The bright red convertible screeched to a grinding halt just past the ornate double doors at the front entrance and the acrid smell of the burnt rubber drifted from the three-month old Michelin tires past the assembled crowd of groupies and uniformed doormen. The entire group of people startled by the sudden noise all turned just in time to get a more than ample peek at a very tanned, very shapely female leg emerging seductively from the opened driver’s door of a new Mustang. Tiffany Royal, star of movies and her own television series stepped slowly out of the car and left the door standing wide open. She turned toward the crowd, carefully removed her very expensive sunglasses, and flashed an Emmy winning smile. Hardly noticed by the excited throng of people, the passenger door had opened and an owlish looking forty-year old man had climbed out and had hurried around the back of the car.
“Justin, be a dear and grab my makeup bag out of the trunk. I have to definitely put on a new face before the flashbulbs start going off. Find out from that beastly manager Dilly Baleford or whatever his name is where I can freshen up before my fans completely surround me. I want to look especially radiant for Brandon Miles, my new co-star, in Desert Sweat. I haven’t seen him since we finished filming outside Palm Springs last month and I think that handsome young devil has a really big crush on me, of course who wouldn’t. I’m young, very gorgeous, with a sensational body and of course I am now filthy rich. How could anybody resist that? Now hurry up. I don’t want to get all sweaty in this Florida sunshine, it might even cause God forbid, wrinkles.”
The crowd of people standing outside stared as Tiffany Royal walked toward the front door. Justin Knowles, Tiffany’s personal assistant, followed meekly in her wake pulling a large red suitcase on wheels. The two doormen, one on each side of the large ornate doors stepped back and stood at attention as the movie star strolled past. Once inside, the assistant hurried over to the front desk to obtain the location of the manager, Dilford Bailey. The desk clerk picked up the phone and after dialing several three digit numbers and having brief conversations with various individuals the desk clerk told the assistant that the manager was in the bar seeing to some little problem and that he would be out shortly. Justin Knowles nodded his thanks and walked briskly over to Tiffany and told her she would be taken care of very shortly. Tiffany, in her usual impatient manner frowned and told her assistant to hand her a pen. She might as well sign autographs while she waited, she thought, at least she would make her fans happy.
The two ecologists, Kevin Backlin and Bill Forham, dressed in tuxedos for the grand opening, were sipping spiked punch and smiling at the many guests that were milling around. The crystal wine glasses that they were drinking from were of the finest quality and blended nicely with the elaborate decor. The lavishly dressed people that walked past the two, all looked genuinely impressed at the entire setup and many scattered bits of conversation floated back to the men from around the room.
“This place reminds me of the Astor but, much more modern.”
“I saw the same type of floral display when I was in that plush hotel in Paris. This is simply breathtaking.”
“Did you see all the video monitors? This place is extremely well protected.”
“The manager was very gracious with my husband. I remember when he managed the Royal Titan in Chicago. Everything was letter perfect.”
Kevin leaned over to Bill and whispered in his friend’s ear.
“Let’s go for a walk Bill. I think we need to talk.”
Bill nodded his acceptance and the two men walked toward the back of the room. The security guard stationed outside the rear of the building, waved at them as they opened the back door and walked out into the bright noonday sunshine. Kevin and Bill walked slowly away from the single story section of the resort and glanced toward the tennis courts.
“You know Bill. This place really did come out all right. It is beautiful. Ol’ Tankinato actually pulled it off.”
“Don’t hold your breath, Kevin. The grand opening isn’t over yet. I’m really worried that something terrible is going to happen. Everything is too perfect.”
“Look, you know I was just as worried as you were but we have had no reports of any problems with drainage, a sure sign that the earth is screwed up internally. We have had no cracks in the foundations or walls. Everything is peachy keen as far as we can tell geographically so, maybe it’s time we walked back and enjoyed the party.”
“I guess you’re right, Kevin. Something would have happened before now. I’ll try to relax for a change. We have one slight problem though. When we snuck out the back entrance of the lobby our wives did not see us leave alone. They probably think we snuck out with that fine looking Tiffany Royal for some very personal autographs.”
“Don’t flatter us Bill. She would look right through us if there were a drink on the table behind us. Our wives, I don’t think we have to worry about.”
The two men walked happily back toward the lobby, grinning in the warm breeze blowing in from the manmade lake. The past three years kept the two men busy monitoring the construction of the resort and nothing alarming showed up. The retainer by Hiruto Takinato paid to their company ensured the site be visited at least once every thirty days. They continued to do ultra sound testing and were not pleased with the results but, they could not convince Takinato that there was any danger, even though their testing showed pockets of hollow spots in various places around the resort. Takinato, always replied to their insistent warnings, the place had been stable for thousands of years and that he was doing a service to mankind by bringing such a lavish wonderful playground for the world to enjoy.
Hiruto Tankinato, the guest of honor, was feeling quite pleased with himself. Huge turnouts for his grand openings always pleased him, and this was the best yet. Most of the more than one thousand invited guests had already arrived and he had overheard bits and pieces of conversations about how great the resort was and how beautiful the lake and lagoon was. There were many comments about the sparkling waterfall and the lush green courtyard. Yes, this was definitely working. He took one final look around the overcrowded lobby and decided to get a breath of fresh air. Going out through the kitchen, he acknowledged the great chef Pierre Antone with a nod of his head and exited out the back door to the kitchen. He found himself in the lushly planted courtyard and began wandering toward one of the two story wings of the resort.
After passing the main buildings, he arrived at the opening leading to the dock and marina. The view of the beautiful blue lake was breathtaking from here and glancing in the other direction, he could see the top of the manmade mountain and the cascading waterfall. Glancing back to the lake he saw, what looked like a white wooden boat with a very large man and a small boy in it obviously enjoying a fishing trip. The construction kept Hiruto constantly on the run for the last three years and now he could finally take a break. Various problems arose from the various contractors and Takinato felt he was responsible for all the decisions, no matter how small. The boring of the tunnels for the pipes between the lake and the man-made mountain were put on hold while awaiting the arrival of Takinato’s new mole machine that was six months late on delivery. The earth machines to dig out the lake were held up by a strike up north at a plant that supplied the replacement blades on the front that moved the dirt.