A noise coming from right outside his door shifted Raymond's attention off his work. It got closer and considerably louder that he could clearly make out the sound of people arguing and he glanced up in sync to the door to his office being swung open aggressively, Rose marching in with his flustered secretary hot on her tail.
"Ma'am, you really can't--" his secretary, Anne threw her hands up exasperatedly when she saw they already caught Raymond's attention. "I'm really sorry, sir. I told her she can't b-but she--"
Raymond cut her short with a dismissive flick of his wrist, cutting off what was probably the start of a long apology. "It's fine, Anne. Go back to work, I'll handle this one."
"Yes sir," Anne replied, aiming a pointed look at Rose who responded with a victorious smirk of her own.
Raymond turned to Rose once his secretary had left. "What are you doing here?"
"You're not even offering me a seat first? That's very ungentlemanly of you, Raymond," she replied in a sickly sweet voice even though he could detect a bit of malice coating her words.
He ignored her subtle request, turning his attention to his laptop and pretending to be busy with it even though he knew there was no way he could focus on work now. "Whatever it is better be worth you barging into my office and interrupting my work."
She invited herself into the seat opposite him when it became clear he wasn't going to take the initiative. All trace of sweetness seemed drained from her voice when she spoke, "You've been ignoring my calls."
"Yeah . . . And?" Raymond replied, disinterested.
She huffed, and if Raymond was looking up, he could have seen the frustration written clearly all over her features. She instantly schooled it and her voice once again took on the honey like sweetness, "I only wanted to thank you for the money you sent to me the last time. It really went a long way and I want you to know I really appreciate everything you're doing for me. I really appreciate you."
"Hmmm," he hummed, still not sparing her a glance. "Alright, thank you. I feel appreciated. If that is all, you may leave now."
Her eyes flared a second before she lost the control she'd been struggling to hold onto. She lashed out, "Why are you being such a jerk?! I'm only here to say thank you like any normal person would and I wouldn't even be here if you hadn't decided to ignore my calls!"
Slowly, Raymond shut down his laptop and closed it. Keeping a stoic mask on, he finally turned to her, linking his hands together while leaning back in his seat. His voice devoid of emotion started, "I didn't pick your calls because I have no desire to talk to you, but you're not stupid so you should know that. I do not appreciate you barging into my office, creating a nuisance in front of my employees just to say 'thank you'. You can save the gratitude as I do not want or need it. Are we clear enough?"
Fists clenched and teeth gritted, she spat out, "You're such an asshole." She continued when all the reaction she got was a nonchalant shrug, "If you really hate me so much, why do you still help me?"
"You and I both know the only reason I'm doing anything for you is Jason," he replied, hoping that would drop her ego down a peg.
His words didn't have the intended effect because her expression again switched from angry to smug in an instant. "Liar."
His brows raised at that and that one word admittedly put him on edge. What was she on about now?
"I think not, Raymond," she continued with the smugest look he'd ever seen on her. "You just don't have the balls to admit you're still in love with me."
Raymond couldn't resist the slight chuckle that escaped his lips on hearing her absurd words. He felt himself relax, chastising himself for getting riled up in the first place.
He stared at her smug self for a full minute, wondering how he had ever found himself in love with her. She was a living example of everything he hated in a woman. Still, he had loved her and that had ended up causing him more damage than he was willing to admit.
Steering his mind away from that train of thought, he stood and started clearing his things off his desk. Replying her, he said, "Whatever sails your boat, Rose. Just be careful so you don't lose the one leverage you have over me. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting in let's say. . ." his eyes raised to the wall clock hanging near his door, ". . . now, and I'd really appreciate it if you're gone before I get back."
"You're seriously just going to leave me here? While we're still talking?" She asked, not bothering to hide her irritation.
"I don't know about you, but I'm done talking." He was surprised that she'd even think otherwise. "You invited yourself in, feel free to relax and when you're done, you can help yourself out."
With that, he made his way out of his office, leaving a dumbstruck Rose behind.
• ~ •
Hope was having a bad day, and an even worse first day at work. When she'd tripped over a forgotten water bottle lying around carelessly immediately after getting out of bed and ending up face flat on the cold floor on a Monday morning, she should have known that she would be having a shitty day all day.
She had been on her way to work, almost halfway through when Val had called and apologetically confessed she had forgotten an important file and the copy of the key Hope had given her at home so Hope had been forced to go back home to help her get inside. That had resulted in her getting to work almost an hour late, earning a chewing off of her ear which only added to the headache she had incurred courtesy of her fall. The receptionist had then for some reason decided to take a hating to her, which was the least of Hope's problems -- as if she cared why some overcaked bimbo was shooting her glares whenever she was so much as spotted.
