The Crown hotel was a reasonable distance away from the madness of Manhattan, far enough for it to be described as a quiet area, though not too far away that Norma had to rule out the option of sightseeing because of travel cost. The hotel itself wasn't majorly flashy, though wouldn't ever be described as basic or tacky either. As soon as Norma walked inside, this strange feeling washed over her. The warm lighting, the beautiful paintings that hung on the wall, the brown leather seats; it all came together to create a feeling of comfort and relaxation. This would do quite nicely, she thought. She walked in through the lobby contently and headed up to the reception desk, greeted immediately with an overly enthusiastic smile by a red head in black-framed glasses; her name tag reading Rebecca.
"Hello, welcome to the Crown. How can I help you today?"
"Hi, yes, I have a reservation booked?"
"What's the name, please?"
"Bates."
"And can you spell that for me?" She asked seriously, preparing to type the name into the computer in front of her.
Norma blinked in surprise. "B-a-t-e-s." Her voiced raised unintentionally; making a point that she was stating the obvious. She hadn't had that one before. Since when was Bates such a difficult name to spell?
"Ah yes, there you are. And it's 2 weeks, is that correct?
"Yep, that's it."
"Can I see a credit card and photo ID, please?"
She rooted through her purse, pulling out her credit card and driver's licence.
"Thank you..." The woman trailed off, looking between the picture on the driver's licence and Norma far too many times for her liking. She wanted to say, yes, I look young and stress-free in that picture; and now i'm a lot older and haggard, I get your point. Though of course, she didn't. Merely stood there patiently; with the addition of a sarcastic smile plastered on her face when the woman finally handed her possessions back to her.
"Okay, we have you on Floor 2; Room 234." She said, keeping hold of the key in her hand. "Breakfast is served in the big room just down the hall there, between 8 and 10pm. The bar is open 24 hours, and you can connect to our free wifi with the details in your welcome pack where you can find everything else you need to know. If you have any issues with your room, don't hesitate to call reception desk and someone will be with you as soon as possible."
"Okay, mhm—yep—gotcha..." Norma nodded along quickly, very quickly growing sick of the welcome babble and wanting to be handed her key already.
"Well I hope you have a lovely stay with us, ma'am." The woman smiled that same, over-enthusiastic—probably fake—smile once again and placed the key in her hand.
"Oh i'm sure I will, thank you very much." She responded politely, giving her a small wave before she gripped her suitcase and turned around. Barely even getting the chance to take any more than two steps ahead, Norma walked right into someone who was walking up to reception desk as she was leaving; none of them happening to be looking where they were going.
"Oops, oh i'm sorr—" Her eyes flickered up to meet the dark-brown ones of the stranger in apology, and the familiarity of them hit her immediately. "You?!" She took a few steps back in surprise. "Okay, what the—did you stalk me here? You know what...I knew you gave off a bad vibe. I knew it! Listen you're not gonna get anywhere with me, mister. Do you hear me? I told you, i'm not interested in smart ass guys like you. So back off. All I wanted to come here, kick back, relax—"
"Mr. Romero." The woman from behind her intervened, bringing her overly dramatic speech to a close.
Alex looked over her shoulder to the woman at the front desk, nodding respectively towards her. "Hi, Becky."
Norma looked between them; in completely confusion over the apparent familiarity.
Becky?
"It's good to see you again...Sir." She seemed to add the last half of the sentence on very quickly, as if she felt like she needed to save herself.
"You know this man?" Norma turned back to the woman, pointing back to Alex with her thumb.
"Uh, yes—Alex—Mr. Romero—has stayed with us a few times now, ma'am."
She narrowed her eyes curiously, turning back to him. "So you're staying here. Out of all the hotels in New York, you and I end up in the same one?"
"Coincides happen, Ms. Bates." He shrugged.
"You know if you don't want to seem like a stalker, you probably shouldn't act like one."
"How do you figure i'm acting like one?"
"Coincides happen, Mrs Bates." She repeated, dramatising his tone and making the sentence seem far more eerie than it did when he'd said it himself. "You radiate stalker right now. How do you even know my surname?"
"Oh, I don't know, s'pose I overheard when you passive aggressively shouted B-A-T-E-S and it bounced off of every wall in the lobby?"
An audible snort escaped the nose of the red head behind the desk, but by the time Norma's head snapped round to shoot her a judgemental glare; she seemed to have regained her professional nature in record time.
She let out a little huff and turned back to Alex, her eyes narrowing at him once more. The stubbornness in her still left her uncertain on whether or not she should trust him. After all, one little conversation on a plane really wasn't much to go off.
"I still don't trust you."
"That's a shame."
"Yeah, it is." She stood with her arms crossed, wondering whether or not he was actually going to attempt to prove his innocence at all.
"Look, if you don't trust me, you don't trust me. There's not much I can do about it."
