Page 31 of Room Service

11

Trent

The bed felt empty and cold as I struggled to open my eyes. My legs and arms slowly moved across the mattress, only to discover I was alone.

Where did she go?

I listened out with a stirring of hope. Maybe she was in the bathroom or something? But after a minute of listening and catching nothing, I gave it up and sighed, sitting up in bed.

“Jessi?” I tried calling out, not expecting an answer.

Fuck.

Why wouldn’t she be there when I woke up? After last night I’d hoped things had changed between us. Maybe not?

“Maybe I’m thinking too much,” I grumbled to myself. “I need to talk to Jessi first.”

I nodded to myself as I made the decision. It would be the smart thing to do, after all.

Decision made, I crawled out of bed, slowly taking one step at a time. I threw the covers to the side and frowned, then looked down at myself.

“Shit! Was I too rough last night?”

Jessi hadn't said anything, but suddenly I felt very concerned.

I headed to the bathroom to get showered. I got out with a towel around my waist, another around my shoulder that I used to dry my hair. I went to my closet and looked at my clothes. There wasn’t much, and I thought about either having more brought from my home or buying more. Someone would be coming to clean my room and they would take the clothes I’d thrown all over the floor, so I didn’t try to pick them up. Then I looked over at the bed and hesitated.

No, it’s fine, I thought. No one would think of Jessi, so it shouldn’t be a problem.

I hoped that was true as I picked out my suit for the day, then started to get dressed. Underwear first, then the slacks and shirt. After picking out a pair of cufflinks, I pulled on the suit coat and fixed up the tie before buttoning up the coat. I took a look at myself in the mirror, then styled my hair so the bangs were pushed away from my forehead. It took a bit of gel, but my hair was usually good at behaving.

Properly dressed, I stepped out of my room. The first thing I wanted to do was to run around and look for Jessi, but I knew I couldn’t do that. There was still a lot of work to do, and besides, people would talk if I went to find her straight away. It would be best for the both of us if I had some strength of will.

“Later,” I promised myself, heading up to the office. “I’ll look for her later.”

I missed her, though.

The thought was enough to startle me, though I didn’t let it show visibly as I found an elevator. I wasn’t the only one waiting for one, but the others were likely guests hoping to go down for breakfast. When both elevators opened, I hesitated, but when I got inside the one going up, the guests went for the other one.

Why Jessi had left my bed this morning was still on my mind. And the fact I missed her, but I had to get on with my day.

Maybe I’ll go see her in the evening? I thought. I wasn’t sure where her room was. But she worked in the building so maybe I could try the staff room again? It wouldn’t take much sleuthing to find out where her room was.

Put it out of your mind for now, I thought to myself as I came up to the office. You’ve got important work to do.

The secretary had a desk outside the office, and as I came up, she rose to her feet with hands clasped in front of her as she gave me a polite smile.

“Good morning, sir.”

“Good morning,” I muttered back, distracted. Then I focused on her with a frown. “Have breakfast sent up to me, please. And call the management, see if they’ve found that paperwork I asked them to look at before.”

I was still looking at some of the accounting records for the hotel, among other things. It was the most important thing I wanted to look into. There was nothing wrong with what I’d seen so far, but I was meticulous—as Dad had taught all his children to be—so I wasn’t leaving anything out. Even though it was a bit overkill and I was starting to feel the effects of my late nights and early morning starts.

“Right away, sir,” the secretary said readily. “Anything specific you want for breakfast?”

That made me pause. Usually, I just had coffee, and that was it. But…

“Have some coffee sent up and a pastry. Whatever you think I’d like best, but nothing too sweet.”