"What the heck?" I grumble. Lifting my head slightly from my pillow I listen again.
'Knock, knock, knock.'
It's 7 am. Why on earth is someone knocking on our hotel room door this early. "Go away!" I call out, picking up the pillow and covering my head.
'Knock, knock, knock.' Again.
"Answer the door," Rae says, half asleep.
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Somebody come open this door!" Lily shouts.
Both of us sit straight up in bed and stare at each other. After a few seconds I shout, "not it!"
Rae climbs off the bed, padding to the door in her bare feet. "What are you? Five?"
"Times 6, yes," I respond, laying my head back onto the cushioned pillow.
"Why are y'all still in bed?" Lily says as she walks right on in, making herself at home.
"Because it's early and this is a vacation. And good morning to you too," I moan. I feel the bed next to me dip ever so slightly.
"Good morning, sunshine," Laura says loudly in my ear.
I open one eye and glare at her. "Payback," she whispers.
"I will give you each a hundred dollars to leave and not come back until 10," I offer as I roll onto my back.
"You don't have enough to convince Lily to leave. Trust me, I tried," Laura whines out.
"You're the one that made spa appointments for 10 am," Lily reminds me. "It's really your own fault."
I throw a pillow at her, hitting her back. "That's three hours from now, woman. Go away." She picks up the pillow and tosses it back. It smacks me in the face perfectly. Sometimes I forget about her years of softball. "I'd like breakfast before. So Laura and I are giving you one hour to get ready."
"Great. Bye," I call out as I snuggle further under the covers.
Lily plops her butt down on the couch. "Did you really think we'd leave? I know you too well. Get up ya lazy!"
"I'll shower first," Rae offers. I gladly accept the few extra minutes she's giving me but then I groan internally knowing she takes 40 minute showers and will leave me with very little time to look presentable.
"So," Lily starts. "What is all on the agenda today?"
I'd managed to keep her out of the loop of several aspects of this Bachelorette weekend, but not all. "Breakfast, spa, lunch, relax, dinner and a surprise."
Lily goes to open her mouth to speak again but Laura stops her. "Don't even start. You'll find out at dinner."
Twenty minutes pass before the bathroom door opens, shocking all of us. "That was quick."
"Well, hate to tell you Opal, but there's no hot water," Rae says sheepishly.
"How can a hotel, of this size, run out of hot water?" I practically yell rather than just question the situation. I roll off the opposite side of the bed, grabbing the phone and dial the front desk.
"Yes, hi, we're in room 636 and have no hot water," I say completely bypassing pleasantries. I pause while they grab a manager. He comes on long enough to tell me he's looking into it before the line goes dead.
"Looks like it's a cold one for you," Lily chimes in.
"I question our friendship," I tell her. I grab my clothes and head for the shower. I'm pretty positive by the howls of laughter in the room that they all heard my shriek as the cold water hit my skin.
~~~~~
Somehow I managed to fall asleep during my hour long massage. Apparently it was heavenly and something my body desperately needed. But there was another moment of embarrassment as I realize I've managed to drool. Oops.
I rejoin the other women in the spa's changing room. "Anyone else fall asleep or just me?"
"Probably just you. My massage therapist was helping me think through the list of songs for the reception," Lily says as she emerges from her changing room.
"At what point are you going to just chill out this weekend?" Rae asks. "This is meant to be your last big hoorah before you get married."
Lily shoots a glare at Rae. "Excuse me if I don't want to spend the whole time drunk like you were for your party weekend."
Rae knows she has a point. Sadly, she doesn't remember much of her own Bachelorette weekend. But the rest of us do and like to remind her of all the excitement she's forgotten about. "I still can't believe I flashed those firemen."
"Lucky for you it was Mardi Gras so you weren't alone," I laugh out looking over at Laura.
Laura shrugs in defeat. "Maybe two Hurricanes in thirty minutes wasn't my best idea. I'm just glad we always have a DD."
