Around one o’clock on Friday Shane was leaving the hotel to head over to the Lahaina Marina to board Fong’s yacht when he got a call from Tony Fong’s secretary saying the meeting needed to be pushed back a couple of hours. It seemed that the ship’s immense size was causing some logistical problems at the small marina, preventing it from docking. Shane wasn’t happy about the situation but he politely agreed to standby until further notice.

He frustratingly returned to his office, purposely going out of the way to avoid encountering Danielle. He knew she’d be upset by any delay in the meeting and he just wasn’t in the mood for any more waterworks. He couldn’t help but notice how overemotional she’d been lately. At three-thirty he got another call to say the ship was finally docked so he immediately high-tailed it out of the hotel as inconspicuously as possible.

Shane was graciously greeted on deck by his old nemesis Tony Fong, who in turn introduced him to his stunner of a secretary Nikko Yoshi. He became immediately skeptical of her “secretary” title, being reasonably sure she handled way more than just the old man’s day planner. While the three of them made obligatory small talk, the ship departed the marina and headed out into the channel between Maui and Lanai.

“A tuxedo Tanner? You needn’t have dressed so formally for this meeting. This is a very casual gathering.” Fong said smugly.

Shane looked down at his clothes. He had completely forgotten all about his fancy party attire.

“I have a formal affair to attend as soon as our business is complete. Where’s Jon Ohana? Is he already inside?”

“We need to pick him up on Lanai,” replied Fong. “He had a family emergency and asked that we give him a little extra time to prepare, so we stopped for you first. Won’t you come inside and enjoy our luncheon. Mr. Ohana said he wouldn’t mind if we started without him.”

Shane realized he was in a bind now. The meeting was going to begin much later than he promised Danielle but he couldn’t cancel everything now. The land deal was far too important. Shit, I’m just going to have to call her and be honest about the possibility that I might be late to the party.

“Nice little boat you got here Fong,” Shane said as he entered the almost comically large yacht. “The food looks great too, but first could you point me to the nearest restroom so I can wash up?”

“Indeed. Nikko could you escort our guest to the restroom please?”

“My pleasure sir.” She took Shane by the hand and led him down the stairs below deck.

“Right in there Mr. Tanner.” She motioned. “If you’d like, I could accompany you.”

“Into the bathroom?”

She winked and encircled the edge of her deep-red painted lips with the tip of her tongue.

“Thank you very much Nikko but I’m sure I’ll be fine.” Shane hurried in, locked the door behind him and pulled out his phone.

That exotic little minx is coming on to me. Could she be any more fucking brazen? I need to call Danielle….

For one brief moment he thought about how much he used to love women who came onto him like that. Now he was hiding from one in the bathroom.

Dani answered her phone on the first ring. “Hi honey. All done with your meeting already? How’d it go?”

“I have some bad news. There were some problems with the ship docking at the marina and long story short…….the meeting hasn’t started yet.” Shane winced at his own weak explanation. He decided it was best to omit the fact that Jon Ohana wasn’t even on board yet.

“What? The benefit starts in a couple of hours. You’ll never get here on time. I just knew this would happen.” Dani’s voice started quivering.

“Now calm down sweetheart. I might be a little late and I’m sorry about that but I’ll be there as quickly as I can. I can’t wait to see you in your new dress. I’m sure you’ll look beautiful as always. Just get dressed and go on ahead to the party without me. Try to enjoy yourself Danielle and make my apologies to the guests for me please?”

“Alright but please hurry every chance you get Shane. I have something very important to tell you tonight.”

“I will Danielle I promise. I love you honey. I’ll see you soon okay?”

“Okay. I love you too.”

Shane was pretty satisfied with how the call to Dani had gone and was especially relieved to have calmed her fears for the moment at least. He tucked his phone in his pocket and went back upstairs to the dining area where Fong was seated at an unusually long table set for only three people. Shane pulled out a chair and took a seat at one of the place settings.

“Will Miss Yoshi be joining us?” asked Shane.

“No, she’s tending to some necessary business. Nikko is a very efficient assistant.”

“I’m sure she is. She seems extremely capable.” Shane said as he slurped a juicy shrimp into his mouth.

Ohana’s obvious absence suddenly gave Shane an idea; without the greedy seller present, perhaps he and Fong could actually have a reasonable dialogue about the land deal and Ohana’s possible motives for stalling and keeping them in limbo. The problem of course was that he couldn’t trust Fong to be honest with him. Ultimately he decided he had nothing to lose by trolling the waters a little and picking Fong’s brain.

“So Fong, can we both put our cards on the table for a minute and just cut through the pretense? You and I have known each other for awhile now and although we’re not exactly friends at least we have a general understanding of one another. Would you agree with me so far?”

