The party is a bust

At eight, Kat was discouraged.

The music was going, four bodybuilders sat in the office studying the scripts that Rick had prepared for them, and none of the hoped-for guests had arrived.

There as a minor flurry of excitement five minutes later when Jan and Eliza showed up.

Both were dressed to the T, in full war paint, and looking extremely hot and extremely upper class. They were also essentially there to support Rick rather than being potential customers. Both got their hands on glasses of wine, took a couple of sips, then headed for the dance floor.

"Your ex is pretty hot," Kat said. "What's wrong with you?"

"I'm boring, spend too much time working and not enough on her, and I don't make enough money to support her in the style she demands."

Kat nodded seriously. "Yep, those are big problems. Unless she's found a richer sugar-daddy, I don't think she's going to keep the gym afloat. What about the other one. Is she rich?"

"Eliza? She's a lawyer. Maybe lower maintenance, but no sugar-daddy."

"Guess this whole thing is a bust, then."

It was looking that way. Especially when the next three guests were friends of Usha, similarly dressed to the max, but similarly not part of the target audience and certainly not anything Rick could use to further his plans even if they wanted to spend their money at the gym.