“You never told me Wyatt and you were on good terms.” Claire said to Elli.
Eleanor gave her a dismissive glance before she continued to change a kid’s diaper. “Why are you here? Aren’t you supposed to be on the top floor with the boss?”
“Not today. Heath and Logan had something to discuss about business.” She said. After that, it went silent, so Claire repeated what she said about Wyatt.
“We’re not exactly on good terms.” Elli said before she finished. She set the baby back down on the floor and he immediately crawled off to play once more. However, Jenny brought another kid up to Elli, and she quickly took the child and began to change her diaper as well. “Wyatt’s just a…regular.”
Claire raised an eyebrow. “He likes you.” Elli remained silent. “His face says it all.”
“He’s just the uncle of one of the kids I babysit. There’s nothing more going on between us. And there won’t be any more either.”
“Why?” Claire crossed her arms over her chest. “Is it because you already like someone else?”
Eleanor stiffened, but her hands continued to move. Eventually she finished changing the girl’s diaper and let her run off as well. Jenny was busy playing with a group of girls and all the other kids were minding their own businesses, having fun on their own.
“He hasn’t said a word to you ever since, has he?” Claire asked softly.
She didn’t answer, and Elli couldn’t help but feel a pang in her chest from her friend’s correct words. Chad was avoiding her and there was nothing she could do about it. There was always the possibility of catching him at the right time so he couldn’t avoid her, but she couldn’t do that to him. If he wanted to spend some time separate from her, then she should allow him to do so.
“Do you want me to ambush him?” Claire asked, and Elli couldn’t help but smile at her words. That was so like Claire.
But if Chad didn’t like her back, there wasn’t any more she could do but wait until he came back to her and act as if nothing happened. She was fine with that, as long as they went back to like before. Elli still wanted to be able to spend time with Chad again at least.
“No.” Eleanor answered. “It’s fine, Claire. Thanks.”
Claire didn’t look reassured at all. “You sure? I can put in him in a good chokehold while you slap him a few times.”
Elli laughed aloud. “Thanks, but I don’t want to be involved in a case of assault.”
“Not like anyone would see anyway.” Claire mumbled.
Eleanor walked over to Claire and placed a hand on her lower arm. She looked into her friend’s eyes before she said, “Thank you for worrying about me, Claire. But…I’ve gotten the gist of it.” Her voice was controlled as she spoke. “So don’t continue to berate Chad on my behalf. He’s my friend too, and I don’t want anything bad to happen to him.”
After a few seconds of staying silent, Claire finally sighed in defeat. Elli always had the power to talk her way out of things with Claire. She was one of the few who Claire had completely trusted and cared about to actually allow herself to be influenced.
“Fine. But you can’t stop me for wishing the worse upon him.” Claire pointed out before she glanced at the clock. “My time’s up here. Anyway, take care Elli. And don’t take it to heart.” Her eyes narrowed. “Chad’s probably like that with every girl who remotely takes any serious interest in him.”
Elli just nodded her head as she watched Claire turn around and head towards the exit of the daycare. A few kids spotted her going out and shouted their farewells to her, making Claire blow a few kisses in their direction before she headed out. Eleanor smiled at how elaborate Claire was when dealing with kids.
They all admired her as if she was some sort of superhero. Truthfully, Eleanor was just like those kids. She couldn’t help but admire Claire for being strong-hearted. If she was like her friend instead, would she have recovered from Chad’s rejection quicker?
No. If she was like Claire, then she wouldn’t have confessed in the first place. But Elli couldn’t see herself not liking Chad. She had always had an attraction to him, and she thought it was the same for him.
But it seemed she read between the lines wrong and this was the result.
>>>>><<<<<
As Claire was working at the reception desk during the near evening, an unexpected guest entered through the doors. At first, she didn’t notice, but the loud voice and sudden curses gave way to exactly who had just entered Bishop Lodgings.
“Well, shit, this place is still as nice as ever!”
