The Revenge Scam

The Horrendous Inn

Nine hours into the 14-hour train ride and they were both bored out of their mind. "Charles, care to tell me why we are not in first class? I am a duchess for crying out loud! Here I am in the most uncomfortable seat I have ever sat in." Charles groaned and sat up, cracking his back in the process,

"Do you think I like these seats? I am just as uncomfortable as you are at the moment. I didn't buy these tickets so I had no clue we would be in here."

"Oh, so that person you met at the cafe gave you these tickets?" At first, he nodded, agreeing with the statement until Charles looked over at her with widened eyes.

"I never mentioned anything about how I got these tickets. How do you know this? Unless you were there..." Charles looked out the window and tried to recall anything from that day. She couldn't have been watching us. Ha, there is no way she was there. Steven said there was no one there and I trust him. Anyways, have you seen her Charles? There is NO way she could be as sly, or smart for that matter, to listen to the conversation without us noticing!

" I...I headed over to your office that day and Maria told me where you were going. Don't think that Maria wouldn't tell me where you got these tickets when I got them." She huffed and grabbed her book, "What's with that look on your face? It looks like you thought I was watching you," she chuckled, "Mind you, I do have a life and have much more interesting things to do than watch you."

Charles didn't say anything, instead, he grabbed the case file and looked into it again. 5 hours left, how am I supposed to survive this?  Halfway through reading the case over Charles fell asleep. Scoffing, Sophia stood up and left, not wanting to be there when he woke up.

He laid down on the seat and accidentally nudged the file dropping it on the floor, spilling the contents. A pair of eyes in the train fell on the open case, they walked over and picked it up. He ought to be more careful, leaving such important things on the floor. The person skimmed through it once and placed it on the chair beside him. "He is making this too easy."

< 5 hours later>

Charles was woken up by a nudge on the shoulder. He groggily opened his eyes and saw Sophia standing over him. "The train has stopped, we should get off." She didn't say anything else and headed towards the exit with her suitcase and his in hand.

"Why is she taking my suitcase? I can do it by myself," he muttered. He stood up grabbing his briefcase and jacket and began to run to where she was. He snatched the suitcase from her hands. " You didn't have to grab my suitcase. I am perfectly capable of doing that on my own." Sophia glared over at him, "You don't seem too fond of people carrying your stuff for you. Well, now you understand how I feel." She picked up her bag again and headed towards the terminal exit. He stumbled after her, not knowing what to say.

They had finally arrived in Venice. There were different buildings that could be seen even at the train station. They towered into his vision making him catch his breath. The points on the top of one building stood out the most. It shot towards the sky trying to reach the stars and the material that it was made out of looked like it had been freshly painted. There were arches to be found all around it and the beauty of the whole thing left him in awe.

Screw the sunrise, this is better, he thought, knowing he would write a poem about it the next chance he got.

He and the crazy lady walked through the streets with her leading. She acts like she knows this place, he thought. He dismissed it because she was a duchess, she probably travelled to places whenever she wanted to.

They finally arrived at the inn they were going to stay at and it looked pretty good considering that this whole trip was basically free. It was a bit run down and he knew she wouldn't care much for it. He liked it though, it was homey...to an extent. They reached the front desk where an older lady greeted them.

"Ciao miei cari, benvenuti nella mia locanda. Mi scuso per il disordine ma e difficile per me gestire questo posto da solo. Soprattutto nella mia vecchiaia." Charles looked very confused at what she was saying but spaced off thinking about his upcoming poem. He was brought back to reality by a jab in his side.

"Ok, I got us a room with two beds on the second floor." She led him up the stairs and opened up the door with the grey key the lady gave her. From inside a musty smell struck his nose. It smelled like one of those old age homes with a slight tinge of orange. It left a slight almost residue on his hair follicles which he felt the need to wash off right away.

He placed his suitcase on the bed beside the window when suddenly a voice came from behind him.

"Hey! I call that bed!" She walked past him, shoved his suitcase off the bed, and plopped hers on it instead.

"What? No, I put my suitcase on there first. That means that I get the bed."

"Well, my suitcase is on there now. Oh, and how does the saying go? Ladies first." At that Charles scowled at her and sat on the other bed.

There was a horrendous wallpaper coloured red and orange with swirls and patterns on it. It in no way matched with the beige carpet that surely had never had a cleaning in its life. The bathroom had one of those ugly white and grey tiles with a chip in the sink and a toilet that didn't flush properly. All in all, it wasn't that bad considering it was free.

Wanting to get out of the inn, he decided to go sit outside for a while and write the poem. He told Sophia he was leaving and she responded by saying she was going to buy some food. He stepped out of the creaking door and walked to a bench near the cathedral he found when they first arrived. He gazed back at the building and began to write.

The work stood still

made from the hands of the world

Stare at the beauty

Until my thoughts swirled

The curl of the wood,

The arches made strong,

they point to the sky

With nothing made wrong

He placed his ink pen down and sighs happily. "Not too bad Charles, quite the poet you are," He said to himself. The sun started to fade over the horizon and he took that as a sign to go back. Charles decided to take a walk around the city. He knew he was here for work but he desperately wanted a vacation as well. By the time he got back, the sun had set all the way, and the stars were starting to show through the midnight blue.

Stepping once more through the creaky door, he trudged up the stairs and into his room. He was expecting to see Sophia back with food, but when he opened the door she was nowhere to be found. Odd he thought. He plopped down on the bed not before putting on his baby blue, silk pyjamas with a matching hat to cover his greasy hair. Flipping through a book that he brought along, he finally heard the click of a key turning. He looked over to see Sophia standing in the doorway holding a few vegetables.

"Where have you been?" 

The translation for what the old lady said: Hello my dears, welcome to my inn. I apologize for the mess but it is hard for me to run this place by myself. Especially in my old age.