From
the time, Dani had left her lavish four bedroom apartment in upstate
New York, till she arrived at, The Bluebell Hotel, her journey had
been quite the ordeal. From the crazy cab driver, who picked her up
and drove her to the airport, then finding out from the departure
monitors that her flight had been delayed 2 hours! And rather than
sit in the overcrowded waiting areas, she'd decided to stroll around
the duty free stores, and when she'd finally boarded the plane, she
sat, sighed, a sigh of relief to find the seat next to hers was
unoccupied. She closed her eyes, expecting to have a peaceful flight.
But
her peace and quiet only lasted for ten minutes. When Dani had felt
the seat next to her began to shake, then a thud and a stale, and
overwhelming smell invaded her nostrils. An unpleasant smell of,
strong body odor! She'd opened her eyes and came face to face with an
oversized, unkempt bearded man. He smiled, nodded at Dani, she rolled
her eyes, gave him a fake little smile, then turned her head away.
Yet, to top it off, not only did the man smell, he snored for most of
the flight, making it hard for Dani to relax for even a second.
The
Taxi cab eventually rumbled to a stop outside the Bluebell Hotel, and
a sneaky yawn crept its way out from Dani's mouth, she rubbed her dry
eyes and peered out of the dusty window. Her first impression of the
Hotel, was how much it looked exactly like it's pictures online.
The
Bluebell stood three stories high, it was an old Colonial home,
painted pale yellow, surrounded by old oak trees with their creaking
branches swishing in the breeze. There were neatly trimmed pink
myrtle bushes intermingled with the trees, rich green ivy crept up
its walls clinging to the weathered window shutters, making it look
as if the ivy was holding the aged shutters in place. In front of the
hotel, covering the flower beds like a fluffy blue shag carpet, where
the most beautiful clusters of bluebells, that Dani had ever seen.
She
could see why they choose the name, 'Bluebell' for the hotel, such a
pretty name for a picturesque country hotel. Her stomach did a little
flip at the excitement of staying three blissful days and with one
quick pull handle she opened the cab door, and stepped out onto the
gravel driveway. Taking in a deep breath, then exhaling, allowing the
sweet scent of bluebells to wash over her. It made a nice change from
body odor and grime. In the distance, Dani could hear the faint
sounds of waves crashing onto rocks, taking in another breath, the
smell of sand and sea mingled together in the breeze, brushed over
her face reminding her of a time in her life when everything was fun
and simple, where she had no worries or deadlines to meet. Dani hoped
that even though her schedule was full while she was here, she'd
might be able to squeeze a little time to go enjoy the local beach.
Looking at the beautiful surroundings, she took a minute, relaxed and
allowed the warmth of rays from the setting sun, to warm her tired
body.
Disturbing
the blissful sound of nature, the cab driver called out, "Good
luck." He set Dani's luggage on the gravel, held out his hand
and
said,
"That will be $80."
Dani
glanced over her shoulder at the cab driver, her eyes bore straight
at him, her moment of peace disturbed again! She delved into her
purse, handed him a wad of twenty dollar bills and asked, “What do
you mean, Good Luck?”
Stepping
into his drivers side of the taxi, he answered, “You'll see.” He
slammed his door and drove off.
Dani
shrugged off the unusual comment and turned her gaze, at the hotel
and smiled. With her new Prada purse on her arm and pulling pristine
Prada suitcase's behind her, she treads up the five well worn steps,
to the main door. A beautiful custom made wood
door,
with stained glass windows above it detailing bluebells. Grabbing the
door handle, Dani pressed down the black latch and opened the door,
and walked into the entryway of the hotel. Sliding her sunglasses
back onto her head and couldn't believe what she saw... The inside
did not
match the outside.
I've
stepped back in time,
she
thought.
It reminded her, of an old fashioned retirement home. The walls were
a wash of flowery rose patterned wallpaper and in parts, it had even
begun
to peel off, revealing dark moldy water marks. Looking upward she saw
an ugly, large, rusty globe light, that resembled a high school
mirrored ball, minus the mirrors! In one of the corners close to the
entrance, there was
a stack of
wood, ugly chipped floor tiles and a bunch of grubby, dirty tools
propped up against the wall.
She
looked over to the staircase,
which in the online description said,'Grand', no longer looked grand,
it didn't even splendid. Dani scrunched her eyes and
she
was able to see glimpses of dark oak peeking through the hideous
faded rose colored carpet, which covered whole flight of stairs. It's
banisters were painted a dull rose pink to match, "what a crying
shame," Dani mumbled. She
took in her surroundings, and her
body ached
in protest, a yawn crept upon her. She needed to sleep, so not
wanting to deal with yet another long journey to find other suitable
surroundings, she decided to stay and give the Bluebell Hotel, the
benefit of the doubt.
