3. Mabel #2
About to hit Rayna’s number from my phone, I see her dark brown hair heading towards the hotel’s restaurant.
“One moment, let me get the boss.” I raise a finger at the clerk and run over to Rayna.
“Rayna! I’m so sorry, but the front desk doesn’t have my room reservation. I gave her the confirmation number you sent through, but it didn’t match for them.”
Rayna is instantly concerned. “Let’s sort this out.” She heads straight to the front desk, tapping furiously on her phone with me straggling behind her, steering this damn luggage around the slick hotel foyer floor.
The hotel contains a large amount of the teams at the moment, so all rooms are occupied.
There’s nothing reception can do. Rayna is on her phone, working on alternatives when Riley comes through the foyer doors with some other people in similar colour clothes to him, assuming they're part of his team. He smiles widely at me .
“Hello again! How was your first day?” he asks as he reaches me.
“It was good, but could have ended better. The hotel must have missed my booking confirmation,” I reply.
Rayna lifts her face up from her phone. “I’m checking through the team’s rooms to see if anyone has a double room you can share with. Sophia and Javi might.” Her hand is raised in a flurry along with a lifted eyebrow.
That might be a little awkward!
An older man approaches Riley’s side, smiling at me and Rayna.
“Koby! Any chance you have any spare rooms amongst your team no one has checked in as yet?” Rayna directs to the older man, Koby. He pulls out his phone to check.
Riley offers, “I got a two-bedroom room. My parents were staying with me for a few days before they went home, if you wanted to take the other room? No one is staying there now.”
“Are you sure?” I ask, wary. How is someone so nice to someone they just met?
“Yeah, it’s just sitting there. We can get house-keeping to change the sheets. Makes sense, then you aren’t couch surfing,” Riley replies.
“Sure, that sounds good. Thank you!” I manage. “Guess I'm sorted, Rayna.”
Rayna nods, then turns to the clerk. “Can we please get housekeeping to room…” She looks over at Riley.
“Room 845,” Riley provides .
“Absolutely,” the clerk replies, then gets straight on the phone.
“Thanks, Riley,” Rayna offers. “Are you all good, Mabel? Need anything else?” She places a hand on my shoulder.
“I’m okay. Thanks, Rayna,” I reply. She smiles and heads back to the restaurant with Koby following as they talk between themselves.
The clerk passes me a room key and informs that housekeeping will be up to my room straight away.
Riley and I head up to the room on the 8th floor, and all I want to do is hit the shower after such a horrendous day. But instead I ask, “Koby is in your team?”
“Koby IS the team! He’s the team owner. He’s my Rayna.
Actually, they used to have a team together with Rayna’s husband about twenty years ago, but Koby started his own team.
Restaurant or room service?” Riley asks as I finish looking around the hotel room.
There’s two bedrooms on opposite sides of the lounge area, with a dining table separating the area from the kitchen and a wonderful view of rolling mountains near the beach.
“I am so down for room service. I'm having a shower and not leaving until we have to tomorrow morning!” Responding as I wheel my luggage into my room.
There’s a knock at the door, and Riley opens it for housekeeping to come in and change over my bed linens—which is done in record time—while I peruse the room service menu .
“I’ll order, and you go have a shower; it should be here by the time you're done,” Riley offers, and I agree by giving him my order. Fried chicken burger is the perfect dinner after a day like today.
As predicted, our meals are delivered to the room by the time I'm out of the shower and dressed.
Riley and I sit at the lounge to eat.
“They sent up some complementary beers, if you drink?” Riley asks.
“Sure, shoot one over. Take the edge off this hell of a day,” I sigh out while I begin to inhale my burger.
“Shitty things aside, did you enjoy the first day with Infraction32?” Riley asks, opening and handing me one of the beers.
“Oh yeah, loved it. I am so excited to get started and organising my workload,” I reply, taking a long sip. “How did your first day go with your team? What was it again? Ghost Rhino?”
“That’s a terrifying image,” Riley says, laughing. “Ghostly Flux.”
I join him in laughing, holding a hand up in surrender. “It’s been a long day and Rayna really did melt my brain today.”
“Well, don’t feel you need to stick around after dinner if you wanted to get to sleep. I was just going to tune out watching TV, but I can do that in my room, so it’s not heaps noisy here,” Riley offers, starting on his cheeseburger.
“Once I am out, I will be out. You do what you normally do. I am taking up your space,” I reply between shoving chips in my mouth .
Riley and I continue to chat about our first days as we finish our meals. He makes the space open and comfortable with his light-heartedness and easy-going nature.
If everyone is as nice and welcoming as Riley, I am going to love it here.