell in sync with each other as she walked me around the project site. “The good news is the city officially issued most of our permits. There is one outstanding one we need to resolve. I’m finding out more information about the specific official holding it up so we can have an informed meeting with them.”
“Excellent.” I waved at some workers nearby who were clearly taking a lunch break. “I assume that good news comes with a side of bad news I should brace for.”
Parvati’s face fell. “Unfortunately, it does, and not for lack of trying.”
“I would never assume.”
“Well, turns out there is a small hiccup.”
“What’s that? Rip off the Band-Aid,” I said, bracing myself.
“Drew quit this morning. Said it was too big of a project and that she bit off more than she can chew,” explained Parvati.
Fuck. I’d gone out on a limb for Drew, and I liked her style. It just took some coaxing to get her style and my vision to match. I needed to handle it delicately. Hence the reason why I brought in Faith from time to time to help me articulate my feedback.
“She wants to quit mid-project? We’ve finished half the designs.” I should have focused on this more. I kept getting distracted.
Parvati consulted her clipboard. “We still need to finalize the room designs and decor as well as the hallway style for the hotel room tower.”
“It’s essential to get that right. People are drawn in by the glitzy casino but want to stay there because of the chic rooms. That’s always been the plan. Make them luxurious and lovely and different from what the rest of Atlantic City has to offer. It’s the hook.” And I couldn’t afford to get it wrong.
“It could be a case of cold feet or imposter syndrome. I recommend you talk to her. She might respond better to hearing from you since you engaged her at the beginning of the build.”
I nodded, knowing Parvati was right. Sometimes it took some coaxing. “I’ll schedule a coffee. Something casual.”
“Good. Report back. In the meanwhile, I’m getting recommendations for other designers that we could engage if we can’t figure things out with Drew.”
“Perfect. Send me their portfolios as you get them so I can review and vet them.”
She jotted down some notes. “You got it. Next we have…” Parvati started, running through the usual list of things we had to account for. Luckily, nothing else big, just small problems that she easily handled or she needed my input on.
Before I left, I asked one more question. “With all the setbacks, are we still on schedule?”
Parvati tucked her clipboard under her arm. “Pending we finalize the designs for the room tower and can source the materials, then yes. If there are issues with that, it might delay us. I’m optimistic.”
“Appreciate you,” I said as I waved goodbye. “And send me the details on the final permit. I'll see what additional info Sebastian can dig up for me.”
I slid into the black sedan that would take me back to the city. Rather than staring at my phone the entire drive, I forced myself to put my air pods in so I could listen to calming ocean sounds while I closed my eyes.
It lasted five minutes. Better than last time.
Maybe this meditation thing wasn’t fully for me, but I’d keep trying anything that had the potential to give me relief.
After finding Sebastian’s name, I pressed the call button.
“It better be a fucking emergency,” he grumbled.
“Well, hello to you too.”
Sebastian muttered unintelligibly on the other end of the line. “I’m still in London.”
I glanced at my watch. “Oh, shit. I assumed you came home yesterday after we left your house.”
“That was the plan. Then Harrison changed it.”
I tsked. “Sounds like his motto. You just let Beck go back to the city?”
It was his turn to sound affronted. “I made him send backup.”
That made me laugh. “Of course you did.”
“Luna, I stepped out of a very important contract signing with Harrison because I thought this was an emergency. You have sixty seconds to convince me it wasn’t a mistake to answer your call.”
“No need to get testy with me. You know, just because you landed this big whale of a client doesn’t mean you get to just toss aside us little plebs.”
“Luna—”
“Okay, okay. Here’s the thing. I only need one final permit for the Chateau and there is some sort of weird hold out. I don’t know the full story yet. The part I do know is that I need your super sleuthing skills to figure out who I need to schmooze at city hall.” I crossed my fingers.
Sebastian quietly counted to ten.
I frowned and took a look at my phone, totally confused by this dramatic display of his. “There a problem over there? Do I need to send an SOS to Faith? I know morse code.” Well that wasn’t quite the truth. “I watched one class on morse code, so I could probably make it work.”
“Luna—”
“Sebastian.”
He sighed heavily. “This could have been an email.”
“But then you wouldn’t have the honor of hearing my voice,” I said sweetly.
“Send me what you have, and I will look into it as soon as I’m done in London.”
The line went dead.
“What a dick,” I said with a smile on my face. I dialed the next person who came to mind.
Faith answered on the first ring. “I was wondering when you would check in with me.”
