My Kind of Town
>>Honolulu Soap Co. She got allahs
Lily will get over it, Sheets Ah Sun said to himself as he walked back to his office. He hated to hurt her because even at 27 she was still his little girl. She was special, the first child to come into his life, the family's only daughter. But in naming his eldest son Laird as the new president of the Soap Company, Sheets knew he was doing the right thing.
Maybe now Lily would think less about her career and more about finding a husband. She'd dated enough guys over the years to find a husband. But most of them, he suspected, were turned off by her devotion to work and her hunger for success. He smiled to himself, shook his head as he sat down at his desk. Lily's proposal to reorganize the company was good. Really good. You gotta admit, the girl has brains. And allahs.
Sheets thought he'd done the right thing. In fact he'd done the only thing he could do. So it had to be right.
Down the hall, Lily had one more call to make before she met Shauny at the club.
"Hi, Rosalita." Her maid, cook, caretaker and, increasingly, her friend. "How's everything?"
"Problem, mum. It's Elizabeth. The school called. I'm just on my way there now. She has a high fever."
"Call me on my cell when you get her home. Let me know if you need anything."
Rosalita had been widowed 18 months ago when the ferry on which her husband was a passenger sank in a storm between Cebu and Zamboanga. For the past year, Rosalita and her 6-year-old daughter had lived in the cottage behind Lily's home. Elizabeth called her mother's employer Auntie Lily. The little girl brought out Lily's nurturing side.
"Give her a hug for me."
So much for Lily's plan to have Rosalita pick her up after she'd done some therapeutic drinking with Shauny. Which she was definitely going to do. Well, she'd wing the transportation issue.
>>Beretania Street
It had been a good morning at his chiropractic office. That big lug of a UH football coach had come in practically doubled over with back pain and practically danced out. He knew Greg was gay, but the coach was so happy he hugged Greg. But the coach wasn't his type.
Lance was. And that's why he left his office with a heavy heart. He was going to the hate crimes bill rally at the Capitol, and had asked Lance to stand with him. But Lance apparently didn't have enough courage. Or enough love for Greg.
Don Chapman is editor of MidWeek.
His serialized novel runs daily in the Star-Bulletin.
He can be emailed at dchapman@midweek.com