Chapter Five
Lisa Reisert was not having a very good day. First, her coffee maker decided that it would take the day off. So, deviating from her normal schedule, she decided to make a pit stop at one of the hundreds of Starbucks that was on her way to work. Though, she did make sure that it was the closest one to the Lux Atlantic, and that it was very busy, so as not to be one of the only ones there. On the downside of her plan, the busyness of the coffee house made her late to work by over fifteen minutes. Then, once having gotten to work the computer systems crashed a mere five minutes after she had gotten there, causing numerous delays and irate customers. The stack of comment cards had dwindled to half its original size in less than an hour. Two of the hotel receptionist had called in sick, which left Lisa and Cynthia with double duty. There were plumbing problems in three of the rooms, and, according to those staying in the rooms, the problem wasn't being fixed fast enough. Lisa was barely able to hang on, and by noon she was thoroughly exhausted and ready for a nice long bath, not to mention ready to pull her hair out.
She didn't even notice that she had forgotten to take her lunch break because the problems she was dealing with were of an all consuming variety. And now, the couple staying in, the dreaded, 4080 had just decided that they would not, under any circumstances stay in that room any longer. The only reason they had been placed there to begin with was because their reservation had been lost and it was the only suite available.
"Mr. and Mrs…," Lisa fumbled for the name, "Stevens. I'm aware of the history of that room. But for the past two days there did not seem to be a problem. I can assure that that room is perfectly suitable…" she trailed off, her forcibly cheerful voice drifting as she realized her words were having no effect.
"Well two days ago we weren't aware of the status of the room," the snooty voice of Alicia Stevens started. Had she been living under a rock, it was all over the news, much to Lisa's chagrin. "It is unacceptable. We will not stay there any longer. We have no qualms about discontinuing are patronage to this establishment." She looked to her husband for back up, to which he dutifully nodded.
Lisa took a deep, calming breath. "I can assure you, with the utmost degree of certainty, that you are perfectly safe in that-"
"That is not the point, you insipid girl!" Mrs. Stevens snapped.
She was a loss, she was usually more than able to deal with angered customers, but for some reason all her training left her. She simply…didn't have fight. Lisa racked her brain, desperately trying to think of some way to salvage this.
Apparently, she had taken too much time because Mrs. Stevens continued on, "That's it! We're leaving. And you can bet that we will be speaking to your superiors about this." She walked away, presumably to pack up their belongings to move on the next hotel. The entire way to the bank of elevators ranting, in a voice loud enough for anyone nearby to hear, "They need to hire new help here. Completely unacceptable. They obviously have no care for those that keep them in business…" Blissfully they got on the next elevator and the closed doors barred any more comments from escaping.
Lisa breathed deep, leaning her head down, willing herself to keep control.
"Well," she heard from behind her, "we certainly know who wears the pants in that relationship."
Lisa turned around, and she couldn't have been happier to see Cynthia standing there. She was always able to make Lisa at least feel marginally better.
"This day cannot get any worse."
Cynthia's eyes widened. "Don't say that! You'll jinx yourself," she hushed Lisa hurriedly, as if her words could truly bring about something worse, to which Lisa just laughed.
Whatever comment Lisa was about to dispense was cut off by the in-house phone ringing, signifying there was an issue in one of the rooms. Or, blissfully, someone just had a question as to where the local Chinese restaurant was. Cynthia quickly went over to answer the phone while Lisa handled the check in of the next people in line.
Five check-ins later, Lisa turned around to look for her water bottle and saw Cynthia standing there, a puzzled expression on her face. "Are you okay?"
Cynthia worried her lower lip for a few seconds before answering, "Well, you see. I have a problem."
Lisa turned around to lean on the counter, after first making sure no one was there that needed her help. "Shoot." Inwardly, she flinched at her own choice of words, then mentally berated herself for it.
"Okay, here's the deal. The guy in 1029 can't seem to get his air conditioner to work. I walked him through it, but whatever it is doesn't seem to be working. The maintenance guys are all busy with those freaking toilets, and I…well, I have a date. And I promised him I wouldn't be late, because I've been late for all our other dates. He's starting to think I'm not interested, and that's totally not the problem. I mean he's gorgeous and wonderful and…"
"Cynthia! Woah, wait a minute. Did you even breathe during that?" Lisa interrupted her ramblings, feeling bad that Cynthia was put in this position.
"Okay, calming down now," she took a few deep breaths to accentuate her point before continuing, "I just feel really bad, cause this guy said he's really sensitive to warm temperatures, and he's going out for a bit, and I just wanted to fix it before he came back. 'Cause, you know, we really can't afford more people leaving. And…breathing again."
Lisa nearly laughed at her friend. She got riled up some of the most unimportant things. "Okay, why don't we just have one of the incoming desk guys go up when they get here."
She seemed to think on that for a minute. "Um, they're new."
Lisa raised an eyebrow, "…so?"
