Over three years had passed since Bitsy's father Leopold had died from a heart attack and she'd subsequently inherited the Brandenham Hotel from him. She wasn't exactly thrilled about inheriting it in the state that it was (it was, after all, intended as a consolation prize), but she was determined to refurbish it nonetheless and restore it to its former glory.
Around the same time that Leopold had died, Helen had waltzed into Bitsy's life from Weehawken, New Jersey. A descendant of Irish and Italian immigrants, Helen was wholly determined to escape the poverty that had hung over her her whole life and make a name for herself... even if it meant working for Bitsy Brandenham. Now here she was, having worked for Bitsy for three years and she'd already been given authority over the other employees. Surely, that had to count for something, right?
Today was no different. It was Tuesday, March 5th, 1985; and Helen had been tasked with retrieving mail from all the way downstairs. After taking the elevator all the way down to the ground floor, Helen made her way to the hotel counter where the hotel clerk happened to be.
"Hey, Jason," Helen said. "You got any mail for Bitsy?"
"Not really." Jason sifted through the mail. "Not anything noteworthy anyway." He sifted some more and came across an envelope that stood out to him. "Oh, wait, she did get something!"
"Really?" Helen leaned in to get a closer look. "Let me see."
Jason handed Helen the envelope. "Here you go. Says here it's from Queenie Ryan's estate."
Helen raised an eyebrow at this. "Interesting..."
"Yep." An awkward pause followed before Jason started speaking again. "Well, you should probably go ahead and take this up to Miss Brandenham, huh?"
"I mean, I was going to do that anyway, so..."
Jason cut her off and gave her a quick thumbs up. "Thanks, Miss Squillace. I appreciate it."
With that, Jason proceeded to watch as Helen ascended towards the penthouse all the way at the top of the Brandenham.
"Any mail for me?" Bitsy asked Helen.
"The only thing that came in for you was from your grandmother's estate," Helen replied.
Bitsy perked up for a moment. "Her estate?"
"Yeah, that's what I said."
"Let me see that!" Curiosity now piqued, Bitsy snatched the envelope from Helen's hands and began to open it up. As she skimmed through the contents, she couldn't help but feel a gradual sense of dread wash over her whole being. This couldn't be true, could it? She looked up at Helen, still engulfed in an envelopment of dread. "Oh my God… she's dead…"
Helen had no idea how she was meant to respond at that moment other than, "I'm sorry."
Bitsy was silent for a while, processing the information she had just received.
"Did it say what she died from?" Helen asked once she felt enough time had passed.
Bitsy shook her head. "Not really. I hadn't even seen her in three years, and now she's gone."
She finally broke down and began to cry, her tears streaming down her face. Helen embraced her, allowing her to cry in her arms.
"Well, at least she's in a better place now," Helen assured her.
Truth be told, Helen didn't know very much about Queenie Ryan nor did she know much about Bitsy's mother Myrtle's side of the family. All she really knew about them was that they were mostly based in Hawaii and that they had Native Hawaiian ancestry. Nevertheless, she tried her best to comfort her boss.
On the morning of Sunday, March 10th, Bitsy and Helen were preparing to head off to the John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens in order to catch a flight to Honolulu for the funeral. As they packed up for the flight, Bitsy felt pangs of sadness and dread regarding the whole situation. She knew the funeral was going to be a difficult experience and was also anxious about facing her emotions, but she was determined to make the best of it nonetheless.
In the days leading up to this, Bitsy had managed to settle down and actually read through the letter of testamentary from beginning to end. While reading through it, she learned that she'd inherited a handsomely large sum of money from Queenie, as well as most of her hotel staff. She was slightly disappointed that she hadn't inherited anything else, but it was still better than inheriting a run-down hotel. Still, maybe the hotel staff she was set to inherit would help turn things around.
After Bitsy and Helen had packed everything into their luggage, they headed out to the airport and made their way inside right near the entrance of the Pan Am Worldport.
"Alright, now that we're here, what do we do?" Helen asked.
"Have you never been on a flight before?" Bitsy asked back incredulously.
"Uh, no? My family couldn't really afford to fly anywhere when I was growing up."
"Oh, that's so sad." Bitsy scanned the airport terminal for anything that could guide them to their destination before spotting an information desk a few meters away. "Anyway, let's go get some tickets. They're bound to have some for Honolulu."
Helen just nodded before following her superior all the way to the information desk, all while weaving in and out through the bustling crowd. As the two women approached, a friendly airport staff member greeted them with a warm smile.
"Hello, how may I assist you today?" the staff member asked politely.
"Uh, hi, we're here to get tickets for a flight to Honolulu," Helen replied. "Are there any available right now?"
"Hold on, I'll have to check." It took the staff member a few minutes to check the flight availability. "Yes, there are a few flights to Honolulu today. Hold on, let me check which one would be the most suitable for you." It took her a few more minutes to check which flights Bitsy and Helen would like to go on before she turned back to them with a smile. "I found a flight that's supposed to depart in exactly one hour. It's a direct flight to Honolulu and there are two seats available. Would that work for you?"
Helen quickly nodded. "Yeah, that sounds great!"
The staff member swiftly processed their tickets and handed them over. "Here you go. The gate number will be displayed on the departure board when it's time for boarding. Enjoy your flight."