Flowering - Part Eight
This episode is part of a larger story, Soft Touch. If you haven’t yet, you can go back and read it from the beginning right here.
Aiden and I turn around to leave Ralph and Calla at the table, then freeze where we are.
Two hotel security guards are weaving through the bar, their eyes trained on us. They’re both big guys, and they both look very serious, deep frowns on their faces.
“Oh, shit,” I whisper.
“Just stay calm,” Ralph murmurs, very quietly.
That’s the only communication we have time for. The two security guards were moving fast, and they come to a stop in front of me and Aiden before anyone can say anything else.
The one who was leading the way has a name tag. It identifies him as Luis, Security Shift Supervisor.
Ralph lounges back against the booth, reaches for his glass of Maker’s Mark, and looks up at Luis. “Is there a problem?”
“Of course not, sir,” Luis answers, in a very neutral, professional voice. “Don’t mind us.”
Then he turns to Aiden, narrows his eyes, and tosses his head at the exit.
“You,” he says quietly, “With me. Now.”
My heart freezes in my chest, overcome with distress, dangerously near to panic.
Ralph and Calla barely react at all. Calla somehow manages to even look a little bored. I have no idea how the two of them are keeping it together so well. I’m standing here flexing and unflexing my hands, seriously grateful that Aiden is partially blocking me from view.
Aiden holds it together, but doesn’t move to go anywhere with Luis.
“Something the matter?” he asks, sounding politely puzzled.
I can tell from the way that Luis glances down at Ralph and Calla that he doesn’t want to have this conversation in front of hotel guests. He turns back to Aiden with obvious frustration in his eyes.
“Yes,” he says heatedly, in a hushed voice. “I mean - what do you think this is? You can’t sit around in the bar with hotel guests when you’re supposed to be working. Are you new here, or something?”
Luis pauses, his eyes narrowing as they linger on Aiden’s face.
“Actually - are you new here?” he asks slowly. “I don’t recognize you. Have you been on my shift before?”
“No. First time.” Aiden thumbs the radio on his belt, like he’s still getting used to having it there. “I just started recently.”
Luis gives him a dark look. “Yeah, I can tell.”
Aiden winces apologetically at him. Luis shakes his head in exasperation, then turns to Ralph and Calla.
“Apologies for the disruption,” he tells them. “Enjoy your evening, and please let us know if you need anything.”
Ralph waves a dismissive hand at Luis, who turns to leave, beckoning for Aiden to follow him. Aiden casts me the fastest little look, then sets off after Luis and the other security guy. All three of them head for the door of the bar.
“Jamie!” Calla reaches out across the table to give my sleeve a sharp tug. “Go with him, help him get away, and then figure out where the key is! We can’t do this unless you guys find it!”
“Okay, yeah. Okay.” I close my eyes for a second, take a deep breath. “We’ve got this.”
“No more chaos,” Ralph says warningly. “Just stick to the fucking plan.”
I leave Ralph and Calla at the table with the godforsaken cubes and set off to follow Aiden. I glance back over my shoulder at the two of them as I go, then do a double-take.
They’re supposed to be looking like boyfriend and girlfriend, and - they’re doing a phenomenal job already, honestly. They’ve put their heads together, and they’re plotting quietly in the low light of the bar, the frosty glass on the table between them. Calla is looking right into Ralph’s eyes as he talks.
I would easily believe them as a real couple, even though Ralph isn’t touching Calla, and she isn’t sitting all that close to him.
It really does feel like there’s something between them.
~~~~
I turn around again to find that Aiden has stopped just inside the open door of the bar. Luis and the other security guard have pulled him over in the shadowy darkness of the enclosed entryway area. Luis is saying something to him.
None of them catch sight of me as I quietly stop in the shadows close by. I don’t think that Luis noticed me at all at the table, hidden as I was behind Aiden.
I drift nearer to them, listening in anxious silence, afraid of what I might hear. I have no idea how much trouble Aiden is in, right now. The two real security guards might have figured out that Aiden doesn’t actually work here.
I blink in surprise as soon as I get close enough listen in.
“-real sorry about all that, man,” Luis is saying to Aiden, in a completely different voice than the one he was using in front of Ralph and Calla. “Gotta lay it on thick for the guests, you feel me? But also, don’t do that again. I know you’re new, but c’mon. You can’t just be kicking back in the bar during your shifts.”
I peek around Aiden very quickly, so I can covertly steal a glance at Luis. He’s dropped the disapproving expression, and so has the other security guard.
“I’m sorry,” Aiden rumbles. “Understood. Won’t do it again.”
“Alright, sweet. Thank you.” Luis cracks a friendly smile, holds up a hand. “Well, I’m Luis, and my boy right here is Isaac. Welcome to the night crew.”