Claire raised her head and saw Tori Jones walk towards her while she looked up and around the lobby. Her hair was in bouncy curls and her face was brushed up with light makeup, including dark eyeliner and red lipstick. She was also dressed in a bright scarlet dress which hugged all of her curves and she looked as if she was going to some fancy party that would serve cheese and wine.
“Tori?” Claire said surprised. “What the hell are you doing here?” she couldn’t help but automatically start swearing whenever Tori was around. She was a bad influence and Claire would occasionally be swept up by her language.
“Oh, I’m having a blind date here tonight at the request of my dad.” She arrived at the front counter and leaned her elbows on top before she looked at Claire’s eyes. “Hi Claire.” She grinned while using a high-pitched voice.
She raised an eyebrow. “I don’t remember your dad making any reservations or anything.” If he had, Claire would’ve definitely been the first one to know that Tori Jones was going to step foot into Bishop Lodgings today.
“He didn’t.” Tori suddenly said. “I was the one who choose the destination.”
“Well, if you put it that way, you haven’t made a reservation for one of the rooms.”
Tori blinked at Claire. “Isn’t that what I’m doing now?”
Claire couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “Oh, I’m sorry. Was that what you were doing? I didn’t notice since you didn’t mention anything.”
“Don’t act sarcastic with me, bitch. I’m not a dumbass.”
“Shut it, Tori. I don’t have time to play with you.” Claire sat back down on her chair. “Now go somewhere else. I don’t have any free rooms for you at the moment.”
“Oh, c’mon! I’m sorry I called you a bitch!” she begged and reached for Claire over the desk, but Claire quickly rolled backwards on the chair she sat on. “Aren’t we friends? Feel some sympathy for me here. I’m going to meet up with a weird, random guy my dad chose. I just wanted it to be in a place that was familiar to me.”
Claire glared. “Last time I allowed you to use one of our party rooms for your blind dates, you ended up drunk and passed out nearly naked on the floor!”
Tori laughed. “Oh, yeah. That happened.” Then she proceeded to defend herself. “Well, I couldn’t help it! The guy I was with was so boring, the only thing I could do to entertain myself was to drink and before I knew it, I was drunk.”
When Claire didn’t answer, Tori clasped her hands together. “Please, Claire! I promise to be on my best behavior this time! I have no choice.” She mumbled grudgingly. “This guy is one of the shareholders to a big food distribution company and even if we don’t like each other enough to make out, I still need to make a good impression so he and his dad can be on good terms with my dad.”
Even though Claire knew that Tori was never serious on her blind dates and she absolutely despised her father for planning them, Tori actually still loved her dad dearly. She always did her best so that her father’s company would be even more successful in the future, and that meant enduring boring meet-ups with people she didn’t necessarily care about.
If Tori said that she was doing something for business, then she would be serious.
“Okay, fine.” Claire agreed as she began to type on the front desk computer for the records. “You can take up room one thirty-five. What time?”
“Seven, tonight.”
Claire gave her a small glare for the short amount of time available to prepare the room–which was less than two hours–but continued to type anyway. “Alright. I’ll make sure we set up the room for you. And I’ll send out a small dinner for you two as well.”
“Thanks Claire. You’re the best.” Tori grinned widely. “If you weren’t so far away, I’d kiss you.”
“Yeah, whatever.” Claire dismissively said as she finished up the details on the computer. After she pressed the enter button, she curiously looked at Tori. “So what’s his name?”
“Charles something-or-other.” Tori waved her hand. “He’s smoking hot from what I’ve heard, but I’m not interested.”
Claire sighed and leaned her chin on her palm as she stared up at her friend. “Are you ever going to take those guys seriously? Your dad wouldn’t purposely send those guys your way if he didn’t think they’d make a good match with you.”
Tori clicked her tongue. “I know. But I’m not interested in getting a man right now. I just want to live free at the moment.”
To be honest, Claire was a little envious of Tori. She hit the jackpot with stock. At a young age, her father taught her about stock–which to buy and which to avoid. Tori either was really smart and could somehow predict the rise and fall of stock prices or she was extremely lucky because so far, she’s been living off of her stock funds.
