A Slumdog Heir

Chapter 9

Chapter 9 

"You are something. Why would two of the top families in the city lie against a nobody like you?" 

 The cop inquired 

"He is a sore loser" 

The hotel owner had added and Colin was taken away to a waiting vehicle.

"He almost had me there" 

Marissa admitted, sighing 

"Me too" 

The hotel owner had added 

And all three of them together laughed and joked about the call, with Marissa trying to mimic the phone call that he had made. 

"He is something, isn't he?" 

Marissa says 

"Tell me again, how did you find this guy?" 

Marissa's new lover had asked 

"You ask me how, and I don't know how" 

Marissa says 

"Now that I think about it, I believe something must have been wrong with me" Marissa admits 

"Well, I am glad that you got out of it" Her new lover says in a low laugh

"Yes, I am glad too" Marissa agrees 

"I don't think this is the time to be sad, it is to be happy. You two just go home and enjoy yourselves as a couple, you deserve it" The hotel owner had said dusting his clothes

"Too many things to deal with but we have been able to put this to rest. Thank you for all your help" Marissa's new lover says 

"Your phone has been ringing" 

Marissa says drawing the hotel manager's attention to it. 

"Oh, I best get it. It's from the eldest member of my family"  He noted 

"We will wait" Marissa says nodding to him to answer the call.  

"Hello uncle, I was hoping to call you later..." The hotel manager started 

  

"Stop it, stop it right there" His uncle interrupted him

"Did something happen uncle?" He asks  in shock

"Of course, something had to happen, why else would I be calling you? Tell me, when do I call you?"  His uncle says

"When something important comes up" 

He answers 

 "Good" His uncle gives a low grin that could be heard from over the phone

"What is the problem, sir?"He asks  on fear

"You. You are the problem" His uncle says

"How is that so, sir?" A confused Briscoe had asked 

"What happened to the hotel? Or rather, what happened at the hotel?"  His uncle asks

"Nothing uncle, nothing happened here" He answers

"Are you sure about that?" His uncle asks 

"I am sure uncle" He assures. 

Better to assure his uncle than go through a round of questions. 

"I got a call, from a secret consortium. He was interested in buying the hotel. And I thought to myself, why the sudden interest in wanting to buy it?" 

"And then I remembered that you had gotten a call earlier about something going on in the hotel and you had rushed there so i thought to call you and confirm for myself that you are not planning to sell the hotel to anyone"

 His uncle explains and that sent a fear through his body. 

"I would not do that uncle. At least, not without proper consultations and all of that" 

"I would never rush into something like that" 

The hotel manager answers 

"I do hope so. There are a lot of things wrong with your generation, just keep your eyes wide open" His uncle says taking a reassuring breath

"I am different from my generation uncle and as you would very well know, I have managed this hotel for years now and I never thought of selling it" 

 He reassured 

  

"Well, we will see how that goes" His uncle sighs 

"Yes, sir. Thank you uncle for your concern"

He answers 

"It is my responsibility. Speaking of which, what exactly happened at the hotel?" His uncle says he was too tough for an old man.  

"I am not sure you would be interested in that" 

 The hotel manager didn't want to have to bring up Colin's name again knowing it would only vex his uncle. 

"It was Colin" 

"Marissa's ex-husband, the one we judged the case today" 

He explains, as his uncle would not take no for an answer. 

"The ungrateful one?" His uncle asks 

"Yes, him" He answers

"What about him?" His uncle inquires 

"We just found out that he not only was ungrateful but he had been stealing from the Williams family as well"

He explained 

"Well, what has that got to do with us? We did what we had to do, eh?" 

His uncle chided 

"Yes but he rented a room at our hotel, with the stolen funds" He says 

"The guts that loser has got, a room at our hotel?" His uncle asked, puzzled 

"Yes, the presidential suite at that" He continued 

"How interesting" His uncle says surprised 

"Well, I have put the situation under control"

He assures  

"Good, that's very good. Apologize on my behalf to the Williams family. We made them a promise" His uncle says 

"Of course, uncle. When you called and said someone intended to buy the hotel, I had feared thinking it was part of Colin's games?" 

He explains 

"Colin? What games?"His uncle questions  

"He pulled a trick on all of us here. Making a phone call with someone referring to him as 'young master'"? 

He laughs 

"What else?"His uncle insisted 

"He had asked the man to buy the hotel" 

He continued 

"Should I be worried about that?" His uncle inquires 

"Of course not, no way Colin would pull something like that, it all must be purely coincidental" He assures 

"I do hope so. I still feel you should be very careful around him, you never know what he might be up to" 

His uncle warns 

"He would never amount to anything" He urged "at least not anything good"

"You cannot be so sure. Still, I insist you be careful. You see, the people who just called me are very important" His uncle suggested 

"They should be afraid of us" He pouts 

"That's the thing, they're not, and they're not from the city, they wield more power than you can ever imagine. You must be very careful" His uncle warned 

"I will be" He assured  

"We cannot afford to go into war with someone as influential as that" His uncle adds 

"We would not, I will keep my arms crossed"

He promised 

"Alright then, protect the hotel with your life and while you're at it, remember what our family stands for" His uncle admonishes him and hangs up. 

"What was that all about?" Marissa asks in anticipation

"Colin" He sighs, they were all tired of hearing that name 

"At what point do I stop to hear the man's name? Am I missing something, Marissa? I didn't sign up for any of this" Marissa's new husband complained 

  

"Neither did I" Marissa sighs tiredly, she just wanted Colin to be gone from their lives

"You insisted we followed him, now look where it has led us"  He continued, almost at the bridge of getting angry

"Oh, so this is my fault now?" 

Marissa asks

"I didn't exactly say so"

He answers 

"Admit it, it's exactly what you meant" Marissa insists

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I'm just fed up with Colin being in the center of everything" 

He says 

"What was it you wanted to say?" 

Marissa asks, turning to the hotel manager.  

He didn't want to interfere in their little couple quarrel so he decided to just be silent. 

"So, that was my uncle. He had gotten a call that someone was trying to bid for the hotel"

He explains 

"Is this some joke? Surely, Colin couldn't have pulled that off, could he?" Marissa asks, to no one in particular 

"I do not think he could do that. If he could, he would have done something already. Might just be a coincidence" He explains 

"Well, if you say so. But you must know that Colin is very tricky" Marissa warns

"I will keep that in mind" 

He says

Marissa and her new lover bade the hotel manager goodbye and proceeded to where their vehicle was parked. 

They drove silently, each drawn into their thoughts and wondering what exactly Colin could do. 

Marissa for one was so sure that she could assure anyone that Colin would never amount to anything. 

Her new love on the other hand thought of ways to get her mind off Colin.