I
Jeff Ratner locked the kitchen door behind himself when he got home after work. As usual, his mom had left the light over the sink on for him and he expected to find a nice dinner for himself under foil in the refrigerator. He got a dinner break at work and could buy his meals in the Hotel kitchen for half price but he preferred to wait until he got home. Even at half price, a sandwich a night at the Neptune Grand added up and his mom was a better cook, anyway.
What he didn't expect to find was his youngest sister, Lucy, crouched on the floor behind the kitchen table.
"Lucy, what are you doing up at this hour?" he asked.
"EH!" his seven year old sister started with a jump.
"Does Mom know you're creeping around down here?" He demanded as he stalked to the fridge to retrieve his dinner. "It's after midnight; get back to bed."
"I will but Satan woke me up. I think he's hungry."
"What?" Jeff turned from the fridge to look at the little girl. "Who woke you up?"
"My cat." At this, she lifted a raggedy looking little creature up into the light pouring out of the fridge so her big brother could see it. "Mom said I could keep him."
"Of course she did." Jeff turned his attention back to the food. Between the three of them, his sisters had a revolving menagerie that included their two dogs, a bird, several gerbils, a rabbit and whatever strays they happened to drag into the house. Jeff was only surprised it had taken them so long to find a cat. He grabbed the foil covered plate and let the door swing shut as he peeled off the wrap and slid his dinner into the microwave.
"I was having a really bad day." Lucy explained. "On account of Sara had a birthday party and she didn't invite me. It was on Saturday and all the other girls went but I didn't even know about it 'till today when they were talking about how much fun it was and the cake and everything and that Sara's mom took them all to the beach to have the party. I never get invited to the beach. I found him under the porch when I got home from school. He was all scraggly and afraid and Danni couldn't get him to come out but when I called to him, he came right out and let me pet him. Mom said I could keep him and now I don't even care about stupid Sara and her butt faced friends."
"Sara and her friends sound like a bunch of butt faces." Jeff agreed. Lucy laughed.
"I was asleep but he came to my door and cried. He's my cat, Jeff. He knew it was my door." Lucy said, petting the little animal. "I don't know how he knew but he did. I think he was hungry so I brought him down here and fed him."
"Great." Jeff sat at the table, almost too tired to care. If it weren't for fact that he was starving, he'd have left Lucy and the cat to themselves and gone up to bed. "What did you say its name was?"
"Satan." Lucy smiled indulgently at the little thing.
"Why in the world did you name him that?"
"I didn't." Lucy told him. "He told me that was his name."
"Luce," Jeff sighed, taking his dinner out of the microwave, dropping into a seat at the table and picking up his fork, "If you say creepy shit like that, you're never going to get invited to parties. The other kids will think you're a weirdo."
His little sister looked at him with huge, solemn brown eyes.
"You said 'shit'." She whispered.
"Sorry. Don't tell mom." He began to shovel his dinner into his mouth. "But seriously, why 'Satan'?"
"I don't know."
"That's a terrible name. Don't name him that."
"I didn't." She insisted. "I named him 'Belinda'. But then when I was asleep he told me his name wasn't Belinda because he's a boy and that's a girl name. I asked him what his name is and he said 'Satan' and he was hungry. Then I woke up and he was right outside my bedroom door, crying for me."
"Oh." Jeff swallowed a huge bite. "Yeah, that's not creepy at all."
He looked at the tiny cat. "He didn't…call you by name, did he?"
"No." The curl of Lucy's lip told him that now he was being weird.
"Well that's something." Jeff muttered. "I don't think you should keep that cat."
"Why not? He loves me." She held the scruffy fur ball up to her cheek. It was purring.
"Because he named himself after the Devil." Jeff said shortly. "That's the worst guy, ever. He'd be better off if you named him 'Hitler'. Or 'Voldemort'."
"Oh." She looked down at the cat which was barely more than a kitten. "Maybe I misunderstood him."
