It was a busy day at the hotel. Rory was rushed off her feet she was checking people in and out, doing room service, phoning the concierge service every 5 minutes because someone wanted a driver and she hadn't even taken her regular coffee break. If she didn't get the elixir or life into her system soon she was sure she would pass out. She escaped into the staff room for a moments peace but was quickly called back to the desk to deal with the competition winners. A few weeks ago the hotel had teamed up with Bride Magazine with the chance to win a weekend stay at the Hotel and a place to hold a wedding ceremony. Rory had been put in charge of catering to their every need. Great, the last thing she needed was a loved up couple that couldn't get enough of each other and were all over each other 24/7. She wandered up to the front desk and placed her coffee cup on her coaster. Without looking up from the computer screen she began taking details.
"Welcome to the Stanton Hotel, Name please?" she said clicking a few buttons with the mouse.
"Rory?" said a very familiar voice. Her head snapped up and her eyes met with the dark brown eyes of a past flame, Dean Forrester.
"Dean? What are you doing here?" she asked surprised. Dean would never be able to afford a place like this.
"We won a competition for a weekend stay here" he said indicating to the blonde who was shooting daggers at Rory. A few years ago Rory had lost her virginity to Dean while he was engaged to Lindsay needless to say Lindsay and Rory had never seen eye to eye since.
"Hmmm… Oh Ok well congratulations" she smiled sheepishly. Judging by the way Lindsay was tightly gripping onto Dean's arm she was still slightly wary of Dean being around other woman, not surprisingly.
"Umm.. Thanks" he said rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.
"Congratulations Lindsay" she said quietly apart from Lori none of her colleagues knew about the 'incident' with Dean.
"Thanks" she said, her voice dripping with hatred.
"Well I'll be your assistant while you stay here and I'll be helping you plan the wedding. So anything you need don't hesitate to call down from your room. Room service is open 24 hours and the dining room is open from 6am to 11pm" she supplied, desperately trying to avoid the steely gazes upon her.
"George over there will take your luggage up to your room and if you would like I can give you a tour of the Hotel facilities once you get settled"
"Umm. Thanks that would be great" he said uncomfortably, while placing his hands in his pockets and facing the ground. She took a key off the hook and placed it in his hand, then she took a brochure from under the desk and handed it to Lindsay.
"Enjoy your stay, just ring down when your ready for that tour I mentioned. Jason will show you to your room" she said indicating with her hand to a young man who was holding the lift door open for them.
"Thanks we will" she said nastily before pulling Dean off in the direction of the lift.
Rory breathed out heavily, Could that have been anymore awkward? she thought to herself
"Lori I need you to do me a huge favour" Rory said as she found the blonde reading a magazine in the staff room during her break.
"Sure what do you need?" she said looking up at Rory.
"You know those competition winners in room 209?"
"Yeah, I heard she is such a control freak" Lori said, It was amazing how fast the gossip spread throughout the hotel staff.
"Well I need to swap guests with you. If you take them off my hands I'll take 2 of your guests and I'll do one of your day shifts" Rory said pleadingly
"I would love too but I can't. Last time I swapped with Georgina Rosemary had a fit I almost got fired. Not that I care but I still cant, sorry" she said apologetically. "Why what's the problem?"
"Remember what I told you about my ex?"
"The one that was engaged?"
"Yeah him, well turns out him and his fiancé won the competition and it's going to be really awkward between us, seeing as I have to plan the wedding and such" she explained. Lori smiled apologetically but said that she still couldn't do it although she was willing to help.
"Great, Just Great" Rory muttered under her breath as she made her way back to the desk.
Rory was alone in the Lobby on the nightshift. All was quiet and only a few guests were traipsing in from a night on the tiles.
"Goodnight Rory" slurred Mr Trove, who Lori was convinced had a crush on Rory though he was at least 60.
"Sleep well Mr Trove" she returned the compliment. He looked her up and down and licked his lips before going in to the lift, he kept his eyes on her until the doors slid shut and he was safely out of sight. Lori had gone home a few hours, hand in hand with Ben.
She was surfing the net, checking out the latest News and gossip headlines. At first Rory couldn't have cared less about what was happening in the land of celebrities but then Lori had reminded her that once the press found out who she was she would be a celebrity so It made sense to keep up with all the gossip. She was disturbed from her thoughts by a group of 5 or 6 guys, about her age, come trampling through the door. They were smartly dressed in designer clothes and most of them were obviously drunk. Rory rolled her eyes and continued reading until one of the group came over to the desk. He had dishevelled blonde hair and the most gorgeous chocolate brown eyes. He had an athletic build and he wore a cocky grin that she had seen somewhere before but couldn't quite place it.
"Penthouse suite please" he said throwing an American Express black card down on the marble desk. Rory took the card and placed it on the lower desk.
"Name please?" she said.
"Hayden!" one of the men shouted from the other side of the lobby. He was a small man and was sober. Rory knew the man very well, he was the editor of the Yale Daily News and Rory's boss while she was at Yale.
"Doyle how are you?" she said carrying on with the booking.
"I'm just dandy Hayden and your fine self?" he said, okay maybe he was a little drunk.
"Good thanks Doyle"
"It's our man's stag night you see and well we just had to take him out for one last scout about before tying the knot" said the blonde as he threw an arm over Doyle's shoulder.
"I thought you and Paris weren't getting married for another few months Doyle" Rory said panicked, trying to rack her brain for any message telling her the wedding had been moved up.
"Oh it is, but Goodrich here didn't want to end up with a hangover on his wedding day so here we are" answered the blonde
"Here we are"
"Here we are, Here we areeeee" Doyle sang, okay very drunk.
"Name please?" Rory directed towards the blonde.
"Huntzberger" he answered casually.
"Wait, are you Lori's brother?" Rory asked now being able to place the cocky grin
"Well that depends on what she's done" he smirked.
"Did someone mention the divine Lori?" asked an strong Australian voice. The voice became louder as he hurried across the floor towards the desk, the other 5 guys following closely behind.
"Have you ever met a beauty such as Lori. The blonde hair, the blue eyes, the nice round….."
"Finn you dare finish that sentence and you wont see morning" warned the blonde.
"Sorry Mate, I'm more of a red head man anyway." he answered as he went off into a daydream.
"Where is that sister of mine anyway?" Logan, as it said on the credit card, asked.
"She went home hours ago, she'll be back in at 5 am though" She handed them the keys to the penthouse suite and all the guys except Logan made their way into the lifts.
"And what about you. What time does your shift end?" he flirted
"10 past never" she replied sarcastically, looking at her Dolce&Gabbana watch for emphasis.
"Wow, a feisty one, Since you wont honour me with your company can I please know your name?" he pushed
"Rory" she supplied. He breathed in deeply and walked over to where his friends were holding the lift door open and stepped in.
"See you around Ace" he shouted.
"Ace?"
"Ace reporter. Goodnight Miss Hayden" he smirked once again before the lift doors slid shut and once again Rory was left alone.
A/N Please review!