Page 7 of Forgotten

“Be my guest,” I said, sitting down on a stool that was just out of the way of the office doors, so if someone came out and glanced, they wouldn’t likely see me.

A whisky and Coke was just what the doctor ordered, especially with how heavy on the whisky it was. It was a hell of a pour, but the ice and soda made it more refreshing than I expected, and I felt myself perk up after the heat and long drive. The bartender made his way around the bar, shutting things down, and when I finished my drink, I placed it on top of two hundred-dollar bills.

“Thanks, boss,” I said, passing by the bartender before he could get back and see what I’d left him. I didn’t want to be around for the attention.

“Good night, sir,” he said, clearly having seen his tip but not knowing what it was.

As I made it back to the desk, I could hear him whisper-shout something exclamatory, and I smiled. Still, there was no one at the desk, but I noticed a bell, so I gave it a ring. When no one arrived after a few seconds, I rang it again.

Weird. For such a swanky place, you would think they would have much better service than this, I thought. Maybe the person that was supposed to be at the desk was in the back. The bartender had mentioned something about the boss, so it was possible they were in the back doing some kind of performance review or something. I honestly wasn’t really sure how all that worked. My only two jobs in life had been working on the ranchand singing for cash. The mysteries of retail and hospitality work eluded me, and because of it, I had a tendency to tip probably far more generously than others.

The whisky and soda was just what I had needed, however, and I wasn’t cranky or upset as I waited, tapping my thighs to a beat of a song I was tinkering with in my head. I knew the hook but was still struggling on the rest of it. Surely it would come to me soon. Too late for this tour, but soon.

I rang the bell one more time, and then shrugged. If they were too busy to come out, maybe I should just go see them. No one would be able to blame me if I walked in on a meeting if I was a guest who needed help.

Checking the area to make sure no one was around, with the bartender having long ago left through some back door, I crossed through the little swinging door leading behind the counter. A light was on in a room facing away from me, and I headed toward it. I was prepared to meet some middle-aged manager and give him a friendly review of their customer service when I rounded the corner and came face to face with the manager.

Only it wasn’t a middle-aged man.

It was Charlotte.

And she looked just as shocked to see me as I was her.

Chapter Four

Charlotte

Two call-outs at the last minute, on top of two sick people out already.

A wedding party taking up the majority of the top and bottom floors.

A rock band of some kind booked in corner rooms and another one of the suites that I was absolutely positive was going to get wrecked like the last band we’d had in town.

This was not how tonight should be. Not with everything happening tomorrow.

In eight hours or so, I was due to meet the CEO of Bethel Hotels, Mr. Tom Bethel himself. His father had started the company, and under Tom, it had grown to one of the largest chains of three-star hotels in the Midwest. I’d been working for them for six years, all at this hotel, from working the desk and occasionally helping clean rooms to being the hotel manager. The boss, as they said.

I ran the place like a battleship and usually was on top of everything. But Murphy’s Law was coming in hot, and with such a big and important meeting tomorrow morning, tonight was an unmitigated disaster. Multiple ones. One right after the other.

Now that I had calmed most of it, my clerk had gone off to finish the latest emergency, a mother who lost her card getting snacks and locked herself out of her room with her two-year-old inside alone, leaving me alone in the back with a dishcloth overmy eyes as I tried to get the thumping headache to go away. As soon as she came back, I was gone.

Unfortunately, she was taking forever, and I started to snooze. It was already past when I generally went to bed, by a couple hours at that, and with the exhaustion of the day, the stress of tomorrow, and the headache, I was dozing off. The bell ringing at the main desk was what woke me up, and I realized I’d been hearing it for a while, connecting it to some stream of consciousness dream I’d been having that involved fitted sheets and candy bars being major points of contention by the CEO in our interview.

I stood woozily, and shook the cobwebs off as I marched toward the open door.

Where the hell was Jessica?

Just before I got to the door, I saw a shadow on the ground. Someone was coming in. Whoever was trying to check in was being impatient, and it pissed me off. Still, I slapped on a big smile and took a deep breath before the tall, lanky figure appeared in my doorway, just steps from me.

Then I completely froze.

So did he.

We stood there for a long, long moment, staring at each other in confusion and shock. Finally, I was able to blurt something out.

“Jesse?”

“Holy shit.”

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