"I devoutly hope so." Jeff said, wolfing down the rest of his dinner. "If his name is really Satan, you've got to get rid of him. I for one, won't live in the same house as a cat named Satan."
"It was just a dream." Lucy shrugged. "Maybe he's not even a boy cat."
"Let's see." Jeff reached out and lifted the animal's tail. "No, he got that part right."
"Listen to him!" Lucy chuckled at the purring little creature. "He sounds like a bubble machine."
"Yeah, he kinda does." Jeff agreed. "Maybe you should call him 'Bubbles'. That works for a boy or a girl cat."
"Yeah!" Lucy was struck by the logic of that. "Bubbles is a good name."
"Right. Get yourself to bed now." He ordered. "Leave the cat here."
Lucy gave Bubbles a kiss on the head and carefully placed him back on the floor next to the food and water dishes she'd set behind the table where she'd hoped the dogs wouldn't find it. She turned back at the kitchen door.
"I love you, Jeffie!" she sang.
"Whatever." Jeff had already turned his attention to finding something for desert. "Get to bed or I'll tell mom you were up all night."
II
"Morning, Jeff." Ron Ratner greeted his son at the breakfast table. "How was work last night?"
"Same." Jeff shrugged as he poured himself some coffee. "Fun, dull, interesting, tiring. Work."
"I want to work at the Neptune Grand when I get big." Danni said.
"Why?" Jeff was unaware that his eleven year old sister had an ambition to follow in his footsteps.
"I want to wear a sparkly gold uniform!" Danni explained.
"It's just the vest and it's not that sparkly." Jeff muttered, shoving part of a muffin in his mouth.
"You look beautiful in it!" Danni said.
Jeff grinned. He loved his little sisters. All three of them thought he was the embodiment of male perfection. He'd yet to meet another female who thought he was even passable, much less exemplary.
"Well, if your brother does a good job, he can put in a word for you when you turn sixteen." Ron said. "Hotel work is tough, though. It's not all glamorous uniforms and movie stars."
"Oh hey!" Jeff sat up. "Guess who just took up permanent residency in the Presidential suite?"
"Ricky Martin?" Danni asked, breathlessly.
"No, stupid; the president." Lucy piped up. "Didn't you hear him?"
"You don't have to be the president to live in the presidential suite." Danni snapped.
"You don't?" Lucy asked Jeff, who shook his head.
"You know Ricky Martin is gay, don't you?" he asked Danni.
"So?"
"You know what 'gay' is, don't you?"
"You know what 'statistical probability' is, don't you?" Danni shot back.
"Ummm…" Jeff looked at their dad, who just smiled into his coffee.
"Ricky's sexual orientation effects the probability that someday he'll fall for me not one millionth of a percentage point." Danni said. "Therefore, it has no effect on my feelings for him."
No one at the table had anything to say to that.
"So, who moved into the suite?" Ron asked, having no interest at all in Ricky Martin or any of his daughter's crushes du jour.
"Duncan Kane!" Jeff exclaimed.
"Really?" Ron was mildly interested. Everyone in southern California had been following the perambulations of the Lilly Kane case and all its offshoots. "But hasn't his parents' trial been moved north?"
"Yeah. I guess Duncan didn't want to miss his senior year at Neptune High." Jeff couldn't keep the note of disdain out of his voice when he mentioned his school's arch nemesis. "Apparently he's class president, captain of the soccer team, National Honor Society and all around Mr. Wonderful of the class of '06, so Jake put him up in the style to which he's been accustomed. Must be rough, eh?"
"Don't be petty, Jeff." Ron admonished. "Just because they have all the money in the world doesn't mean they don't feel the loss of their daughter or the threat to their own freedom as keenly as anyone. From what I've read, it seems they obstructed the investigation primarily because they were afraid the evidence pointed to their son. If anything could make the murder of their daughter an even worse ordeal than it is, it would be the conviction of their sole remaining child for murder! I can't imagine what hell they're going through."
