Page 37 of Not Yet Yours

“An official will come on board and check our passports so that we don’t have to go through the airport,” I explain.

“Oh, wow, you’re like a movie star or something,” Harriet says. and I laugh.

“Definitely the or something part,” I say.

The official appears as promised. He quickly checks our passports and then welcomes us to Mexico and wishes us a good trip.

We thank him and then he gets off the plane and Marcus comes back to confirm the details of our flight plan for the next day. Once that is done, I grab our bags and we get off the plane and head to the car I have waiting for us. The driver comes to meet us at the trunk and stows our bags as we get into the car. It’s not a limo this time, but it’s a nice car and the interior is cool after the Mexican heat due to the driver leaving the engine running and the seats are comfortable. I tell the driver where we’re going, and he puts the car in gear and we pull away.

Harriet watches out of the window as we drive.

“Have you been abroad before?” I ask her.

“Yes,” she says. “But not here. Max and I went on a few home turf adventures when we were younger. We had some epic spring breaks in Miami and Myrtle Beach, but I think the best one was the year we saved hard and went to Belize.”

“That sounds fun,” I say.

“Yeah, it was. Where did you go?” she asks.

“I never went abroad for spring break,” I say. “I was twenty-five before I went abroad. And with it being the first time, I went somewhere really far away and exotic.”

“Oh, where?” Harriet says.

I grin knowing she is expecting me to say something like Italy or Greece or something like that.

“Canada,” I say, and Harriet laughs, and punches me in the arm playfully.

We chat a bit more about our time out of the country and then our driver pulls up to the curb and announces that we have arrived at our destination. We get out of the car and while the driver gets our bags out of the trunk, I stand back and admire the front of the hotel. It is clean and in good repair. So far so good.

I take our bags from the driver and thank him and confirm the pickup for tomorrow and then Harriet and I go inside the hotel. The lobby is big and airy and welcoming enough. The seating area looks a little bit dated, the arms on the cloth couches are a bit worn and I make a mental note that those will need replacing. The rest seems fine though, which is another good thing.

I approach the check-in desk and get us checked in and we go to our room. I put the bags down.

“I’m just going to have a quick look and make sure everything is in order,” I tell Harriet. She nods and sits down on the bed.

“Well, the bed is comfy enough,” she says.

“Good,” I reply.

I look around the room. It’s fairly standard, a bed with clean, white bedding, a wardrobe, a chest of drawers, and a small couch with a coffee table in front of it. I look inside the drawers and the wardrobe and all of them are clean and serviceable. I check the bathroom next. There’s a bath with a shower, a big sink area, and a toilet. It all looks clean and modern and in good repair.

I’m impressed so far. If all the rooms are to this standard, then there isn’t much to be done in terms of modernizing or decorating. My team will go over everything and fix any found issues like scuffs on the walls, that kind of thing, and they will put our accents of color in place, but that’s to be expected even in a new build.

“Do you still want to come on the tour?” I ask Harriet.

She nods, and we leave the room and go back down to reception. The receptionist smiles as we head toward the desk.

“Is everything ok, Mr. Monroe?” she asks.

“Yes, thank you,” I say. “I have a meeting with the manager. Could you point me in the right direction?”

“Oh, take a seat and I will call him down,” she says.

I thank her and Harriet and I go sit down on the seats I spotted earlier. They are at least comfortable, but they will have to go or be recovered. We sit for a few minutes and then a voice rings out from behind me, loud and confident.

“Mr. Monroe,” he says. I stand up and hold my hand out and we shake hands. “I’m Daniel Garcia, the manager of the hotel.”

“Please, call me Liam,” I say. I nod at Harriet. “This is my partner, Harriet.”

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