Making
her way over to the only beautiful piece in the foyer, Dani pay
much attention to to the flooring, when she
tripped on a patch of upturned carpet and
wobbled. Her
arms spread wide,
trying to steady herself, her purse flew off her arm and shot across
the foyer, and for a split second, Dani's stomach did a flip at the
thought of falling onto the dirty, ugly carpet and ruining her
expensive clothes. But luckily, she
didn't.
Quickly recovering, she
huffed and
mumbled, “Argh...No, I'm going stay. Surely
it
can't be that bad, can it?” With
a quick glance she
was glad no-one had
seen her
very non lady like trip,
she
gingerly walked across
the hallway and picked
purse up off the carpet, as if nothing had happened. When
she walked back towards the reception
desk, she
was amazed how exquisite its
wood was.
It was
the deepest wood stain she'd ever come across and what amazed her the
most, were its intricate carvings of bluebells, vines and
butterflies. This
must have taken hours to get details such as these,
she thought as her fingertips
gently brushed over them.
When
she looked up, she saw sitting
on the reception
counter
was a torn piece
of cardboard,
with
the words scribbled across it
–
Back in five minutes. Dani stood there, eyebrows raised, eyes wide,
what
terrible service, she
thought. Ten minutes later, Dani's feet throbbed,
glancing around, she saw a pink and blue plaid chair by the
large bay window. Deciding she'd rather sit than stand for one second
more, she headed over and
sat
down. A
large puff of dust flew up around her making her profusely cough.
Dipping
her hand into her purse, Dani pulled out a water bottle, unscrewed
the lid and took a long swig, allowing the cool water to soothe her
dry, dusty throat. And
set the
bottle on the rickety coffee table next to the chair. Checking her
watch again, Dani shook her head in disbelief, five minutes had
turned into thirty! Her
fingertips drummed
on the arm of the chair, as
she
wondered if anyone would show up. Just as Dani was about to dial for
a cab, a
well, tanned guy leisurely walked into the foyer, chugging a bottle of
water. Dani noticed his clothes were stained with mud and oil. I
hope he's not staying here, she
thought as
she
watched him
make
his way over to the
reception
desk.
But
to her amazement he didn't wait in front of the desk, he stood behind
it! Dani
stood and
marched over to give the guy, a piece of her mind.
Not
waiting for Dani to finish her sentence, Ty nodded his head and said,
“Hello Ma'am, welcome to the Bluebell Hotel.”
Hand
on her hip, the other hand shaking her cell phone at him,
Dani answered, “Firstly, I don't appreciate being cut off mid
sentence and second, I especially don't like to be kept waiting.”
Ty
set his bottle down,
“Sorry
Ma’am, I didn't realize we had guests staying this weekend. I was
out helping a...”
Her
breathing quickened, her palms sweaty, “That is not my problem!
Someone should of been here to greet me or any paying guest, come to
that.”
Ty,
wiped his hand on the edge of his shirt, leaving a damp mark to add
to the oil stains already
there.
He
tidied the papers that were
strewn across the top,
and looked
squarely at Dani smiled
and answered,
“Yes, Ma'am. Sorry to have kept you waiting.”
She
jammed her
cell in her purse and
said,
“I have a room booked and I would like to check in please.”
“Yes
Ma'am, your name, please?”
Ty
picked up the guest book, turned to the next relevant page, "Well...
I can't see anything to confirm your reservation, I..."
Dani
leaned forward, "Look, Ty.. Is it? I made the reservation
online, the payment already went through, check again."
Ty
looked up, cleared his throat, "I understand your frustration,
Ma'am, I'm sorry for the mix up. I think we
must
be having
problems
with the computer system again," he
turned around, took a key off the keyboard, “I'll take your word,
here
is your key."
Ty handed over the key, “Room 20, it's on the third floor, Ma'am.”
The
key was an old-fashioned black key –
heavy and big and
it
reminded Dani of something from a movie set, “Thank you. What
time is breakfast?”
Ty
scratched his forehead, took another swig of water and answered,
“Eight o'clock, Ma'am.”
“My
name is, Danielle, not Ma'am and I'd appreciate a courtesy wake up
call at 7am.” She snapped back.
Ty
smiled, “Sure, Ma'...” Ty corrected himself, "Miss. Stoke.”
Dani
picked up her suitcases and headed over to the elevator, her feet
throbbed in annoyance... Her new Prada shoes looked great, but now
they only hindered her feet more. Just as she was about to press the
button, Ty called out, “Sorry, Miss. Stoke, the elevator isn't
working, you'll have to take the stairs.”
“Huh?
Really.” Dani muttered under her breath, “Typical.”
Wiping
the newly formed droplets of sweat off his brow with his sleeve, Ty
called out, “Do you want me to carry your bags upstairs for you?”
Dani
just stared at him
in
disbelief. There
was no way she would let him, a dirty, scruffy too-bit goodness knows
who, carry her two thousand dollar
Prada luggage set, not with his grubby hands, "No thank you."