She had more than enough to support herself and a few others since the money was never ending for her. Claire didn’t know how she did it, but then again, stock didn’t interest her, so she stayed away from that sort of stuff. Claire was satisfied earning money from her job as the general manager of Bishop Lodgings anyway.
“You know?” Tori continued. “Like you. Oh wait…” she slowly said her finger rose to point straight up into the air. “You’re actually getting hot and heavy with a certain someone these days, aren’t you?”
Claire took a deep breath and exhaled. “Are you done here? If you are, then go away.”
Tori ignored her. “Where is he anyway?” she dramatically looked around. “Shouldn’t he be walking around her since he’s the big boss and all, of this magical hotel?”
When Tori was on a roll with teasing others, there was nothing to stop her, so Claire just decided to let Tori get it out of her system.
“How is he? You guys rock the bed yet? Is he ‘big’?” she wiggled her eyebrows. When Claire didn’t react, she cackled into her hand. “That must be a no. At least he’s a good kisser right? No? Well, you’ve hit rock bottom if you’re hooking up with that kind of guy.”
For some reason, Claire wanted to brag to Tori’s face about how good of a kisser Heath actually was. He left her breathless each time he just brushed his lips against her. And was he big? Claire could just imagine herself saying “No, he’s not big. His cock is huge!” but she refrained since she didn’t want to humiliate herself.
After Tori finally finished with her name calling, Claire sharply said, “Since there’s only a little bit of time left before your date, how about you go somewhere else to kill time while I prepare, hm?”
Tori grinned and turned around before waving her hand nonchalantly at Claire. “Fine, fine. But make sure you make the room pretty! Remember, I gotta impress this guy for daddy.” Then she finally left to probably go explore Bishop Lodgings and Claire released a sigh of relief.
The other receptionists at the desk were trying their best not to giggle aloud. Tori had visited Bishop Lodgings enough for the employees to get used to her antics, so every time she appeared, they knew they would be entertained for the day and those that followed just from Tori’s words alone.
“Alright you guys, focus on work now.” Claire said to those at the desk and they let a few giggles out before they nodded their heads.
Claire sighed and stared at the reservation she made on the computer screen for Tori. She always made sure to keep a few rooms in Bishop Lodgings vacant in case of emergencies. Tori wasn’t really an emergency, but more like an unavoidable natural cause. Luckily, Claire was usually prepared for her uncanny arrivals.
After Claire left the front desk, she called for a few cleaning ladies to brush up the room for dust and such. It was the smallest of the party rooms she had and made some employees prepare it as if it really was a private room for a date.
She also made sure to inform the chefs in the kitchen to make a decent meal. Chad was in the kitchen, however, he pretended as if Claire wasn’t there, but she knew that he heard the order and would make sure to fulfill it.
Claire ran around a bit just to prepare that small room for Tori, but she knew it would pay off. Of course she worked hard because Tori was her friend, but now she also owed Claire a few things for her efforts. When would she use those favors? Whenever she wanted, of course.
The running around had also helped Claire distract herself from Heath. She had just been able to get him out of her head before Tori mentioned him once more. Her mind was occupied with wondering what he and Logan were talking about on the Top Floor. Was he also thinking about her too? Did she reveal too much from that single phone call? Or did she play it cool like she wanted?
Hopefully she didn’t sound too flustered. Claire didn’t want Heath to think she was easy like other girls.
“Claire. What type of flowers should we use?” an employee asked and Claire blinked.
“Just use the flowers you normally would.” She answered. “It isn’t anything special. It’s just Tori. Don’t worry. She’ll be fine with anything.”
The woman nodded before she went to relay Claire’s words to the rest of the employees preparing the room. They were adding the finishing touches to the room when Tori finally appeared again. She stood at the doorway of the room with Claire as they observed it.
Even though Claire knew Tori would be fine with it, she asked anyway, “How is it?”
She puckered her lips. “Decent. It’s a good thing you didn’t make it over the top. I wouldn’t want Chris to get the wrong message.”