"Well, fine, then just keep your distance. You get on with your vacation, and i'll get on with mine."
"Sounds perfect to me. Now please, can I just check in?" He asked with a raised eyebrow, gesturing towards the front desk in annoyance.
"Be my guest." She said dramatically, stepping out of the way.
Norma found herself observing the conversation between Alex and the red head; how their mannerisms and facial expressions around each other seemed almost awkward and uncomfortable, similar to that of two people who hadn't seen each other in a long time. Two people who, just maybe, the last time they saw each other...
"Is there something else you need, ma'am?"
Norma stumbled back slightly, saving herself by the handle of her suitcase. "'Oh! No, no, i'm all set. I'll just be–" She pointed behind her, slowly turning around to avoid the discomfort she felt as the two of them looked at her.
Subtlety had never really been her strong point, so it didn't seem to click to her that standing right next to two people as you eavesdrop isn't the best way to go about it.
She shook her head in embarrassment, dragging her suitcase along behind her as she made her way over to the elevators.
Her room itself was pretty simplistic; basic, muted colours and of a regular size. She was never expecting anything majorly fancy, not for how much she paid anyway. Despite saving up for a while, she still didn't have enough to branch out on luxuries. Though there was no denying that the second she opened the curtains, it brought the entire room character. The striking view outside was just beautiful.
She immediately tackled the necessary hotel bed-test, flopping down on the mattress and taking a second to appreciate the comfort. It was heaven in comparison to the old, creaky mattress she had to endure every night at home; because apparently furniture was of low importance according to Sam.
As soon as she'd taken it all in; the view, the bed, the TV, the breakfast menu, more importantly the drinks menu—the novelty of 'settling in' wore off pretty quickly. Already, she wanted to do something. Ever since she was little, Norma has always been the active type. Always wanting to do something or go somewhere, and with age that only heightened. She always felt like she had to busy herself by doing something, that you should never just sit down and waste your life away.
After unpacking everything and hanging all her clothes up, she decided a little exploring was due. Get used to her surroundings, soak in the atmosphere. She grabbed her room key and handbag and left the room, worming her way through the maze that was the hallways leading back to the elevators. She got there in the end, after a subtle nod from a kind-looking cleaning lady who pointed her in the right direction.
As she stepped back out into the ground floor, her first observation was that the red head from reception was gone now; replaced shifts, perhaps, with who was now a tall and attractive dark-haired man. She tutted to herself, mentally cursing over the fact she'd have been welcomed by him instead if she'd have just arrived a couple of hours later.
She snapped out of her unintentional trance and continued walking through into the lobby. She poked her head around the corner to observe the breakfast room; not too shabby. It was definitely set to be a lot more sophisticated than her usual, hectic breakfast; hands battling across the wobbly table over who would get the last piece of toast, or one of the boys snatching the others' toy that occasionally came in their favourite cereal.
Of course, she couldn't not check out the bar. It was only small, and the decor was relatively simplistic but nevertheless it seemed like a nice place to wind down after a long day. Her original plan was to check out the area outside the hotel for a little while, but she did a double take as she went to turn around. There he was, again. Sat in the corner with a drink, mumbling something to the bartender. Completely minding his own business, though, so she could hardly bring up the stalker argument again. She sighed, glancing briefly over her shoulder then back over to the corner of the room.
Screw it.
She pulled her handbag over her shoulder, making her way over to the bar and taking up the space next to Alex; all without a word being said.
He didn't have to turn his head to know that it was her. The sound of her heels clicking on the marble floor, the fact that she sat right next to him despite the free range of the entire bar on offer, the stubborn silence.
"Enjoying keeping your distance?" He asked smugly, taking a sip of his drink.
"Me? Oh, i'm having a blast." She nodded, resting her elbows on the bar and smiling at the bartender. "One apple martini, please."
"Of course, mon chérie."
A surprised smile tugged at the corner of her lips at the man's strong French accent. "Ah, français!"
"Parlez-vous français?" The man questioned excitably.
"Eh, comme ci...comme ça." She admitted with a flipping gesture of her hand. "It's a little off these days."
She spotted Alex in the corner of her eye, looking at her with raised eyebrows. With a small smirk, she turned to him and shrugged her left shoulder in a 'Yeah, I can speak French' kind of way.
"So how long have you lived here...uh...oh—Fred?" She asked, drawing her attention back to the bartender and the name tag attached to his waistcoat, taking a hold of the martini he slid in front of her.
"Ooo, well, I left Bordeaux a little over 5 years ago now. I travelled a lot even before then, but I think...yes...I think around then is when I officially moved here. And i've worked here 3/4 years now."
"Oh, wow." She nodded, taking a sip of her drink.
"Well...yes. It's not the worst life...I must say. And you? Where have you come here from?"