She had been working all morning and was desperately trying to put her best into it to salvage the bad first impression she was sure she had incurred so when Hope entered room 107, she was really drained and all she wanted was to go home and fall into bed.
She had just gotten in and was setting the cleaning equipments she'd brought with her down when the door to the bathroom opened, revealing a man that would have been naked save for the towel tied around his waist.
Hope let out a surprised gasp and the man's surprised face mirrored hers although it was immediately replaced by a sly smirk.
"Well, well, well. Now what do we have here?" The man drawled and Hope didn't miss the way the man's gaze roamed over her body.
Feeling self conscious, she stuttered out, "I-I'm sorry. I was sent here to clean because the occupant of this room supposedly checked out and this room is supposed to be unoccupied as of now."
"You see me here, don't you? Obviously this room isn't unoccupied," The man stated, his lips still turned up in a smirk.
"Isn't this room 107? I was given a ke--" Hope felt really uncomfortable with the way the man kept ogling her. "Never mind sir. I'm sure there must have been some sort of misunderstanding. I'll just leave now, I'm really sorry."
Hope grabbed the equipments she had dropped and was about to turn around to leave when the man suddenly grabbed her hand. She hadn't even noticed him closing the gap between them.
"Hey, not so fast now," he whispered right in her ear and that for some reason, sent a menacing chill down her spine.
"Excuse me, what are you doing?" Hope demanded, trying to tug her arm free to no avail. He only tightened his grip around her arm. Aggravated, she yelled, "Sir, let me go!"
"Hey, calm down," he shushed her. "Since you're here already, we might as well have a bit of fun before you leave."
One thing Hope had always been grateful for was her ability to stay calm under dire circumstances. Semi consciously, she found her grip tightening on the broom handle. Her voice devoid of panic and as reasonable as possible, she coaxed, "Sir please, I'm not interested in any sort of fun you're offering. Please, release my arm so I can go."
"Oh, come on. You know you want it as well. Admit it, that's why you came in here. The cleaning excuse was just a ruse," the man leered, refusing to let her go.
Hope's mouth dropped open. What-- Up close, Hope could see the man's face and she wasn't at all impressed. She wanted to tell him how there was nothing she found attractive in his face and body that looked like that of a starving chimpanzee but thought better of it. A bit of panic seeping in now, she tried again, "Sir, I'm really not interested. Please, let me go." She tugged on her arm again and she saw the man's smile drop only to be replaced by a sneer.
Hope shrieked when she felt herself flung backwards and onto the bed. Blindly, she swung the broom she was holding right in time for it to smack him across the face. He lost his balance and stumbled back a few steps and that was the opportunity Hope needed to scramble up and with all her might, she kicked the man right in the balls. He let out a sound of horror as he fell flat on the ground.
Hope hit him a few more times with the broom, letting out all of her pent up anger on him before turning on her heels and making a run for it.
• ~ •
"Did you really do this to him?"
Hope snuck a glance at the man whose temple was a bit swollen. She hadn't realized the force with which she had hit him could have left such an impact on him. Good. He deserved that and a lot more.
Turning to Mr Sunday, the manager who had asked her the question, Hope simply answered, "He assaulted me."
"That's not what I asked. Did you do this to him?" Mr Sunday repeated.
Hope bit hard on her lip. It didn't help that she couldn't read Mr Sunday's expression so she could know how much trouble she was in this time. Any other day, she would gladly nod and even hit the idiot once more for effect but this job really meant a lot to her at the moment and she was really scared of losing it.
"Are you going to answer me anytime today?" Mr Sunday snapped impatiently.
Sighing, Hope gravely nodded.
Mr Sunday gave an audible nod. Turning to the man with the bruise, he asked, "Did you sir, attempt to rape her as she claims?"
"Of course not!" The man exclaimed, flaring up as if he'd been wronged.
"What?!" Hope yelled. "He's lying!"
"Really?" Mr Sunday demanded, shooting her a look that clearly read, 'shut up!' Turning back to the man, he continued, "So she went into your room and just started to hit you."
"With a broom!" He shouted angrily, pointing an accusatory finger at her. "I was only asking why she was in my room and she decided to attack me for no reason. She even kicked me down there! Mad girl!"
Hope heard a muffled chuckle and turned to see the receptionist hide her smile behind her shirt sleeves when Mr Sunday shot her a warning glare. Hope would have marveled at the fact that the lady was actually capable of smiling although it wasn't surprising it was at her own expense.
"Be rest assured, Mr Mark. This attitude will most definitely not be tolerated from any of our staff," Mr Sunday assured, driving Hope into panic mode. She wanted to yell so loud that the man was a liar but knew that probably was going to cause more harm than good. "Now, we just have to check the CCTV cameras in the room and confirm that everything you're saying is true."