“I thought you said his name was Charles.”
“Did I say that?” Tori laughed. “My mistake.”
Claire didn’t know whether she was serious or not on forgetting the guy’s name. Oh well, It wasn’t like she was going to get the hard end of the stick for not knowing.
“When should he be here?” Claire asked.
Tori looked at the clock on the wall and shrugged. “Soon, I guess.” After Claire told her to go wait for him in the lobby, she scoffed and turned to her friend with superior eyes. “Why should I be the one to pick him up like I’m a chauffeur or something? He can find his own way here!”
Claire stared flatly at Tori. “You’re supposed to be on good terms with him, remember? For daddy?”
After a few seconds, Tori clicked her tongue. “That’s right. I almost forgot.” She sighed. “Fine, I’ll go wait for him like some dog.” She was about to walk away, but abruptly stopped before she slowly looked at Claire with a creepy grin on her face. There was an uneasy feeling and Claire felt like she had to get away right at that moment, but Tori slapped her hands on her shoulder to stop her from running away.
“I’m your customer, right?” she slowly asked.
Claire narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Yes.” She answered with caution.
Tori continued to throw questions at her. “That means you must give me the best experience I can get from this hotel, right?” Again, Claire answered positively, making Tori give a definitive nod at her. “Then I want you to serve me and my date dinner.”
If it had been any other customer, Claire would’ve happily and easily agreed to such a request. But this was Tori Jones, her friend whose only motive these days was to seemingly mess with Claire. Tori knew she couldn’t refuse her, and therefore, asked for her service.
“Of course.” Claire said through grinded teeth while she grinned tightly at her friend. “Whatever you want, Tori.”
Claire used a tone that said she was going to regret it, but Tori just ignored her warning and clapped her hands together before giggling. “Great! Bring dinner to me in about ten minutes. I want to get to know dearest Chase a little bit more before I get drunk.”
Tori laughed as Claire muttered, “Maybe you should start off by asking what his name is.”
After Tori left the room to go wait in the lobby, Claire decided to go to the kitchen and see how the food was going. They had already prepared a few entrees for Tori and her date and were working on the main courses, which would take quite a while.
Claire took a step out of the dining room and saw that Tori was no longer standing in the lobby. Her date must’ve come already. Claire turned back to go into the kitchen and did as Tori told her, which was to wait about ten minutes before she brought the entrees.
When ten minutes passed by, Claire took the tray and placed it on a cart before she pushed it to the room where Tori and her date waited. She reached the room and saw that the two had already poured themselves a bit of wine from the bottle she had informed the employees to leave on the table in advance.
Tori’s date glanced at Claire as she entered the room and then just dismissed her as an employee before he turned to look back at Tori. She had been right. He was a good looking guy and from what Claire knew about Tori’s standards, he was decent for her.
But Claire knew Tori would only see him as a business partner.
As Claire rolled the cart to their table, Tori glanced at her with a mischievous gleam in her eyes. However, she didn’t bother to acknowledge Claire or introduce her. She was perfectly fine with that and didn’t want to disturb their conversation, which seemed to be going well.
Tori actually said his name and Claire finally found out that his name had been Charlie the whole time. Not once had Tori mentioned it correctly when she was with Claire. It was probably on purpose too.
After Claire finished placing the dishes on the table, she turned around and left, rolling the cart with her. She glanced over her shoulder for a split second and saw Charlie reach out and place his hand on top of Tori’s, slightly surprising her.
Just as Claire was about to take another step further away from the room, she heard the crashing of dishes. She immediately whipped around and made her way to the room. The sight before her shocked Claire.
Tori was standing up, her hands formed into tight fists at her side. Her face was red and she was breathing hard. It was obvious that she was furious. Charlie on the other hand had also stood up, but he was covered with wine and food from the entrée.
At first he was dumbfounded by what happened, but then his face darkened. “You bitch.” He barely contained his voice from shouting.
“Shut the fuck up, you sick bastard!” Tori didn’t bother to keep her voice down. Neither of them had noticed that Claire was at the doorway. “I’m not some slut who sleeps around for business!”
