One Roof

Chapter 11

We enjoyed each other's company for another half an hour. As the sun started setting down in the west, I knew that it was time for us to move. I checked my map for the route to the hotel. Emily's sister's wedding would be held in a five-star hotel in Central Jakarta, and would take us on a half-hour trip.

Now that I think about it, Emily's parents didn't say anything about how I would return home to my apartment. My parent's home should be closer, only one and a half hours away by bus from the hotel, but I hadn't contacted them yet. I thought about calling them when I saw Emily's eyes on me.

"What are you doing?"

"Calling my parents. Going back to Serpong would take too long."

"My bad."

"Your bad...?"

"My parents booked a room for you, forgot to tell you that."

"Woah."

Not only did they trust their daughter to me, they went as far as getting me a room? I knew that they invited me and my family to attend the party, but I wasn't expecting them to go that far.

"Well, it's for your entire family... but your parents said they were busy for the night."

"Ah, I see. Should we get going, then?"

"Okay."

We both got up and headed back toward the car.

After an hour and forty-five minutes on the road, a bit longer than expected thanks to traffic, we arrived at the hotel. The single building towered over its surroundings, its lobby alone occupying its first two floors. I stopped in front of it, thinking about dropping off Emily first as I searched for a place to park, but Emily told me to take her with me. I didn't know why, but I didn't ask and instead drove into the parking lot.

From the basement, we took an elevator up back to the lobby.

"Woah..."

I had picked up the car at Emily's house last night, and from there took it back to my apartment, so this was the first time I entered the hotel.

"This is... weird."

Emily voiced my thoughts. I was partly surprised due to how grand it looked. The lobby could be divided into two distinct parts. The main part, where the receptionist was located, was roughly two stories high. Left of that main part, was the lobby's wings. Unlike the main part, the wing's roof was located around four stories high, creating a large open space. Platforms circled the outer edges of that open space, with stairs leading up to them. Several doors were visible from the ground floor, but I couldn't tell where they led to.

Large white pillars held the entire structure together. White walls surrounded the building, except for the sides facing the street and where floor-to-ceiling glass panels made up the walls. A separate bar was tucked away at the end, formed by black marble on all sides. While it all gave the lobby a very luxurious feeling, just one part of it made me confused.

"Why red?"

I asked as I looked down. Emily shook her head.

"I had no idea."

With the exception of the bar, the entire lobby had its floor covered by sparkling red marble, including the staircase that went up to the other floors. The escalators retained their usual black coloring, at the very least. It felt so different and weird, especially with the white wall that surrounded it. None of the ornaments nearby, the plants and wall decorations, had a red color, either. They were formed mostly by green and yellow and occasionally gold.