Sighing, Cynthia responded, "They only just got trained on the new computer program. I mean, I know an A/C is a simple thing, but, well, they haven't really had time to go up to the rooms and check things out. I just want this to go right." She stopped for a moment, thinking. "Well, I'll just call Danny and tell him I'll only be ten minutes more…"
"No," Lisa quickly interjected. She didn't want her friends love life to be interrupted over something as simple as an air conditioner. If Lisa wasn't dating, she was just glad her friend was.
Cynthia was genuinely confused. "Then what-?"
"I'll do it."
"No, Lisa, you don't have to. I'm sure that guy will be fine 'til one of the maintenance guys is free." Cynthia was loathe to give Lisa any extra work that could be done by others.
Lisa just shook her head, "It's as you said. We can't afford for him to leave. It's easy, I'll be in an out in two seconds."
"But-"
"I'll even go home right after," she added quickly.
Cynthia seemed to think for a minute. Then, "Take a few days off."
Now it was Lisa's turn to be confused, "What?"
"I won't be late for my date, and we won't make him wait any longer than he has to, if you promise me you'll take a few days off. You haven't had a break since…" she trailed off, but Lisa knew what she meant.
"Fine."
Still Cynthia looked wary.
"I promise. Now go. Or you really will be late."
A huge smile broke out, "Oh, thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"
After a brief hug, she was off. Nearly skipping in happiness. Lisa smiled after her for a few seconds, before grabbing her set of keys and went off in the direction of room 1029, after making sure the new desk guys had gotten there okay. With her day, she wouldn't have been surprised if they were late with some reason or another.
She made it up to the appointed room without running into anymore problems. Not even thinking, she used her master key to open the door, having been told that the occupant was out for a while. Closing the door behind her, she made her way over to the air conditioner in question, opened it up and took a look around. After a few confusing minutes, she came the conclusion that nothing was wrong, and that maybe Cynthia had gotten the wrong room number. Putting the cover back on the unit, she stood up and straightened her skirt. Before she could turn around she was greeted by a eerily familiar deep voice.
"Well, I didn't except you to be up here so soon, what with all the problems going on today."
No, it can't be. It was the same voice that haunted her dreams every night. Shaking her head to dispel her thoughts, she came to the conclusion that it couldn't be who she thought it was, because, well, he was in jail. Knowing the only way to prove herself right was to turn around, that's what she did.
And she couldn't have been more wrong.
Because standing before her was none other than Jackson Rippner. The same Jackson Rippner that she had used as a pen holder. The Jackson Rippner that was in jail…But not, because he was standing in front of her, clad only in a pair of dark jeans. His hair still wet from a recent shower. And he was standing in front of the door.
So, Lisa did the only thing she could think of.
She screamed.
Finally, we get to the good stuff. 'Cause I mean a half naked Jackson can onlybe a good thing, right? Anyway, hoped you liked it. So, now it's time for you to work your magic aaaand...review! Please. :o)
Oh, and here are some thankies and things like that:
Jordana Trent- Yea, I tried my best to remember the lines, but hey, no one's perfect, lol. But some I did change on purpose...I just can't remember what they are right now.
trinity-matrix-13- Aw, thanks. I think I may have blushed a little bit. I try to proof read my stuff as much as possible, but especially with this fic I've been extra careful 'cause I don't have a beta for it. My usual one didn't see the movie, and isn't going to, so I've been left all on my lonesome. It's quite sad actually. But thanks for the awesome review!
Bombajio- Yea, I'm a huge fan of shock value, lol.
corinne-la- Jackson's the ultimate bad boy. A dash of evil and a huge helping of hotness. Yea, he's good. :o)
Angel of NoReturn- You're awesome. In the back of my mind I was hoping that there would be an teeny tiny lil bit of romantic interest there (apart from the beginnig) but, hey, that's what fanfiction is for. But I'm convinced that he does have some redeeming qualities. What with the look on his face when she was telling him about the scar. I hope you like the rest of the fic!
Evergreen702- Yea, the normal college stuff is stressful too. I've only been in classes for 4 days and already they're just heaping the work on. Which isn't too bad, it's handle-able (I love my ability to make up words, lol). But the fact that I'm in a completely new area is wierd too, ya know? All my writing is getting me through this, just takes me away, as odd as that sounds. I'm not crazy, I swear. :o)
silentsister- -big hug right back at you- I'm dealing, lol. It's a workable situation.I'm taking 5 classes now, which isn't bad at all. But I had the bad luck of choosing all the professor's who absolutely love huge courseloads. Such is life. Don't worry about not reviewing for all the chapters. I know how the school work thing goes. Just, drop a line here and there. I want to make sure you don't lose interest or anything, 'cause that would be a bad thing, lol. Good luck with school!
And a HUGE thank you to everyone else who left wonderful reviews as well: linsee, MistressMurchadh, colin-fan, lauren, Chanel86, beeker986, thesupernugget, TheGirlin14G, Asanji, blueyedtears, browny, Winged Seraph, Claire Hall, Bimefl, Lily1186, Tayla...I sincerely apologize if I forgot anyone, I will feel horrible if I do. Feel free to yell at me ifI did. :o)
Hey, if anyone wants, or cares, my AIM is: BlackCandleLight. Feel free to IM me, I'll answer. Questions. Comments. Life in general. I'm here.