Wednesday afternoon's meeting of the House staff was a little unusual, with some new developments announced.
The House was to be the setting for a movie, beginning in one weeks' time. It would be "stylish, tasteful and very pornographic", as Fred stated, and I could not detect any irony in his tone. Colette outlined how the filming would impact on the normal operations of the House. In her view the film would be a daytime activity, while the normal business was all at night. There would be some film and other equipment in evidence in the downstairs rooms, from time to time. We would have to work around it.
"Jim and Jackie, I want you to go into the storage rooms beside the dungeon downstairs. On Friday night we will need the wet room's drainage checked and ready. We have a booking. The other room will be storage for the film crew and needs to be cleared completely by next Wednesday. There is stuff there from before our present operation started, so you may be digging through some history". Colette's voice was crisp but there was a smile on her lips. All I knew was that the House had been through several lives since it was built and the immediate prior operation was as an expensive brothel.
"The upper floor will be totally committed to the filming and crew. Their people will also be fed in our kitchen and dining room. A lot of filming will be done on the main floor here, and also on the terraces outside. The lower level will often be required too.
"Do you have any questions?" She looked around at each of us.
Nathalie was jiggling on her stool, and blurted, "are there any parts for us? It sounds great! I'd love to get involved."
"Be careful what you ask for. The director has said that there may be a need for extras in several scenes. Everyone's main role is supporting the film crew. Jim and Jackie will be driving a shuttle service morning and evening, as the crew will have their vans on site, so no room for other vehicles.
"I have told the director that our core business is our first priority, then the staffs' needs, such as sleep. He is aware of that, but I am sure there will be conflicts which we will have to deal with as they arise. If you opt to participate more directly, there will be contracts that are from the film company." Colette looked directly at Nathalie as she said this.
She then made my jaw drop by saying, "I will be one of the lead actors, so Fred will be running the House business for the duration- about one week, they think."
__(;)__
The wet room had not been used at all while I had worked in the House, though I knew of it. It was accessed through the dungeon, with a tiled floor and walls, many plumbing fittings and several drains in the floor. There were fans for ventilation and a skylight (set in the lawn above) provided natural daylight as we looked around.
The House was an art deco style villa, built in the thirties as a luxury home for a wealthy expat tai-pan (businessman). When the Japanese occupied Hong Kong in the war a General had commandeered it for his own use. The basement rooms had been dug using POW slave labour, as a bomb shelter for him and his household. The real use was for his 'comfort women'- prisoners (Asian and European) who were kept as sex slaves for him and his colleagues. The dungeon dated from that time, and must have been a hard place...
The wet room was filled with odds and ends of gear that had been put there, dungeon gear, pieces of furniture and so forth. There were cabinets and chests in the dungeon and other rooms where most of the things could be stored, it had just been easier to put them in the wet room. In an hour and a half Jackie and I had it cleared and had checked the taps and pipes. We ran water down the drains and found only a slight blockage, which we soon cleared. That was lucky, as we had no interest in exploring the 1930's drainage system. One of the day crew would scrub the tiles in the morning.
