Room with a View

Chapter 4 - Pranked

"Did you complain to management?"

"What's the point? They have nothing else." Too complacent, he thought.

"Did you get meal chits or a drink card for here?"

She stared at him and set her glass down. "No actually."

"No!" Miller was stunned. He called Mendoza over and told him what she'd said.

"It happens. It's not my call." He gave her a smile that seemed a little too personal for Miller's liking.

"Well, I'm making it mine." Miller placed a hand on her smooth arm and tugged gently. "You're coming with me. We'll get this sorted. There's no way they're gonna shortchange you . . . Miss . . . Senorita . . . ?"

She allowed him to help her off the stool and let his hand stay on her arm. "Billy. It's instead of Wilhelmina, a name my dear mother bestowed while she was still heavily drugged in the delivery room."

"Mine's Miller. Miller Hunt. Very pleased to meet you, Billy. Come on, I happen to know the manager already and I think I can swing a little weight considering we share the same inconvenience."

She gave Mendoza a humourous smile and a tiny finger wave as Miller led her around the bar and back up the steps to the resort lobby. "This is very chivalrous of you, Miller."

"My complete pleasure, Billy," he answered, giddy with the hasty first name basis. The stairway narrowed and he let her go ahead, swallowing at the view preceding him up to the lobby. That and the overpowering scent of the many garden flowers had almost the same effect as the drink and he pinched the top of his nose and blinked hard to regain his focus.

Now Miller! Now! Make your move! "Maybe- uh, maybe we could uhm, have some lunch together later . . . after we sort this out?" The tinkle of her laugh puzzled him but he put it aside as they approached the reservation island.

"I'd like to see Mister Estrada please." Miller watched as the young lady at the desk shot a look at Billy and then back to Miller.

"Is there something I can help you with, Senor Hunt?"

"Yes, you can get Mister Estrada out here right now." He gave a firm nod to Billy and blinked as he imagined catching a fleeting grin on her face.

The woman glanced at Billy again and then looked down for a moment. "Certainly, Senor. I'll just be a moment."

Miller puffed slightly and leaned on the counter. "Gotta go right to the top if you want results."

"I agree." She put her elbows behind her on the counter and leaned back, drawing Miller's eyes like metal to a magnet. He was still gaping when the voice of Carlos Estrada jarred him and he jerked upright, clearing his throat.

"Senor Hunt. You wished to see me?" He stared at Billy with a questioning look and waited.

"I did. It seems that Senorita . . . uh- Miss . . . uh- this young woman was a victim of your storm as was I and we have been comparing notes on the treatment your resort has provided. It would appear that Miss- that she was not offered any meal chits nor any complimentary bar card and I would like to point out that her situation is no less inconvenient than my own and I think you should−"

The sudden laughter that broke out around him stopped Miller in his tracks and his mouth fell open as Billy threw her arms about Estrada's neck and they hugged happily. She released the manager and turned to Miller.

"I'm sorry Miller. I just couldn't resist your determined interest in my story. This is my father. I am Billy Estrada."

He stood stunned and speechless. The heat of a crimson blush crept up his neck onto his face like mercury in a human thermometer and his shirt failed to soak up the gallons of perspiration threatening to flood his torso. The circle of smiling faces blurred as he felt his humiliation slowly shift to anger and when he finally spoke it was in a tiny mouse voice.