Being a natural explorer, Wander found himself taking the stairs at the end of the hallway rather than the elevator in the middle. It would take longer, but he would see more of the hotel that way. Although, most of the hallways were just rows of black doors with the occasional reading room or lounge, but Wander didn't really mind.
Reaching the ground floor after several minutes, Wander simply started to make his way up the hallway and towards the dining room with a pleasant smile on his face. Had he passed a certain slightly opened door a minute sooner, he might not have noticed it at all.
"How are the books for this month, Keane?"
"Well Mr. Gorman, our flow of customers has remained relatively steady, and our reviews are... mostly positive."
Stopping, Wander glanced back at the door. He knew it was wrong to eavesdrop, but at the same time, judging by the tone of his voice it sounded like there was trouble going on at the hotel. It also sounded like Keane and whoever he was talking to was right in the middle of it.
Taking a couple steps backwards, Wander peeked through the small opening.
The room was dark since the shades were pulled down over the windows, but thanks to a small desk lamp, Wander could still make out the two figures.
Keane and some other Purlet man - Mr. Gorman he presumed - were standing next to a desk with papers spread all over the top of it. The man was Wander's size instead of being extremely tall like Keane and Adelpha and nowhere near as lean as they were, which caused his biological hourglass shape to make him look more like a snowman. His hair was also more silver than black, so he must have been quite older than his manager was.
"What do you mean by 'mostly'?" Gorman asked.
"Well Sir, they're not really complaining about anything, they just give the hotel average scores and reviews. But Sir-"
"Enough with the 'sir', alright?" the man snapped, sounding frustrated.
Keane gave him a sad look. "Dad, Sis and I are trying our best."
There was a small sigh as Gorman sat down at his desk. "I know, son. I know. I just don't understand what is the problem. I mean, Purlet gets plenty of tourists even with the threat of Lord Hater. Our hotel is located right in the middle of a beautiful forest with the fanciest furniture, food, architecture - fanciest everything - this side of the galaxy! And yet, even with half our staff cut to just six workers, we're still losing money!"
"It's just a slow year, I'm sure," Keane mumbled, trying to sound positive but getting nowhere near it.
"Hmmp," said his father, "Alright then. Why, why don't you go on and get back to the front desk?" "Yes, Father."
Frowning to himself, Wander quickly walked away from the door. 'Wow,' he thought to himself, 'Sounds like they're really in a pickle.' It even sounded like they would have to shut down the hotel entirely if things didn't change. 'If only there were more people staying here.' He thought back to the afternoon they had arrived at the hotel and all the lights he had seen scattered atop the building, which at the time had seemed like a lot. When there's only twenty rooms filled in a hotel with over a thousand rooms, even he knew that was a problem.
Suddenly it clicked. "Duh!" Wander shouted, his smile returning, "I'll just get more people to come here!" The only problem was just how he would accomplish that. Luckily, when it came to helping people, Wander was a quick thinker. By the time he arrived at the dining room, his plan was nearly completely thought out.
"Hey, Wander!" said a very familiar voice that immediately caught Wander's attention.
"Sylvia!" Wander quickly ran over and gave his friend a big hug - which she gladly returned. "What are you doin' here?" he asked, "I figured you would'a had breakfast at the stables, what with that tasty buffet."
"Eh, I'd rather eat with my best friend," Sylvia replied, making Wander smile even bigger.
"I'm actually really glad you're here - I mean, even more glad than I would've been," Wander started to say, "Cause I need to talk to you about something impor - oh my gosh they've got a WAFFLE BAR!"
Sure enough, alongside the long table where various breakfast foods were laid out was a counter with not only several waffle irons and a machine that distributed the waffle batter, but whipped cream, butter, peanut butter, syrup, strawberry and sprinkle stations as well. Squeeing happily, Wander rushed over to the waffle bar leaving little more than a trail of dust behind. Sylvia simply shook her head. Being not much of a waffle person, the zbornak decided to just grab some fruit and sit down at an open table.
A few minutes later, Wander finally returned carrying a stack of waffles as big as his hat complete with all the toppings. Sylvia stared for a moment, wondering how he was even able to carry all that to the table. "D'you want any?" Wander asked.
"I'm good. Now, what was this important thing you wanted to tell me about?
"Right," Wander nodded, pushing the waffles aside for the moment. He then went on to explain what he had heard in the office and how much the hotel was in trouble moneywise.
"Well, I ca understand why this place is going down the toilet," Sylvia commented, "I mean, yeah it's really nice and fancy, but once you get passed the excitement of it all, this place is pretty much a bore - even with the great foot massages. Honestly, we would've been better off just camping or finding a cheap motel in the town a couple miles away."
Wander nodded. A lot of other people probably thought that way about the hotel too. "Buh we haffa-" He quickly swallowed. "Pardon. But we have to try and help them out, otherwise Keane and Adelpha and their dad will lose their family business! It wouldn't be right for a place like this to have to close up shop."
"It would be a pretty big waste," Sylvia agreed, "What we need are ways to get people in here, things that will make them want to spend the fortune to stay here besides the fancy smancy stuff." She smirked. "I suppose you already have a plan?"
"Maybe," Wander replied with a smile of his own before taking another big bite of his breakfast.