Charlie sneered before he looked down at her body. “From what I see, you’re exactly that, you whore.” His body tightened, as if he might strike her. “Just shut up and do this the way you came dressed for.”
Tori’s fists trembled, and Claire quickly stepped in before her friend could make a terrible mistake. She dashed over and the two were startled by her appearance as she made her way in between the two with her back towards Tori. She reached behind and also held her friend’s shaking fists to prevent them from shooting out towards Charlie.
“What is going on here?” Claire demanded.
Charlie glared. “This isn’t any of your business.”
“It is when you’re having an argument in my hotel and causing damage to the hotel’s property.”
“I’m not the crazy bitch who caused this.” He motioned to the mess of food and broken dishes with a wave of his hand before directing a look straight at Tori.
Tori twitched, but Claire made sure to hold her back. Who knows what would happen if Tori hit Charlie first? Hell, Claire wanted to have a go at him too for calling Tori all of those names. The bastard would deserve it.
“Please leave.” Claire demanded.
He looked offended. “Excuse me?”
“Leave.” She repeated. “You both need to calm down. I’m sure this conversation can wait.”
Charlie’s jaw tightened. “No. If I’m leaving, I’m bringing her with me.” He stared straight at Tori.
“I’m sorry. But I believe that’s not the best choice. Who knows what other sort of damage you’d cause on your way out?”
Tori saw the change in Charlie’s eyes. They darkened and his body language became dangerous. Claire was the one in the most danger since she was the one facing him head-on.
“Claire.” Tori said frantically. “I’ll go with him. Get out of the way.” She didn’t want Claire getting hurt because of her.
But Claire had also seen the change in him and knew that Tori would definitely be hurt if she allowed her to go with him. “No. Stay still and don’t even think about moving away from behind me.”
“How the hell, do you know what’s best?” Charlie growled before taking a step towards her. He was even more angered from the fact that Claire didn’t even flinch from his advance. “This isn’t any of your fucking business.”
“It is when you’re directing your violence towards Tori.” Claire tightened her grip on Tori’s wrists when she felt her friend struggle to free herself. “Now leave or else I’ll have to call security.”
Charlie’s eyes darkened before he raised his white-knuckled fist. Both the women knew what was going to happen next, and Tori tried to tug Claire out of the way. But for some reason, Claire didn’t try to dodge the attack even though Tori knew she could’ve easily.
“Claire!” Tori shouted, trying to get her out of the way before Charlie’s fist could connect to her friend’s face.
Claire clenched her jaw and braced herself as she stayed completely still. Charlie’s fist seemed to move in slow motion as it made its way through the air and connected to Claire’s left cheek. Tori gasped loudly as that punch caused Claire’s head to turn to the side and she stumbled on her feet a few steps backwards.
Tori stared at Claire in horror as Charlie’s eyes narrowed in confusion, probably wondering why Claire didn’t avoid the attack or do something about it.
Slowly, they both watched as blood dripped out the corner of Claire’s mouth and Tori released an angered shriek.
“You motherfucker!” she shouted. “You’re fucking dead!” But still, Claire didn’t release Tori’s wrists. “Let me the fuck go, Claire! I’m killing the bitch!”
Suddenly, Claire chuckled, causing the other two to stiffen. Slowly, Claire lifted her head and Tori saw the large smirk on her friend’s lips. Then Claire raised her head up high proudly and looked into Charlie’s eyes. He was staring at her with wide eyes, not knowing what to expect next.
Then Claire spoke.
“Well now…” Her voice was raspy, probably from the punch, but she continued to smirk. “…looks like you made the first move.”
Then she shoved Tori back to a safe distance before she grabbed Charlie’s arm and flipped him onto the table, breaking it in half. Charlie laid flat on his back as he stared up at Claire with hazy eyes, and then he passed out.
Claire wiped the blood on her chin with the back of her hand as she stared down her nose at the unconscious Charlie. “Remember that this was an act of self-defense, bitch.”