"I guess." Jeff was always impressed by the depths of his father's compassion; even for people with whom he had nothing in common.
"Duncan Kane is cute." Danni offered. "Is he nice?"
"I'll let you know." Jeff said. "I haven't met him yet."
"His runs around with that Echolls boy." Ron said. From the tone of his voice, Jeff guessed his father's compassion had a limit.
"Logan Echolls?" Gabrielle, plopped down at the kitchen table. "What about him? I heard all the charges were dropped. Can't say the same about Aaron. God, who woulda guessed a guy that hot could be a killer?"
"Innocent until proven guilty." Jeff reminded his fifteen year old sister. "Although, I heard there were tapes of him…uh…with Lilly Kane."
"That may prove something but it doesn't prove murder." Ron said firmly. "And this is not a conversation for the breakfast table."
"It's actually a presumption of innocence until proven guilty." Danni piped up. "If Aaron Echolls is guilty, he's been guilty since he did it. If not…well, then…he's not."
"Yeah, burden of proof is on the state." Jeff nodded. "You've been listening!"
"So boring!" Gabi declared. "I heard one of those Mexican motorcycle guys had an uncle or something who got beat up pretty bad in one of those bum fights Logan Echolls promoted. I heard he made thousands making book on those fights and selling the video rights and he only paid the fighters a hundred each. I heard that's why the gang beat the sh-crap out of Logan the night his dad was caught."
"You know you shouldn't listen to gossip." Jeff teased."Mexican motorcycle guys?"
"Whatever." Gabi rolled her eyes. "So they call themselves the PCH 'cuz they think they own the pacific coast highway. All I know is they tried to kill Logan so he killed one of 'em back. That seems fair to me."
"How very old testament of you." Jeff laughed. "We've moved on to the new book, remember?"
"Yeah, like loving his enemies would've done Logan a lot of good that night." Gabi said, sarcastically.
"Did he do it?" asked Danni. "did he really knife that kid?"
"Didn't I just say I didn't want to talk about this over breakfast?" Ron asked his oldest daughter.
"You said you didn't want to talk about the video of Aaron Echolls having s-e-x with Lilly Kane." Danni reminded him. "Gabi's talking about Logan Echolls getting the sandwiches beaten out of him by that motorcycle gang."
"Yeah, Dad." Gabi giggled. "Totally different topic."
"Who, exactly are you spelling 'sex' for?" Ron asked Danni, who pointed at Lucy.
"Neighborhood gossip is worth what you pay for it." Jeff said. "According to public records, there's no direct evidence proving Echolls ever touched the knife that killed Felix Toombs. Of course, the only evidence that the knife ever existed is the wound in Felix's chest...Anyway, seems doubtful to me that a guy who was beaten up by six or seven gangsters could muster up the strength to knife one of his assailants to death. That's the opinion of the DA, too."
"How do you know all that?" Danni asked.
"Do you know what 'public records' means?" Jeff teased.
"Other teen aged boys spend their time online looking for naked women but my brother spends his perusing the public records of our local sheriff's department." Gabby said, shaking her head. "You're such a dork." The tone of her voice was pure affection, taking any sting out of her words.
"I know what s-e-x spells." Lucy said.
"How about we don't talk about any of those Neptune ne'er-do-wells and their fancy problems until I've had my coffee?" Ron suggested. "This is going to cause day long indigestion!"
"Come on Dad, what's the fun of living within spitting distance of the rich and famous if you can't talk like you know them?" Gabi asked.
"You can't spit all the way to the Neptune Grand." Danni felt compelled to point out.
"Shut up." Gabi felt equally compelled to explain.
"Jeffie knows Duncan Kane." Lucy countered.
"Since when?" Gabi scoffed.
"No, I don't." Jeff corrected Lucy.
"He moved into Jeff's hotel." Ron said, picking up the newspaper to indicate his disinterest in continuing the discussion.
