"This deal will make or break us," Ashley heard her mom, Grace, whisper to her dad in the dining room.
"Every dollar we have is in this golf course, and honestly, I don't even think we'll have enough to pay our mortgage this month... so if this falls through, I don't know what we're going to do," she continued.
"Well, I'm not sure what else we can do," said her father. "Mr. Keita's family is one of the richest in Africa... like he owns diamond mines rich. Heck, the change in his wallet could probably save the deal, and the crazy thing is, he actually found us! He is literally our last chance," he continued.
"Did you lease the yacht for next week's meeting?" she asked her husband.
"Yes, but the bank made it very clear that we are at our limit, and to make things worse, they couldn't give us as much as we needed... we have enough for everything... but a hostess," he sighed.
"So you're saying Malik is supposed to believe that we are wealthy enough to have a yacht but can't afford a hostess? I think he's going to be suspicious, don't you?"
"I don't know what to tell you, but that's all the money we have, so we'll have to make it work," he answered with frustration in his voice.
"Maybe... we could have Ashley be the hostess. She's home for the summer and has waitressed before," she pondered.
Ashley knew her parents were having some financial issues but never knew it was to the point of losing their business and home. Over the years, she was part of many parties and events hosted by her parents, but lately, the golf course business was slow, and it appeared that this Malik guy was the family's answer to their financial woes.
"Ashley?" her mom called. "Come here for a second, please."
Grace and her husband, Mark, explained the situation to her, and over the next week, Ashley practiced and read as much as she could about proper hosting.
"This yacht is amazing," Ashley thought as she boarded the boat. It was way bigger than she expected. It had three decks and at least ten cabins for the crew and guests. As planned, Ashley was introduced as "the hostess" to the captain, deckhand, and chef, and even had a cute nautical uniform that was sleeveless with a pleated skirt. Everything was going according to plan.
Day one of the three-night voyage to the Bahamas was pretty boring. As she served meals and drinks, Ashley watched her parents enthusiastically pitch their ideas. Afterward, they went to their room to burn the midnight oil strategizing for the next day. Unfortunately, things didn't sound like they were going as planned, and apparently, Mr. Ketia was a hard sell.
The following morning, Ashley awoke early, dressed, and headed to the kitchen to start preparing for the day, but she was surprised to see Mr. Keita already awake and sitting on a lounge chair on deck.
"Good morning, Mr. Keita," she greeted her guest.
Malik Keita was a 6'4" large man. He had typical African features and was in excellent shape. His muscles bulged at all the right times as he moved and looked quite intimidating to most people.
"Please... call me Malik," he replied in a deep voice as his eyes undressed Ashley from head to toe.
Ashley was a 5'11" beauty. She had dark hair and had a Mediterranean vibe with gorgeous green eyes and ample curves that she got from her Portuguese mother. Her form-fitting uniform left little to the imagination, and Malik was taking his time scanning her near-flawless physique.