Wait, what?
The man's smug face fell. "C-C-CT-T-V?"
"Yes, Cameras," Mr Sunday clarified. "We have one in every room in this hotel, just in case a situation like this arises. If you'll please, we'll go to the security section now and confirm your words sir."
CCTV? Hope wondered, her hope rising. If there really were cameras, it would show exactly what had happened but wouldn't that be illegal? She tried to communicate her confusion silently to Mr Sunday. Her eyes widened when he threw her a subtle wink and smile. He knew! He'd believed her right from the start. There was no camera. It was all bait!
"I agree!" Hope exclaimed excitedly, perking up. "Let's go right now."
"Uhm. . ." Mark cleared his throat. "I don't really think that would be necessary."
"Of course it is," Mr Sunday insisted. "Unless of course, you're lying and you actually did assault our staff."
Hope watched with satisfaction as Mark's mouth fell open and close like a fish out of water. Suddenly, he flared up again, "Why do you even have cameras in the rooms in the first place?! That's illegal and clear invasion of privacy!"
"In this case, it stands to prove your innocence so it stands in your favor, don't you think?" Mr Sunday replied, unfazed.
"I can sue you all for this!" Mark rambled on, but anyone could hear the panic in his voice.
Before Mr Sunday could reply, a foreign voice butt in. "What exactly is going on here?"
Three heads turned to the entrance where a middle aged man walked in, his eyes jumping between all of them. Hope's eyes widened in horror when she saw who was standing right next to him. She averted her face and all that filled her mind was that she was deep in trouble.
"Mr Edward," Mr Sunday called, and Hope detected a hint of nervousness in his voice. "This man here is constituting a bit of a nuisance. Apparently, he assaulted our staff and he still expects us to fire her for defending herself."
"What?" Mr Edward demanded again.
"Miss Hope was sent to clean his room which he was supposed to have checked out already. She got there only for him to attack her," Mr Sunday explained. "He however claims otherwise so I asked that we check the CCTV and he got angry."
"I did no such thing!" Mark yelled.
"Hope?"
Busted. Hope froze as she felt the force of all eyes on her at once but one in particular seemed to bore right through her. She plastered on a fake smile as she turned to Raymond. "H-Hi?"
He walked over until he was standing right in front of her. He looked absolutely murderous that Hope found herself dodging his gaze. "What exactly are you doing here?"
"I-I-I-- Uh--"
"What is all these rubbish? Who the hell are you?!" Mark demanded, glaring at Mr Edward then at Raymond.
"Me?" Raymond demanded, turning the full force of his fury on Mark. "I'm the man who is going to haul your ass to jail for daring to assault my sister."
Mark audibly gulped, "S-Sis--"
Raymond didn't wait for him to finish. "That's right. I am the owner of this hotel and this . . ." he pointed at Hope, ". . . is my sister. Now, we can either do this the easy way where you take yourself out of this hotel, never to show face again or we could settle this the other way which I can bet with you . . . will end up with you in prison. For a long long time to come."
The threat in his words shook even Hope to the core but the word that really kept hammering in Hope's head was owner. There was absolutely no way. She had done her research and had been sure The Royals had absolutely no ties to the Adams brothers.
"So what do you say, the easy way or the other way?" Raymond finished with a wicked smirk.
Hope could see the instant the man made up his mind as he turned and practically fled out the door.
Raymond's jaw was still ticking, a telltale sign of his anger as he turned to address Mr Edwards. "I'm sorry I just lied about owning your hotel and probably just costing you a customer."
Mr Edward laughed, patting him on the shoulder. "If that is the definition of a customer then believe me when I say I don't want one. Also, you just saved my hotel from a potentially harmful situation. If it takes me lending you my hotel for a few seconds to make situations like these go away, you're more than welcome any day." He turned to Mr Sunday who was staring at Raymond somewhat admiringly. "And you, nice thinking with the CCTV."
"Thank you sir," Mr Sunday replied.
Mr Edward turned to Hope. "I'm really sorry you had to experience something like that but be rest assured we always have our staff's best interest at heart here." He stopped to sneak a glance at Raymond who was still looking very pissed. "Although it surprises me that the sister of a man like Raymond would be working as a cleaner here."
"Oh, be rest assured that is going to be rectified immediately." Raymond turned the full force of his anger on her once more and spat through gritted teeth, "Right, Hope?"
Yep, she was in trouble alright.
• ~ • ~ •
So this chapter is longer than usual,
I hope it kinda makes up for the late update? ;)
I'm really sorry to have kept y'all waiting.
Now, any guesses on what's gonna happen next?
Share your thoughts, beautiful people!