(18+) The Guest (Complete)

Ch. 76: How did you know?

Michael was right. Things felt a little better the next day. And when I felt the air conditioning greet me as I walked through the doors of the hotel, I felt my spirit come back as a cool, refreshing breath of air.

"Ana! Thank God! Get your ass over here!"

Sophia was standing with her nose glued to the computer screen, and tapped on the keyboard like her fingers were having an epileptic seizure. And she was wearing the most nervous, fake smiles I'd seen in a long time.

"Well, good morning to you too," I mumbled with a more genuine smile, while I excused myself to get passed the short line of guests waiting to check either in or out.

"The system has crashed!" she hissed through her teeth, and tried her best to hide the panic that exuded from every part of her being.

"What do I do? Is there some kind of backup, or... Where the fuck is Pedro when you need him?"

"Shh! Sophia! They can hear you!" I hushed, and got just as embarrassed as she was. But she was right. Where was Pedro?

"Okay. Try to restart the computer."

"Already did that."

"The box on the wall behind it, too?"

"What box?"

"I take that as a no," I chuckled and crouched down under the desk. And while we waited, I pulled out the old fashioned guest lists we filled out by hand.

"Here. Take one of these and help them, and I'll help the next in line."

"But the computer?"

"Takes a little eternity to hook back up on the internet. And we don't want to keep the guests waiting, do we?"

Sophia mumbled something, put her professional face back on and apologized for making them wait. Luckily, the old couple didn't seem to mind, but the man behind them did. He complained about poor service and us being amateurs, and was overall pretty rude. And Sophia bumped into my shoulder in the most discreet way, and whispered through her teeth.

"Don't worry. He's one of 'those'."

I immediately understood what she meant. There are some people you just can't satisfy no matter how well you treat them. They complain about everything, and they yell at you and everyone around them because they can't accept social rules like normal people do.

"Where's dad?" I asked, finding it a bit strange that he wasn't here to help. He would know what to do.

"He left with your mom to have some paperwork done. Something about moving across borders and passports... I don't know. They're not here. And I'm gonna kill Pedro for leaving me here all alone!"

I helped the last one in line, a young woman who just wanted to check out. She was shaking her head at the rude man who walked out of the hotel.

"Nice having you and thanks for your stay," I said politely to her after receiving her key and getting her signature, and got a smile in return.

"You're Lilliana Martinez, right?"

"I am," I said, still not used to be recognized by total strangers. Together with Michael? Sure. But not when it was only me.