The reception is oddly quiet this evening, Conrad thought to himself.
It was Valentine's Day, the season of love, and Conrad had expected the hotel to be flooded with couples on getaway trips.
He, too, had made plans with his girlfriend for Valentine's Day, but she had canceled at the last minute because her boss needed her to make some last-minute adjustments to some documents.
Conrad was upset but understood, because he too had canceled their plans in the past because of his work, but Conrad was especially upset because he had pulled some strings for the plans he had made.
He had borrowed money from his friends and colleagues to take her on a three-day vacation out of town, instead, he had to cancel those plans and lose the cash too. Cash he still had to pay back.
“Hey, did something happen? This place is not as rowdy as it should be. I thought this was Valentine's weekend.” Conrad asked their receptionist.
“Yeah, Xander booked out the entire couple suites for him and his friends from college. We uploaded the info and you know no couple will settle for anything less.” The girl answered and went back to the computer in front of her.
“Oh. That's too bad.” Conrad muttered and went out to the restaurant on the first floor of the hotel. Now, this part of the establishment was filled with couples out to celebrate their relationship. He ran into the restaurant manager.
“The customers on table 3, aisle 5 want a refill. Conrad, why are you not there??”
Conrad turned to their manager, who looked like he had aged about an extra year since Xander arrived with his groupies.
Xander Maxwell was the first son of the mogul who owned the chain of restaurants and hotels, Adam Maxwell. And Xander made sure everyone knew he was the heir and always made sure to torment everyone over that fact.
“I usually serve the tables on Aisle 3, Sir.” Conrad turned with the tray in his hand, trying to head over to another table he'd taken orders from the chef for.
Sam snatched the tray off of Conrad, dropping it on the kitchen table and spearing Conrad with a hard look.
“Go and stand by that table, Conrad. You're one of my best. And don't move an inch until Xander is ready to go. He might be a little troubled but he's also the boss's son, for God's sake!” He snapped at Conrad, sweat dripping from his black hair, peppered with a little grey.
Conrad simply grinned. He hated serving Xander but he had no choice when his manager gave an order.
Conrad walked quickly over to that table and bowed with a flourish in front of Xander. “Conrad Sir, at your service.”
The table was the best in the restaurant, sitting smack in the middle of everything, with a great view out of the window.
Xander scowled at Conrad, looking him over like he was a little slow in the head. “Of course, you're at my service, you dummy, everyone here is at my service.” he declared arrogantly as the girl he had his arm around giggled like she was drunk.
The sun was just going down outside the floor-to-ceiling windows but Drew knew they'd been drinking since they got to the restaurant. He ignored the insult.
“What might I get for you, Sir?” Conrad asked, folding his hands behind his back in a show of subservience.
Meanwhile, inside, he was laughing at how childish Xander's display of his father's wealth was.
“What might you do for me? Everything. First off, we ordered some dessert after our main course hours ago! And it is yet to get here, for fucks sake, where is Sam?!” Xander demanded.
Sam appeared immediately, stopping before Xander's table. “Yes, yes, Sir?”
Xander reached up from his chair and slapped Sam across the face. The sound echoed harshly through the restaurant and other patrons turned to watch what was happening.
“Is this how you serve people at my father's establishment, Sam? This subpar treatment is not acceptable!” Xander raged.
The brunette bombshell with her breasts spilling out of her dress started to giggle again and Xander looked at Conrad and Sam for another full minute, before bursting into laughter.
“I'm just joking, dudes. Why are your faces so fucking serious?” He chortled, before leaning back in his chair again and looking around at the patrons with a grin.
“Get everyone here some dessert on my tab! And get to it fast.” Xander snapped his fingers in Conrad's face.
Conrad turned immediately to the kitchen area, feeling bad for Sam. Xander was the epitome of all spoiled brats, even as a grown man of 25.
Conrad got other servers and they served the entire floor desert. If Conrad knew anything about Xander, he was certain the boy wouldn't pay the bills in the end.
