CHAPTER 1 #2
Most people knew who she was these days.
She’d had an action movie come out over the summer, and billboards and trailers were everywhere.
Still, after all these years in the business, it still surprised Samara that people recognized her.
That might have been because she’d been a child star for so long, so people tended to still think of her that way, but she should’ve been used to it by now, regardless.
“We have your room ready for you. You requested the top floor, according to my records.”
“Yes, please. I’d love a room with a view. Do you have any of the river or maybe of the Quarter or something, if it’s not too loud?”
The clerk just looked at her like she was confusing him, which only confused Samara, who stared back at him, waiting for the man to reply to her pretty simple question.
“We only have three floors here, and none of them have views of the water or the Quarter, Ma’am.
We have the parking garage behind us on one side and a Denny’s and a parking lot on the other.
If you want, I can see if we have a room on the first or second floor that faces the pool.
We only have the third floor on part of the building, so–”
“No pool,” she interjected. “Loud, noisy children and probably their pets and their smells.”
Samara shook her head.
“All right. Well, I have you in room 321, then,” he said.
“And is that facing the garage or the Denny’s?”
“The garage,” he replied.
“Fine,” she said with a sigh. “And a room service menu?”
“We don’t have room service here, Ma’am. We have the shop in the lobby right next to me, and there’s the Denny’s.”
“No restaurant at all?”
“No, Ma’am. But there are menus in your room for the local places that deliver.
All of the apps know they can deliver to the desk, too, so if you order from one of them, they can leave your food here, and I can call you when it arrives so that you don’t have to give away your room number, for safety. ”
“Is safety something I need to be worried about here?” she asked.
“Oh, no. I just meant because you’re… you.”
“Right,” she said. “Do you know if there are any vegan places around here? Or, at least, vegetarian?”
“I’m sure they are. I’m a big meat-eater myself, though, so I can’t say I’ve been to any.”
“Of course,” she replied.
“I just need to see your ID and your credit card for the room.”
“My room should be paid for already. And do you really need my ID?”
“It is. But I need something for incidentals.”
“Like for the restaurant you don’t have?”
He laughed and said, “It’s in case there’s any damage to the room and for the shop.” He nodded to the shop. “And… for the movies.”
Samara squinted her eyes at him and replied, “I will not be purchasing any movies.”
“For the shop or any damages, then. It’s hotel policy.”
“Production should’ve taken care of this, but fine.
” She pulled her wallet out of her purse and handed him a credit card and her driver’s license.
“If you’re just asking for my ID so that you can scan that photo and post it online, I wouldn’t.
Someone’s already done it, so it’s not really worth your time. ”
He handed the license back and said, “No, Ma’am. Just required to compare it to the credit card.”
He swiped her card.
Samara would definitely call her assistant when she got to her room to have that taken care of. The clerk then handed the card back to her along with the paper she needed to sign that said she wouldn’t smoke in the room.
“The gym is where?” she asked.
“Normally, it’s right by the elevators,” he told her and pointed to the two elevators just off the lobby.
“Normally?” she asked, daring to pose the question she didn’t want to know the answer to just before she closed her eyes, waiting for his response.
“Yes. It’s currently closed for renovations, but it’ll reopen next month. I see you’ll be with us for two, so you’ll get to see it once they’re finished. There’s gonna be a new treadmill and full weight station.”
Samara forced a smile and said, “Perfect. Everything is already so perfect.”
After he handed her the key and she put her license and card away, she looked at the luggage cart and then back to him.
“I’m the only one at the desk right now, so I can’t leave, but if you can wait about ten minutes, my manager can bring them up for you. He’s at lunch. I can lock them in the office until then.”
“Never mind,” she replied, shaking her head, before she pushed the cart with the wobbly wheel toward the elevators, pressed the up button, and waited.
More than a minute later, a squeaky sound entered the space, and the doors opened.
Samara felt like she’d already had enough bad luck for one day, so there wasn’t a chance it would get stuck between the floors with her inside it, right?
Deciding to take the chance, she pushed the heavy cart inside and pressed the button for her floor.
The elevator jumped a bit when it started up, scaring her, but then, it moved, and off she went, up to the room that faced a parking garage instead of the river, at a hotel that had no restaurant or room service, no gym, and probably not even a damn bathtub for her to relax in.
Opening the door, she was met with a space she would never refer to as a suite, because a suite sounded beautiful and lush.
This was an old kitchen off to the right with an old refrigerator and an actual ice tray just sitting on a table that was bolted both to the wall and the floor.
This was a two-burner stove and salt and pepper shakers with the little condiment-sized single-serving packets inside them.
This was a small sofa with an awful floral pattern and a flat-screen TV in a living room, if it could even be called that, and this was a queen-sized bed, luggage rack, loud air-conditioning unit under the window, and a bathroom that was smaller than any other she had ever seen. But hey, at least there was a bathtub.