Chapter Five
Kris
Kris couldn’t stand it anymore. Even with jet lag, he couldn’t sleep.Damn Mick all to hell. That’s not snoring. It’s auditory warfare is what it is.
Pulling the pillows from over his head, he scowled as he looked at his Fitbit. One fucking a.m.
Right, I’m going to see if I can pay the single rate supplement and switch rooms. I’ll get my stuff before going to breakfast.
He stalked to the door and down the silent hallway. It was so silent, if he hadn’t known better, he’d have thought the building was empty. “Can’t even hear the nightclub next door,” he marvelled aloud to himself. Now that was some serious soundproofing. He got into the lift and went down to the lobby, which was also silent bar the belly audible tapping of the keys as the man at the desk did whatever it was he was doing. Handling bookings over the internet, Kris supposed.
He approached the desk and met the gaze of the clerk. Glancing down to read the man’s name tag before looking back up to meet his eyes, he said, “ Hi, uh, Archibald. I know it’s early late and you’re probably really full but “I’ve got to get up in a few hours for breakfast and the conference and all that but I can’t sleep. My roommate sounds like he’s snoring through a blowhard or something.”
Archibald raised an eyebrow. “Oh, my, that is unfortunate. Were you wanting another room? I can see what we have, but you’ll have to pay the difference.”
“Yes, pease, I need to sleep before I die from exhaustion.”
Archibald gave a soft laugh. “Well, we can’t have that.”He clicked through. Few screens. “Hm. Looks like all of our singles are full, but I do have one that is supposed to be vacant t from tomorrow. Tell you what, I have an empty double that you can just pay the single supplement on for tonight, and tomorrow, we’ll move you into the single for the rest of your stay,”
“And I’ll have to pay the single supplement for those days as well?”
“Yes, I’m afraid so.”
“And how much is that?”
Archibald looked at him conspiratorially. ‘Well, it’s being advertised for a hundred and seventy-five on last minute booking sites. That’s twenty-five more than your room costs are.” He looked pointedly at Kris’ phone in his hand.
“Oh! So, I could book the room at one of those sites and only have to pay that?”
“Why, yes sir. Let me see your phone and I can show you where to get that information,” he winked.
“But won’t I end up paying twice?”
“No. No, you pay here, we simply pay them a commission.”
Woman came in from the room in back,. “Just price match it in the computer. Put a note on it for the boss.”
“Good idea,” Archibald said to her. “I should have thought of that.”
He tapped for a few more minutes. “There we go. Done and done. I need your old room key to check you out of the old one.”
Moments later, Kris, now wide awake, clutched his phone and new room key. He turned to leave, then paused as a tall man in an expensive suit and cast walked past him and went through a door at the end of the counter. Kris glimpsed a lit hallway through the door before it closed.
“Hey, was that Ishmael Lux, the guy that owns this place?” he asked excitedly.
The two clerks looked at him without expression. “It was,” Archibald said, his tone coloured with a reluctance that Kris did not understand. It wasn’t until he got to his new room and went to flush the toilet that he remembered something that cast an interesting light on the reactions of the staff.
Did I just see him come back from some dirty deal? Nah, he probably just came back from the club. I heard he’s a hands on kind of guy.
He flushed and washed his hands, then turned out the light. Climbing into bed, he checked to make sure he still had his arm set to the correct time.Better move it up fifteen minutes so I can grab my stuff.That taken care of, he also switched off his bedside lamp and despite his apparent wakefulness, fell asleep within moments.
He was still exhausted when he woke up to his arm the next morning. It soon became evident that his morning was not going go smoothly. First, his roommate wasn’t answering the door and he had to go down to the lobby to get someone to eat him back in. This required him to wait while the clerk working the morning shift checked his reservations, and the time and date stamps, to verify his story. By the time he’d grabbed his case and hoofed it back to his room, he was fifteen minutes late for the breakfast buffet and he hadn’t even had time to shower.
“Arghhhh!” he shouted. Her quickly smelled his pits.Okay, not stinky. I can shower after we finish up today.He quickly swished some water around his mouth, spat it into the sink, and changed into a clean pair of tan chinos and hunter green polo shirt. He quickly yanked on a pair of socks and jammed his feet into his shoes. He was never so happy in his life to have packed the pair of slip on brogues that his mom had talked him into getting for work. HE stuffed his keycard into his pocket, grabbed his wallet and phone and dashed for the lift. The doors opened.
“Oh, hi, there” Lorraine said cheerfully. “Going to breakfast?”
“Yeah,” he said, getting in. He looked in the glass that lined the side of the lift he was standing on. He hurriedly finger combed his hair into a semblance of tidiness.
