Chapter 572 - Great Ocean Resort (1)

~ Los Angeles area, Great Ocean Resort ~

JoAnna and Bridgette arrived at a luxury resort near Los Angeles.

It's right on the shore of the Pacific Ocean, and it has a wonderful man-made white sand beach. Perfect for a wedding on a beach that JoAnna wants.

They have a large banquet room that can be reserved for special occasions as well as lodging options for 520 people. Based on these only, place looks promising.

Property also has a golf course and a shooting range as well as stables and riding paths. The grounds have a well maintained forest with trails. 

The resort has multiple buildings and offers a full spa, casino, bowling alley, indoor swimming pools, three upscale restaurants, and a coffee shop with a view of the ocean.

Many upper-class people come here to enjoy, relax and entertain their guests.

Bridgette made an appointment for JoAnna to discuss their availability and services for her wedding.

"Miss Hill?", receptionist in a well fitting dark brown suit tilted her eyeglasses upwards, making JoAnna notice her brown hair pulled into a neat updo without a single hair out of place.

"Yes.", JoAnna smiled while trying to ignore receptionist's cold attitude.

"You have an appointment at nine o'clock.", young lady said while looking at her computer screen.

"Yes.", JoAnna glanced at the time. "That is in six minutes."

Receptionist smirked and moved her head toward the seating on the side. "You can take a seat. In six minutes, someone will come to greet you." She was scrutinizing JoAnna and Bridgette as they walked away.

It was a warm July morning, and JoAnna and Bridgette wore light summer dresses and flat open shoes. Two of them had few places to visit and decided to dress themselves in comfortable outfits. Based on their clothes they stood out from other guests whose appearances screamed: 'I'm rich!'

"What's with the attitude?", Bridgette fumed as two of them sat on the sofa.

"It's just one person. Ignore her." JoAnna did her best to keep it light. "The place is amazing, right?"

"Hmm…", Bridgette nodded. "But the whole vibe of the place is impacted by these stuffy people who think they are better than others."

"Don't judge them too fast." JoAnna was not sure if she is saying this to Bridgette or to herself.

Bridgette was not happy, and her expression showed it. "It's not fast. I'm just saying what I noticed. And I saw other receptionist also giving us disrespectful looks."

Two of them looked around, then fiddled on their phones and chatted while waiting for someone to come and greet them, based on what the receptionist said. JoAnna's mood worsened when she saw that it's past nine thirty.

Bridgette went to the receptionist. "Excuse me, we had an appointment at nine. That is more than half an hour ago. Will someone come to meet with us?"

Receptionist looked at her mockingly. "Our manager had an emergency. He will be out to see you, any minute."

Bridgette returned to sit next to JoAnna and told her what receptionist said. "If I'm you, I would leave this place."

JoAnna sighed. "I'm also thinking the same. But we took quite a drive to reach here, and this place looks perfect. I don't want to miss it only because I lost my patience."

Also, they already saw number of resorts, hotels and venues and everything was lacking something. This is the first place they saw that it has access to a beach, banquet hall and lodging for a sufficient amount of people. It has many more things, but those are bonuses which make this place more appealing.

About ten minutes later, they saw a man in middle-forties walk next to them with an older lady whose fingers and wrists were covered in sparkling jewelry. They would probably not notice him if he was not wearing a dark brown suit, which indicated that he works there.

"Thank you for seeing me without an appointment, Mr. Luck.", older lady smiled so widely that her eyes were almost closed.

"Not a problem, Mrs. Williamson. It was lucky that I didn't have anything else in my schedule.", he smiled at her while patting her hand.

Two of them exchanged pleasantries while saying goodbyes for another five minutes before older lady left.

Man waved after her and walked to the reception.

The receptionist spoke something softly to him and pointed toward JoAnna and Bridgette.

He frowned, took a deep breath and walked to them.

"Miss Hill, I am Mr. Luck, manager of Great Ocean Resort. How can I help you?" He had a smile plastered on his face, but it was not sincere. Also, he didn't extend his hand for a handshake. And he didn't apologize for being late!

JoAnna and Bridgette glanced at each other. They realized that this man was supposed to meet them at nine, but he spent more than half an hour out of their appointment with that older lady and even said that he had nothing else in his schedule! He was definitely mistreating them in favor of that older lady.

JoAnna took a mental note to look up that Mrs. Williamson. She was curious to find out why would she be regarded so highly that this man even ignores their appointment.

She swallowed her displeasure and smiled. "Hi, I'm Miss Hill. My wedding will be on September 15, and I'm considering having it here." Seeing that he has no intention to move, JoAnna added: "Is there a more private place we can talk about this?"

Mr. Luck straightened his back and scrutinized them for few seconds before speaking. "Are you aware of our fees? Just to hold your spot, deposit is ten thousand, and it's nonrefundable."

JoAnna did her best not to blow up. She wanted to leave, but then she thought how they are already waiting for almost an hour, at least she can see what they have. "I was not aware of the deposit amount, but I can assure you that it's not a problem."

Man's mouth twitched slightly. "In that case, please follow me to my office."

Bridgette and JoAnna exchanged looks and followed him.

In his office, he showed them resort brochure with the same information they saw online. It was obvious that he was in a hurry because he was done talking in about three minutes.

JoAnna was very irritated but decided to stay above this and to focus on the purpose of her visit. "Before we proceed, can you tell me if your resort is available on September 15?"

"What did you have on your mind?" The way he spoke was telling them that he would rather be somewhere else.

JoAnna inhaled while trying to stay calm. "We will need to use banquet hall and the beach, and we would like to see what food options…"

Mr. Luck cut off JoAnna. "Beach and the hall? Don't you think it's too much?" He didn't wait for her to respond.

He checked time and stood up. "I'm sorry, Miss Hill. I have another appointment. I will have someone else take over and show you around."

Mr. Luck walked to the back door and shortly after, came out with another young lady who was dressed and styled in the same way as the lady at the reception. The only difference is that this one didn't have glasses and her hair was blonde.

"Janet, this is Miss Hill. She is interested in booking us for a wedding. Show her around." He instructed young lady and walked out without looking at JoAnna and Bridgette.

JoAnna sighed in relief thinking that maybe this Janet person will be more helpful. But her hopes went down the drain when she saw the way Janet scrutinizing them.