After serving everyone else, Conrad returned to stand before Xander, folding his hands in front of him.
“Hey you,” Conrad turned to the brunette. She had long lashes painted with a coat of mascara, and shining red lips, and she wore a tight blue dress with a sweetheart neckline.
She shimmied, the big globes on her chest shaking in her dress as she looked at Conrad with a sultry smile. “Pour me a glass of wine, will you?”
She smiled at him again and Xander looked at her, caught the smile on her face and his jaw tightened. It was barely perceptible because Xander always carried a mean face.
Conrad knew trouble was brewing so he turned to Xander tactfully. “Sir, would you like to do the honors? Perhaps you'd like to pour the lady a drink?”
Xander's jaw relaxed as he guffawed widely, mockery in his eyes as he regarded Conrad. “Who do you think you are, speaking all posh like that? You poor fucker, posing like you're any better than what you are.”
Conrad didn't feel a thing in his words. He'd deliberately redirected him to other matters so he wouldn't get angry at the fact that his girlfriend was flirting outrageously.
The girl relaxed back in the plush loveseat she was seated in and winked at Conrad from behind Xander. Conrad made sure to keep his eyes down the rest of their meal.
A while later they'd finished up and Conrad had rolled their trays into the kitchen area on his food cart.
When he emerged, hoping to take care of Xander's bills and then leave for the day, he found Xander, Sam, and the brunette staring at him from their table.
If he didn't know better he would say that was an accusation in Xanders eyes.
“Conrad,” Sam began as he got to them but he was cut short when Xander interrupted. “You fucking thief! You've swiped my card from me.”
Conrad stood stock still, unsure what to do next. “I fucking had my card on our table. You, what's your fucking name? I know you have it.” Xander raged, his face looking all bloated and red with some righteous anger. Conrad looked around, befuddled but already thinking up ways to get out of this. “No, Sir. I assure you, I would never dare to steal from you.I could never steal from our patrons.”Xander arched a heavy eyebrow. “You could never steal from the patrons but you do steal elsewhere you mean?”Conrad wondered how he had just raced to that conclusion. He shook his head vigorously, assuming an innocent, long suffering expression. “I swear, I do not rob people. I didn't see your card on that table, Sir.”Xander grabbed Sam by the shoulder, shaking the poor man. “This is the scum you put here to work for my father, Sam. You're responsible for this arrogant thief's insolence! I even caught him clearly flirting with my girlfriend.”The truth of the situation dawned on Conrad. Xand
The brunette bombshell, who Conrad had heard Xander call Sasha, jerked in surprise, wide eyes flipping from Xander to Conrad and then to her boyfriend again. “Baby, I-I swear I didn't…” she started but Conrad watched her try to save herself. He knew he was being shitty when she'd tried to help him, but right now he had to save himself and then beg her forgiveness later. After all, he knew for a fact she didn't have the card on her. Xander frowned then scowled at Conrad. “You're just trying to divert attention from yourself. It won’t work, you fucking thief!” he snapped.Conrad plunged on. “I know that's what it looks like, but you've searched me and found nothing. And I'm telling you she has it. Wouldn't it make sense to search for her as well?”Xander's jaw ground so hard Conrad thought his teeth would grind to dust. “You're an unlucky fucking bastard if you think I don't know you're the thief and no one else. I won't search for any other person, least of all not my Sasha.”The cr
Conrad was relieved to find himself free to finish his shift for the day, before heading home. He worked in shifts on the upper floors of the hotel as housekeeping, and then in the restaurant as a waiter. He changed into the cleaner's uniform and proceeded to clean the rooms assigned to him.“Hey, Conrad!” The head matron called.“Yeah?”“I forgot to tell you, a couple in one of the other couple suites checked out some time ago. We need you to go clean up the room. “Of course. They're gone, right? There's no chance of me running into them?” Conrad asked. He had once walked into a room and the couple had given him the insult of his life. His salary for that month was cut.“Yeah, they are gone. Just grab your stuff and go clean it. Another couple just booked the room. They are one hour away.” “What room is it?” Conrad asked, walking backward.“Room 215.” Conrad nodded and went into the employee room. He changed into his uniform and grabbed his cleaning cart. His phone pinged and he