"Arizona. Yeah, not as impressive unfortunately..."
"Ahhh." He smiled, nodding his head slowly, his eyes flickering briefly towards Alex then back to her. "So you're the woman, huh?"
"'The woman'?" When she turned to Alex in hope of an explanation, he seemed about ready to sink into the ground. Of course he wasn't going to admit to talking about her; oh, god forbid he was caught praising her. She rolled her eyes, turning once more back to the bartender.
"Yes, well, your friend was telling me about the two of you reuniting here...why how rom—"
"Friend, reuniting?" She scoffed, taking a sip of her martini. "Please, we barely met a couple hours back."
"Perhaps, but nonetheless you two have been pushed right back together. Like two little doves! Voilà!" He exclaimed contently, like as if he was truly overjoyed over the concept despite barely knowing the two of them. "I believe that's a little thing we French call destineé."
"Or, maybe it's a little thing we Americans call...a coincidence." Norma responded, mimicking his theatrical tone which triggered a quiet laugh from the French man.
"Woah there, hang on, what was that?" Alex intervened suddenly, cupping his hand over his ear, leaning closer to her. "Sorry, say that one again? I didn't quite catch it. Coincid—"
"Alright alright." She rolled her eyes, swatting his hand away irritably. "So you're not a stalker, okay, whatever. I overreacted a little...so what? We all do sometimes."
"Mm. Whatever you say." He narrowed his eyes, sipping his drink.
There went that silence again; the gap that would usually be filled with much friendlier, enthusiastic chatter by people a lot less stubborn than them.
"So." Norma began, crossing one leg over the other. "Becky." She stated simply, her eyes brightening with a glint of curiosity.
He frowned. "The receptionist? What about her."
"The receptionist." She rolled her eyes, resting her chin on her hand. "Come on, don't insult me here. I'm not stupid."
"I never said you were." He responded before sipping his drink, pretending he hadn't already pieced together where she was going with this.
"You two have screwed before, huh?" She asked bluntly, pulling the apple slice off the corner of her glass and biting it.
He near enough choked on his scotch, slamming the glass down on the top of the bar. "Jesus..."
A quiet yet still audible chuckle came from the French man behind the bar, obviously overhearing the conversation from afar where he was cleaning a couple of glasses.
"That's a yes. Knew it!" She snapped her fingers, chewing on the rest of the apple. "So...what, she's like your little summer fling every year? Is that it, is that why you come here all the time?"
"It's not—" He sighed, scratching the back of his neck. Clearly, the topic made him uncomfortable, but that wasn't about to stop Norma's questioning. "It's not like that. I suppose...well I suppose it is, but it's just...it's not."
"Oh, yeah." She responded sarcastically, nodding her head. "Makes sense."
"No, I just mean that...well it's never...intentional."
She choked out a loud laugh, only to be met with a completely serious expression by Alex. "Never intentional? So you just...find yourself in her bed? Through what, teleportation?"
"Never planned, I mean."
"Hm. I don't buy that."
"It's true."
"Please. I bet you anything you'll end up hooking up with her by the end of this week."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. $10. And let's make this an honest bet, 'kay? You sleep with her, you come find me and pay up."
"And if I don't, you'll do the same?"
"Deal's a deal." She shrugged, sticking her hand out.
He shook her hand firmly; feeling a deja-vu from when they'd done the exact same a mere couple of hours ago, during what they thought was their goodbye.
"A toast?" Norma suggested, lifting her glass.
"What to?"
"Uh..." She pondered, with a tilt of her head. An amused grin spread across her face as she ironically repeated the words of the French man, "Destineé?"
"Coincidences." He corrected, lifting his glass and clinking it against hers before they both chugged back the little remaining contents.
With that, she got up and left without a single word. And as Alex watched her walk away, heels clicking, hips swaying, he shook his head—because he knew, now—he knew that this woman was about to become the bane of his existence. Irritating, rude, brutally honest, dramatic...
Yet—strangely amusing, entertaining company—and god, extremely attractive.
(Firstly - just for a bit of context, It's 5am right now and i'm currently questioning why and how i'm still here...)
I know, the wait between my updates is atrocious. Please feel free to shoot me. I am going to try my best to get back into that 'chapter a week' routine. Other fic writers update so regularly and it astonishes me, I swear. Like...you go guys. I will become one of those cool people. I will. [nervous laughter]
P.S: Yes, Rebecca is The Rebecca™ and she is going to be a royal pain in the ass in this fic, and i'm very sorry, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do right? But I mean, at least there's Fred. Appreciate Fred, you guys, because he's my fave. He also may or may not be loosely inspired by the guy from the British TV show First Dates, if any of you even know what that is. Haha! Gotta love that guy. But anyway, as always, hope you enjoyed the chapter! Feedback is always appreciated.
