Markos leans on the counter. “Right. Work. But I don’t need an office. My work is with the people, not the spreadsheets, like this boring old guy.”
Her cheeks turn red, and I glare at him, hoping that’ll be enough for him to knock off the flirting. “Umm…slight problem,” she says. “We don’t have any adjoining rooms that are also suites with office spaces. Not in Building C, anyway. I could put you in Building A.”
“I need to be in C with the rest of the crew and contestants.” My phone pings. It’s a text from Jaquell:Your meeting starts in twenty minutes.Don’t forget to SMILE! You’re there to be charming.
Dammit, I don’t want to smile. I force one anyway. “Back to our problem. What can we do about this? Perhaps I could speak to your manager?”
“Okay, Karen,” Markos says, elbowing me in the ribs.
“Could you not?” I ask him sharply.
“Right…okaayyy…so maybe I should get Nora. She’s the events coordinator for your competition. She’ll sort this out for you.”
“Sure, if this Nora person is the one who can make things happen, let’s call her,” Carolina says.
Plucking the receiver off the desk phone, the young woman places a call. “Nora, hi, you’re needed at the front desk. Three of your guests are checking in, and there's a bit of a problem with their room requests.” There’s a long pause, then she says, “I don’t know. His last name is Rojas so—” She hangs up and smiles. “She’ll be right out.”
“Thank you.”
Let’s just hope she’s competent.
The woman behind the counter busies herself a few feet away from us while we wait. I tug at my tie, suddenly feeling like I might suffocate if I don’t get the damn thing off. Markos, however, starts moving his shoulders in time with the beat of a steel drum band that started up somewhere nearby.
“You know what,hermano? Maybe staying at the resort will be good for you. Music, women, fun… you could let loose for once,” he says. He holds his arms out to Carolina. “Come on. Let’s show the old guy how it’s done.”
She bursts out laughing as he takes her in his arms and starts to mambo with her. Looking over his shoulder at me, he says, “See? This is called fun. It’s what real humans do.”
“Got it, thanks,” I tell him, tapping my fingers on the counter, but not to the beat. With impatience.
“You should dance with Carolina,” he says, spinning her towards me.
“Thank you, no. This is neither the time nor the place.”
“Come on. Loosen up. Maybe you’ll meet the woman of your dreams while we’re here. You know, fall in love with some prettytouristawho can pop out a bunch of mini-Theos.” He croons in Carolina’s ear loud enough for me to hear, “Can you imagine their tiny serious faces?”
“Theo doesn’t believe in love,” she tells him. “Only spreadsheets.”
“Spreadsheets don’t leave you for being a workaholic,” I say, deadpan.
A woman finally appears from the back-office area, and I assume she is Nora, based on her attire and the fact that she’s hurrying towards the receptionist. Hmph, I was hoping for someone older, someone with some authority. Instead we’re getting a harried-looking young woman in a cheap navy skirt suit that looks too large for her petite frame. Her curly black hair is pulled back into a bun at the nape of her neck. Or should I say was probably pulled back into a bun at some point earlier today but is now freeing itself at several strange angles.
Without bothering to look at us, she and the receptionist engage in a quick conversation before coming to the same conclusion. They can’t give me what I want.
Finally, she seems to deem it appropriate to talk directly to me. “Mr. Rojas, I’m Nora Cooper, the events coordinator handling the competition. I understand you require adjoining rooms with your brother, and that you need an office space as well, but just for you, not him.”
“Correct,” I answer, unable to ignore the loveliness of her dark brown eyes. They’re both soft and commanding at the same time, and as that is absolutely irrelevant to the situation, why I’m thinking this is a mystery.
She nods, and I’m hopeful she’s going to be able to sort out this simple request until she says, “I’m afraid we don’t have any suites with office spaces that also have adjoining rooms in Building C.”
“Don’t make them suites then. Regular rooms will do.”
“No suites?” Markos asks loudly. “But we’re going to be here for a month!”
“And you’ll survive.” I check my watch for the umpteenth time. Shit. Fourteen minutes. Turning back to Nora, I say, “I don’t suppose there’s any chance I’ll be set up in my room in the next ten minutes, is there?”
“I’m afraid not.” She offers me an apologetic look. “It’s about a ten-minute ride in the golf cart to the building from here.”
“Here’s the thing,” I say, my tone sharper than it should be. “I have a video meeting right away—an important one. I hoped when they called you, they’d be getting someone who could help. You clearly aren’t the person who can provide solutions to my problems, so if you would please point me in the direction ofthatperson—quickly—that would be wonderful.”
