The unique symbiosis that arose among the owners, the girls, the guests and the municipality was no less extraordinary than the symbiosis among certain insects and plants in the Costa Rican rain forests. Without this delicate balance the police might have levied fines, or the girls scattered to other bars, or the owners recast the hotel as a traditional resort. But instead the Grand became a legend, put down roots, grew, so that in time it was unthinkable for anyone to imagine it as anything other than what it was. Prostitution thrivedin other towns where working girls congregated. But the Hotel Grand, despite its success, never spawned competitors. It was unique in all the country. In all the world. Sensuous, sophisticated, uninhibited Laura Mendoza Flores is throwing a party to celebrate her retirement as a working girl. Unlike many of her peers, who waste their earnings on clothes, drugs and deadbeat boyfriends, she has bought a house in the hills, from which she can look down upon the hotel where she has worked these last four years. Present at the party are those selected friends trusted to bridge the fault like between that old life and her new one, including her best friend, Carmen, a demure, unmercenary young woman whom otherwise jaded Americans can't resist, and Tita Moon, a frenetic single mother, overwhelmed by adult responsibility. Also in attendance is a non-pro, Raquel, a curious psychology student who works at the hotel's travel desk. In the weeks to come the four girls will drink their share of sorrow in the Red Volcano Bar, while Laura, ever in the center of all these tangled webs, like a retired special agent, will endeavor to keep that secret life below her, at the harmless distance of her hillside terrace. But temptation and necessity will lure her back, while her preppy ex-boyfriend and new employer will pull her towardthe equally rocky shores of marriage.