“Has Bruce been causing problems?” Jonty asked.
Marcus shrugged. “He’s not the easiest person to work for. What sort of food are you thinking of?”
“I looked online and there are lots of ideas. I was thinking of things like pumpkin soup in a shot glass with half an olive floating in it. It looks like an eye. That might be cool. Oh, and you can buy plastic bags that look like IV feeds and put red stuff in them to drip onto food.”
“Or in a syringe. Raspberry coulis to squirt over something gory. Pastries that look like severed fingers.” Marcus’s eyes lit up.
“We could make a crab dish look like a crab-like centipede,” Wayne said.
“And carved pumpkins vomiting the contents of a serving dish,” Marcus added.
The two chefs grinned at each other and Jonty breathed a sigh of relief.
“That sounds great. So what you do think? Can you do it? Say for three hundred people? Including a few who have special dietary requirements?”
Marcus nodded. “We’ll work on a menu, but we’ll need more staff to prep, serve and clear up. The ones we use for weddings and possibly others.”
“Whatever you need.”
“What are you going as?” Wayne asked.
“I’ve not made my mind up yet.” He’d actually ordered a whole range of costumes from Amazon. Maybe he’d wear all of them. Not all at once. In fact, that sounded like a good idea. Devan would be bewildered. Jonty grinned.
Before he left the hotel, he went back to Marty.
“You have my number, right?”
“It’s in the hotel directory.”
“I don’t know when Bruce will be back. He was in a bit of a mood. I’m arranging a Halloween event here and I don’t think he approved.”
Marty blinked. “You mean he’s walked out?”
“Well, yes, maybe for a few days. I’m not sure. He said for a holiday.”
“Who’s in charge?”
“Me until Devan gets here. So if there are any problems, call me. I’ll be here first thing tomorrow morning.”
Jonty waited until he was sitting in the Aston Martin before he burst into tears. Bruce’s meanness had shocked him. Jonty didn’t need to be reminded that he wasn’t important in the grand scale of things, and maybe it was true that without Devan he wouldn’t still be here, but there was no reason to be so vile.
How was he supposed to run the hotel and get everything ready for the party? And he couldn’t tell Devan that Bruce had deserted him because Devan needed to stay with his family. If Bruce didn’t want to have the event here, why hadn’t he told Alan that morning?
Jonty wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to have the dogs back now. He was going to have so much to do. But he wanted to see them.
He wiped his eyes and pulled himself together. While he still sat in the car park, Jonty called his friend Mike.
“Hi, Jonty. How’s it going? What corner of the world are you phoning from?”
“I’m at The Dunes.”
“Oh, what are you doing back already?”
“Devan’s mother had a stroke, so we came home. Well, Devan is in London, I’m up here. I need some help. You have a list of all the surf school teenagers, right? Do you think they’d be interested in helping at a Halloween party I’m organising at The Dunes? They’d have to dress up as zombies, have their faces painted, and either serve food and maybe drinks if they’re old enough, or work some of the special effects I’m planning. I’d need them from around six until one for tidy up, and maybe an hour the night before, so I can run them through what they’ll be doing and they can help set up. I was thinking eighty quid to cover both days.”
“How many do you need?”
“Maybe fifteen or twenty. There’s going to be plenty to do.”
“Can Willis and I come too?”
“Yes. Details will be on the website soon, but you can come as my guests. If you and Willis know anyone who’d like to buy tickets, I’d be grateful. Buffet food, a dance, costume party, possibly murder-mystery if I can manage it, lots of special effects. Seventy pounds a ticket.”
“Are you organising it all?”
“Yes.” Jonty’s stomach lurched. “Until Devan gets here. The manager walked out tonight. I don’t know when he’s going to come back.”
“That’s not very professional.”
“He was pissed off he wasn’t consulted. He said he was taking a few days’ holiday.”
“You want Willis to help? It’s half-term.”
“What are you volunteering me for?” Willis called.
“To help Jonty.”
“It’s okay,” Jonty said. “I might not need help.”
“I know a woman who does face painting,” Mike said.
“That would be brilliant. I could do with a few of those. Give her my number and email, would you?”
“Okay. Jonty, if you need help, just ask. If you’re giving us tickets, it’s the least we can do.”
“Thank you. I’ll need help setting stuff up. I can’t do most of it until the day before, so it’s going to be a big rush.”
“I can get one of the guys to cover for me, and I’ll come with Willis.”
“Thank you. I’ve got to go, but I’ll be in touch.”
Another call and a couple more texts to send before he went to get the dogs.
“Hey, Jonty. How are things? Where are you phoning from?” Tay asked.
“Sadly, not Greece. I’m in the car outside The Dunes, but I’m driving back to Seahouses in a sec. Devan’s mother’s had a stroke so we came back.”
“God, poor Devan. I hope she pulls through.”
“Yep,” he mumbled. He did hope she pulled through. Devan knew that, right?
“So why aren’t you with him?” Tay asked.
“I’m arranging a Halloween party at The Dunes. I wondered if you and Ink would like to come and if you’d help.”
“Ooh. We’d love to. We have Ru and Jasim coming up that week, so they can help too. What can we do?”
“I’ll let you know, but I was thinking of having some murder-mystery set-ups or some sort of spooky or funny skits. I’m still thinking things through. The details of the event should be on the hotel website soon. You’ll need costumes. And though I’m inviting you as my guests, if you can convince anyone to buy tickets, that would be really good.”
“We’ll buy tickets for Ru and Jasim. Since you’re back, would you like to come round for a meal?”
“Can I let you know? I have no idea how busy I’m going to be. Devan’s still down in Surrey and the hotel manager has decided to go on holiday, so I’m in charge.”
“Jesus, Jonty. That’s a lot to cope with.”
“Yeah, I know. I have so much to do. I’ll call you later.”
“Let Ink and me know if you need help now. You’re not on your own, Jonty. And give Devan our best.”
“Thank you. Bye.”
Tiredness was creeping over him. It hardly seemed possible that it was only this morning he’d spoken to Alan. He sent a WhatsApp to Matvey, and another to Alexei and Katerina. Not that he really expected them to come all the way from Vladivostok for a party, particularly as he suspected they’d need a visa, but he wanted to ask them. He made a mental note to keep two rooms free just in case, then set off to get the dogs. Devan wasn’t here to give him a slobbery kiss, so Winnie and Charlotte would have to do.