Conrad was confused. Assault over something as trivial as this. “Ma'am you don't need to do that. I have already apologized to her and she doesn't even seem to be in any kind of pain.” Conrad said, pointing to the girl who had started playing with her mother's hair. The woman huffed, “You'll be hearing from my lawyer. I'm going to make sure I bury this establishment. You almost killed my daughter.” She cried. “I am so sorry. Let me clean your room, for free. Management won't even know.” Conrad pleaded. “I should give you free rein of my room.” The woman started. “Who knows what you might steal? Who knows if you'll take me and my daughter?” She screamed. The child soon started crying and Conrad knew that if someone was to walk into this situation, no amount of explanation would help him. He immediately pushed his cart and hurried away, apologizing the entire time.He got to the location of the wonky camera and took a look at it. One of the wires was no longer connected so he t
She rolled her eyes and placed a hand on her hip, kissing her teeth before looking at Conrad condescendingly.No one talked for a moment and no one moved, until the girl broke the silence.“Conrad?” The old man asked.“This is your boyfriend?” The older man queried Laura, looking Conrad up and down with beady eyes. “Yeah. Can you give us a sec babe?” That seemed to draw Conrad from his shock. How could she be calling another man babe when he was standing right in front of her?“Babe?” Conrad whispered, a part of him still not believing what he was witnessing. The man walked away. Conrad didn't know if he was shocked or angry. “What are you doing here, Conrad?” The girl asked.“What…what am I doing here? I should be the one asking you that Laura. What the hell are you doing here? You told me you had to work?” Conrad shouted.“I did have work. Here at the hotel.” Laura snapped at him.“So you pushed our plans to have sex with your boss?” Conrad asked, his face a mask of disbelief.“
“What!” He screamed out in shock and the people right in the bus with him jeered up from the seat. “Is there a problem, sir?” The bus driver pulled over to the next junction of the road to stop the car just to be sure everyone was fine. Immediately Conrad realized that the driver was pulling over to park the bus he quickly apologized without any hesitation, “I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to scream out just like that.” “If at all you wanted to be loud with your praises you'd at least get down off the bus.” Another of the passengers blurted out without giving him more room to apologize. “I'm sorry, sir. Like I said I didn't mean to cut you off track like that. It was never my intention and..”“Can you just save yourself the explanation?” Another female passenger jerked him off guard with her words. “There is absolutely nothing that will make us accept your apologies. Driver, please keep the car moving.” An aged man sitting right at the edge of the driver seat instructed the driver
“If you want to lie to me then you have to stop mentioning my late father in your business.” He muttered to himself summoning up the courage to find his house.Every thought of what had transpired in the past few hours questioned his sanity from him almost getting convicted by the police for a crime he knew nothing about and when he thought he had been set free he got the biggest shock of his life. Who would I’ve thought that the girl who“You think he can m he had sacrificed both his money and attention would jilt on him with another man?“Gosh! What crime did I do by loving someone affectionately?” He kicked the trash can standing at the right wing of his door.He tried fighting back the tears that were welling up in his eyes so he wouldn’t break down since he was about to make his way into his apartment. But, the moment he rested his hands on the wall with his head placed on the wall he broke down in tears mixed with a feeling of regret and betrayal.“Is it a crime to be dining wit
Laura placed her hands softly on her gentleman's chest as they both lay on the bed but from the silence she was receiving from his end, she knew someone wasn't right. “Why are you acting so cold all of a sudden?” She dragged herself up to the bed pulling the duvet up to her chest. The young man rolled himself over to the other edge of the bed without saying anything to her. The only thing he was feeding her as a response was the inhaling and exhaling of his breath. “Please don't give me this cold response, Peter. If you want to keep acting cold towards me then I might as well get myself out of this bed and use the door.” He chuckled out loud mockingly, “You want to use the door so you can go back to your babe, right?”“Hell no! Peter, how dare you belittle me in such a manner?” she dragged the duvet that was on her chest and sprang to her feet. “Spare me those cock and bull stories, Laura. What do you take me for? Huh?” He clenched his fist so tight holding back himself from goin