“I would agree with that statement Tanner.”

“And would you also agree that neither one of us knows Jon Ohana at all? I mean I’ve only met the guy one time.”

“Yes I would agree with that as well. I have never met him.”

“That’s what I mean. So just between you and me, why do you think he’s stalling on this deal? Don’t you think he’s just trying to get us into a bidding war with each other?”

He could see Fong’s mental gears spinning as he mulled over Shane’s words and it appeared as though the suggestion struck a chord with him.

“A bidding war? Yes I’ve considered that possibility myself. Once we pick up Mr. Ohana perhaps we can get to the bottom of this situation. It has been my experience that elusive men always have something to hide.”

“I would agree with that statement as well Fong.”

“Let us toast to our agreement then. Have you ever had this type of Japanese sake Tanner?” One of Fong’s servers brought out a tray with a pair of large dragon-shaped carafes and two matching porcelain cups.

“Sake? Oh sure, dozens of times.”

“This is not just any sake. It’s the world’s most expensive premium sake made with the rarest most pure strain of rice. It is like nothing you’ve ever tasted. Pure heaven.”

Shane drank his down in one gulp. “That’s quite nice actually.”

“Please have as much as you like. Consider this bottle a gift,” Mr Fong said, handing Shane one of the carafes.

Shane filled his sake cup and raised it high, “Cheers Fong.”

The two men continued with their meal. Once they were finished, Fong suggested they move their discussion topside to the front of the yacht in order to view the beautiful Maui sunset.

As Shane headed up the stairs to the bow he realized just how much time had passed. If the sun was already setting that meant the charity function was underway and Danielle was tackling it alone. He also wondered why there was still no sign of Jon Ohana and why they still hadn’t reached Lanai. Had Fong’s yacht been cruising around out in the channel between Maui and Lanai for the last two hours killing time? Despite his now throbbing head he knew it didn’t take that long to get from one island to the other.

“Hey Fong what the fuck is going on with Ohana? Why isn’t he here yet?”

“Patience Tanner. Miss Yoshi is on the phone with him as we speak.”

Nikko Yoshi was perched in one of the chairs of the large seating area at the front of the ship engaged in what appeared to be a phone call with Jon Ohana. Shane took a seat on the adjacent sofa and attempted to hijack the conversation.

“Tell Mr. Ohana we’re going to have to do this another time. It’s simply too late now. I have to get back to Maui right away.”

Nikko looked over at Shane. “Are you sure Mr. Tanner? Mr. Ohana is ready now. He said there’s no dock big enough for us, but we can anchor right here and he’ll take his speedboat over to us immediately. What do you say? He sounds anxious to talk business…..shall I tell him to head over?”

Shane was completely torn and it didn’t help that his head was swimming. He was taken aback by the fact that he felt so intoxicated from such an insignificant amount of sake. He wondered how much alcohol could possibly be in a tiny carafe of rice wine.

“Okay. Tell him I can only meet for an hour and then I have to get back to…… …..California…. No no. Wait what am I saying? Maui. I need to get back to Maui. I’m sorry, that sake seems to have hit me harder than I expected.”

Fong smiled. “Very good then. I’ll go tell the captain to drop anchor here. Shall we celebrate with one more drink?” he asked, pressing another shot of sake into Shane’s hand.

“No more for me!” Shane shouted as he tried to sit up straight in the soft sofa cushions, struggling to keep his wits about him. The tiny glass tipped and poured straight down onto his pants, leaving his leg wet and cold. What the fuck is the matter with me? He could feel his hands strangely starting to go numb as he dropped the glass to the floor.

Nikko Yoshi took a long satisfied sip of her Martini and moved over to the couch next to Shane.

“It looks like you’ve made a mess, Mr. Tanner. Would you like me to help you clean it up?”

She inhaled deeply as she seductively crossed her long bare legs and lay a hand on his thigh, running her fingers up past the spill and working to remove his belt.

“….I don’t need your help Ms Yoshi... Where did Fong go?” Shane replied, noticing that the two of them were suddenly alone. Beads of sweat were forming on Shane’s forehead.

Satisfied with pulling his belt open, Nikko leaned herself back and slowly undid the pearl buttons of her lace top before shimmying out of it, revealing her spectacular bare breasts.

“Mr. Fong will be back shortly, Mr. Tanner,” she replied as she knelt on the couch facing him, caressing her own nipples.

“What are you doing? What’s happening?” Shane started to slump down into the sofa pillows. Then the horizon began to dip and his surroundings started to blur.

“Close your eyes Mr. Tanner. Just relax and let me take care of you.”

Shane could feel his body weaken and his eyelids get heavy. He was incapable of speaking or standing up. The room was spinning.

Suddenly everything went dark.