PAPER RINGS | jj maybank

005. helping you not get caught

Once Ward pulled up in front of the hotel, Athena unplugged her phone, despite not being able to use it, sliding it into her little bag that she had brought with her. The blonde smiled at her dad as she opened the door.

"Thanks for the lift." She told him. "I'll be home later."

"See you soon. Have fun, stay safe." Ward called after her as she hopped out of the car and walked towards the entrance of the hotel.

Athena greeted the receptionist, sliding into the seat next to her. Despite not being good academically, one thing Athena could do was speak to people (although she never liked to do so), she could communicate well and manipulate her language to best fit the needs of whoever she was speaking to, which is why when she first went to hotel to look for a job they put her at reception, answering call, taking bookings and checking people in.

She logged onto the system, looking up at the line that had formed. It was summer, and unfortunately for them, OBX was a perfect summer vacation area and so the hotel was very busy that time of the year. She put a smile on her face, looking up over the counter.

"Can I help?" Athena called out, a middle aged couple approaching, two children, one around Athena's age and the other only around nine or ten following behind them. "Hi. Welcome to the Outer Bank Hotel."

"Hello, we have two rooms booked under Forbes." The woman smiled.

"Okay, let me check." Athena typed on her computer, looking for the woman's last name. "Oh yes just here, a twin bedroom and a queen ensuite."

"Yes." The woman nodded, her smile widening.

"You are in rooms 302 and 303." Athena stated, grabbing the keys from the draw under the desk. "Here you go. Have a nice stay. If you need anything do not hesitate to ask, reception phone number on the landline in the room is 222, the bar is open until midnight for guests but the pool closes at 10:30."

"Thank you."

"No thank you, have a nice stay and a fantastic time here in outer banks." Athena smiled nicely. The woman grinned at her as the man chuckled under his breath, knowing that she was definitely faking it, their two kids following. Athena let out a small sigh before peering over once more. "Can I help?"

And once again she did the same thing with different families. Athena continued to work for a few hours until she decided to take her break. She told Amber, the other receptionist on shift, who nodded with a small smile before logging off her computer and standing up from her chair. Athena stood on the other side of the desk, writing down on the notebook that had everyone's names so the boss knew she had gone on break.

"Athena, hey!" A voice shouted. Athena turned to see Pope rushing towards her, his three friends following as well as a security guard. "Hey Athena, please tell these nice men we're allowed to be here because we're here to see you."

Athena's eyebrows furrowed for less than a second before she played along easily, looking towards the security guard. "Yeah, Gary, they're with me. I need them for something."

Pope let out a sigh of relief that luckily went unnoticed by Gary. The pogues had found a tape recorder that held a message for John B from his dead, along with a map with coordinates to the gold they were looking for, which meant they needed internet and so had to go into Kook territory which was the only place that had internet access.

However trying to get in went badly. They went through the kitchen with JJ's access key as he worked there sometimes, but security had caught them as they left the kitchen and told them that if they couldn't produce a valid reason for them being there or access cards for each of them then they'd be kicked out and never allowed to return.