Lies and Weddings(91)
“Who?”
“The guy across from us. Psycho killer.”
“Hahahaha, Luis Felipe. He’s actually super sweet.”
“We met him at Burning Man.”
“He had the most unnnn-believable camp! There was a weed sommelier and a sushi bar. This Japanese dude with one of those Karate Kid headbands was making unagi rolls for everyone in the middle of the desert!”
“It was, like, a hundred fifty degrees, so everyone wanted to eat Luis Felipe’s sushi.”
“…And go skiing.”
“Skiing? At Burning Man?”
“Yeah, Luis Felipe had the best snow”—she makes a snorting gesture—“like mountains of it on huge silver platters.”
“And the best shrooms. OMG, I lost a whole week of my life on a quarter of a mushroom but it was uhh-mazing.”
“Are you coming to the house later? He’s having a huge party. It’s gonna be EPIC.”
“Excuse me, but isn’t his dad very sick at the house?”
“Really? I had no idea his dad was even in town.”
* * *
—
Conversation between Eden Tong and the manager…
“And what can I get you tonight, miss?”
“May I ask how the host is doing?”
“The host?”
“The man that was hurt outside?”
(Glances at Luis Felipe warily before answering.) “Oh, Milo. He’s fine, we sent him home.”
“He really ought to go to the hospital for an MRI.”
“He’ll be okay.”
“He was coughing up blood. There’s a possibility he could be bleeding internally.”
“Thank you for your concern.” (Glances at Luis Felipe again.) “Now, the chef recommends the Caesar salad chiffonade to start and the white truffle agnolotti. We just received the most divine truffles from Alba…”
* * *
—
Conversation between Freddy Farman-Farmihian and Luis Felipe Tan…
“This Tomahawk rib eye is absurd. It’s like melt-in-your-mouth ridiculously good.”
“What did I tell you? The food here is tops.”
“Yeah, thanks for convincing us to stay. And thanks for setting up the tour of Cloudline. Molto impressivo, dude.”
“Yeah? What was your favorite room?”
“Definitely the secret taco stand in your screening room.”
“Me too! I hired this guy that has the only Michelin-starred taco truck in Austin to set it up for me. Then I stole all his cooks, hahaha.”
“Boss move. I also loved the artist loft. It’s cool that you let artists work in your home.”
“When I went to Miami last December, I noticed that every billionaire art collector had an artist staying at their house. The artists were all sucking up like crazy, following them around everywhere, and I thought, They’re like cute little pets, art pets. So I’m gonna have a different one every month. I feed them and give them a place to stay, and in return I get a free artwork from a hot artist. The last one who stayed with me, I hated her painting, but I flipped it for half a mil.”
“Another boss move. I’m guessing you must also be an investor in Daddy Mustang?”
“No, but I’m backing the new Baby Mustangs in Las Vegas, Dubai, and Macau.”
“So that’s how you get to sit at the Chef’s Table. I thought only LeBron got to sit in here.”
“LeBron and me. It also doesn’t hurt that I own this strip center.”
“Haha, so you really do own the sidewalk!”
“I think I own the sidewalks all the way to Highland.”
“Cool. I’m in commercial real estate too.”
“Course you are. What Persian isn’t?”
“Haha. So you ever interested in investing out in Malibu? I’m setting up a new consortium that—”
“You can stop with the real estate talk, it bores the shit out of me.”
“Sorry. So…what excites you?”
“Movies. I finance movies.”
“Oh yeah? Any movies I know?”
“None of them are out yet. But by this time next year I’ll have three films in the can.”
“Cool. What are the titles? I’ll keep an eye out.”
“They are all top secret, but one of them is with the biggest pop star in the world. You’ll definitely be hearing all about it when it’s time.”
“Cool. Are those actresses going to be in your movies?”
“They wish! Hey, is your friend trying to be an actress?”
“Who, Eden? No, Eden’s a doctor.”
“No shit? I thought she was just another desperate actress in town for pilot season.”
“Not at all. She’s here for my sister’s engagement party tomorrow. That’s my sister Daniela talking with your friends.”
“Haha, I thought you were doggin’ both of them.”
“Gross. No, Eden’s strictly a friend.”
“So you won’t mind if I take her home and Eiffel Tower her with Jenna and Lexi?”
“Uh…I guess you’re welcome to try.”