John Wick: A Father Scorned

Chapter 5

     The Continental had expanded only to a few select cities since Winston had opened the original in New York. One of the reasons for such a slow expansion was to make sure he didn't stretch his own finances too thin; but the other was a lack of people he could trust to run his operations. Winston was a resourceful person, but he couldn't be in several spots around the world at the same time. Trust was something that didn't come to the old man easily, especially considering the kind of clientele that he worked with. Yet when he opened a Continental in Tokyo, he was confident that the person running the operation was the best one for the job. Ms. Lee was an assassin that had retired from the profession when she became a mother, and she was content to run a restaurant with her mother while raising her children. Winston thought it was a waste of her clear talent for hospitality and considering her other talents; Ms. Lee was by far the perfect choice to be the manager of the Continental in Japan. She was a night owl by habit, working long hours into the night with the staff. One of the hardest working managers Winston had under his employment. There was rarely ever any trouble at that location, as Ms. Lee was well aware of how to handle and eventually toss out the trash. This made Tokyo one of Winston's most profitable expansions. He mentioned the location to Jonathan as he left with his sword, but was unaware if he was going to take him up on his offer. Ms. Lee had been warned but refused to even believe that John Wick had returned to Japan at all. She was cleaning the counter and the lobby was empty when all the proof she would need to the rumors came walking in the door, carrying a lot of baggage with him.

     Wick dropped two large gym bags in the middle of the lobby and then went back outside. He then returned with three more massive gym bags, all looking like they have been stuff full of dirty clothing. With two bag slung over his shoulder, Wick dragged the other three behind him as he approached the front desk.

     "Mr. Wick," the lady said with a respectful bow, "I'm Ms. Lee, the manager of the Continental Japan."

     "Ms. Lee," Wick said as he dropped his bags to give her a bow just as respectful, "I've come to see if you have any vacancies."

     "We do not," Ms. Lee replied, "But your room is already booked and waiting for you, courtesy of Mr. Winston."

     "Oh, thank you," Wick said, pleasantly surprised. "Can I get someone to help me carry my luggage up to the room?"

     "Of course," Ms. Lee said, as she rang a bell on her counter. A man came out and she spoke to him in Japanese. The young man grabbed three for the big bags and they both walked to the lift, taking it to the top floor. It appears that Winston had booked John their best suite, still doing what he could to make up for the lack of professionalism he was shown the last time he had stayed with them. Wick didn't think anything of it, but Winston's reputation took a hit for it.

     Once the massive bags were tossed onto the massive king sized bed, Wick handed the young man a coin and watched as he left and closed the door behind him. Once he had the room to himself, the opened one of the bags and emptied it onto the bed. It was cash and lots of it. The bag he had just emptied was full of Euros and American dollars. He slowly began to count them and make two piles on the desk that was across from the big bed. Wick had been in his room for over three hours when the phone rang. He looked at it for a moment and then picked up the receiver.

     "This is Wick." John answered.

     "Hello Jonathan," a familiar voice on the other end replied, "I got word you had checked in, and I wanted to see how you were doing."

     "Hello Winston," Wick answered as he sat down and put down the stack that he had been counting. "I'm doing all right. I can't say the same for the Golden Dragon's operations, but I've been faring well so far tonight."