"Cool." Gabi looked at her brother.
"He's just another guest." Jeff said. "So I'll bring him dinner once in a while, no biggie."
"Gabi, let's go." Julia Ratner bustled in, wearing the beige pants and red shirt that served as her work uniform. "I can drop you off at the bus stop but we have to leave now or I'll be late. Can you get the others to school, Sweetie?"
"No problem." Ron looked up from the paper long enough for his busy wife to kiss him goodbye. "I'll pick up something for dinner."
"What? No; I'll already be at Target, I'll grab something for us." Julia said. "I get off at 4:00, dinner at 6:00. Easy peasy."
"Can we have tuna salad?" Lucy asked. "Bubs wants tuna."
"Get that cat away from the table, Lucy." Her Mom said as she hustled Gabi towards the back door. "I said you could keep it, I didn't say it could sit at the table."
"S-h-i-t." Lucy muttered as she dropped the kitten to the floor.
"I work at 5:00!" Jeff called after his mom. "Save me some dinner, okay? Last night's was great! Thanks!"
"You're welcome, honey!" Julia's voice called from outside. In another moment, they heard her car peel out of the garage. Julia was always in a hurry.
"She does way too much." Ron said of his wife.
"She likes it." Jeff said. "Can you imagine Mom without sixty things to do at once? The world shudders at the thought."
"Girls, grab your stuff, it's almost time to go." Ron told Danni and Lucy.
"What did you say?" Danni asked Lucy as they brought their breakfast dishes up to the counter, rinsed them and placed them in the dishwasher.
"I know how to spell f-u-c-k, too." Lucy said.
"You'd better not!" Danni warned, aghast.
"Try to stay away from that Kane kid." Ron said to his son. "That crowd seems to draw nothing but trouble."
"You worried that their debauchery will wear off on me if I start serving them cheeseburgers?" Jeff laughed.
"No." Ron smiled. "I have more faith in your character than that. But…well, I'd hate for you to start thinking that life style is normal."
"Don't worry about me, Dad." Jeff assured him. "I can tell a hawk from a handsaw."
Chapter 2
"Hey, guys!" Ritchie Williams, star athlete of Pan High's various teams stopped by the table at which Jeff and his friends were sitting. "You coming to the game tonight? Gotta start the season on the right foot, don't we? We'll need all the help we can get!"
That was true. Pan High's football team was perennially awful. Last year's record was 2-8 and the season had been half over before they'd scored their first touchdown. Yet the games were always well attended and the social highlight of the school's week.
"I'll be there!" Wilson piped up.
"I know you will be buddy." Ritchie ruffled Wilson's hair as though the other boy were six. Wilson grinned at the attention. "You're our number one fan, aren't you?"
"I don't know." Wilson actually blushed.
"Hope the rest of you guys show up, too." Ritchie said. "Maybe the threat of humiliating ourselves in front of the whole student body will force us to play out of our minds."
Before Jeff or either of the other two nerds at the table could point out that the threat had never worked before, Ritchie had moved on to the next table, whipping up support for the team.
"Gosh, he's a nice guy." Wilson said. "So you guys coming?"
"Yeah." Nodded Alfredo. "Nothing else to do around here on a Friday night."
"I hate football." Denis sighed. "But I do love cheerleaders."
The conversation stalled as two of the school's cheerleaders walked by in their blue and white uniforms. The four boys watched them until they sat at a table on the other side of the room.
"Why do you hate football?" Wilson asked. "It's fun."
"It is fun." Jeff said. "A bunch of jocks go caveman on each other and try to cause brain damage. I love it."
"So you're going?" Denis asked.
"No." Jeff answered. "I gotta work."
"'I gotta work, I gotta work'" Alfredo mimicked. "All you ever do is work!"
"Keeps me out of trouble." Jeff said. "And if I'm going to move out of my parent's house next year, that's going to take some scratch."
