By the time Mr. Han twelve-thirty rolled around, Lisa had finally stopped feeling like a chicken with its head cut off. She had cleared the tampons off her desk, figured out how to use three programs on the computer without calling J-hope or Namjoon, and had even taken the time to browse through the Mnet file. Han Minho of Mnet Inc. owned a small chain of hotels throughout Asia and Europe, all of which catered to extremely rich, snooty people who wanted to go to on vacation without having to deal with stupid things like poor people. Silk sheets, limo service, hot tubs in every room, personal maids. She nearly choked on her lunch-time sandwich when she read how much rooms cost a night. Started at a night.

His business had been declining for a few years – wonder why that is? Not. – and the two companies were planning on a friendly merger. Kim Royale Corp was hoping to assimilate it into its own branch of luxury hotels that focused more on the travel experience – really getting into the culture, adventure packages and all that – than on avoiding contact with the locals. Today was a friendly meeting to outline the company's initial proposal and discuss any potential sticking points.

After lunch Lisa went to go set up the meeting room. It was like one straight out of a movie – the table was big enough for at least forty people. The chairs were high-backed, on wheels and leather. One wall was completely tinted glass, looking out on a stunning vista of the city. A large screen covered one wall.

It felt like they should be having a top secret meeting about national security in that room, not playing real-life monopoly.

She set down her laptop at the end of the table closest to the screen. According to the '-to-do file' it was her job to bring the proposal up on that screen remotely from her laptop and to flip through the pages when needed. Easy-peasy, she thought, setting up the laptop. It was nice to finally come across some piece of technology that she knew how to use already. She'd started to feel like she'd entered an alien world.

She got a pitcher of water and put coffee on. Rather than the regular Styrofoam cups, there was a set of high quality china mugs with beautiful willow patterns. She got out five and set them up at one end of the table – no need to spread them all out when it was such a small meeting.

She was just putting out sugar and cream when someone from front desk showed Mr. Han and his two assistants into the room.

Lisa's first impression of Mr. Han was that he was a human version of a yorkie. His moustache covered his entire mouth. Mr. Han was a tiny man with a large nose and white hair. His spectacles dwarfed his face while making his nose look all the larger.

She would not have been surprised if he started yapping like a terrier.

"Good afternoon," Lisa said pleasantly, offering a hand to him. "I'm Ms. Kim's personal assistant, Lisa Manoban." She was determined that she wouldn't bring up anything that could be even the slightest bit offensive to anyone. She had even refused to watch or read the news of the weekend in preparation.

"Good afternoon!" He replied, seizing the offered hand. He shook it vigorously, crushing her fingers slightly. "Pleasure to meet you. Is Ms. Kim here?" he looked around shiftily, as if thinking Jennie might pop out of the curtains.

"She's just finishing up some work in her office. She'll be along in a moment."

Lisa hoped she wasn't lying. She hadn't seen Jennie for the rest of the morning and she hadn't come out at lunch time. But there were still five minutes to one... she glanced anxiously at the door.

"You know, you remind me of someone I met once," Mr. Han said, peering at her through his glasses.

"Oh?" She tore her gaze away from the door, to return his gaze. Jennie would come, she assured herself.

"Yes. She was a beautiful young lady, worked in one of my hotels as a coat checker."

"Mmmm," Lisa said blankly. Was she supposed to be flattered that she made him think of a coat checker?

"One could call her a belle-hop!" He waggled his eyebrows.

Lisa laughed. It was a terrible joke, but she had a thing for terrible jokes. Mr. Han's eyes sparkled at her reaction.

"Ah, got you with that one, didn't I? Yes, I always know how to tell a good joke."

He pulled out his chair and sat down, making himself comfortable. Behind him, his two assistants rolled their eyes. In unison.

"You need to know jokes in this business, you know?" Mr. Han continued. "Back when my father ran one hotel out of Montreal, I helped by entertaining the guests. I was always the star of the evening!"

"I'm sure you were," Lisa said. She got the coffee pot and began to pour it out. Mr. Han added the tiniest amount of sugar to his coffee. He inspected the spoonful before letting it rain slowly into his cup. He stirred it exactly ten times in both directions before taking a sip.

"A man wrote a letter to my father once, when he was planning on visiting our hotel. It wasn't uncommon in those days, you realize, to have to write ahead. Post boxes everywhere, now it's all emails and text messages – bah! Anyway, he asked about his dog. He said "'I would very much like to bring my dog with me. He is well-groomed and very well behaved.'"

Lisa listened politely, settling down in her chair and beginning to add liberal amounts of sugar to her own coffee – she didn't really like the stuff. She had no idea where he might be going with this story. One of Mr. Han's assistants had her head in her hand. The other was staring at the ceiling.

"My father thought about this a bit, and wrote back a reply almost at once. He would be delighted to let the dog in his hotel, he said. He'd been operating that hotel for many years. In all that time, he never had a dog steal towels, bedclothes, silverware or pictures off the walls.

Never had to evict a dog in the middle of the night for being drunk and disorderly. And never had a dog run out on a hotel bill. Yes, indeed, his dog was welcome at our hotel. And, he said, if the dog would vouch for his owner, he'd be welcome to stay, too."

He finished with a flourish of his hand and Lisa erupted into laughter. Beside her, the assistant took her head out of her hands and stared at Lisa in disbelief. The other sighed. Mr. Han joined in laughing at his own joke.

The door opened. They all looked around as Jennie walked in, her laptop under one arm and a steaming mug in the other. "Good afternoon, Mr. Han," she said, giving a curt nod.

She ignored the cluster of prepared seats and sat down at the other end of the table.

"I would like to go over a few points on page ten with you, if you don't mind. I think that-"

"Excuse me?" Mr. Han interrupted. He cupped a hand over an ear. "I can't quite hear you."

Jennie flushed slightly, then spoke again, her voice louder this time, "I would like to go over a few points on page-"

Mr. Han was shaking his head, hands cupping both ears now.

"Maybe it would be better if you came and sat over here, Ms. Kim?" Lisa tried, delicately. She patted the seat beside her and smiled warmly. What was with Jennie?

Jennie's hands balled up into fists and her face turned a deeper red. She looked distressed almost, like Lisa's offer caused her physical pain. She looked down at her laptop and said,

"No, thank you, I'm fine." She cleared , then raised her voice louder. She was almost shouting at them down the table. "On page ten, there are a number of issues about employee compensation that-"

Lisa sighed. She gave a