Chapter 21
Adriana
“The pool is closed,” I told Reggie, who was standing in front of me wearing board shorts and a ridiculous pair of sunglasses. “We have an event there this afternoon.”
“Then where am I supposed to swim?” he asked defiantly, looking a bit like a toddler throwing a tantrum. “I pay top dollar to stay here, you know? And I’d really like to dip my toes in some water.”
“Why don’t you go to the spa?” I asked politely, trying to think of other alternatives. “Or perhaps I can order a car for you down to the beach, if you’d like?”
“It better be a limo,” Reggie grumbled. “Otherwise there’s really no point, is there?”
He stomped off before I could answer him, and I shook my head. This was his third issue of the morning, and it was enough to drive me up the wall. I was still wondering what Nolan and Landon had been planning the previous night, but they were stoic, and now I had to deal with this, too.
“Difficult today, isn’t he?” Louisa remarked from behind the reception desk. “Do you know what’s gotten into him?”
“No idea,” I answered with a shrug, already checking the limousine schedules to see who was free. “But you’re right. He does seem like he’s in a real mood.”
I marched off to check on the event planning team and how they were getting along, while simultaneously organizing overtime with one of the drivers who was on a break. Luckily, he agreed to take Reggie down to the beach for a quick swim.
I finished my checks before I went to find Reggie, and he was standing in the hallway adjacent to the pool, staring out at it longingly. It was almost comical.
“Reggie,” I said to get his attention, and he looked at me with puppy eyes. “I have good news. I found a car for you, and you’re scheduled for a trip to the beach. They’ll be waiting for you outside when you’re ready.”
“Will I have lunch on the way back?” he asked, without a hint of a ‘thank you’. “Or do I have to plan that on my own?”
I winked at him and chuckled. “Of course not. I’ll have a reservation ready for you.”
“On my own?” Reggie sighed melodramatically. “Can’t you join me?”
I wasn’t surprised that he’d ask that. Reggie often had staff accompany him on his adventures. It was one of his eccentricities. I wondered why, but I figured he either liked being generous, or liked showing off his wealth to people who weren’t used to it.
I checked my own schedule. There was a space open around lunchtime, but I’d planned to have something to eat in my room where I could have some peace and quiet.
But that wasn’t the same as a gourmet meal paid for by someone else.
“Ah, I supposed I could,” I eventually said with a nod. “I have a little time. Not for the beach, but I’ll meet you at the restaurant. How’s that?”
“Damn,” Reggie shook his head. “I guess I’ll take the compromise.”
He trudged away, and I watched him go, frowning a little. He was definitely acting strange, even for him. I made a mental note to ask Landon if he knew what was going on later, during our nightly debriefing.
I went on with my business, until I got a notification. It was a message from the limo driver, explaining that Reggie wasn’t happy with his chosen air freshener and was demanding a different car. I pinched the bridge of my nose and counted to ten in my head before I went outside to deal with it.
“Reggie,” I said as I approached him. “I heard you have a minor problem with the car.”
“It smells like mint,” Reggie said, as if that was the most offensive aroma in the world. “It’s going to give me a headache.”
“Unfortunately, there aren’t any other limos available,” I explained, without bothering to check my tablet.
He was being completely and utterly unreasonable, and I had no idea why.
But I wasn’t going to cave in on his every whim.
“It will have to be this one. Otherwise, I can organize an SUV for you.”
“No, I want a limo,” Reggie insisted, and I half-expected him to stomp his feet angrily. “Get the smell out of it.”
I raised my eyebrows. “That would take at least an hour. You would miss your lunch.”
“You know what, I’ll just go sit in my bath, it’s big enough,” Reggie answered, obviously not in the mood to cooperate with me in the slightest. “Call me down when the smell is dealt with. And bring me an iced tea. And a snack. And a new robe. I don’t like the way mine ties around my waist.”
He stormed back to the front door, and I turned my attention to the driver. “Can you get it done?”
The driver seemed flabbergasted, but he shrugged. “I mean, by lunch? Probably. You think he’ll be fine with sandalwood? Pine, maybe? I don’t know, I’ve never had this problem.”
“Sandalwood is fine,” I sighed, already dialing the bar for the iced tea. “If it isn’t, then he’ll have to either take the SUV or eat out on the terrace. No reason to fill your day looking for different air fresheners.”
“Okay,” the driver answered, reaching through the open driver’s side door to take down the minty tree that hung on his mirror.
I headed back inside, organizing each of Reggie’s tantrum-requests as I did so. I had a feeling that his little problems were going to take up most of my day. At the very least, it was definitely going to get in the way of the rest of my work.
I went back to the event area to check that everything was going smoothly.
Luckily, there were no problems there, which was a huge relief.
I accompanied other guests to their cars and arranged a visit to the spa for some.
I was getting back into the rhythm of the day, when I received a call from reception.
“Reggie doesn’t want to go out,” Louise said, sounding frustrated. “He says he’s not in the mood now that his swim was ruined. He wants a private dining room.”
“Nolan doesn’t have time to make him a private lunch, and I don’t have the energy to set up a whole dining room for him. He could get the standard room service menu,” I answered, my patience starting to run out.
“You try telling him that,” Louise said with exasperation now lacing her tone. “You know he’s not going to listen. That man’s the most stubborn and ornery guest we have, and he’s taking it to a new level today. Honestly, I wish he’d leave.”
“Is he in his room?” I asked, which Louise quickly confirmed. “Okay. I’ll sort him out, don’t worry. Can you get someone to take the Hansens to their transport?”
