22.

"Hello. Checking in."

"Certainly, name?" Sora smiled at the client over the counter.

"Amada. A-M-A-D-A" Typing in the name, he pulled up the reservation.

"That's a queen, non-smoking room and you don't know when you'll be checking out?" He read the information back to the man.

"That's right," he replied.

"Okay." Sora checked him in into the system, printing out a registration paper. "I just need your credit card, and for you to initial here, here and sign on the bottom." He pointed to the places while swiping the gold plastic handed to him. "Thank you. Is this your first time staying at a Sofitel?"

Sora punched in the room number and swiped two blank cards. "Yes, it is." He placed the two in their paper-jackets and inserted a slip of paper with information.

"Well, welcome to the Sofitel! Here are your keycards, and the password to our complimentary wireless internet." He indicated with his pen. "We also have a computer for your use here in the lobby. That corridor there leads to our restaurant, we can also deliver to your room, and the pool and fitness centre is down in the lower lobby."

"Perfect." The man looked at the paper then back to Sora. "Thank you."

"Thank you for staying at the Sofitel. Enjoy!" Sora replied. The man and his wife walked over to the elevators, expensive suitcases in tow. Sora sighed and turned to Yuffie in the next pod. "Man, dealing with unenthusiastic clients is so tiresome."

"I know. But you're doing great Sora! You'll always get clients like that every now and then." The woman in the black suit smiled encouragingly at him.

Business at the Sofitel came in waves. The lobby would be a mausoleum and then five minutes later be guests checking in, checking out, airlines flying in, a group function asking where to set up, etc,. He'd worked here for nearly five months, every other day counting for 4 credits in school. It was hard work, since he'd migrate to different parts of the hotel in the afternoon to lend a hand, but he enjoyed it thoroughly.

It was roughly 1:45, and Sora was getting iffy in his own suit. It was too straight. He shifted around in his blazer. It was getting hotter. Weather, lately, had been cold mornings and night and warm afternoons. It drove him crazy. Especially since the lobby was mainly glass, Sora was still expected to look business-like and wear the thick piece of clothing that barely allowed arm-movement.

He loosened his collar. "Hey Yuffie, do you mind if I take a break?"

"Sure kid, take your time." She winked and went back to reorganizing her pod. He thanked her, going behind, into the service elevator. When it arrived, he stepped in, ignoring that it smelled like sweat, and pushed 'B.'

The basement was more or less air conditioned than upstairs. Walking down the hall, he passed the housekeeping office, where he worked when the days were slow, and stepped into the break room. One of the great things about working here, that Sora never took for granted: Free food. Lunch was always served at 11:45 until 1:30 and Sora never had a less than full plate. He stuck a cup under a nozzle and pushed the button for orange juice. Refreshing. Then before he sat down, he set the cup on the table, shed that awful jacket and pulled out his phone.

To: Riku

Riku! It's hot D:
I wanna go home ;-;

-Send-

Sora sipped his juice, looking at the big screen TV (oh yes!) mounted on the wall, opposite his table. The weather channel showed a 26° afternoon, with a humidex of 28°. Delightful. And miraculously, the city would sleep in a night as cold as 7°. Sora's phone buzzed on the table.

Fr: Riku

I know. Me 2, Sor.

How bout I pick you up from work?

Ice-cream. My treat. ;]

Sent: 1:57PM on /03/01/10/

Sora squeed and it echoed into his cup. He and Riku had been getting along great. They sit on the bus together, eat lunch together and studied together once in a while. Just like old times. He smiled.

To: Riku

Yay! That sounds great ^^

TY Riku ~

Meet me on the patio at 4:00?

-Send-

Fr: Riku

See you then, QT.

Sent: 2:03PM on /03/01/10/

To: Leon

Riku and I are hanging out after work.
I'll go home with him.

Thanks, dad!

-Send-

He received his dad's approval sometime later when he had gone back to work. But what stuck with him for the rest of the day was 'QT.' QT? Kew-tee? Sora didn't get it for a while. But when he did, he broke out into a starry-eyed grin. It was only misfortunate that a client had been complaining to him about AC at the time.

Forty-five minutes later…

"See ya later Roxas!" Olette waved goodbye followed by Pence and Hayner as they boarded their bus. Roxas waved back and leant against the bricks of the school to wait for his own bus. The day was finally over. He was going home now. Sora would be home later. Though he thought it was cool that his brother having such a 'grown up' job, it was still beyond school hours. Roxas would die if he had to stay there for so long. The day was done and he couldn't wait to get back into bed.

The junior was about to pull out his headphones when a tall figure sat down beside him. "Hey there, princess."

"Axel!" he smiled, but it soon faded with annoyance. "What did you call me?"

The senior didn't answer but laughed and got right to the point. "So Friday, no school. Any plans?"

Roxas hid his rush of excitement. "No, not really." He tried to sound as indifferent as impossible, but he was already flustered by the sudden presence of the redhead, he might have been smiling a little more than normal.

"Great." He flashed his own winning smile. "How about I pick you up early and we live it up for a whole day?"

Roxas was on the verge of fainting. And he thought he'd have to work extra hard to get Axel's attention, but Axel was coming to him! Things were finally going right. "I'd love to. Here." He fished out an old receipt from his wallet and wrote his cell number. Going a little farther wouldn't hurt. It'd only make things better. He handed the slip to the redhead.

Axel took one look at it and smirked. "Thanks cutie. I'll call you." Roxas feared he'd say something stupid like 'I'll be waiting' or … something else that's cheesy that should have been flirty and a little inappropriate. So the blond just nodded and smiled. A nice touch of naturalism there. Axel winked and walked away, leaving him in a mess of emotions.

So many things crossed his mind. This would be their second date. It would be for a whole day. And they would be alone. Oh, he'd make sure they were very alone. He'd tie Sora to the poles in the basement if he had to. He couldn't deny it now; Roxas had fallen head over heels. And he felt so excited.

There were so many things he could still learn about this boy. There were so many things he could do together. In his whole life filled with things he had to do; everything he'd learned to just swallow and go with; everything he'd had to put up with simply because that was the way things were; everything he'd grown to hate and be sick off; those were all pushed aside. Because for now, Roxas was being involved in something he wanted for himself; something that would definitely be the source of happiness in his life.

Roxas was so giddy, he missed his bus.

Later…

The general manager looked out the window of his office with distain. Outside were two boys, one in a school uniform, one in a suit. They were in very close contact with each other. Deja let the blinds snap back into alignment and crack his knuckles. This is unacceptable.

End of Monday


Fillers are annoying x-x
So this is the end of this part and I'm just polishing off 23 ^^

Thank you to all my readers :D
Honourable mentions: Vithian ; blood as soft as silk ; iluvtoady ; and of course my betas: LalaHachi and Kelseywazhere ~! You guys have been with me for the longest and I love you for it 8D

I love you all ~!

Your Loving Humble Servant
xDelfin