Hotel Rooms [n.h]

[ 3 ]

Brooke White

"One room please," I said, feeling very underdressed. People all around me were dressed in business class clothes with fancy bags and all looking very smart. But Elliot and I were just dressed in casual clothes. "Can, um, I pay by night?" I asked.

The woman nodded, "Yes definitely. However, we have some pretty special guests so the prices are higher so that fans don't get in. I'm Jillian, by the way..." she trailed off before peering down at Elliot. "Hi, buddy! I'm Jillian!"

Elliot looked at me cautiously and I nodded encouragingly, pulling him up to sit on my hip comfortably. He smiled widely at her after my approval. "Hi, I'm Elliot and I love pumpkins." I sighed and shook my head. "I'm also wearing Koala socks, which means that it's TV day."

I sometimes wish I'd never taught him the days of the week; he uses it against me every day. Koala socks are Mondays, and Mondays are TV days. He can watch more TV than normal on a Monday and trust me, he uses it against me.

Jillian laughed before averting her attention to me. "Anyway, darling, I think it's safe to say that my employee discount will reduce your price to half." she said.

I felt my whole body relax slightly, but then I frowned. "Oh, no, I couldn't possibly-" I began to decline, and Jillian shook her head before she cut me off quickly.

"I have a little one myself, I know how difficult it is to pay for food and stuff, so this is my treat to you, okay? Stay as long as you like, I'll help you."

This. This gesture was rather small but yet it meant the world to me. I couldn't thank her enough, I simply couldn't even muster the two simple words of 'thank you', I was so shocked.

"Mummy? Can I have a lolly? Because if I don't I'm going to die." Elliot said, eyeing up the jar of sweets sat on the counter before Jillian. I brought myself around and nodded, almost laughing at his ridiculous statement. Of course he wasn't going to die; he's perfectly healthy and has no problems, except a little asthma, like his mum. Oh god, I'm talking in third person now. I'm such a mum.

"Thank you so much, Jillian. I can't stress how much this means to me." I explained a little, setting Elliot on the floor and handing over half the money due, which added up to £35 for one night. It was still very expensive, but since Elliot and I had our fair share of rough sleeping, I'd decided to treat us a little and go for a posher hotel, and when we dipped on money, I'd find a cheap travel lodge or something to stay in low cost.

After checking in, I made my way up to the room, Elliot following me singing the theme song for Friends (admittedly, most of the words were completely wrong, as was the tune, but I gave him an A for effort.) and dancing at his own singing.

We passed two guys wearing hoodies and snapbacks. The first one laughed lightly at him before nodding, "Nice moves, little fella."

There was a pause before the second guy started to dance along with him. I stopped and turned back to watch in amusement. They sang along with him, the correct words and tune, and started doing all sorts of terrible dance moves, which only encouraged Elliot further.

"See! I am good." Elliot ran over to me and I picked him up in my arms. The two guys laughed before walking over to talk.

"Nice little brother you've got there." the first said, his broad Yorkshire accent ringing out. I felt my cheeks burn at his words and Elliot started to laugh.

"Mummy, he thinks I'm you're brother!" Elliot giggled and the two stared at me in shock. I blushed and internally sighed; this is where they leave because I'm a young mum and nobody likes young mums. I get judged for having sex at a young age, and I get even more judged for keeping the kid.

The two faltered before the second spoke. "Well I'm Louis and this is Liam... and you are?"

I almost breathed out a sigh of relief, they hadn't ran away yet and I was still maintaining a conversation, so this was a good sign. "Brooklyn, and Elliot."

"They're both unisex names. Which is which?" Zayn spoke. I took a good look at him. He had tattoos, I could see from his sleeves that had rolled up, and his snapback sat comfortably on his jet black hair. He had a lot of facial hair and a bristly beard, and soft, warm brown eyes.

"I'm Brooklyn, or Brooke for short, and this is my son Elliot." I explained, ruffling Elliot's lightly curly hair. He slapped my hands away.

"Mummm... you're so embarrassing."

I stared down at him in bewilderment. What sort of three-year-old knows the word embarrassing? He doesn't even know how old he is, how to spell or read, so how does he know the word embarrassing?!

Zayn and Louis chuckled before I sighed. "Well it was nice to meet you but we best be off." I said. "Someone needs a nap."

Elliot looked up at me. "But ... I'm not tired." he said.

"I wasn't talking about you." I said with a smile, watching as Elliot laughed and tugged on my sleeve playfully, his small blue eyes lighting up as he spoke to me.

"Mummy, you're so silly sometimes. You can't have a nap, you're old."

The two boys chuckled, and Louis ruffled Elliot's hair, and I frowned. It was an almost encouraging ruffle and Elliot had beamed up at him as if he were giving him the best advice in the world - or as if he was giving him the best thing in the world (a puppy, in Elliot's case).

"Well, you sure don't look all that old, Brooke." Liam said as his eyes scanned my face. "Honestly, you look a little young to..." his eyes fell on Elliot.

"Um... yeah thanks. Just mind tricks though." I said quickly and grasped Elliot's hand. "Let's go. Bye guys." they called a goodbye after us and I pulled Elliot to our door. The room was nice with a huge double bed that I could actually have all to myself as there was also a single bed. I glanced around further and saw a TV, thankfully, as otherwise Elliot would struggle knowing whether it was Monday or not.

"Mummy! Look! Wow, I love it in here!" Elliot roamed around, his eyes like saucers as they took in the surroundings. He dived on the single bed. "Mine." 

I laughed and shook my head before dumping our bags by the door and copying his actions on the bigger bed. "Mine." 

Elliot let out a childish laugh before he sighed and got comfy on the bed. "Mummy can I have my pajamas on now?" he asked tiredly, rubbing his eyes with his balled fists as he did so, causing a smile to slip on my face from his cuteness.

"Elliot, babe, you're already in your PJs. Let's get you tucked in, hmm?" I questioned, stepping closer to his bed as he buried his tiny body under the covers. He stared at me for a minute before his eyes glossed over.

"Why did we leave mummy?" 

I opened my mouth to speak, but I could feel his tantrum coming on as his mouth slipped open and he started to cry loudly, his sobs bouncing off the walls and hitting back off my body as he kicked his legs.

I felt my own lip tremor at his state, but I quickly sat on the edge of the bed and tried to calm him down. "Elliot, we left because your daddy was mean, wasn't he?" I asked, looking down at him and brushing one of his fallen curls out of his eyes. "Mummy thought if we left daddy then we might be safer." I tried to explain.

How do you tell a four-year-old that their dad is an abusive, drunk, drug addict who didn't seem to care that he had a son? 

You don't.

I sighed and kissed Elliot's forehead, which had beamed over with a thin layer of sweat from his tantrum. "I love you." I murmured against his forehead before pulling back and caressing his cheek lightly.

"I bet I love you more." Elliot answered before he quickly turned over in his bed and faced the wall. "I'm not looking at you because I love you more and I won't let you argue with me over it." 

"Okay darling." I said with a small chuckle, before flicking off the lamp and walking to the bigger bed on the other side of the room. 

Maybe a bit of luxury is what we needed in our lives.