POV — amber
date: september 2nd, 1991
I ALWAYS hated mondays.
mondays had always caused me a lot of stress; the start of a new week, bills that had to be paid with the money my father and i didn't have, it seemed to always rain and it was the part of the week where most customers checked into the hotel. to say i hated running the place with my father was an understatement. we didn't care much for it anymore, as my father was preparing for his retirement, and i just didn't want to spend my life working in this run down hotel. i had my own dreams and aspirations that i wanted to work on. besides, we'd be selling to someone else soon, which was somewhat of a relief.
but, on this particular morning, part of me also didn't want to let go of the past.
"it's weird," dad picked up one of the picture frames in the cardboard box, inspecting it carefully. inside, a photograph of the pair of us, alongside my mother on a beach, probably in brighton, as far as my memory allowed me to recall, was inserted into the frame. he inserted the photograph into my hand, as nostalgia washed over me. "your mum used to adore this place. so did your nana."
"of course nana loved it," i smirked. "she named this place after her, for god's sake." that earned myself a chuckle from him, returning the photograph to its assigned box. he sighed and stared outside the window on his left.
"it's a shame we have to sell this place. they'd be heartbroken." i nodded in agreement, before bending down quickly and picking up the roll of tape beside the box, pushing down the flaps and sealing it shut. i breathed out a sigh and stood up, walking out of the storage room, as tears clouded my vision.
yes, as much as i hated to admit it, i was feeling rather unsettled about the whole situation. while i hated working there and how much it distracted me from band rehearsals most days, it gave me a great sense of nostalgia. villa rosie was a huge part of my life growing up. spending all my summer here with my grandparents and my mum and dad was a major part of my childhood. while the upper class in my school would be jetting off to the states and whatnot, i'd be driving ninety minutes across the country to that small hotel, where the friendly and familiar faces were. a small tear raced down my cheek, as i dried it with the cuff of the sleeve on my sweatshirt. dad, being the person who knew me best, noticed and hugged me from behind.
"listen poppet," he mumbled. "no need to cry. you know this hotel wasn't good for our mental health. i miss nana too, but she'd want us to sell this dump if she knew what it was doing to us. three more weeks and we're back to london." i nodded my head gently, as i rotated my body around to embrace him properly. after a moment of comfortable silence, i broke away from him, sniffing.
"i'm starving," i mumbled. "i'm just gonna go get some breakfast." i made my way down to the end of the corridor, before opening the white wooden door, revealing the worn down stove and a few of nana's old furniture piled on top of each other. a bitter chill hit my shoulders, as i glanced above my head; the small window by the fridge had been left open. sighing, i pulled one of the chairs down, struggling to manage by myself, to be able to reach the window. i finally managed to place it on the floor, and i stood on it carefully, leaning closer to the opening, the chair wobbling unmercifully below me.
the reception bell went off.
"shit!" i yelled out, the chair slipping from below me, causing to collapse onto the tiles, hard. i groaned out in pain, before i stood up, brushing off the dust and dirt from my sweater. a bitter sting rushed through my arm, and i grimaced, whispering under my breath that i would be okay. as soon as i had managed to regain my balance, i sprinted out to the reception area, to see four boys patiently waiting behind the counter. they glanced over at me, as one of them, who had ginger hair, cocked an eyebrow. i stumbled over behind the counter, giving them an awkward smile, as i pressed the 'on' button of the computer wired to the wall.
"hi, sorry about the wait." i apologised, making direct eye contact with the ginger again. "welcome to villa rosie! can i help you?" i fumbled with my now sweaty, shaky hands, hoping and praying that they weren't judging me in their heads.
another one of the boys, who had dark brown hair and matching coloured eyes, spoke up. "uh yeah," he coughed, averting his gaze from me, covering his mouth before looking back in my direction. "we have a reservation for a week, under the name 'alex james'. we're here for a week."
the boy beside him, who had a pair of square glasses on scoffed. "you already said that, you knob." he mumbled under his breath, folding his arms.
