He Strikes at the Hotel

Chapter Seventeen

I woke up this morning feeling more refreshed than what I had expected. It's surprising what a bath, silence and an early night can do for someone. I can't imagine that Jared is feeling quite as refreshed as I am this morning though, after last night that is... Speaking of which, I wonder how Nerissa had gotten on with Pierre on their date. I hadn't heard from her yet this morning, which could either be a really good sign, or a really bad sign. I guess I will find out soon enough, as I was close to finishing my rooms for the morning, and would then be off to meet Nerissa for tea in our quarters, and she would have to spill everything that had happened last night.

I finished straightening out the bed sheets, plumped up the pillows and gave the room a quick spritz of air freshener before I left. I was done for this morning, and I still felt pretty upbeat, which was unheard of for me. Something is obviously working very well in my favour at the moment. I locked the door of the room I had just finished preparing for an arrival, and quickly began to gather up my cleaning supplies and put them back in my storage cupboard. The energy I was finding to do this so quickly must have been coming from the excitement of hearing about Nerissa's date, and finding out what Pierre is like outside of work. He always seems to sweet and clean cut, I can't imagine him wooing anyone over with his words, let alone Nerissa...

I walked down the stairs towards the hotel lobby, where I would try and catch a glimpse of Pierre on reception before going down to the staff quarters. Unfortunately, when I got to the lobby, it was someone completely different to Pierre on reception, so I had no such luck of prying information from him about last night. Then, to top it off, I had to walk past Zachery and his guards who were leisurely sat in the lobby by the fireplace discussing who knows what. I looked at them all briefly and gave them a weak smile and slight nod to acknowledge them. I had to keep up my appearance of a charming, well mannered young lady, after all. I received similar gestures from most of them, with Zachery adding in a sly smile and wink to me, which came and went so suddenly that it went unnoticed by everyone, and I had to question myself whether it had actually just happened or not. Jared, however, simply looked at me with empty eyes, no recognition of my existence apart from the fact everyone else had looked my way. "What an absolute arse." I muttered under my breath as I continued on. There is something really off about that man, even if he is just an inappropriate drunk, I had a gut feeling every time I saw him, one that made me feel pure disgust and hatred, which I feel is now justified.

When I got to our quarters, I saw Nerissa sat at the table in the middle of the room with a pot of tea waiting for us. She was facing the other way, so she hadn't seen me arrive, so I walked up to her quietly with a giant grin on my face, before jumping round by her side excitedly asking "How did it go?!" I was surprised at how little she reacted to me. Her face was stern and she was silent. She looked up at me with sad eyes and sighed heavily. "Oh God..." I thought to myself. I never envisioned it being bad news, I hadn't even prepared a motivational speech for this situation because I had just assumed it would be perfect. Nerissa drew in a long breath and began to speak in a low tone. "Audrey Rose... About last night..." she spoke very slowly, which was killing me. I can't believe what I'm about to hear already, so I braced myself, my fists beginning to clench by my sides, getting ready to storm off and find Pierre wherever he may be. "Nerissa... What is it?" I asked, pleading for her to tell me with my eyes. "It was... It was... AMAZING!" She exclaimed, finally revealing her true emotions, beaming like a giddy school girl, holding her hands cupped together in front of her mouth, stopping her from screeching.

"Lord, woman! You were giving me heart palpitations! I was ready to go give Pierre a piece of my mind, the poor man!" I said frantically, but my annoyance didn't last long, as I was happy for her, and couldn't wait for her to explain her night and let out all of her joy.

"He met me at the front desk like we had arranged..." She began, as if she was beginning to read a fairy tale to me. "He looked at me and told me I looked beautiful, and then he panicked and told me he thought I always looked beautiful, but tonight I looked a different kind of beautiful." She began to hold in a chuckle to herself, as if reminiscing a fond childhood memory. "I told him to relax, and he looked very handsome himself, which made him blush. We then went for dinner at a restaurant called 'Alejandro's' which was divine. We ate a lot of pasta and drank a lot of champagne that he had ordered for our table on arrival. There were candles on the table waiting for us when we got there as well, it was so romantic. We then got a bit merry and began to dance to the band that were playing. It was glorious. He is such a gentleman, and walked me back to my room without even hinting at wanting to come in, only that he looked forward to seeing me today. Can you believe it?!" She was practically crippled over in giddiness now. "Yes actually, I can..." I thought to myself, knowing in my heart those two were so meant for each other. "I am so happy for you Nerissa, it sounds like you had such a perfect night. I knew he would treat you well! Looks like I won't be breaking his legs any time soon then. Unless you ask me to that is, because obviously, just say the word, I have your back." I joked towards her, winking and nudging her with my elbow. She returned the joke by laughing along happily, obviously still caught up in her own daydreams of her evening.

Today had gone really well so far, I hadn't felt this normal since the Duke and his henchmen had arrived. I knew it wouldn't stay like this forever, but just a little while longer would be perfect. And of course, the moment I was at my most content, was when there was a knock at the door to the kitchen, and before either of us had answered it, there was Zachery walking in confidently but with a slight caution evident, as he looked between Nerissa and I before asking the question, "I hope I haven't interrupted anything, ladies?" Not now Zachery...