Elle Jones

Chapter 31: Hotel For Two

With five-hundred dollars buried in my pocket, Austin and I strolled through Sydney in search for a vacant hotel room.

That way, we can rest and buy dinner without having our faces recognized by civilians.

Secretly, I wanted to book a hotel where they have a nice suite, free WiFi, and no strangers to talk to. But since I hate spending anything above our budget, Sunshine Inn Motel is my cheapest option.

As soon as we enter the lobby, I went up to the man behind the desk then asked if Austin and I could book a room for the night.

He has sandy-colored hair, baby blue eyes, and a dark blond beard. The man has a buttoned up olive green shirt, silky black slacks, and caramel-colored men shoes.

At first, he gave Austin and me an unsure look. But when I gave him two-hundred dollars in cash, the guy simply shrugged his shoulders, took the money, and asked if we would like the the honeymoon suite.

Digging his hands into his pockets, Austin blushed immensely.

"We are not a couple," he insisted.

I sighed embarrassingly. "Technically, we are engaged."

As I tell him this, I held Austin's hand tightly.

"Although it may be the case," I added, "do you have a room with two beds, a lovely bathroom, and good WiFi? I just hate it when he snores."

Austin shoots me a hurtful glare, but I ignored him.

Gleefully, the male receptionist nodded.

"We have two of our finest queen-sized beds made out of silk and luxurious fabric." he said politely, handing us two gray key cards. "They are in room 269." 

I give him a big grin, thanked the receptionist, then took the cards. 

Grabbing Austin by the arm, I navigated him to the hallways, where it leads us to the bedrooms. The doors were in an oak wood brown and its numbers looked as though they have been dipped in gold.

While I was searching for the room number, I hear Austin retorts: "I don't snore that loud."

"I know that, doofus." I scoff. "I was just playing the part."

" 'Playing the part' ?" he repeated. "You mean lying?"

"I mean survival," I explain. "Think of it as a script for a play or something."

Austin's brown eyes widen. "Like the one from My Last Breath?"

I bobbed my head carefully.

"Exactly, " I answer. "but with less zombie gore."

Austin laughed. "I guess you are right. Maybe there is more than life itself."

Smiling, I leaned against his shoulder.

"Well duh," I chuckled. 

Looking around the room, I haven't seen the elevator yet, but as soon as we find a room we might be lucky.

Putting on worn smiles, Austin and I tracked down the dark numbers 309,  hoping that the room would have a television, a working shower, and good WiFi.

But when I slid my key card into the door, Austin and I became disappointed when we found despicable brown carpeted floors, the walls were in an ugly pea green color, and the furniture looked as though it has been in an earthquake.

Shoved up against the walls is a small brown table sitting on top of it is a black, miniature television set with a light gray DVD player. Next to the television is a windowpane draped in baby pink curtains. Above us is a spinning ceiling fan bearing cool atmosphere.