Secret Nights with the Billionaire

Season 1, Episode 4: A Special Assignment

SATURDAY

“Most of you have already had your new employee orientation,” Mr. Ho started, but his eyes turned onto Tamiko. “However, if today is your first day, come see me after the meeting and I’ll take you to Human Resources.”

Tamiko nodded her head in understanding before he continued.

“Our soft opening has been going very well. We’ve been running a reduced room occupancy, and we only have a limited number of restaurant outlets open while we work through some growing pains, but the Rooms and the F&B divisions have seen very promising demand. However, as most of you know, we still haven’t opened up our casino floor. However, I have some good news for all of you.”

Mr. Ho paused for just a moment, taking a deep breath as he fought to suppress a small smile.

“We just got word that our casino license is officially approved by the gaming bureau for us to commence floor operations on Friday.”

The room broke out into applause, and Natalie’s whooping rose above their polite clapping, which made a couple of her Asian coworkers giggle at her boldness. It wasn’t in a condescending way, but rather they still considered Natalie’s extroverted and fun-loving personality an American novelty. Mr. Ho’s gaze momentarily landed on Natalie, and he smiled at her with a hint of amusement in his eyes.

“I thought you all would be very happy to hear that,” Mr. Ho continued. “I know you are all very eager to get your high rollers in the door and at the tables. We’ve learned from upper management that we will have our official Grand Opening on Friday, and the Meetings and Conventions division is putting on a huge party that night. I expect you all to attend to greet your clients and make some new connections. Macau’s gaming industry made nearly 300 billion patacas in 2019, before the COVID shutdown, and I want to bring that money here to The Vesper. The best way to do that is to attract the biggest gamblers from around the world, and you must convince them to play here instead of at the competition.”

Natalie tried to do the math in her head, but she figured they were talking approximately $30 billion in U.S. dollars.

That’s at least three times what the entire state of Nevada pulled in that year, she thought, her eyes widening at the realization.

“Now, this may come as a surprise to many of you, but we will not be working with junket operators,” Mr. Ho said.

A few of the other hosts around the table exchanged some dubious glances, but Natalie raised her hand.

“Yes, Miss Torres?”

“I’m sorry, I’m not familiar with what a junket operator is,” she said sheepishly.

“A junket operator is very unique to Macau’s gaming industry,” Mr. Ho explained patiently. “Mainland China limits the amount of cash a person can take out of the country, so these junket operators offer interest-free loans to the high rollers in the mainland, so they can gamble really high amounts here. However, our American ownership, the Belvedere Hotel Group, is very much against working with the junket operators.”

One of the other hosts raised his hand, and Mr. Ho nodded for him to ask his question.

“But, Mr. Ho, the mainland only lets you take 20,000 yuan from the country,” he said. “That’s not enough to be considered a high roller!”

“You’re right,” Mr. Ho conceded. “That’s about 25,000 patacas.”

Once again, Natalie’s head began to spin trying to do the quick math in her head to find the conversion rate, while also paying attention to the conversation.

That’s only $5,000 USD, Natalie thought in surprise, furrowing her brow. That’s not even close enough to what these high rollers could be spending. And I am way too hungover to be doing this much math this early in the morning.

“Instead of relying on the junket operators,” Mr. Ho continued, “you will be working directly with the clients to bring them in to The Vesper. However, the owners are offering a very generous commission program to all of you. You will be receiving your base salary, but you will also be receiving a percentage commission based on how much they gamble.”

Natalie kept her grin inwardly to herself. Her English-speaking clients wouldn’t have the same restrictions on the money they brought to Macau, which meant her income potential was limitless. It would be more difficult to get them to come here instead of Las Vegas or Singapore, but that just meant she had to work extra-hard to attract them to Macau.

She was already making a list of her past clients in her head to reach out to when Mr. Ho ended the meeting.

“Miss Torres?” he said, making Natalie snap her head up at him. “Can I have a word in private?”

Shit! she thought to herself. Did he catch me zoning out in front of everyone? Or maybe I made some sort of cultural faux pas?