"Forever at your service," I say with a bow. I walk over to face Lily. "With that being said, loosen up!" I gently shake her shoulders. Finally releasing a small smile, Lily nods her head in agreement.
"Good! Now let's grab a quick lunch and lounge by the pool. We've got dinner plans at 6 and an event at 7."
"How about we just grab snacks from the pool bar?" Lily suggests.
"I like where this is going! Let's go ladies!"
~~~~~
"That last margarita may not have been my best decision," Rae says as she digs through her toiletry back in search of Tylenol.
"Combined with the sun, I don't doubt that your head is probably screaming." I grab a cold wash rag from our bathroom and bring it over to where she has crashed on her bed.
October in Atlanta is still no joke with the heat. The temp was pushing mid 80s with no cloud coverage. Didn't help that Rae had drank very little water after our time at the spa, instead choosing margaritas. I think she's realizing her mistake at this point.
I pull our shade closed making it completely dark in our room and drop the air a bit more. "We've got a couple hours. I'll cancel dinner and we'll just grab something at the concert, give ya more time." I shoot off a quick text to Lily and Laura letting them know the change in plans.
In no time at all Rae can be heard snoring. I forgot that happens when she drinks. Deciding not to disturb her, I move out to our balcony with my laptop. I've managed to not check my email since we arrived yesterday but I did tell my crew I'd check in at some point.
The first email is a review on a newlyweds overnight stay. Five stars. Can't really beat that. A second one is a one star review, due to not receiving turn down service. I immediately message my desk manager to find out what happened. I want to bust out laughing when I get the response. 'He goes to sleep at 5. Turn down isn't until 7:30 pm. Not my fault he didn't answer the knock.'
The visitor left his email address so I send him an apologetic message and offer him a discount if he ever comes through our area again. Even though I know it wasn't our fault, I'll still make the customer happy.
I log into our booking system to see how things look over the next couple of weeks. It's looking a little slow leading up to the wedding but then we hit our fall season and there's hardly an opening left. I smile to myself, content in what I've built. It hasn't been easy but those days of uncertainty are well worth it.
~~~~~
"Are you freaking kidding me right now?" Lily screams at us as she lifts the tickets out of the gift bag.
We can't help but laugh at her expression. It rivals the shock she had when Jameson proposed the first time, after their fifth date.
"Yes ma'am!" I exclaim. "We have floor seats to see the Backstreet Boys!" It was the first concert we all went to when we were just fourteen years old.
She eggs our laughter on even more as she starts squealing and dancing around the room. "Come on. I ordered an Uber because I don't want to fight this crazy traffic. It's almost here."
We take one more quick group photo showcasing our specialty made shirts. Of course Lily's says 'Bride to Be.' Rae's appropriately says 'Bad Influence' while Laura's reads 'Miss Behaving.' Mine has a play on Maid of Honor with 'Maid of Dishonor.'
Once in the lobby I get an alert that the Uber is outside. We climb in and are on our way to the arena. The Uber driver is probably going to be thrilled to get rid of us as we can't help but belt out 'I Want It That Way' along the ride.
The driver drops us off as close as he can and we begin our trek to see our favorite boy band. It's fun to look around and see other thirty-somethings fangirling, some even with their own daughters.
The closer we get we see a couple of police cars out front of the venue. This is not uncommon obviously. Anything can happen, even at a boy band concert. Women can be crazy.
Lily hands off all four of our tickets to the agent who scans them and directs us towards the floor entrance. We decide to look at the merchandise to see if there's anything we can't live without. My eyes automatically fall on a flashback poster that I recognize as one of many that covered my walls. Unfortunately it's then that I realize I don't have my purse.
"Oh sweet mercy!" I cry out.
"What's your deal?" Laura asks me.
"My purse! I left it in the Uber," I tell them all with a groan. I pull out my phone to see if the driver is anywhere close by. After waiting ten minutes for a response I realize I have to go report it.
Lily hands me my ticket so I can re-enter once this ordeal is solved. They each offer to come with me but I can already hear the opening act starting. "It's okay! It shouldn't take long."