"Why not just live in the dorms like everyone else?" Jon asked.
"Dorm life is the biggest scam in America." Jeff said. "Even if I get a full academic scholarship to Hearst, they charge $1000.00 a month to live in a shitty little room with no kitchen, no bathroom and a room mate. Who they choose! A slumlord who tried to pull that kind of a deal would be in prison but our universities do it and everyone just plays along. It's ridiculous."
"If you get a full ride, room and board is included." Alfredo pointed out.
"I'd still have to share a dinky space with someone." Jeff said. "I'm afraid I'd get some slimey Romeo who brings home a different girl every weekend. Yeah, trying to sleep while Tarzan and Jane make like chimps three feet away sounds awesome."
"Maybe he'd let you have the left overs." Denis grinned.
"Ew. No." Jeff shuddered.
"You are so 1950s." Alfredo shook his head.
"Right. Because it's so mid-century to think that women should be considered more than hookups and 'leftovers'." Jeff said. "Remind me never to let any of you guys near my sisters. Ever."
"Jeez, man, do you ever chill?" Denis asked. "I mean, you're never gonna get laid so you better figure out some way to relax."
"Hard to do, living here at the gates of Hell." Jeff muttered.
"You could just live at home." Wilson said. "You live what, six miles from campus? It's not like you don't have a car."
"That car is another perk I earned by working all the time." Jeff said. "and if you lived in a house full of girls, you'd know why I don't want to stay home."
"You should just bring a night bag to work." Denis laughed. "I'll bet there's at least one unbooked room a night that you could crash in. You'd save a ton of money being the Grand's own itinerate homeless bellhop!"
"My God; you're a genius!" Jeff shook his head as his friends laughed.
Denis and Al grabbed their books and took off, leaving Jeff and Wilson at the table.
"So you're really not coming to the game?" Wilson asked. "I know you gotta work a lot and I get why but it just seems like you're missing all the best parts of high school."
"There are 'best parts' of this?" Jeff joked.
"The games are fun." Wilson said. "And the guys are great! You'd know that if you ever pulled your face out of a book or took a night off from work."
"You're only on the bandwagon since you became a hero by stealing that stupid bird of theirs last year." Jeff said. "Which was pretty awesome by the way."
"Come on." Wilson objected, embarrassed. "Don't start."
"Hey, I know what went down." Jeff leaned in, conspiratorially. "Capitalizing on the internal strife of our foes was brilliant! You know I'll take your secret to the grave."
Jeff had figured out immediately that Wilson had had nothing to do with the disappearance of Neptune High's mascot, Polly. He and Wilson had spent the day before the birdnapping together: Wilson hadn't had time to do the deed. He had, however, been inspired to take the credit nearly immediately and Jeff bowed to him for doing so.
Flashback:
Jeff was pulling his homework out of his locker and couldn't help but notice the steady stream of students stopping to heap praise and thanks upon Wilson, whose locker was two down from his. The whole school was agog with admiration for the daring deed of pilfering Polly the Parrot from the school's arch rival: Neptune high. Wilson was pink with…something.
Jeff waited until the latest group of admirers were out of ear shot, then confronted his best friend.
"What the heck, Wils? Why does everyone think you did it?" he asked.
"What makes you think I didn't?" Wilson stammered.
"Uh; I've known you for five years." Jeff stared into Wilson's flushed face. "And when, exactly, were you supposed to have performed this excellent feat of breaking, entering and theft?"
"Uh, well, um…"
"And there's exactly no chance at all that your Mom would let you have a bird in your room," Jeff continued, "since your allergies would kick in and gosh, Wils, I don't see a rash or any hives or anything to indicate that you've spent more thirty seconds in close proximity to any animals at all in the last 24 hours…"
"FINE." Wilson cut him off. "I faked it. I heard Neptune's bird was gone and they're blaming us and no one else said they took it, so…"
"You lied."
