Everyone in the room tasted each of the dishes, humming and moaning over the food in their mouths. They moved around dishes, picking out which ones they liked best so they could rework the menu. Standing with her hands on her hips, Hope surveyed the results and grinned.
“I think we did good work,” Jenesis answered.
“We did,” Hope agreed. She grinned broadly at Jenesis. “Oh, I think I forgot to tell you that we’re going to be looking into doing an event going forward. Think Oktoberfest but just for Mondial.”
“That sounds interesting.” Jenesis pursed their lips, pulling them to one side. “Would we host it here? Would we do a special menu for that week to build out the branding?”
Hope paused. “What are your ideas for a special menu?”
“I suppose that would depend on the theme.” Jenesis again pressed their lips together hard. “Like if we were to go full-on Bavarian, we could serve the food like bar wenches, or on swords—that’s always an experience.”
“But why just do that for only one week?” Hope tapped her finger against her lips in thought. “Hold on, I need to talk to Ange.” Without another word, Hope left the kitchen and walked straight out of the dining room into the hotel. She had to talk to Ange immediately.
While Jenesis might not have done it on purpose, she might have just solved their entire problem. When she reached reception, Angelica was bent over the desk and pointing at something on the computer to show Frannie. Hope walked directly to the other side of the reception desk and grabbed Angelica’s wrist hard.
“We need to talk. Right now.” She pulled hard, not giving Angelica a choice.
She walked straight toward the back office, wrenched open the door and froze. Daph was sitting on the table they’d had discussions at earlier, pants down around her ankles, and Timothy pressed against her. Daph paled, and Timothy jerked back. Hope spun around and slammed the door behind her, gripping the doorknob hard.
“I…” She was at a complete loss for words.
Angelica chuckled. She lifted a hand to her lips and covered her mouth, shaking her head back and forth. Hope looked over her shoulder, finding Rex and Sy standing right there with camera in hand.
“I don’t even know what to do with that,” Hope murmured.
“Don’t you?” Angelica responded. “I suggest we let them be for now, let them panic in their own right, and then we’ll deal with the situation later.”
“Are you sure?” Hope asked.
“Oh yes, I don’t want to walk into that room again right now. Do you?” Angelica reached for Hope’s other hand and squeezed her fingers. “Besides, it wasn’t that long ago that we were sneaking around. Hmm?”
Hope’s jaw dropped. Had Angelica really just said that? On an open microphone? She looked at Rex who just shrugged and said nothing, but the camera was still pointed at them. “Come here.”
Pulling Angelica again, Hope made for a second room, one that she knew would be open and clear without people in it. She pushed the door open hard and then leaned against it so that Sy could still catch everything on camera.
“I was talking to Jenesis about the event, and they asked if we would do a special menu and then threw out a suggestion, and it got me thinking, what if we made this hotel an entire experience?”
Angelica frowned, a deep line forming in the center of her forehead. “Every hotel is an experience. That’s the point. Curate an experience.”
“Well, yes, we always talk about that, but what if we make it a special, unique experience. Come here, and it’s like going back in time and experiencing true Bavarian culture for a few hours at dinner and then throughout your entire stay. What if we make it fun, games, fake accents, little moments here and there that show off the culture in a way that no one else is doing.” Hope couldn’t stop grinning, and she didn’t want to let go of Angelica’s hands either. They stood so close together, completely focused on this exact moment in time. And she was ready to hang on every single word that Angelica said.
“You mean like Magic Time Machine or something?”
Hope could hear the disgust in Angelica’s voice. And she immediately wanted to take that away. “Yes. They understandand know the niche, and they have built a niche within a niche. They have a full-on experience, and people will pay for it. If we do something similar and use the niche that we already have, then we can bring this place back to life.”
Angelica stilled. Hope’s gaze dropped to her chest, the rise and fall of it as she breathed steadily. The silence was deafening, but she knew it was a good thing. Because it meant that Angelica was thinking. It meant that she might actually be thinking this was a real possibility even if it wasn’t a fully fleshed out plan.
“I don’t know enough about the culture at the moment to pull this off,” Angelica answered.
“That’s what research is for.” Hope’s eyes widened. “Which we can do quickly enough. I promise. And the people here have lived and worked here for years, so they know what’s what.”
“This is going to completely change all of the plans that we had in place. You realize that, right?”
Hope swore that with just that one question, she knew that Angelica was going to agree to this. Because she wasn’t throwing out counterarguments, she was saying how hard this was going to be, that it was going to mean work, which yes, they all knew.
Angelica sighed heavily, pulling Hope a little closer with just a simple added pressure against her hands. “We’ll go to that event for research, and to show what we hope it’ll be like here when we’re done with it.”
Hope stuttered. Event? She’d nearly forgotten that they were supposed to head out there tonight and attend. Ansel had been hard at work on their costumes all day and deciding how their hair was going to be done up. He’d already given them the rundown.
