"You hit him with the door...?" Marissa brought her hand up to her mouth, trying to hide the smile on her face as stayed sitting in her chair behind the counter.
"It's not funny." Stevie playfully rolled her eyes, also grinning as she traveled through the back office to finish up a couple of things to end the night. "It was embarrassing and he probably thinks I'm crazy." She had thought about nothing else since their encounter early that morning.
She had walked through town, had brunch with her friends, did a little shopping and stopped off at the bakery like she'd promised, but the entire time, in the back of her mind, that moment sat idle.
"Why would he think that?" Max had been hanging out too, being that the dinner serving shift had ended and he finished up his side work in the back... It was quiet after seven at the Inn, which meant they got to gossip.
"He's probably been stuck thinking about how pretty you are all day." Marissa shrugged her shoulders lightly, trying to assure the older woman that she shouldn't worry about it too much.
"Someone should go check on him, he might be daydreaming." The twenty- five year old added as he spun around in the swivel chair, tossing a ball up in the air and then catching it on its way back down.
Chuckling softly, Stevie shook her head as she lightly nudged his arm. "That's silly." She waved her hand lazily as she leaned back into the desk.
They were in the main lobby, but since the sun had set, the voices of guests that usually flooded the halls had died down and the only sound that surrounded them was the Frank Sinatra song that played over the speakers. And of course, occasionally, there was creaking of old wood, the sound of someone closing a door and the noises the old building made as it settled into the earth a little further.
It was really peaceful for a one hundred year old home that had been flipped into a sixteen room Inn.
"Let's change the topic now," Stevie could tell their brains were thinking of something else to say, or another joke to tell. "Have you finished your homework?" She had one hand on her hip as she stared over at the girl with an arched brow.
Marissa was a college student, working at the hotel for free room and board, while she traveled to class only twice a week. She spent a lot of time sitting at that desk, writing essays and finishing math equations for her second year at the university... She was two thousand miles away from her whole family, so her boss was sure to check in all the time on how school was going.
Stevie didn't miss a beat.
"All done and ready for a free weekend." She gave Stevie a thumbs up, a soft smile on her face as she let out a gentle sigh.
Nodding lightly, the blonde wrapped her shawl around her arms as she trailed further into the office. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news," she lingered, biting down on her bottom lip lightly. "But Tom will be in town this week..." she announced, which caused the other two to sigh instantly. "I know." She added, holding up her one hand in defense. "Just make sure everyone else is on their best behavior, please?" Stevie couldn't worry about it all, not when she was already stressed as it was... His visits were the worst for them all, unfortunately.
Rolling his eyes, Max didn't hide the fact that he was annoyed to hear that. "Why doesn't he just stay home?" He wondered, scrunching up his nose a tad.
Chucking lightly, Marissa let out a huff as she began to stand up. "I'll let everyone know the big boss is on his way into town." She teased as she picked her backpack up off the floor and tossed it over her shoulder.
Stevie smiled weakly, patting Max's shoulder as she passed by. "Get some rest, honey." She told him as she began to head through the lobby.
"Good night, Stevie." Marissa waved her hand softly, both of them watching the woman head up the staircase before they turned back to each other. "Just when the world seemed calm..." she shook her head, rolling her eyes again just to put an emphasis on it.
Max scoffed lightly, running the palm of his hand from his forehead, down to his chin. "It'll be an interesting week, that's for sure."
~~~
Stevie's head had just hit the pillow, almost asleep and finally comfortable when the sound of music, very loud music, caused her to jolt. "Ugh," she let out a deep sigh as she threw her duvet off to crawl out of bed.
She was on a silk nightgown, hair pulled up in a clip, makeup already off and just a satin robe covering her arms, but that was enough to wake her up.
"This is crazy." She mumbled, putting her glasses on to see as she navigated through her dark room.
She had the only suite at the Inn. It was two bedrooms, a living room area, a small- ish kitchen and a balcony that overlooked the busy street. However, there was a room right across the hallway from hers- the only other room on that floor and whoever was taking up residency in it was incredibly inconsiderate....
With a soft huff, she put on her slippers and headed across to knock on the door. "It's two in the morning." She gently shouted, only loud enough to get their attention as her knuckles met the wood a couple more times. "Hello?" She was getting a little annoyed, so she folded her hand into a fist and hit it once more.
And then, finally, silence... The music stopped, but the sound of feet hitting the floor filled the air instead.
Pulling open the door, the man on the other side already felt awful just after hearing the tone in her voice. "Hey, I'm really sorry...." He trailed, eyes melting into her brown orbs the moment he had opened the door. "Hey," Lindsey repeated as a gentle grin danced across his face.
Her heart began to beat a little faster as her eyes hit the floor and she clutched her robe tight. "Whatever that is..." she shook her head, using her free hand to motion towards the room and the noise. "It's really loud and it is very late." She reminded him, trying hard not to make eye contact.
He was in a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt, but he was still incredibly cute and she couldn't help but take notice...
He nodded lightly, keeping that sly smile on his handsome face. "Do you wanna come in and-"
"No." She cut him off, not interested in hearing the rest of that. "No, I want to go to bed and I want you to stop doing whatever it is that you're doing in there." She raised a brow lightly as she began to back away, heading towards her door.
He chuckled softly, eyes scanning over her face as he watched her run right into it. "Good night, Stevie."
