Burnouts

Brunch at Tiffany's

Scene 1: The Helmsley Hotel

Leo Rylin

"Sir, are you sure you're in the right place." I'm stopped at the door by an asshole in shiny shoes and uniform.

"Yes, I can read. Now, if you'll excuse me," I push past him.

I brush my shoes off on the rug before stepping onto the hard tile. I hear my feet echo when I walk but, blame it on how quiet everything is here.

They'd have more guests if they didn't charge a thousand dollars for a damn pillow.

"Um- can I help you?" A lady at the desk asks when she sees me standing in the middle of the lobby.

"Yeah, you can actually." I walk over to her, "I'm here to see Heather, but I don't know what floor she's on."

"Heather Blakely?" The lady furrows her eyebrows at me and scrunches her nose up like I'm lying.

I nod, "yeah, that's her."

"Can I get your name, sir?" She says, disbelief still laced in her voice.

"Leo Rylin."

She sighs and turns away from me, moving toward her intercom. "Ms. Heather, there's a guest here to see you. He says his name is Leo Rylin."

"Thank you, Edna, send him up please."

Edna looks skeptically at me before sighing.

"You heard the girl," I shrug, "now, what room?"

I watch as she presses a button before focusing back on me.

"Down the hall, sir. The concierge will take care of you."

I nod and follow in the direction she pointed. Though, her instructions sounded vaguely threatening.

I approached a man wearing red from head to toe with gold buttons down his coat. "The Blakely guest, I presume." His eyes scanned over me.

"The elevator guy, I presume," I say in response.

He narrows his eyes at me once more before opening the elevator, "after you."

I watch as he enters a code into a keypad below the elevator buttons.

"This is some high-tech rich people shit, huh?" I furrow my eyebrows.

"Enjoy your visit, sir." The concierge says simply before stepping out of the elevator.

"Oh, did I mention I have a fear of being trapped in an elev-" the doors close before I can finish my sentence. "Great..."

It counted up so many floors that I thought it may never stop. I mean, I don't even know which one I'm supposed to be getting off on. Now that I think about it, they didn't even give me a room number.

The elevator finally lands on a floor, and my eyes widen when the doors pull apart.

There's an elevator in your fucking suite.

"Leo!" Heather smiles and runs up to me, "what took you so long?"

"I told you the people here don't like me very much."

"I'm sorry they gave you a hard time," Heather sighs, "don't think too much of it, they'll get used to you the more you come around."

"...how long do you expect to be tutoring me?" I narrow my eyes at her.

"Until the exam, at least that's what Ms. Chang said."

"That's if I pass the exam."

"You will," Heather says sternly. "Now, do you want anything before we get started?