"This is amazing, I'm freaking out, this is the best party of the year... maybe of the decade," Nihal Kaplan looks around, entranced, followed by her pretty subs that are covered in fake pearls, shell-shaped pendants and coral beads. I'm afraid that this Dom took the advice I gave her in Venice to heart.
"Good job," Elina grumbles with the cold tone of voice that's natural in her and I nod, smiling. She's picked out a costume I wasn't expecting to see, to be honest I thought that she'd honour her Viking and pirate ancestors, but she's wearing a Navy Admiral's uniform in blue with gold braids, although she's applied a dark and Goth makeup to match the party theme. She looks good, honestly, she knows how to march like a real soldier with her back straight.
Ada Foster has dyed her dark curls red to become a little mermaid with human legs, wearing a stunning evening gown in silver and blue shades. Almost everybody has chosen the same colours tonight, except for Nami, who's wearing a long dress made with the most wonderful red silk with a short jacket on top, white with a floral pattern, and a saffron-coloured silk shawl over her shoulders. The Japanese makeup looks flawless but I don't think it's related to the creepy mermaid theme. The amazing silver and pearl necklace around her neck draws my eyes while I'm doing math in my head, speculating about its value.
"Good evening, Iselen."
"Nami-San," I answer bowing respectfully. "I need your help, I've been studying some Japanese mythology and folklore but I'm not an expert, I'm afraid. I guess that your costume has something to do with Ryūjin, the dragon god of the ocean, but I'm not sure..."
"Thar was close," the beautiful woman smiles, amused. "I'm princess Tamatori, she was an extraordinary diver and managed to get back a massive pearl that the Sea God had stolen. According to the legend, she hid it under her breast."
"The quality of this silk is amazing," I whisper touching the soft shawl. "You'll find all the equipment you need for bondage games and suspensions in the room at the end of the corridor, along with some bottles of the best sake."
"You've thought of everything," Nami chuckles. "This party is perfect: decoration, lights, equipment, food, drinks, security measures... You're better than Harry, definitely. Are you sure you don't want to plan all our parties from now on? We'd pay you a good salary, I swear."
"To be honest, I admire Harry and feel sorry for him, holding such a high level party is not an easy job," I answer shaking my head. "I have to take care of my own business but could plan something special for you once a year."
"Well, that's better than nothing. You should start choosing a theme for next year."
"I got it, we'll hold a party in a warm summer night to celebrate the great unveiling of Shashi's new gardens in her house, in the south of France. My friend Asuka is designing them. It'll be like a fairy tale with nymphs, unicorns, fairies and naughty gnomes... Shashi asked me to help her with the organization. She's inside, by the way, dressed as Varuni, Queen of the Sea and consort of the God Varuna."
Nami nods, smiling, and walks into the building. The truth is that it wasn't easy to find a place to hold this meeting in Madrid. I needed a big club, with a massive hall downstairs and several private rooms upstairs, professional kitchen and bar, as close to the centre as possible to be able to accommodate all the club members in different hotels so they wouldn't have to spend a couple of hours in a bus to come here, but discreet enough to avoid the paparazzi's attention. Some of them would kill for a pic of the politicians, models, actors and businessmen dressed as mermaids and tritons tonight. Luckily, the parking lot behind the building is surrounded by a tall brick wall that hides the cars from view.
My assistant told me about this old night club with a garden terrace where crowded parties were held every New Year's Eve, but it was closed because the owner went bankrupt. I called him and he accepted to rent the building for a weekend for a good price. I had to hire a cleaning team, pass a security inspection to asses the risk of fire, I hired gardeners, decorators and florists that turned the old night club into an underwater ruined palace, an enchanted kingdom but dark, decorated in deep green, indigo, purple, silver and magenta shades. The dim light doesn't reach the furthest mysterious corners where the Black Orchid members will find some surprises, for example, small vibrators in the shape of dolphins and sea shells.