“Well, I wondered when you were going to check on me. How does it feel?”
Faith chuckled, and I heard her set down her paintbrush. “What’s going on?”
“When were you going to tell me that Sebastian isn’t home yet?”
“Not you too. Beck was basically a glorified babysitter.”
“Not to defend Beck or anything—because you know how much I hate that—but he could probably kick someone’s ass if he wanted to.”
Faith hummed, and my antenna went up.
“What was that?” I asked.
“What was what?”
I pressed the Facetime button so that I could look at her while we spoke. I didn’t trust the tone of her voice.
I nodded in her direction. “You did a little hum thing there.”
She did it again, while looking at me like a goddamn Bambi.
“You said something nice about Beck. Willingly too. Don’t think I didn’t notice,” she said, with a sly smirk.
I waved her off. “Beck’s an ass but he kind of knows what he’s doing.”
Her eyes narrowed more, and I watched her take a seat on the leather couch in the little library in Sebastian’s place upstate. It was where they fell in love, Faith had told me once. In that very room.
“Your boyfriend hung up on me,” I said, throwing Sebastian under the bus to distract her.
“Sounds like something he’d do.”
I paused, because surely there would be more of a reaction to this. When no more explanation came I couldn’t bite my tongue. “And you’re not remorseful on his behalf?”
She smirked as if she could see right through my attempt at diversion before saying, “I am not in the habit of apologizing for Sebastian. That’s up to him.”
“Well, I won’t hold my breath,” I pouted.
“What made him hang up on you?”
I gasped. “Wait, are you taking his side?”
“Absolutely not, I just figured you poked the bear, and he retaliated.” Faith smiled back at me.
“Fine, apparently the bear doesn’t like to be disturbed when he’s inking million-dollar deals.”
“Seems reasonable,” said Faith before taking a sip of her water.
“Ugh, fine. Anyway, I need his skills to help me figure out a permitting issue.”
“I’ll make sure he does it as soon as he gets home. Well, he has a few things to take care of first.” Faith winked.
“Ew, gross. I don’t need to hear about your sexcapades.”
Faith threw her head back and cackled. “Since when? You love hearing about them.”
I glanced at my fingernails. “Bald-faced lie.”
Faith guffawed. A full-on guffaw. “Don’t think I won’t forget you defending Beck. What happened to you guys when you were here anyway? I never managed to debrief with you. For some reason, you were never alone after that night when we left you two alone together in the big house.”
My cuticles suddenly became interesting. “Nothing interesting happened.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Then why be so coy? And why hide from me?”
“Who said I was hiding? I just wanted to spend some quality time with my new gal pal, Alice.”
Faith’s interrogation-face softened. “She does seem to like you.”
I waved a hand down my body. “What’s not to like?”
“I’m being serious, Luna. She was glued to you the morning after the sleepover.”
I tilted my head back against the headrest. We were back in the city and closing in on Club Deux where I’d spend the second half of my day. “It’s the red hair. It makes people think I’m cool.”
Faith rolled her eyes at me. “You are cool and it’s not just that. She feels safe with you. That’s important, especially if you still have googly eyes for her dad.”
“Now you’re going to make me puke.”
“Dramatic much?”
Then I remembered the other reason why I called Faith, and it wasn’t just because I wanted to complain about her partner. This conversation had already taken more turns than my sensitive stomach could take. “I might need to employ you to help with the design of the rest of the Chateau.”
Faith sputtered, sending water droplets over the camera lens. “Excuse me?”
“Turns out my designer is getting cold feet. I’m worried she can’t handle the pressure of a project this size.”
Faith finished drying her face with a tissue she’d found nearby. “I know she’s struggled a bit with the designs, but I think it’s completely normal to get client feedback and recalibrate. That’s the name of the game when it comes to design projects, especially ones of this magnitude.”
I nodded along. “I think so too, and we always end up with a great design, it just takes a few iterations to get there.”
“Again, totally normal.”
I sighed. “I’m going to get coffee with her and see if we can work things out. If not, consider yourself on notice.”
Faith turned the camera to show me her easel. “And what about this?”
“You can do both. You’re my supremely talented friend. You’ve already course-corrected so much on this project. I think I’ll name something after you.”
Faith perked up. “Naming rights?”
“Mmhmm.”
She tapped her finger to her chin. “Well, this changes things.”
“Think about it.”
My phone rang with another incoming call. “I’ve got to go, Faith. I’ll call you later to follow up.”