cheap hotel // jonas vasquez

prologue

"I dunno, seems a little dry," Eva said, putting the fork down next to the plate of chicken. "What do you think, Ingrid?"

When she received no reply, Eva turned her head, only to find Ingrid too busy staring at her phone.

"Ingrid." Eva felt a little annoyed when her chef wasn't listening, so she quickly took the phone out of her hand.

"Hey!" Ingrid furrowed her brows at Eva. "What was that for?"

"You're supposed to be working," Eva reminded her, slipping the phone into her pocket. "You can get it back later."

"I'm sorry, I just--" Ingrid sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "He said he was going to call me yesterday, and I haven't heard back from him. I'm just worried."

Eva's eyes softened, and she turned to the other cook, asking for some privacy. When he left, she turned back to Ingrid, who was picking at the nail polish on her fingers. Eva put a hand out to stop her, rubbing the back if Ingrid's hands. "I'm sure he's fine, Ingrid. He might just be very tired. He's traveling a lot these days."

"So, what if he's traveling a lot?" Ingrid said. "It wouldnt kill him to send me a message to say, 'hi, I'm not dead,' even if he is working."

Eva smiled in her in pity, and pulled her in for a hug. 

"I'm just worried," Ingrid mumbled into Eva's shoulder.

"I know," Eva whispered, rubbing Ingrid's back in a soothing manner.

Ingrid pulled away from the hug and wiped the few stay tears that manages to escape, blinking in surprise when Eva held out her phone for her to take.

"One call," Eva told her. "If he doesn't answer, leave a message and get back to work. We're going to be busy with the grad party catering. I need you focused."

Ingrid nodded her head in understanding and sent Eva a thankful smile as she took the phone and stepped outside into the summer air.

She dialed Jonas' number and waited, not surprised at all when it went to voice-mail.

"Hey, it's Jonas. I'm busy at the moment, but just leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can," she heard the prerecorded message say. "If this is Isak, you better not be calling about breaking my Playstation again."

Ingrid immediately rolled her eyes, but sobered up when the time went off. "Hey, Jonas. It's me, Ingrid. You said you were going to call yesterday, but you didn't."

She kicked a pebble on the ground and was quiet for a moment. "I'm just worried, Jonas. At least send me a text telling me whether you're alive or not. I know that you're busy, but I get worried when you go off the map." Ingrid turned around and saw Eva waving to her from inside the restaurant. "Anyway, I've got to go. If you try to call me and I don't answer, it's because Eva has my phone. I love you. Bye."