“Oh.” Aiden exchanges a surprised hand slap with Luis, then with Isaac. “Thanks, man. Nice to meet you guys.”
“Shit, you’re tall, aren’t you?” Isaac stares at Aiden, then catches Luis’s eye. “He might even be taller than Bjorn. Should we radio Bjorn, have him come over so we can see?”
“Oh - no need to radio Bjorn,” Aiden says hastily. “I was actually just about to, um - I’m right in the middle of someth-”
Luis’s radio crackles, cutting Aiden off.
“Got a bachelorette party getting way too loud in 502,” comes a voice through the radio. “Two noise complaints already. Neighboring room requested we send someone up.”
Luis looks at Isaac, who makes a pleading face, shaking his head.
“C’mon, boss,” he groans. “I did the last bachelorette party.”
“Sounds like a job for El Gigante, then,” Luis answers, turning to look at Aiden. “Head up to 502, yeah? Get them to quiet down.”
“What - me?” Aiden asks, with obvious alarm. “But I need to-”
“You can handle it,” Luis assures him. “You've been issued a key for the guest elevator, right?”
“No, not yet.”
“Here, I’ve got a spare.” Luis presses the key into Aiden’s hand, then gives him an encouraging slap on the arm. “You’ve got it, man. Radio if you need backup. I’m not joking, either. The bachelorette parties, they get wild.”
“Okay,” Aiden says helplessly, taking the key.
“Great.” Luis nods at the door. “We’ll walk you. Give you the tips on how to handle it.”
Oh, god. I need to talk to Aiden, like, right now.
I don’t think Luis or Isaac would connect me to the Windsor party. They didn’t see me at the table, and they don’t know that I’m supposedly Carter. To them, I’m a random person, so - maybe I can risk a weird interruption. Which it will be, because I’m going to have to lie.
I snag Aiden’s elbow as he starts to follow Luis and Isaac out of the bar.
“Sorry, do you mind?” I ask, when Luis pauses and arches an eyebrow. “I just have a super quick, um, security question? Sort of? A question for this security guard, anyways - um - gimme one sec!”
I fall back into the shadowy entryway with Aiden before Luis can object, but I don’t think he was going to, regardless. Not if he thinks I’m a guest at the hotel, which he probably does. He shrugs, then turns and heads for the door again, Isaac by his side.
Aiden looks down at me with alarmed blue eyes as soon as we get a little space.
“What do I do?” he whispers.
“Lose them,” I answer, in a rushed whisper. “Say you're gonna go do the bachelorette party, then just - meet me somewhere.”
“Okay. By the front desk, maybe? In the lobby? Wait for me there.”
“Yeah, alright.” I take a breath, relieved to have a plan. “Any other potential problems we should be looking out for?”
Aiden glances quickly over his shoulder at Luis and Isaac. “Well, we’ve really gotta hope they don’t actually radio for Bjorn.”
“What? Why?”
“Because I’m wearing his jacket. And his duty belt. And his shoes.” Aiden shifts uncomfortably, then flexes his foot, wincing. “They’re too small on me.”
“Okay, just-” My head is spinning. “Just lose those two and meet me in the lobby, alright?”
Aiden nods. I grab hold of his jacket, pull myself up by it, and brush an affectionate kiss onto his cheek before he goes.
Then I freeze, realizing what I just did.
“Oh, no,” I whisper, my eyes widening.
Oh, shit. Oh my god, oh no - why did I fucking do that? It was automatic, I didn’t even fucking think about it…
Aiden doesn’t seem to think twice about it, either. He smiles down at me, then turns and sets off for the door without realizing that anything happened.
I turn to watch him, and my gaze lands on Luis and Isaac, who have pulled up short at the door of the bar. They’re glancing back and forth between me and Aiden with very wide eyes, which means - they definitely saw that.
Aiden still hasn’t realized the mistake I just made. He nods at Luis and Isaac as he steps out into the lobby.
“I’ll go take care of it,” he tells them, and disappears.
Luis and Isaac watch him go, then turn to stare at each other. Then at me.
I’m still just standing there in frozen silence. Frantically trying to think of what to do, how to explain.
Luis comes back over to me, Isaac right behind him. They stop before me, baffled expressions on their faces.
“Did I just see you give El Gigante a kiss on the cheek?” Luis asks, one eyebrow arched.
I struggle for a moment, desperately trying to come up with an answer. My lying privileges have been revoked forever, after what happened upstairs, but the truth isn’t an option.
I flounder for another second, then land on the idea of telling them something that could be true. Something I could make true.
