𝗕𝗟𝗢𝗢𝗗 𝗔𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗖𝗞 𝗔𝗦 𝗪𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗥 ⚔︎

12

during the following week, plans for the hotel were made with great haste. eddie, sal, mike, and benny were sat in the basement of the royale discussing their ideas, while giovanni was upstairs, carrying out the first few hours of his shift. he originally had been working the night, but he had been invited to an evening dinner with benny for seven o'clock, so he decided to come in during the day instead. the royale was not very busy on the mornings. realistically, the only attendants were friends and business men meeting for brunch.

giovanni stood at the bar, wiping down the smooth countertop with a white cloth and a spray bottle. after he was finished cleaning, he made four distinct drinks: a lime daiquiri, a pint of moretti, a bacardi and coke, and finally, a glass of water. he put them on a tray and carried them through to the kitchen, squeezing past the cooks and the waiters to get to that dark oak door that he had began to know very well. he opened the door and went down the dingy staircase — it was there where he saw his bosses, sat on the leather sofas, hunched over the wide, round coffee table as they talked. they had countless sheets of paper and pens in front of them. the smell of cigars and cigarettes hung over the room like factory smog.

"ah, giovanni!" sal cheered, looking up at the young man who had just entered the room. "what a pleasant surprise."

giovanni smiled and bowed his head, setting the tray onto the table. "hello."

the four men took their drinks from the tray, muttering small 'thank you's.' eddie took the lime daquiri, sal took the moretti, mike took the bacardi coke, and benny, of course, took the water.

"why aren't you drinking?" eddie said to benny, watching as he sipped his water.

"oh, ed," benny tutted. "i've got the grandkids coming this afternoon, i can't be getting drunk at 11am."

mike laughed and pointed at eddie. "that'll be you soon."

"oh, shut your trap," eddie bellowed sarcastically. "you'll be a grandpa before me, micky boy."

giovanni turned to go back up the stairs, but sal stopped him. "hey, red, where are you goin'?"

"i was just going back to the—"

"don't be silly," eddie said. "come. sit with us for a little while."

"... alright."

he shuffled onto the one empty couch, as the four men were already occupying the other two. giovanni lit a cigarette and looked at eddie.

"have you figured out a name for the hotel yet, mr lavigne?" he said.

eddie scratched his stubble. "well, we're just brainstorming at the moment."

sal reached over the table and passed one of the paper sheets to giovanni. "here's the ones we've got so far."

giovanni carefully read down the list. he swallowed a little laugh. the names weren't very good. in fact, they were awful.

"any ones you like?" benny said.

"hmm..." he said, hiding a smirk. "well, they... they sure are something."

mike snatched it away. "i told y'all!"

at the same time, eddie groaned. "oh, give me a break."

"the name is not the most important thing about the hotel," benny rejected. "what's important is that we cover the costs and the staff salary and the—"

"a hotel is nothing without a name, benjamin!" sal cried, laughing. "we have to decide on the name before the fucking finances!"

giovanni took a long drag of his cigarette, gazing at the men as they engaged busily in conversation. "you're building it in the diamond district in manhattan, aren't you?"