the fourth boy, who had a blonde bowl cut, alongside a square fringe, rolled his eyes, turned to the pair of them. "you know what?" he glared at them, pointing to the benches beside the cream coloured wall. "you lot wait there. i'll sort this out." he widened his eyes at them, reassuring his seriousness. the boys stared back at me, before making their way to the seating area. he turned back to me, his cheeks tinting a shade of red. "i'm sorry about them, bunch of pricks. rough journey here."
i nodded my head. "it's fine, honestly." i told him reassuringly. clicking on the list titled 'reservations', it opened up and i started scrolling down the list. "you said it was under the name 'james', yes?" he nodded and hummed in response, so i scrolled down and clicked the box next to it. i smiled quickly at him, before turning to grab the four keys from the hook. i could still feel his stare on my back, as i took them down.
"you know," he kept his stare on me, as i turned back around to face him. "you're awfully young for a manager." his glance was now at the gold painted badge, hooked onto my grey coloured sweatshirt. i shrugged my shoulders. "yeah. i took over for my nana. she died six months ago, so i've been travelling up here to keep the place running, but we're actually selling this place to someone else in three weeks."
"oh, i'm sorry." his expression became rather dismal, empathising with me. i shrugged my shoulders again.
"it's fine." i promised him. "it's not all bad. we can reclaim our insurance so i can invest in my band." he nodded approvingly before glancing back at the boys, who were giving him the thumbs up. i laughed quietly to myself.
"so you're in a band," he leaned against the marble counter. "what're you guys called?"
"aura." i typed a few more things into the computer, before finally handing him his keys. "anyways, welcome to villa rosie! we hope you enjoy your stay! and if you need anything, feel free to let us know."
he looked me up and down, before smirking. "yeah, i think i will." he shot a cheeky wink, before heading back to the boys. i felt my cheeks tint red, as they disappeared around the corner. i walked out from behind the counter, and headed back towards the storage room.
the sudden pounding of footsteps behind me became vehement behind me, and i spun around to see the same boy, headed in my direction, puffing in and out from exhaustion. "s-sorry," he breathed out, bending down and putting his hands on his knees, panting. "i never got your name." i laughed out loud.
"it's amber. amber daniels." i told him, folding my arms and smiling down at him. he finally straightened up, looking down at me. "damon albarn." he smiled at me again before sprinting back to the elevator. i covered my newly formed grin hopelessly with my sleeve, before turning back around. "wow." i thought to myself, before entering the darkened room again to rejoin my father.
maybe this monday wasn't as bad.
»»————-————-««
❝ because there's no one else i'd rather spend my time with. ❞
—— VILLA ROSIE. DAMON ALBARN
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SUMMARY:
they haven't seen each other since 1991. not since she ran the hotel up the country. now, it seems as if they could be a match made in heaven. but, how will they stay together if a charming man and an obsessive ex girlfriend stand in the way?
OR IN WHICH
the lead singer writes a song about a hotel manager and falls for her at the wrong time.
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CAST OF VILLA ROSIE:
MAISIE WILLIAMS
AS
AMBER NICOLE DANIELS
ZOË KRAVITZ
AS
SARAH IMAN CAMPBELL
JAMES BUCKLEY
AS
COLIN NATHAN REDWOOD
HI KONG LEE
AS
MAKOTO 'MICHAEL' FUKUDA
DAMON ALBARN
AS
DAMON ALBARN
BLUR
AS
BLUR
OASIS
AS
OASIS
OTHER CHARACTERS:
• ANDREW WHYMENT AS SHANE DANIELS
• JUSTINE FRISCHMANN AS JUSTINE FRISCHMANN
• CLAIRE NEATE AS CLAIRE NEATE
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
• I do not own Blur, Oasis or Elastica's material.
• Updates are usually weekly, but may be delayed due to personal reasons.
• All triggers are in the book's description and the beginning/top of every chapter.
• The use of lowercase in this story is intentional!
• This material is mine. This book cannot be copied/transcribed into another form. Please do not repost without my permission on other social media platforms.
•There are/will be no translation of this material.
• If you enjoy this book, please check out my socials and my other work.
• Thank you and enjoy Villa Rosie!
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