“Yeah,” I blurt out, making it up as I go. “I - I’m giving free kisses to any security guard who wants one. You could call it, um - employee appreciation? Offer’s good for tonight only.”
There’s an incredulous pause, and then Luis draws back, alarmed.
“You better not kiss me, holmes,” he says warningly.
“Oh, no, I won’t!” I say quickly, then blink in surprise when Isaac shrugs his shoulders and steps closer to me.
“I’ll take mine,” he says.
Luis twists to look at him with wide eyes, and he shrugs again.
“What?” he asks, unbothered. “Gigante took his. And how often do they do employee appreciation stuff around here?”
“Are you serious, man?” Luis sputters, as Isaac bends to bring his face down to me.
I can’t believe he’s serious, either - I most definitely was not expecting to be taken up on my offer - but I honestly can’t think of what else to do.
So I lean up and pop a kiss onto Isaac’s cheek, then fall back onto my feet, my face burning. Isaac smiles happily as he straightens up, stuffs his hands into the pockets of his security jacket.
Luis glances between us, his eyebrows furrowed, his lips twisted to the side. “Okay, now I feel left out.”
“Try it, boss,” Isaac suggests. “It’s nice.”
Luis considers for a moment, then bends towards me. He’s a very tall guy, himself, and I have to pull myself up on his jacket like I did with Aiden, but I manage to place a kiss on his cheek, too.
He breaks into a bright smile.
“Not bad,” he tells Isaac, who lets out a laugh.
“Told you, man.”
From the corner of my eye, I catch a glimpse of Ralph and Calla watching from across the bar. I quickly glance over at them. I don’t know if they saw me kiss Aiden’s cheek, but their wide-eyed, utterly perplexed expressions suggest that they did see me kiss the faces of two random security guards.
Ralph mouths at me: What the fuck are you doing?
“Okay!” I say, flustered and red in the face. “Well - bye!”
I dart around Luis and Isaac, rushing for the lobby as quickly as I can without running. Repeating Ralph’s words in my head. No more chaos, no more chaos, just stick to the plan…
I stop near the front desk to wait for Aiden, noting with relief that none of the employees behind it know me as Carter. Nobody pays me any special attention as I linger near the long, brightly polished counter, my eyes roving the crowd.
Aiden is nowhere to be seen, which is good. Luis and Isaac have just stepped out of the bar, and they’re doing a scan of the lobby, talking quietly by the door. They would see Aiden if he stopped near me right now. He must be somewhere watching, waiting for them to leave. Which means all I can do is wait, too.
I take out my phone so I can pretend to look busy, but then lift my eyes to nervously stare around at the lobby.
No more chaos, I tell myself, trying to calm down. No more…
I go very still, my eyes stopped on the guest elevators. The middle one has just slid open, and someone has come stumbling out of it.
My heart skips several beats, struck with horror and disbelief. I watch in blank shock as the person stops and slumps against a polished marble column near the elevators, rubbing his eyes.
It’s Carter.
The actual, real Carter Sibley, who we left unconscious in the bed upstairs.
He looks beyond fucked up. Like he’s only barely awake, only barely able to keep his eyes open. I think he would be attracting a lot of attention if the lobby was even a fraction less busy and bustling.
He pushes himself up off of the column with no small amount of effort, then sets off staggering slowly across the lobby - right towards me.
I’ve been staring blankly at him, terrified, no idea what to do. Part of me feels like I should turn and flee, but I also feel like I need to see where he’s going and what he’s doing, so I stay right where I am.
Maybe a mistake, I realize, when he stops right next to me at the counter of the front desk.
He drops his elbows onto the polished stone of it, then leans heavily into them. Swaying slightly, his eyes blurred and half-conscious. Whatever Calla gave him to knock him out, it must be powerful, because it’s clearly still trying to pull him back. He’s in a daze, seemingly unaware of all the noise and activity around him. He looks like he’s holding himself up on the counter.
He also smells so strongly of tequila that I can smell it even standing a foot or so away from him. That was the case before Calla did anything to him, though. We’re not responsible for that.
The lady behind the counter - whose name tag says Nora - definitely smells it on him, too. Her nose wrinkles for a brief second before she pulls a polite smile onto her face.
“Hello,” she says, and Carter looks up at her blearily. “Can I help you with something?”
It takes him a second to say anything.
“Got a - a call from - the front desk,” he manages, his every word slurring. “Said my - what’s - what’s it - my zzziggn - zzziiignature…”
The front desk employee leans back slightly, working hard to keep the nice smile in place. “What’s your name, sir?”
He looks relieved, like this is finally a question he can answer. “Carter - Sibley.”
“Oh - oh.” Nora pauses, blinks in surprise. “Mr. Sibley. Thank you for coming down. We called because of those purchases you made in one of the lobby shops earlier. I’m afraid your signature didn’t go through.”
