My Kind of Town
>> Royal Hawaiian Hotel The jealous type
Lily Ah Sun had never known her friend Shauny Nakamura to be the jealous type. But she sure sounded jealous when Lily phoned and said that she'd run into Chuck Ryan at the Royal last night and that he and Shauny's identical but very different twin Fawn appeared to be an "item."
"How did that happen so fast?!" Shauny said.
"After they dropped you off," Lily replied. Because Shauny was too drunk to drive. "Chuck said they went to tea at the Kahala and then for a moonlit walk on the beach."
"That is so un-Fawn!" Shauny said. While Shauny had worn out a virtual path going "to the beach and back," Fawn was still a virgin at 27 and vowed to stay that way until her wedding night.
"Hey, it's time for a three-way!"
"Shauny!"
"Not like that! Sheesh, even I wouldn't do that! I mean on the phone. Wait now!"
Lily heard several clicks, then Fawn brightly saying "Good morning."
"Hey, it's us!" Shauny said.
"I heard the news," Lily added, "about you and Chuck."
"How? Who?" The night really was filled with a thousand eyes.
"I ran into Chuck at the Royal last night, Fawn, and I've never seen a guy looking so happy."
"Really?" She sounded pleased.
"What were you doing at the Royal?"
"I still am. Long story, we'll get to that later."
"Fawn," Shauny said gravely. "You told him, right?"
"Of course." She always was upfront about her vow. Which explained why Fawn led the world in first dates. Not one guy had hung around for a second date after learning he'd have to marry Fawn to get her pants off.
"And he's OK with that?"
"Yes."
A shiver of chickenskin shot up Shauny's back. To imagine a man loving you so much he'd forego sex until the wedding night, well, she couldn't even imagine it. "I'm so happy for you, sis."
"So when's the big day?" Lily said.
"Hey, we've only had one date! Let's not rush things." In fact, Fawn was filled with such longing, she hoped Chuck asked the question soon.
>> In the room adjacent to Lily's, her maid Rosalita Resurreccion was lying in bed, her 6-year-old daughter Elizabeth still sleeping beside her. And Rosalita suddenly realized that her late husband Jesus' cousin Muhammed would be arriving today. And the only number he had for her was at Miss Lily's home. Rosalita kissed Elizabeth's head. "Time to start our day, baby."
Don Chapman is editor of MidWeek.
His serialized novel runs daily in the Star-Bulletin
with weekly summaries on Sunday.
He can be emailed at dchapman@midweek.com