"Come on, Ratner, for once in your life, pull the stick out of your butt. Yeah, I lied, so what? For the first time in my life, people think I'm cool! What's the harm?"
"I don't have a stick up my butt!" Jeff protested. "In fact, I…kinda wish I'd thought of it."
"You do?"
"No." Jeff shook his head, on further thought. "I don't want everyone looking at me. I prefer flying under the radar. I don't care about their attention and I sure don't want attention for something I didn't do."
"There's that stick again." Wilson muttered.
"Why is it so important to you that a bunch of jocks and cheerleaders know your name?" Jeff asked.
"It's more than that!" Wilson insisted. "You know that new girl, Betty?"
"No."
"Omigod, she's this smoking hot blond! And she's new so she doesn't know I'm a dweeb."
"You're not a dweeb." Jeff was sick to death of his friends accepting the labels the popular kids gave them.
"She thinks I'm kickass." Wilson suddenly blushed. "She wants to go to rest stop 15 with me."
"Rest stop 15?" Jeff knew what that meant: Wilson was either going to get mugged or laid.
"Its finally gonna happen." Wilson breathed. "she wants me!"
The next day, Wilson had regaled his friends with a lurid and detailed account of his first (and second) time in the back seat of his Datsun. Betty had been enthusiastically appreciative of his school spirit. And, according to Wilson, his stamina.
End flashback
"Anyway, no one even remembers the Great Bird Caper." Jeff assured his friend. "As far as the jocks go, you're okay. It doesn't even matter how you got there."
"Yeah." Wilson looked unsure about that. "And it's called the 'Pan-wagon', not the bandwagon."
"Oh whatever." Jeff laughed. "I still don't believe there was ever a 'Betty'."
"She's real!" Wilson insisted. "I don't know what happened to her. That was pretty weird."
"Pretty weird? A fantasy girl shows up at school just long enough to make a man out of you, then disappears forever? I'd say that's pretty convenient."
"She's real." Wilson insisted. "Ask Ritchie."
II
That evening, Jeff rolled his cart into the kitchen, having delivered the first meals of the evening and stopped dead in his tracks. The normal state of being in any industrial kitchen at dinner time was nerve wracking. Jeff had long ago grown used to bustling hive of frantic activity so when he pushed through the swinging doors to find silence, he knew something was wrong.
All the staff were gathered in the center of the room, staring up at the television that was usually only on during the downtimes between the breakfast and lunch rush, their faces pale, some of the women crying.
"What's going on?" he asked. "Who died?"
No one noticed him. Imagining planes flying into skyscrapers, he strode forward until he could see the news.
A school bus full of Neptune High students returning from Shark Field had gone over the cliff into the ocean. All aboard had died.
"Oh shit." Jeff sighed.
"Master Kane was on that field trip." Esme, the sou chef said, his voice breaking. "He let the kitchen know he wouldn't be home for dinner."
"That poor family." Someone sobbed.
"Oh my God." Jeff blood ran cold. His heart went out to Jake and Celeste Kane. To lose their son while awaiting justice for the murder of their daughter was too much to bear. "Oh my God."
"Wait!" Marisol, a member of the housekeeping staff cried, pointing at the screen. "Is that him? Is it? Maybe he wasn't on board!"
A news helicopter was providing footage of the scene: several teens stood on the cliff near a town car. Duncan Kane had looked up at the chopper and the camera zoomed in on his face.
The kitchen went unnaturally silent again as they watched the horror on the cliff unfold. The news was terrible; the worse tragedy to strike Neptune in years. But at least the one person they knew had escaped a watery grave. At least the Kane family still had an heir.
Chapter 3
"Ratner!" Bob called out. "I need some help."
"Okie Dokie!" Jeff spun on his heel and headed toward his overburdened coworker.
