Chapter 16 Manicures
Lily
My phone rings for the twentieth time tonight. I don’t need to check to see who it is before I tap the flashing red button to decline the call.
I have a strong urge to throw my phone down the emergency staircase.
I’ve been trying to take the stairs since the incident on the elevator with Renata.
My claustrophobia is even worse than before.
And even more than that, it’s too painful to be reminded of the moment we had together on the bench of the service elevator.
I had no idea that being bitten by a vampire would be like that. I mean, I figured that it would be hot, obviously, but not that hot! When her eyes traveled down to my thigh…if I didn’t realize I had it bad for my boss before that, well, now there’s no going back.
And it wasn’t even that it was sexy, or that it was dangerous (although it was both!), it’s how…how she held me so close to her when we were climbing out of the shaft. How unhesitating she was. How she made me feel like…like I was special.
For a moment, when she was drinking from me, I was sure that I was special to her. That I was more than just her assistant.
But I also know that it can never be more than that, between us. We both value our work more than anything else (except Eli, of course). I can’t risk my job, no matter how strong my feelings are.
I take my phone out of my pocket again, to text my mom. She was supposed to pick up Eli from the daycare at the hotel and drop him off at my suite, but it’s her first time doing it, so I want to confirm everything went all right.
But of course, when I look at my screen, it’s Dylan’s number again.
I shove my phone back in my pocket in frustration. I wish I could block him, but I need his contact in order to arrange his visits with Eli.
He’s been calling me all day. He doesn’t like that Eli and I have moved into the hotel, because he knows he can’t show up anytime he likes by charming my mother.
So he’s been threatening all kinds of bogus legal action to scare me.
He seems to have forgotten that I went to the same pre-law program as him (even though I never attended law school, because I got pregnant with Eli).
Finally, I make it to the front lobby, a little winded from the quick climb down the stairs. I really should work out more often. You would think that chasing after a five-year-old counted as cardio.
Mrs. Harrigan is screaming at one of the concierges.
I immediately recognize the person at the front desk.
It’s Lilith, the witch intern from the summer program who’s father is supposedly the Devil, although I’m too scared to ask how that works.
She sits cross-legged on the chair behind the front desk, scowling at the shouting guest in front of her.
“I’m confused,” she says. “You’re upset because you didn’t like our food?”
“I’m not upset about your food!” Mrs. Harrigan spits. Then she sees me, and sighs dramatically. “Lily, finally, someone with some authority around here!”
Lilith bristles at the comment, her eyes flashing crimson. Mrs. Harrigan notices it and flinches backward. Before she can say something (and before Lilith can turn Mrs. Harrigan into a frog, which she looks like she wants to do), I intervene.
“Mrs. Harrigan,” I say, putting on my best customer service voice. “I’m sure there’s been some sort of misunderstanding. If there was an issue at the restaurant, I’d be happy to…”
“It’s not the Respite lounge, Lily!” Mrs. Harrigan says condescendingly. “It’s the terrible Italian restaurant down the street!”
I give Lilith a confused look. She shrugs, then reaches under the desk to pull out the dog-earred copy of “Bitten by Desire” that Chelsie was reading and opens it. I guess she’s given up on the interaction, so I turn back to Mrs. Harrigan.
“Mrs. Harrigan…” I start, but before I can say anything, she interrupts.
“The lounge was closed for a private event, and as you know, I will only eat at the lounge, not that awful family restaurant you have on the fifth floor,” she continues, with absolutely no reservation about insulting one of our restaurants directly to my face.
“And so I asked one of your concierges for a recommendation for a similar type of cuisine. Enthusiastic young man, too good-looking if you ask me, that should have been my first warning. He very confidently recommended the Italian restaurant down the street, so of course, being the trusting person that I am, I bestowed my valuable business upon them and had my dinner there.” Her nostrils flare violently.
“It was disgusting. The linguine alle vongole had basil in it, and the server was much too tall!” She shakes her head and looks up at the ceiling as though she’s about to faint.
“It was a thoroughly horrible experience, Lily! Don’t ask me to speak about it further, I simply can’t! ”
It takes a superhuman amount of force for me to keep a smile on my face. “Mrs. Harrigan, I’m so sorry to hear that. But as your experience wasn’t at our restaurant, I’m not sure what…”
“I expect you to compensate me, of course!” she bellows.
A group of people checking in behind her look up in fright.
