Sitting down on the chair behind his desk, Keane let out a small sigh. The only things he had really done this morning was have a less-than-successful meeting with his boss/father. There were no reservations set up for today, and he was certain that a few - if not most of their guests - would be checking out today.
Staring into space, the Purlet couldn't help but think back to several years ago when their father first came to him and his then teenage sister with his idea. He had already saved up the money and taken out the loans, with a contractor already working on the blueprints for the building. He had seemed so excited, certain that their hotel would be a success. "You'll two will have to help out now and again," his father had told them, "But I promise it'll all be worth it." He didn't need to promise. After hearing about having their own hotel and seeing how excited their dad was, it made Keane and Adelpha excited as well. Even the fact that they would have to take part time jobs at the hotel didn't damper their spirits.
It was only a couple years ago when the hotel was finally finished. Everything from the inside of the rooms to the shiny bars of the outside fence just looked perfect. They had gotten a lot of customers that day too. Since it was the newest thing on the planet, everyone either on or near Purlet had to go check it out. Being on a tourist planet helped too, and for the first month or so, it looked like their father was one hundred percent right about how successful the business was.
Unfortunately, as the months went on, customer numbers began to decline. By the end of six months, they were getting nearly half the customers they saw on opening day. There was a small spike around the holidays, but the numbers went right back to declining afterwards.
Keane supposed they should count themselves lucky. At least they were still getting customers, even if it was only about a dozen each month compared to the hundreds they used to get. However, with all the bills piling up and most of the employees gone, would that small number even matter in the next couple months?
"Excuse me? ... Um, excuse me!"
Keane blinked and quickly stood up. There was a flash of excitement, but when he saw who it was, it quickly faded.
"Hi!" Wander greeted, obviously not noticing the disappointment in the man's face.
"Good morning Mr. Wander, Ms. Sylvia," Keane nodded, "I take it you'll be checking out?"
"Later, but not right now," Wander answered. Keane blinked.
"Oh, well then - not to be rude but - why are you here?"
"Because... We're gonna help save your hotel!" Wander said, spreading his arms out in a grand gesture.
Keane's eyes widened. "What? But, I - How do you even know that we're in trouble?"
Wander lowered his arms and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well uh, you see, I sorta heard you and your dad talkin'... Sorry 'bout that."
"To be fair, it would be pretty easy to figure out even if he hadn't heard you two," Sylvia bluntly added, "This place is kind of a ghost town."
Keane sighed. "Can't argue with that. But how exactly are you going to help? Do you even know anything about running a hotel?"
"Well, not a lot," Wander admitted, "But I do have some ideas that could get more people wanting to stay here, and I ran them by Sylvia. She's smart so if they weren't good ideas, she would know." Sylvia smiled a little at that. "Anyway, what I'm trying to say is: It's up to you and your family of course, but I would hate it if we didn't at least try to help you guys out."
Keane looked down at Wander. This man - one he barely knew for twenty-four hours - was offering advice and ideas on how to save their hotel. He didn't have any experience, he was just some traveler. But at the same time, his motives and will to help seemed true, and he was probably the most positive person Keane had ever seen.
The young Purlet man would be lying if he didn't still have his doubts about Wander and his plan. At the same time, he couldn't help but imagine seeing the hotel being once again how it was when it first opened. The lobby and dining room full of excited people with nearly every single room either filled up or reserved, and his father with a smile on his face for the first time in months.
For that vision to become a reality, Keane would try anything, no matter how absurd it would seem.
Even taking advice from a furry little nomad with a big green hat.
"Well," Keane started to say with a smile, "What have we got to lose?"
Smiling widely, Wander let out a cheer while jumping up on the desk and hugging the manager. "Alright, I already wrote down a list of things we need. Everything else I have planned out and - oh! We'll need Adelpha too!" Wander then practically dragged Keane out from behind the front desk and towards the elevator.
"Slow down a bit, Wander," Sylvia told him, although she couldn't help but chuckle.
"Um, is he always this excited when helping people?" Keane asked.
"Oh yeah," the zbornak replied, "All the time, but I'll make sure he doesn't forget to tell you the plan. And don't worry, things tend to have a way of working out for us, no matter how unlikely it may be."
Even if that did make Keane feel a bit better about everything, he still couldn't help but wonder what he had just agreed to.
()()()()()()()
"Well, here we are." Using her master key set, Adelpha opened the door that was practically hidden in the far corner of the kitchen. Peeking inside, they could only see darkness before a small light flickered on, revealing a small staircase and many spider webs.
