Page 21 of Fight

The lobby itself was a wide-open area; giant plush chairs and couches were sprinkled among shining tables topped with centerpieces featuring beautiful local flora.The floors, balcony, and beams were all made of the same polished white pine.

The lobby led to a giant stone fireplace that reached up to the open-air second floor balcony that circled the lobby. The second floor housed all the offices of the “big wigs” as Maggie called them, which included Jake and Ian.

Lena caught the smell of spicy food wafting from the Black Bear as she walked past Maggie. Her stomach growled and she belatedly realized she should have grabbed a snack during her break instead of wasting her time staring into the void.

“Hey, girl,” Maggie greeted Lena. “How was your fifteen?” Maggie had long, wavy blonde hair and sleepy blue eyes.She definitely has a “west coast vibe,” Lena thought ruefully.

“Good, thanks,” Lena replied in a crisp, chipper tone as she walked to her computer station a couple feet from where Maggie stood.

“Well, our day is almost over and it should be pretty quiet. We’ll get off right before the afternoon rush, hopefully. What do you have planned for the weekend? It's not every week you’ll get Saturday and Sunday off, so you better enjoy it.” Maggie had been training Lena all week, so they had worked the same schedule.

Lena looked up to the second-floor balcony where she knew Jake's office was located. She’d seen him walk the open-air hallway throughout the week, and on a couple occasions he had met a group of guests in the lobby to head out on cycling or hiking excursions, all decked out in fancy outdoor Jake clothes.

Once, he’d even passed by the front desk in one of his bespoke white dress shirts—fancy indoor Jake. He'd given her a wink and a drawn out “Helena,” which she had returned with a ridiculously bashful smile and exaggerated eye roll.

Returning her attention to Maggie, she smiled widely. “Some of my friends are going to a bar called the Blue Sky tonight. I’ve never been so I’m excited.”

Maggie turned toward her with her hand on her heart. “Man, I love that place. I think Cole Sutton is playing tonight, too.”

“Who's that?”

“Aww, he's a Conrad treasure. He’s a singer-songwriter and plays the guitar. He plays at the Blue Sky a lot. I ran into him this week and he mentioned he’d be there tonight.”

“Do you want to come with us? I am going with my friend Annie, our roommate Morgan, and our friends, Jake and Ian. They both work here so you might know them.”

“Uh, Jake from upstairs? And Ian Conrad? Yeah, I know them.” She chuckled. “I also know Morgan. We were in the same year together at school.”

“Oh yeah, I guess that makes sense. I always forget what a small town this really is. It feels so much bigger because of all the tourism.”

“Yeah, all of us locals are connected though. Even the important ones like the Conrads.”

Lena laughed. “It’s so weird to me what a big deal Ian and Morgan’s family is—I guess they’re in the town’s name after all.”

“For sure, but they’re both so cool and laid back,” Morgan agreed. “Anyway, I was already planning on being at Blue Sky tonight so I’ll look for you and we can have a drink.”

“That sounds great.” A lightness descended on Lena. The conversation pulled her out of her bout of break room existential dread and she felt a warm gratitude towards Maggie for being such a decent person.

“Hello, Maggie.” They both looked up to see Cynthia standing on the opposite side of the desk holding a binder and a walkie-talkie.

The resort's general manager was a middle-aged woman in her late forties or early fifties, if Lena had to guess. She was squat with shoulder length blond hair that desperately needed a trim. She never wore a stitch of make-up and always sported some kind of khaki or safari green uni-colored outfit. Her clothes looked like a misguided attempt to be outdoorsy, and Lena secretly thought Cynthia most resembled a bedraggled camp counselor.

Cynthia had seemed to find issue with her every time she’d seen Lena this week, so at the sight of her, Lena braced herself for some sure-to-be negative feedback.

“Hey, Cynthia.” Maggie smiled at her in a relaxed, friendly manner. “How’s it going?”

“Good, good,” replied Cynthia, looking swiftly between Maggie and Lena. “What are you working on?”

“I’m just running the end of shift reports,” Maggie reported as she clicked something on her computer.

“What about you, Helena?” Cynthia inquired piercingly as she gave Lena a stern up-and-down look.

Lena looked nervously around where she stood. While she had a computer in front of her, she had not been clicking on anything like Morgan was. And while she stood at her station, her body was tilted to the side facing Maggie since they had been chatting.

“Oh, um. Nothing? There are no guests, so I was just talking to Maggie for a bit,” she sputtered.

“Hmm.” Cynthia’s eyes narrowed to slits. “It's important the guests don’t think you’re lazy, Helena. More importantly,Ishould not think you’re lazy. Look busy. Show initiative,” she barked. “And it wouldn’t hurt to smile and look like you actually want to be here, would it?” she continued in an exasperated fashion. “I know you rub elbows with the Conrads, but that doesn’t mean I have any different expectations for your work performance.”

“Oh no. I’m so sorry, Cynthia. Idowant to be here. It’s been a really great week. I’m still learning though.” Lena quickly straightened her body so she was facing forward and placed her hand on her computer’s mouse.

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