“If
you say so.” Ty shook his head, thinking to himself, what a stuck
up, little miss know it all. He
grabbed his bottle of water and made his way over to the main door,
picked
up the tools off
the
floor
and
headed out the door.
Dani
walked over to the staircase and everywhere her eyes roamed, she
saw more flowers!
Underfoot was the ugly, dull, worn carpet, more walls that
held pictures of roses set in ugly brownish black frames, and either
side of the bottom of the stairs, sat freshly potted African violets,
at
least something looks cheerful and welcoming,
she
mused.
Looking up at the main staircase, she sighed at the unwelcome
circumstances, and determinedly began
the
hike upstairs to the third floor.
Beads
of sweat trickled down her brow and her breathing rapid, she stepped
up on the last step and sighed. Her feet ached even more and she was
sure
that
they
would continue to give her grief even after she would
take her shoes off. She
set
her luggage down for a minute, and
mentally
taking note to
never
pack so much clothes next time. With
a much
needed deep
breath in, Dani picked up her luggage and strolled
down the hallway. The
one thing that kept her from yelling out in frustration and
tiredness, was the thought of collapsing on a welcoming bed, then
enjoying a very relaxing warm bath... With bubbles.
"Finally."
Dani muttered as she found her door, placing the key into the lock,
she turned the key and pushed
down on
the door handle...
Nothing! “What the heck! Come on you stupid door... Open!” Dani
yelled. She tried one more time, she turned the key, jiggled the
handle, but
it
still wouldn't open. Taking the key out, she looked at the tiny tag,
“That dumb guy told me the wrong door number.” Dani glanced
around to see where room 23 was. It was at the very end of the
hallway!
Dani
limped towards number 23, her feet, a dark pink swollen mess! Lifting
the key up to the lock, she
turned it, pushed
down on the handle
and the door slowly creaked open, “Oh, thank the
heavens.”
Walking into the bedroom, Dani let out an exasperated sigh, “More
flowered walls!” She
headed
further inside the room, and
was welcomed by a
stark white unfinished room, the wallpaper was the same as
downstairs, ugly and peeling. Dead
bugs were
dotted all over the
threadbare carpet, hanging
above the bed,
were fake yellow and pink ugly flowers, with
layers of
dust. Next
to the bed sat a
shabby brown bedside table with a 1920's telephone sitting on top of
it and if that wasn't bad enough... The bed had no bedding, but an
abundance of different colored stains!
“THIS
IS NOT ACCEPTABLE!” Dani stormed over
to
the on-suite bathroom to check that out. Opening the door there
were more
stark blank white walls, an old club foot bath, that had seen better
days, a toilet that no longer owned
its seat and
lid, with
thick layers of disgusting black gunk around the toilet
bowl!
She
dared herself, to turn the faucet on... Carefully leaning over the
edge of the bath, she
twisted the cold water knob.... At first no water came, then came
some loud clanking noises, and out chugged icky brown sludge!
“Eww,
so disgusting.
This
will not do at all!” Dani
turned off
the faucet and
made her way to the bedside table, stared at the dusty black
candlestick rotary phone, then
picked
up the receiver and dialed zero.
“Hello,” no response. “Hello, is anyone there?” Finally...
She heard breathing and then a gargled cough, on the other end, “Hi.
This is, Danielle Stoke from room 23, the state of this room is
deplorable. How can you expect me to stay here in this mess.”
A
woman's voice, old and creaky answered, “Sorry, who is this?”
“Danielle
Stoke. I just checked in, I'm in room 23 and I would like a full
refund.”
Dani
drummed her fingers on the base of the phone, her heart began to
race, all she wanted was to take a bath, then sleep. Was that too
much to ask! Now, she was being held up by a woman whom she'd never
met or spoke to before, “If you don't mind, I would like to speak
with, Ty. He checked me in, less than twenty minutes ago.”
“Oh,
I see. I'm sorry about this Mrs. Stoke...
Dani
replied sharply, “Miss, not Mrs.”
Letting
out a rattled cough, Betsy replied, “Miss. Stoke, I'm Betsy,” she
coughed. “I'm sorry but, Ty shouldn't have checked you into that
room.”
Looking
at the board and
picked up the
right key, “I apologize, it looks like Ty gave you the wrong room
key by mistake, room 23 you're in, is in need of some repair and I
forgot to tell him, we had any guests this weekend.”
“Oh...
You don't say.” Dani huffed.
“Room
20 is ready, for you. I'll bring the key up.”
“I
should think so... Oh, and for future reference, maybe you should
make sure the right
person is at the reception
desk
from now on.”
Betsy
cleared her throat and replied, “Maybe you're right, Miss. Stoke.”
Copyright
2013 Freckles. All Rights Reserved.
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