“It was only on the recommendation of your concierge that I visited that restaurant at all! I fully expect you to take the amount of money that I wasted on a sub-par dining experience and put it against my final bill here.”
My smile falters slightly. “Mrs. Harrigan, I’m sorry to hear that you had a bad experience at a restaurant recommended by our concierge. But we can’t guarantee that other accommodations or dining experiences will provide a quality experience…”
She huffs angrily. “Well there must be something that you can do!”
I heave a heavy sigh. There’s a limit to what we can accommodate. I can’t set a precedent like this, even to avoid dealing with Mrs. Harrigan. I would love to just comp her bill, or give her a free pedicure, but I have to draw the line somewhere.
Maybe I can figure something else out. I think back to what Mrs. Harrigan said, and I catch a glimpse of movement out of the corner of my eye.
At the concierge desk across the hall is a tall, broad-shouldered intern.
His wavy brown hair kisses his neck, and his warm brown skin is tanned a shade darker for the summer.
His smile is even bigger than mine, although it’s more genuine in this particular moment.
He’s helping a small family get checked in.
He doesn’t seem to know what he’s doing, by the way he’s shuffling through the hotel key cards, but the family looks completely enamored by him.
And it’s not hard to see why. He’s joking easily with the family’s elementary-school child, and making goofy faces at their toddler.
He’s sweet and easygoing. I’ve worked with him a little bit since he’s come on as an intern, and it’s impossible to dislike him.
“Um, Mrs. Harrigan,” I ask, interrupting her tirade. “Is that the concierge who recommended the Italian restaurant?”
Under her large sunglasses, her face flushes slightly red. “Oh…yes, that was him.”
“Mm-hm,” I reply. I wave a hand to get his attention across the lobby. “Arun?”
He looks up at me, and gives me a big thumb’s up. Then he quickly finishes checking in the family and runs across the lobby, leaping over a lounge chair instead of going around it.
His white button up is currently unbuttoned, exposing his defined chest and what appears to be a single shark’s tooth that he wears around his neck. With horror I see that he’s not even wearing shoes.
He flashes an impossible-to-resist smile at Mrs. Harrigan. “Hello, ma’am!” he says brightly. “Hi, Lily, what’s up?”
“Mrs. Harrigan has some feedback about the restaurant you recommended to her the other night,” I tell him.
“That’s great!” Arun says, focusing all of his attention on the now-flustered Mrs. Harrigan. He moves a step closer, looking intensely at her. She puts a hand to her hair self-consciously. “Did you like it?”
“Um…I…” Mrs. Harrigan stutters. She shoots me a frustrated look, clearly not wanting to complain in front of Arun.
He continues to gaze at her with an expression of innocent interest.
She sighs. “I…I didn’t like it very much.”
“Oh no!” Arun declares, with an expression of genuine remorse.
I don’t know what kind of magical person he is, but if he could turn into a golden retriever, I wouldn’t be surprised.
He has that sort of energy. He’s impossible to be upset with.
“I thought for sure you would like the little curly fish things that they have. They’re my favourite. ”
“Calamari?” I ask.
“Bless you,” Arun says. Then he looks at Mrs. Harrigan. “I’m really, really sorry about the restaurant, Mrs. Harrigan.” He eyes appear to grow several times bigger, shining with remorse. “It’s so fancy, and since you’re so fancy, I assumed you would like it.”
Mrs. Harrigan visibly swoons at his attention. “Well, I suppose I accept your apology.”
“Great!” Arun responds.
“Is that everything, Mrs. Harrigan?” I ask her.
“For now,” she says. She gives Arun a little finger-wiggle wave as she heads back to the elevators.
“Bye, Mrs. Harrison!” Arun yells.
“Harrigan,” I whisper out of the corner of my mouth. When she’s out of earshot, I give Arun an appreciative smile. “Thanks, you really saved me there.”
“Thanks for what?” he asks.
“Nothing,” I say. “Um, but you should probably button up your shirt, and find some shoes.”
“Why?”
“Hotel policy.”
“Does that mean I have to wear shoes?” Lilith asks, looking up from her paperback.
“Yes, you all have to wear shoes.” I frown. “Didn’t you read the employee manual I sent you? I includes our dress code.”
“Lexi said those were suggestions.” Lilith wrinkles her nose. “I thought working at a hotel would be more fun. Do you always have to be so nice to people? I mean, they seem terrible, and they don’t treat you very well.”