"Glorn almighty," Sylvia asked, as Wander decided to go down first, "When's the last time you people cleaned this place?"
"Never probably," Adelpha replied, "It is just for storage after all."
"I doubt we'll find anything useful down here," Keane mumbled. What did they even have down here anyway, besides some cans of beans and corn?
Suddenly, there was a small clang. "Here we go!" Stepping out of the shadows, Wander held up a bucket of purple paint. "And there's about a dozen more where that came from!"
"Is it any good?" Keane lifted the lid. Sure enough, the paint was still in a liquid form, though it would still need to be stirred a little before they used it. "Huh, that's surprising."
"Let's try to find more!" Wander said before running back into the shadows. Holding a candle, Adelpha followed him, with Keane and Sylvia right behind her.
"Let's see... veggies, veggies, cans... mouse trap? Oh hey, look at this!" Wander gave a small grunt as he tried to pull something out. Moving past the two Purlet siblings, Sylvia gave Wander a hand, easily pulling the object out. The frame was a bit dusty, and the cushions would have to be washed, but otherwise it was a very nice outdoors swing.
"Oh yeah," Keane started to say, "I remember that. We had it out by the forest for people to relax and look at all the different plants. We took it in during the rainy season, and I guess we just forgot to put it back."
"Well, looks like we've got a use for it now!" Wander said with a smile, "and I saw some other outdoors-y stuff back there too!"
"Wait, so is that the plan? Outdoors furniture and a fresh coat of paint?" Adelpha asked, a sense of doubt filling her.
"No, just part of the plan, Ma'am," Wander corrected, his confidence never leaving him. Just then, Sylvia reappeared. "Hey Wander, found somethin' that may just help us out."
Curious, the three of them followed Sylvia to where she had found something. Once he saw it, Wander couldn't help but grinned. "It's perfect!"
Resting against the wall was a small cart, most likely used when they were moving boxes into the hotel, but with a tiny bit of work the cart could easily sit about six people. What was even better, the cart looked like it could be pulled by an animal or a Purlet man (thanks to their broad shoulders and above average strength) with little to no difficulty.
After setting the cart, the paint and the furniture to the side along with some other storage items they found, Wander decided it was finally time to head back up. After a quick reminder from Sylvia, Wander decided now would be a good time to actually tell the two siblings about the plan.
"Alright," Wander started to say, "Your hotel is already fancy and nice and clean, so we don't have to worry about fixin' that. What we do need to do is add stuff that will make people want to stay here besides the fanciness of everything. Soooo, what we need to do is just add little but likable changes for the place."
"Manager," Sylvia said, getting Keane's attention, "How many animals do you guys usually have stayin' outside?"
"Well, not many," Keane admitted, "It was mostly to get the attention of people who were traveling on an animal so they didn't have to worry about whether their animal would be safe while they slept. It's also good for people who like to travel with their pets instead of leaving them at home. We'll usually have several animals staying there, but -"
"But unless there's a whole barn's worth of animals in there, it's pretty much wasted space and labor," Sylvia interrupted, "I mean, it is pretty huge for a stable."
"Which is why we're gonna use part of that space to help people who don't have pets," Wander added. Keane blinked. How were they going to do that?
Moving on, Wander looked at Adelpha. "Now, how do you feel about redesigning rooms?"
Smiling slightly, the maid answered. "To be honest, I think they're nice... but could use a bit more color." Sure, it was nice to take a break from the dark blues and purples from the rest of the hotel, but not when the colors in the rooms are boring.
After a quick discussion, a design style was picked and Wander moved on. "The cart'll need a fresh coat of paint too, plus some of those pillows we found in storage. Oh, and the pool! Almost forgot about that! Can we take out those floating lines that divide up the pool?" Keane nodded, getting an idea what Wander was planning. "Great! We'll need that swing and those tables and chairs too."
After about five more minutes, all four members of the group knew exactly what their jobs were and how they were going to get the hotel back in business.
"Alright, Manager," Sylvia said, "You're with me. We've got a lot of work to do so I hope you're ready."
Keane smiled. "More than ready," he replied, taking off his jacket since he didn't want to risk getting paint on it. As for Wander and Adelpha, they were already heading towards the dining room, their first room to redesign.
As soon as they entered the huge room, they noticed just how dark it was kept, even with the curtains slightly opened. It was meant to give off a sense of sophistication and elegance, but instead it just felt... dark.
However, that didn't mean it need to be completely repainted. In fact, the black colors of the walls was actually something of an advantage for them - especially for what Wander was planning.