As everyone filed out of the room, she racked her brain to figure out what she had done wrong. Was it because she whooped and hollered during the meeting when he announced the news about their casino license? Or maybe it was because she asked a question? She was completely at a loss.

Once everyone had left, Natalie gulped, waiting for him to admonish her. However, his eyes didn’t hold a hint of anger whatsoever.

“I have a special assignment for you,” he said, taking a seat next to her at the conference table. “We have a very important VIP guest from Las Vegas arriving tomorrow. Are you familiar with Finnick Belvedere?”

Natalie blinked in surprise.

“I know of Conrad Belvedere, CEO of the Belvedere Hotel Group that owns The Vesper,” she said. “But I don’t know of a Finnick.”

“Finnick Belvedere is Conrad Belvedere’s son,” Mr. Ho explained. “He’s the Vice President of Global Real Estate and Development. He put together the land deal and construction contract to build this hotel, and he’s flying out to oversee the opening of the hotel.”

Natalie nodded, trying to see where her “special assignment” fit in to all of this.

“The General Manager asked me to assign one of the hosts to oversee Mr. Belvedere’s needs during his stay,” Mr. Ho continued. “I figured you were the best person to ask. I know you are very accustomed to providing top-tier service to your clients in Las Vegas, and that you are very experienced in ensuring every whim and need is met for high roller clients. I’d like you to show that same spirit of hospitality to Mr. Belvedere, especially since you are from the same culture.”

“Wow!” Natalie exclaimed. “I’d be honored. Thank you for the opportunity!”

Mr. Ho broke out into a smile.

“Wonderful,” he said enthusiastically. “I apologize that I couldn’t give you more notice.”

“That’s okay,” Natalie said, waving her hand dismissively. “I’m used to last-minute VIPs. If he isn’t coming until tomorrow, I have plenty of time to review his guest profile and make preparations.”

“I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how important it is we impress Mr. Belvedere,” Mr. Ho said, his tone turning more serious. “He is the owner, after all, and the General Manager wants to show him how The Vesper Macau can rival its Las Vegas counterpart in hospitality.”

“Of course,” Natalie nodded. “I won’t let you down!”

“I have full faith in your capabilities,” Mr. Ho said, standing up from his seat.

Suddenly, the door burst open, and Esther stood in the doorway of the conference room, looking completely shell-shocked and breathless from running down the hall.

“Esther?” Mr. Ho asked. “Are you alright?”

“Mr. Finnick Belvedere is in lobby!” she exclaimed nervously in broken English.

“But he’s not supposed to arrive until tomorrow,” Mr. Ho said blankly.

“He arrive early!” Esther replied.

“Everyone, remain calm,” Mr. Ho said, although Natalie could see his neck turning red beneath his suit collar. “Miss Torres, come with me.”

Wordlessly, Natalie got up from her chair and followed Mr. Ho out of the offices, hastily grabbing her small case of business cards from her desk on the way out. She tried to calm herself down as they made their way back through the concrete corridors of the back of the house, but she was in a full panic. The quickest she’d ever had to prepare for a VIP client was on a few hours’ notice, but never did someone this important arrive at the hotel unannounced.

She took a breath and began creating a mental list of all the things she needed to do once she got him settled in his room. She would need to review his guest profile to customize a welcome amenity package for him, and hopefully they had all his particular preferences in stock.

As they exited the door into the lobby, they rounded the corner to see the hotel’s general manager, Mr. Chou, speaking to a tall, broad-shouldered man in an expensive suit. Natalie couldn’t see his face from behind, but she could see he had dark brown, wavy hair styled into an attractive, classic crew cut.

“Ah, there they are now!” Mr. Chou exclaimed upon their approach. “Mr. Belvedere, may I introduce you to our Director of Casino Marketing, Mr. Daniel Ho.”

Mr. Finnick Belvedere turned to offer his hand to Mr. Ho, and Natalie froze mid-step at the sight of his familiar, handsome face.

Oh, my God, she thought, her stomach doing an uncomfortable flip. The guy I slept with last night was Finnick Belvedere?!

SHIT!