I. Affären bakom kulisserna (The Backroom Deal)
Kerstin leans forward when Aino walks into the room, eyes narrowing to a single dimension. That dimension is pure suspicion.
"You, Ruotsalainen, what's your angle here? You walk into my office yesterday and tell me you need an express, twenty-four hour turnaround to approve this American's business registration, while also neglecting to tell me this same American is the one who got up on a tribunal and explained patiently to the world that we have lizard-people like Putin walking among us? How the hell do you expect me to see this and say nothing more than, well, everything seems to be in order here? Do you see what is wrong with this picture???"
"Hej, Kerstin," is all Aino says.
"Don't 'hej' me, Aino, I want to know what kind of fresh shit I'm wading into here before I publicly broadcast that it is open season for aliens from planet America to tromp all over our land and buy our business and god knows what else. Are the lizard-people mind-controlling you? Will they mind-control us all???"
Aino can't help an exasperated sigh. "Kerstin, no," she begins, as if that's supposed to calm her down, at all. "Human or not, Ms. Scordato is promising to invest a great deal of money into Stockholm's economy, and is offering to take on the responsibility of running a casino which the government has no longer found profitable. By the projections submitted with this application, even aside from the single payment for ownership of the building, the tax revenue alone should allow the government to recoup its losses within two years. This is a cut-and-dry deal, here."
"But the lizard-people—"
"I'm just saying, first it's Putin, and then—"
Now it's her turn to sigh. "Fine. But don't tell me I didn't warn you."
II. Förberedelser (Preparations)
The first and most difficult obstacle is out of the way. With the business deal authorized, and ILR all-but-assured, Aino can move on to quickly dispatch the more mundane facets of preparing Stockholm's newest business for its grand opening. A few short phone calls with Bran give Aino all the information she needs to contract the refresh and redesign of the casino, and on the abbreviated timetable of her demands—made all the more fearsome by the prospect of certain brödraskap enforcers overseeing the projects—everything is ready sooner rather than later, and the grand opening is palpably near.
On the morning of the grand opening of Caesar's Stockholm, Aino has been awake for several hours already, micromanaging every organizational nitpick that she can to ensure that everything is in order. A good first impression, after all, is quite important! She's had her clothes picked out a week in advance, commissioned a hairdresser for the morning, and sits in the limousine an hour in advance of Bran's arrival. As the 747 lands, Aino and the chauffeur situate themselves right outside of the international terminal's security with a discreet sign alerting Bran to their presence.
blakekathryn
prguitarman
janainaart
vaporwave
turnnoffyourmind
stormborns
dededos