The room only took an hour or so, but now it was time for the hard part. "So, how exactly do you want to tackle over a thousand rooms in only a few hours?" Adelpha asked.
"... You wouldn't happen to have one of those little cleaning carts, would you?"
()()()()()()()()
"How ya doin' over there, Boss Man?"
"Nearly finished, Ms. Sylvia," Keane replied, wiping the sweat off his head. He would have to change and re-comb his hair later. Right now though he was completely focused on the cart, which looked completely different from when they first found it. Keane had decided to repaint the fading brown cart a bright blue with small pictures of the purple flowers his planet was famous for. On the inside (which had already dried) were several comfortable pillows for sitting on and plenty of room for guests.
"Not too bad," Sylvia commented, giving him a small smile.
"Thanks. How did the animals feel about sharing some of their space?"
"They were fine. Most of them sleep most of the day, and I think your workers in there were relieved to actually see something exciting happening."
Keane chuckled. He was sure the stables were an exciting place when there were plenty of camels and horses and two headed elephants to look after. But when there were only a couple animals that could clearly take care of themselves and a few lazy house pets, he could imagine it would get extremely boring just watching animals.
"So, it's all set up then?"
"Well, it'll need a few small things here and there, but those can easily wait until you guys get some bills paid off," the zbornak replied. 'Hopefully that won't take long,' Keane thought to himself, still having a bit of doubt. But even so, he hadn't felt this excited about work since - well, since the first time they saw the hotel. "Come on, let's go set up that furniture." Keane nodded, following Sylvia to the small pile of furniture while he let the rest of the cart dry.
Back inside the hotel, Wander was working as fast as he could. Using the cleaning cart to not only keep all his supplies, but also move quickly down the halls.
The nomad had managed to come up with a quick way to do all the rooms in one hall in only about ten minutes. First unlock every door, then paint, then smaller details like more or less pillows, new blankets, opening up the curtains and various other things that made the rooms feel less empty and more homey. After leaving behind a couple small things in each room for a guest to find, Wander pushed the cart down one flight of stairs (making sure not to drop anything) and happily moved onto the next floor. For any room that already had a guest staying in it, he simply slid a small piece of paper underneath their door and moved on.
Not only was the process fast and easy, but Wander couldn't help but have fun as he was doing it. 'I can't wait to see everyone's faces when they see the rooms!' he grinned as he started running down the dark colored hall with a master key card in his hand.
Downstairs, Adelpha - using the front desk computer - was making fliers. She made sure to not only include new and old information about the hotel as well as details for the event at the hotel that night, but she also included a small sketch of the hotel that she had drawn herself. 'Thank gorn the printer's in Keane's office instead of Father's,' she though to herself as he clicked 'PRINT', satisfied with the design.
Thinking of her father, there was a flash of panic. 'Father...' They were doing all this work to keep his hotel - his dream - alive, but would he really be happy with all the changes, or would he hate them? 'It's a bit late to be regretting it now,' she told herself, shaking these thoughts away. If they could keep the hotel open and gain a strong group of customers that hopefully wouldn't decrease in a few months, she knew he would be happy, and that was all that mattered.
After collecting the fliers and placing them in a tote bag, Adelpha returned to the front desk to see her brother as well as Sylvia and Wander (who had small splatters of paint on his hat and fur, but looked happy just the same).
"Is everything done?" she asked.
"Mostly, the rest is just preparing for tonight," Keane answered.
"Which is why we -" he pointed at himself and Sylvia, "are going to deliver those fliers to the town a couple miles away while you two gather everyone up and start getting things ready for tonight."
"Right," the siblings said in unison. Adelpha handed Wander the bag, who quickly hung it around his neck, and Sylvia quickly trotted out of the hotel. She could easily make it to the next town in a short amount of time, the hardest job would be finding the right people to give the fliers to and hoping they didn't just throw them away.
"Well, you heard them," Keane said with a small smile. Adelpha watched him walk towards the kitchen, no doubt wanting to give the chefs the meal plan for that night.
This was all really happening, and there was no trying to stop it. They were either going to succeed or fail trying, and while she wanted to succeed, she had to feel proud of herself for at least trying to get their hotel up and running again. All the changes, the new attitude and spirit coming from her brother and herself, frankly it made it hard to believe that there was even a chance of failure.
Determination and hope filling her, Adelpha simply smiled and then went off to go search for her fellow maids.
Wow! Longest chapter yet! Also, it looks like we're reaching the climax! Sorry I couldn't give much detail in this chapter, but I promise all your questions and all details will be revealed next chapter. Anyway, thanks for reading, please review and I'll see you in the next chapter!