Beyond The Glass

Let the Games Begin

"Now Serena and I will get inside and make some inquiries about the owner of the nice car outside. You guys wait for us here and don't compromise your position...be ready to call the police at our signal..."

"Will that be necessary?" Ser asks, hesitantly. She is always like this, but we don't have another choice if we want to break that guy's spirit...

"Of course, a proper punishment is in order for liars and thieves like him..."

"Mir... are you certain you never received military training?" Rael chuckles as she says this, she really loves digging the past...

"Who knows? Maybe I did...maybe I didn't...but I certainly can beat that guy military style..." and i'll be sure to do it with a lot of dedication.

Everyone laughs again except for Serena, it seems my enthusiasm can't shake her fear of this plan going awry. She can be both cautious and reckless, but only when it involves just her and nobody else, but i am certain this plan won't fail...she just needs to stay true to herself.

"Why am I going inside with you?" she inquired.

"Because you have "that" ability, remember?" she even has a diploma to prove it...

"Oh! I see...I see...I don't know if it'll work tho or if it can even be used in a situation like this" she replies unsure.

"It'll be fine...I'll make it work... Let's go..." The hunting game is ready to start.

Serena's trick is one to certainly catch people's attention....it's like a chameleon, her ability to adapt to the situation is almost choking to say the least...her teacher told me she would go places if not for her apprehension about trying new things...

As we get inside and walk to the receptionist, I noticed she is definitely mean looking, not really a nice woman. Now how will Serena behave in the presence of this lady? Will she be able to create a opening for us to achieve what we want?

I came here with her to try and entice a little bit of motivation, to get dynamism. We talked a bit about a strategy to pressure the hotel staff, but I left most of the action for her to decide on how we should proceed, and I'll do my best to match with it... and if by chance things do go south, I'll create a diversion to get us out of there.

"Ser...are you ok? If it's too much you can leave it to me", I don't want to risk her panicking over this...

"I'm alright, just give me a second..." she starts doing a breathing exercise to control her emotions, mumbling some words, then she throws her hands in the air and speaking loudly "I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT DOG OF A MAN DID THIS. I'LL CALL THE POLICE, I WON'T LET HIM AND EVERYONE INVOLVED GET AWAY WITH THIS!!"

"!!!" (What was that?!)

"Uh...is everything alright ladies? May i assist you in any way?" The receptionist was surprised by that and so am I, I haven't seen Serena acting like this before...

"OH!! I'LL TELL YOU IN A MOMENT IF EVERYTHING IS ALRIGHT!" Serena speaks visibly displeased...then she looks at me as if asking for my input... now what exactly does she expect me to do?

"Please calm down, we don't want to cause problems for this lady." I don't know if this is what she wanted me to do or not but she is definitely on edge. Is she really acting?

She lowers her voice but keeps that tone of annoyance that I don't know where exactly she got it from "Madam...I'll ask you once and look me in the eyes while you answer... Is there a man named Aden Linar staying here?"

"That...information about our residents is classified..." the receptionist answers, regaining her composure. I knew it wouldn't be easy...now what do we do next?

"Very well then, I'm calling the police..." Serena says turning towards the exit door. We aren't supposed to call them yet tho, what is she thinking?

"Lady ...wait a second...why would you do that?! There's no need to call the police...we don't know the severity of the situation, if it's really a must to tell you that information or not, what if the lady is a crazy ex or..." the receptionist pleads seeming alarmed. I can guess they must've been involved with them before...

"EX??! NO WAY IN HELL!" Serena turns to the receptionist again, appalled by her suggestion...

"Uh?! I don't understand, then who...?" she seems confused...

"That man used up my cousin's money to buy a car..." Serena speaks annoyed...

"???" Honesty? What exactly is she trying right now?

"So... that's what happened? I don't see how this..." the receptionist says, preparing to dismiss our case, but Serena cuts her off...

"He then canceled the wedding and broke off their engagement. Now he is hiding here in this hotel with a reservation he bought with my cousin's card. Do you really want to be in the middle of this situation? Do you want this hotel to have the reputation of sheltering cheaters, liars and thieves?" She asked as if cornering the receptionist.

"We...we don't do that here lady" she stutters.

"If you don't, then just tell me if he is here right now and where his room is..." Serena insisted.

"But...." she won't give in so easily, just one more push and she'll break. I can feel it...

"Look here" Serena throws a copy of the bank extract we got earlier, proving that the card used to pay for the room wasn't in the man's name. "This can already be used as proof of robbery and I'm not really patient with things that don't involve me directly, I'm only helping my cousin you see? She was really looking forward to her wedding but that man...THAT MAN!..." she becomes aggravated once more, all of this became interesting for onlookers.

"Calm down just a second miss...our hotel can't be responsible for such situations." The receptionist rebukes.

"So you're still denying us the information, right?" Serena retorts annoyed.

I wonder what she is going to do now?

She starts crying in a pitiful tone, almost like grieving, her face stained with tears that seemed never ending. "Would it kill you to do us this kind act of solidarity? A bride can't even know why her groom left without saying a word, and now she can't even know why he stole her assets? Answers...that's all I'm looking for..." she pleads with the receptionist as if begging for mercy.

A crowd of residents gathered at the reception, many started to sympathize with Serena thinking she was the bride in question, and they started to put pressure on the receptionist...

Some of them were in the same situation and others consoled loved ones in this position, but regardless of the perspective, they all agreed that the receptionist should provide for answers to be found...

She was reluctant, but with the threats of the other residents, she gave up and provided us with the information that we wanted. She didn't give us a spare key to the room, though, she said we needed to make him open the door by ourselves.

I'm shocked but impressed. I knew that her ability to cry on command was great but not "actress level" great. I was right to bring her along with me...

"How did you do that?" I'm honest, i want to know how she did that.

"Huh? Do what exactly?" she seemed really clueless.

"You know, that whole "drama Queen" vibe you had going there..." I wonder if she did a new acting course.

"Oh! I saw it in a movie. I like to play around with hilarious scenes like that..." she says, shrugging her shoulders.

"Hilarious?..." I hope she is not talking about people crying, if it is that, I'm going to have another problem to solve.

"Yes...the way the actresses would throw themselves on the ground crying for their love was hilarious to say the least... I cackled like a teapot." she chuckles.

I'm almost certain it was a scene of sadness, but she found it hilarious, is it ok? If she finds other people grievances hilarious. Maybe I'm looking too deep into this, it's already great she managed to pull that stunt and get us the information we needed.