I double check that I'll be able to re-enter before walking back out to the front of the arena. It doesn't take long for me to locate the group of officers.
"Excuse me," I start to call out. "I'm so sorry for interrupting but it appears that I left my purse in my Uber. He's not answering and I'm not sure what else I need to do."
The blonde one is the first to speak. "I don't have much experience when it comes to things like this with Uber. What about you Mike?" He nods to the man on his left who in return shakes his head. "I don't think it would be considered stolen, but like I said I'm not real sure." He continues to look around before calling out "Hey, Evans!" It appears he's spotted whoever he was looking for and waves him over.
The officer I'm assuming is Evans, walks over to join us. He looks maybe, vaguely familiar to me but it's dark at this point in the day and all I have to go by is a handful of street lamps.
"Ma'am," he says as he reaches the small group. The first officer begins to explain the situation.
I butt in on the conversation at this point. "I followed the steps but the driver isn't answering."
Officer Evans shakes his head. "At this point all you can do is call your bank and credit card companies and put a freeze on your cards."
I audibly groan out loud in front of these three men. "This is just perfect! I'm here for a Bachelorette weekend and now I won't even be able to fly home because I don't have my license." And then it happens. My frustration finds an exit through my eyes as the tears start to fall. I'm positive that as I sob I have effectively scared these men. In fact, I can see two sets of feet walk away as I hold my head in my hands.
I lift my head to be met with the kind eyes of a scruffy faced Officer Evans. What is it with cops here not shaving? I move over to the curb to sit and start the process of canceling my cards. "You can sit in my car if you'd prefer?" The officer provides a kind smile to match his eyes.
I give a small nod with a quiet thank you as he opens the passenger door to his cruiser. I open up a couple of my credit card apps and can easily cancel those with a click of a button and answering a couple personal questions. I call my bank directly though because of the business aspect of this situation with the Inn.
"Opal Lucas," I say for the tenth time before I'm out on hold again.
"Opal, huh? That's different," Officer Evans comments after effectively eavesdropping. He's leaning against the side of his car directly next to where I'm sitting.
"Tell me something I don't know." The sarcasm drips without any effort. He gives a light chuckle.
"Well I guess that answers my next question," he says as he shuffles his feet.
"Which is?"
"Do you like it?"
I exhale a quiet sigh. "My grandmother's name was Jewel. She passed the day before I was born. My parents wanted to do something special. Her birthday was October and Opal is the October birthstone. And here I am."
"Nice story," he says.
"It's unusual. I've never been able to find a keychain or coffee cup at Disney with my name on it."
That earns me a wide smile. It's a nice smile, again seems slightly familiar, but I'm 300 miles from home so it can't be that familiar.
A voice comes back on the line just to put me back on hold after I once again give my name. "I'm so excited that I spent $600 on tickets for a concert that I'm gonna miss because of my stupidity." I roll my eyes.
"You a big fan?"
I think back to our teenage years. Big fan might be downplaying my love of BSB. My walls were covered in posters and magazine clippings, not to mention the VHS tapes I had of their TV appearances. But the nice cop didn't need to know of my fanatic ways.
"I enjoyed them growing up." Yeah, that was a safer answer.
"You mentioned you're not from around here. Where are you from?" He asks, making small talk I'm sure.
"Oh, right. I'm from North Florida," I answer him politely.
"Really? Where abouts? I've got-"
"Yes, I'm here!" I practically yell into the phone thankful to hear something other than, 'say your name.'
Officer Evans takes a couple of steps away from his car, offering me a bit of privacy to finish my call.
"Great. Thanks!" While hanging up the phone, I climb out of the cop car, happy to know what it feels like to sit in the front rather than the back.
"All set?" Officer Evans asks.
"I think so. I'm gonna keep trying with Uber but at least no one can 'break the bank' now," I tell him. "Thanks for your help." I give a small nod before walking away.
He looks over his shoulder, slight smile on his face. "You're welcome."