“Are you sure you want us to meet? Are you sure you want to do this, Conrad?” The voice behind the phone questioned him repeatedly as he was fully in doubt about Conrad’s sudden decision.Conrad sniffed in some air with his nostrils, inhaling and exhaling simultaneously while he thought about the question that was being asked to him. He knew he was sounding desperate but he wasn’t bothered at all for all he had in mind was to get his mother out of that awful state she found herself in.“Well, I guess your silence says it all Mr. Conrad. Whenever you are ready to take the bull by the horn then you can give us your say.”“I’m ready!” he yelled out loud in anger and frustration, not realizing that he was yelling, "I’m sorry if my voice triggered you in any way, but what I’m trying to let you know is that I’m ready to take the bull by the horns. You can send in the location, and in thirty minutes, you’ll see me right there.”The caller behind the phone heaved a deep sigh of relief as he h
“Conrad, why are you bringing up your father's name into our harmless conversation?” His mother drifted away from him, staring into his eyes in amusement. “Mother, I want you to answer the damn question and stop acting all weird to me.” “Conrad, I think I'd leave you here all alone and go back to whatever I was doing in the kitchen before you showed up.”He stood up from the couch where he laid and pulled his mother from her arms, “Mother, I need an answer right away. You can't keep shoving off this question anytime I ask you.”“What more do you want me to say, Conrad? I don't have anything else to tell you. Now, can you take your hands off me? You are hurting me.” She beckoned on him calmly. Conrad still felt unsatisfied with his mother's responses. He was getting sick and tired of his mother avoiding conversation that requires his father's name in there. All efforts to force her speak the truth that she has been hoarding in her heart for far too long were not futile. “Mother, if
Laura placed her hands softly on her gentleman's chest as they both lay on the bed but from the silence she was receiving from his end, she knew someone wasn't right. “Why are you acting so cold all of a sudden?” She dragged herself up to the bed pulling the duvet up to her chest. The young man rolled himself over to the other edge of the bed without saying anything to her. The only thing he was feeding her as a response was the inhaling and exhaling of his breath. “Please don't give me this cold response, Peter. If you want to keep acting cold towards me then I might as well get myself out of this bed and use the door.” He chuckled out loud mockingly, “You want to use the door so you can go back to your babe, right?”“Hell no! Peter, how dare you belittle me in such a manner?” she dragged the duvet that was on her chest and sprang to her feet. “Spare me those cock and bull stories, Laura. What do you take me for? Huh?” He clenched his fist so tight holding back himself from goin
“If you want to lie to me then you have to stop mentioning my late father in your business.” He muttered to himself summoning up the courage to find his house.Every thought of what had transpired in the past few hours questioned his sanity from him almost getting convicted by the police for a crime he knew nothing about and when he thought he had been set free he got the biggest shock of his life. Who would I’ve thought that the girl who“You think he can m he had sacrificed both his money and attention would jilt on him with another man?“Gosh! What crime did I do by loving someone affectionately?” He kicked the trash can standing at the right wing of his door.He tried fighting back the tears that were welling up in his eyes so he wouldn’t break down since he was about to make his way into his apartment. But, the moment he rested his hands on the wall with his head placed on the wall he broke down in tears mixed with a feeling of regret and betrayal.“Is it a crime to be dining wit