It was Saturday night at the Neptune Grand, which was aways a busy, hectic night. The only five star hotel in town hosted parties, receptions and conferences nearly every weekend of the year. This particular Saturday night, there were private parties in the back rooms of both restaurants, a retirement party in one of the conference halls and the main ballroom was the site of the annual Southern California Realtor's banquet. Add to that crowd the regular Saturday night bar and restaurant crowds and Jeff hadn't stopped moving since his shift started.
He didn't mind. He'd much rather be busy at work than bored.
"Would you mind bringing a tray upstairs?" Bob asked. "I know you're supposed to be working the ballroom but I gotta get this tray back into the Richmond party and the lady in 1147 sounds really hungry."
"No sweat." Jeff took the handle of the cart. "Riding the elevator upstairs will be the break I haven't taken all night."
"Thanks. I owe you one."
Jeff hadn't been exaggerating. He pushed the cart into the service elevator and sighed as the doors closed. He leaned back against the wall and looked at the order slip. Crème brule.
Great. Another extramarital affair. I guess there's just something about crème brule that goes really wel with illicit sex.
Up on the top floor of the hotel, the noise and music of the first two floors wasn't even a muffled rumor. Here, all was quiet. Any hotel guests who chose to enjoy the luxury of their well-appointed suites would never be distracted by the revelries below.
He pushed the bell at 1147.
"Who is it?" a low, musical voice asked playfully.
"Room service." He announced.
The deep carpeting prevented him from hearing any footfalls approach the door and he jumped when it silently swung open.
Compounding his surprise was the vision that stood in the open door. A woman who looked like she'd just stepped out of a 1980s teen fantasy was standing there in a dress showing such a vast expanse of cleavage he felt a brief touch of vertigo.
"Well?" she demanded, no longer sounding playful. "Bring it in!"
She stepped aside and waved impatiently toward the room. Jeff put his head down and pushed the cart into her room.
"Where would you like it, Miss?" he asked.
"I don't care." She snapped. "Just get out of here; you need to be gone before my guest arrives."
"Yes, Miss." He turned to go and was surprised again by the twenty she shoved at him. "Oh, I don't have any change, Miss and you can just charge…"
"Did I ask for change?" she demanded. "Get out!"
"Yes Miss. Thank you, Miss."
She practically shoved him out of the room. He sighed as the door closed behind him. He'd taken two steps when the door opened again.
"Hey!" she called. He turned around. "Get this out of here!" she shoved the cart, sans the desert tray, out the door and slammed it shut. He grabbed the cart and pushed it down the hall. The guest elevator opened and a young man got off. Since Duncan Kane had moved in, they'd had more kids on the top floors than usual. They passed each other as Jeff continued toward the service elevator and the kid sauntered down the hall toward Duncan's door.
Jeff swore under his breath when he saw that the service elevator was all the way in the basement. He looked over his shoulder. The guest elevator doors were still open. The help wasn't supposed to use the guest elevators but on a busy night like this, management didn't mind.
He grabbed the cart, spun it around and pulled it into the elevator. As he pushed the button, he looked back up the hall and saw to his surprise that the young man who had just exited the elevator had passed by Duncan's door and was knocking on 1147. Jeff watched as Kendall Casablancas greeted Logan Echolls with a deep, passionate kiss. Before the elevator doors closed, Jeff saw her hand grab the boy's ass and pull him into the room.
Jeff tried not to be curious about the hotel's guests. He thought that was unprofessional. He blinked several times as the elevator descended but he couldn't unsee what he'd just seen.
"Wow." He finally said, as the doors opened onto the lobby.
An impatient young blond in jeans and a neck tie for a belt, clearly not associated with any of the parties being held in the hotel, swept past him as he pushed the cart out of the car.
"Oh, excuse me!" he said, yanking the cart out of her way. She said nothing but pushed the button for the floor she wanted without acknowledging Jeff in any way at all. He sighed again, reminding himself that good help should be invisible.
But he was unable to stop himself from wondering why some people were so rude.
To be continued...