“No problem.” Louise ended the call at that point, and I made my way to the elevator. I’d had enough at this point. Reggie was starting to really get on my nerves and interfere with the rest of my work. Whatever his issue was, I was going to sort it out now before it got any worse.
I took the elevator up to Reggie’s floor, one of the highest. It was just under the penthouse, in fact, the best suite that the hotel had to offer. I had no idea how Reggie could afford to stay there basically permanently.
As far as I knew, his money came from inheritance, but that wasn’t actually confirmed.
I walked down the hallway with confident purpose, and knocked on his door firmly.
“It’s Adriana, the concierge,” I announced, and heard a shuffle from inside. Reggie answered the door with his robe wrapped tightly around his body and a look on his face that told me he was ready to complain about something else.
“Why can’t I have my dining room?” he demanded. “And why is my bath water so wrong?”
I had no idea where he was coming from with the bath water. Frankly, I didn’t really know what it meant for the water to be ‘wrong’ in the first place. I waited for him to say something else, since it looked like he wasn’t quite done.
“Honestly, maybe I should just get another room,” he said, stomping back inside as I followed quietly.
“Or you could replace the bath in this one. I can’t have it like this.
Nothing is right. The towels are too scratchy, and the air conditioning is off by half a degree all the time.
It’s ridiculous. I can’t live like this. ”
“Okay, Reggie,” I finally answered, firm and strict.
Reggie turned to face me, surprise etched into his expression. He didn’t expect to hear that kind of tone from anyone, especially not hotel staff.
“Excuse me?” he asked, but I interrupted him before he could start a brand-new rant.
“I need you to listen to me now, please,” I said, putting my tablet into its spot in my jacket and placing my hands together to show him how serious I was. “I do want you to be as happy as possible at this hotel, but I do need you to understand that there are boundaries.”
Reggie stared at me in shock. I was sure that nobody had ever confronted him like this, but I was holding myself back. I had to remind myself to stay as professional as I could, while simultaneously making sure that he got the picture.
“I have room service on the way with lunch,” I continued. “But I need you to understand that there are limits to what I can do for you, and how often I can intervene with minor issues.”
He didn’t seem to believe that his problems were ‘minor issues’, but right now, I didn’t care.
“I have a hotel full of guests to take care of, events to coordinate, and logistics to keep track of,” I reminded him, keeping my tone completely even and avoiding accusations.
“I am hoping that you can understand how valuable my time is, and that, while I want to make your stay as comfortable as possible, I do need to ask that you keep your requests as reasonable as they can be.”
At this point, room service arrived with a meal made for two. They delivered it quickly and hurried off, probably feeling the tension in the atmosphere.
Reggie’s shoulders slumped once they were gone, and he sank down on the couch with a deep, troubled sigh. I hadn’t expected him to react that way; frankly, I thought he would insist he’d get me fired given the mood that he’d been in until now.
“Will you still stay for lunch?” he asked, pulling the trolley closer and nodding toward the seat next to him.
“I will,” I answered carefully, sitting down and wondering what was coming next.
Reggie opened one of the dishes, an appetizer of glazed apple and something that I didn’t recognize. Reggie picked at it, looking sadder than ever.
“I’m sorry I’ve been difficult,” he said, pushing the dish in my direction. I took one of the apple slices and ate it while he spoke. “Honestly, I just wanted you around. I guess I went about it the wrong way.”
“Really?” I asked curiously when I’d swallowed the last bite.
I hadn’t even thought that Reggie liked my company in the slightest. Most of the time, it felt as if I was simply another obstacle in the way of his whims. But I could see in his face that he was serious, and that there was something else underneath all of his masks that was bothering him.
“Yeah, look, I’ll be honest with you,” he said.
All of that usual obnoxiousness had completely disappeared from his voice.
His shoulders hung low and his eyes were almost dark.
“My birthday’s this week, and there’s nobody around to celebrate it with me.
My family won’t talk to me, and I don’t exactly have friends. Money took all of them from me.”
“Oh,” I answered, nodding slowly. “Well, Reggie. I’m still sticking by the boundaries I was talking about, but I’ll tell you a secret. You’re my favorite guest. Don’t tell the others.”
His smile was sad, but appreciative. “Thank you. I’ll quit being a pain in the ass.”
“Good,” I chuckled. “Now, let’s enjoy our lunch, shall we?”
As soon as I left his room, I rushed down to the kitchen, finding Nolan in the middle of screaming something about flambé.
“We’re having a surprise party for Reggie tonight,” I announced to him, refusing to listen to any arguments to the contrary. “There’s an open dining room, and you have space in your schedule. Make it happen.”
“Ma’am, yes, Ma’am,” Nolan said while rolling his eyes.
That night, I personally went to get Reggie from his room, where he’d been cooped up for the rest of the day. He argued with me that he didn’t want to go anywhere, but I reminded him he’d promised to be nice.
Grumbling, he followed me through the hallways, until I led him through the dining room doors. On the other side, we’d whipped up decorations and a hanging sign saying ‘Happy Birthday, Reggie!’.
“You didn’t!” he gasped, looking at me with bright eyes. “Thank you! This is great!”
“It’s my pleasure,” I answered, pulling out a chair for him. “Landon will be joining you shortly.”
Reggie sat down, and I took the opportunity to catch Nolan at the other end of the room.
“You did a wonderful job,” I said, winking at him. “I should thank you later.”
“No need,” Nolan shrugged, though I could tell he was impressed with himself. “Anyway, it was mostly you.”
“Speaking of me,” I teased. “When are you going to tell me what you and Landon were talking about?”
“Mm, you’ll find out tomorrow.”