“What!” He screamed out in shock and the people right in the bus with him jeered up from the seat. “Is there a problem, sir?” The bus driver pulled over to the next junction of the road to stop the car just to be sure everyone was fine. Immediately Conrad realized that the driver was pulling over to park the bus he quickly apologized without any hesitation, “I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to scream out just like that.” “If at all you wanted to be loud with your praises you'd at least get down off the bus.” Another of the passengers blurted out without giving him more room to apologize. “I'm sorry, sir. Like I said I didn't mean to cut you off track like that. It was never my intention and..”“Can you just save yourself the explanation?” Another female passenger jerked him off guard with her words. “There is absolutely nothing that will make us accept your apologies. Driver, please keep the car moving.” An aged man sitting right at the edge of the driver seat instructed the driver
She rolled her eyes and placed a hand on her hip, kissing her teeth before looking at Conrad condescendingly.No one talked for a moment and no one moved, until the girl broke the silence.“Conrad?” The old man asked.“This is your boyfriend?” The older man queried Laura, looking Conrad up and down with beady eyes. “Yeah. Can you give us a sec babe?” That seemed to draw Conrad from his shock. How could she be calling another man babe when he was standing right in front of her?“Babe?” Conrad whispered, a part of him still not believing what he was witnessing. The man walked away. Conrad didn't know if he was shocked or angry. “What are you doing here, Conrad?” The girl asked.“What…what am I doing here? I should be the one asking you that Laura. What the hell are you doing here? You told me you had to work?” Conrad shouted.“I did have work. Here at the hotel.” Laura snapped at him.“So you pushed our plans to have sex with your boss?” Conrad asked, his face a mask of disbelief.“
Conrad was confused. Assault over something as trivial as this. “Ma'am you don't need to do that. I have already apologized to her and she doesn't even seem to be in any kind of pain.” Conrad said, pointing to the girl who had started playing with her mother's hair. The woman huffed, “You'll be hearing from my lawyer. I'm going to make sure I bury this establishment. You almost killed my daughter.” She cried. “I am so sorry. Let me clean your room, for free. Management won't even know.” Conrad pleaded. “I should give you free rein of my room.” The woman started. “Who knows what you might steal? Who knows if you'll take me and my daughter?” She screamed. The child soon started crying and Conrad knew that if someone was to walk into this situation, no amount of explanation would help him. He immediately pushed his cart and hurried away, apologizing the entire time.He got to the location of the wonky camera and took a look at it. One of the wires was no longer connected so he t
Conrad was relieved to find himself free to finish his shift for the day, before heading home. He worked in shifts on the upper floors of the hotel as housekeeping, and then in the restaurant as a waiter. He changed into the cleaner's uniform and proceeded to clean the rooms assigned to him.“Hey, Conrad!” The head matron called.“Yeah?”“I forgot to tell you, a couple in one of the other couple suites checked out some time ago. We need you to go clean up the room. “Of course. They're gone, right? There's no chance of me running into them?” Conrad asked. He had once walked into a room and the couple had given him the insult of his life. His salary for that month was cut.“Yeah, they are gone. Just grab your stuff and go clean it. Another couple just booked the room. They are one hour away.” “What room is it?” Conrad asked, walking backward.“Room 215.” Conrad nodded and went into the employee room. He changed into his uniform and grabbed his cleaning cart. His phone pinged and he
The brunette bombshell, who Conrad had heard Xander call Sasha, jerked in surprise, wide eyes flipping from Xander to Conrad and then to her boyfriend again. “Baby, I-I swear I didn't…” she started but Conrad watched her try to save herself. He knew he was being shitty when she'd tried to help him, but right now he had to save himself and then beg her forgiveness later. After all, he knew for a fact she didn't have the card on her. Xander frowned then scowled at Conrad. “You're just trying to divert attention from yourself. It won’t work, you fucking thief!” he snapped.Conrad plunged on. “I know that's what it looks like, but you've searched me and found nothing. And I'm telling you she has it. Wouldn't it make sense to search for her as well?”Xander's jaw ground so hard Conrad thought his teeth would grind to dust. “You're an unlucky fucking bastard if you think I don't know you're the thief and no one else. I won't search for any other person, least of all not my Sasha.”The cr