I’ve been standing frozen beside Carter. Now I close my eyes, my heart going icy cold.
Oh, my fucking god. He’s about to ask what the hell purchases -
“What?” he moans, his hazy eyes flaring with irritation. “Thaz why you made me come all the way down here?”
“We just need you to sign one more time,” Nora tells him, now somewhat stiffly. “I’ll just run and print the receipt, give me one moment.”
Carter makes an irritated scoffing sound as she heads off, then - turns to look at me.
“Hey, guy,” he slurs, his voice raspy with tequila. “You gotta - a - a-? I gotta szzzzzign somethin’…”
He makes a scribbly sort of motion at me, and I realize what he’s asking for. I’m sure that Nora is about to come back with a pen, but I numbly feel around in my pockets and come out with the orange, citrus-scented marker I signed with earlier.
I silently hand it to Carter, who gives me a sloppy salute and turns back to the counter, right as Nora returns with the receipt.
I wait, holding my breath, as Carter looks down at the total at the bottom of the receipt. I steal a very fast glance at it, then nearly choke.
Agatha and Calla really didn’t hold back. There’s a whole extra digit more than I thought there’d be.
Carter casts a vague, disinterested look at the number, then opens the marker. He can barely hold it, and it slips between his fingers, staining them orange. He accidentally fingerprints himself on the receipt in citrus-smelling ink as he tries to get the marker to the page.
“Oh, hang on,” Nora says hastily. “I think that’s what you signed with earlier, Mr. Sibley, and that’s why it didn’t work. Here, I’ve got a-”
“Yeah, yeah.” Carter irritably snatches the pen from her and scrawls out a signature over his thumbprint. “Don’ - don’ bother me with… shit like this… again. Okay?”
Nora swallows down whatever she really wanted to answer with, then gets the professional smile back in place.
“It’s for your protection, Mr. Sibley. For purchases this large, we normally ask for an ID, so this is actually-”
Carter lets out a drunken, annoyed scoffing sound again, then digs his wallet out of his pocket. Holds out his ID, way too close to her face.
“Enough for you?” he asks sharply, coming out of his stupor for a moment. “You wanna see one of my credit cards, too? I got lots of ones you could choose from. Pick a card, any card.”
Nora bites her lip, then takes a step back. Picks up the receipt.
“I’ll just get this on file, then,” she says coldly, and turns away.
Carter gives her an exaggerated sort of yeah, go do that face, then stuffs both his wallet and the marker into the pocket of his jeans.
He glances over at me again, then does a double-take. Staring at me.
Staring at my jacket, which I’ve just remembered is his jacket.
It actually fits me alright, so I doubt it would look suspicious to anyone else. But to Carter - that’s another matter.
It’s a bomber jacket in black leather, the inside of which is lined with short grey fur so soft that I think it must be real. It lines the collar, too. There’s also a simple, linear design on the front in matte grey, going up the left-hand side.
It’s a distinctive jacket, and all I can do is wait for Carter to pounce on the fact that it belongs to him, not me, the complete stranger in the hotel lobby wearing it.
He stares at the jacket for a moment, looking at it like it’s a complex puzzle he’s struggling to solve. His eyes are slightly unfocused.
“Hey,” he slurs, squinting at me, holding himself up by the gleaming stone counter. “Izzat - my-?”
He stops abruptly, flinching, and I drop my gaze to the jacket, startled and confused.
The leather had been picking up the light softly, but now the reflected brilliance is growing much brighter. It shines out radiantly at Carter, who flinches again, blinking rapidly, and hastily looks away.
“Whathafuck?” he mumbles, rubbing his eyes. “Ugh - mmmtoo f-fucked up for this shit… wha’ was that?”
I look up right as the Heliomancer steps up beside me, ice-blue magic still fading from his eyes.
“Would you like me to escort you back to your room, Mr. Sibley?” he rumbles, stopping before Carter. “You look like you should lay down.”
Carter opens his eyes, finds himself just about eye-level with Aiden’s chest, where the word SECURITY is printed on his jacket.
“Fine, okay.” Carter unsteadily shifts his weight off of the front desk, slumps against Aiden instead. “I’m - I wanna go back to sleep, so let’s fucking go, already.”
I can’t go with them. An elevator ride with Carter would only give him more time to notice that I’m wearing his jacket, and the light that Aiden created around it is rapidly fading away.
Aiden turns to look at me over his shoulder, catches my eyes with his.
Meet me there, he mouths at me.
I nod at him, still stunned into silence.
And he disappears into the crowd, taking Carter with him.
Want to leave a comment? I would love it if you did, and you can do so on the Tapas episode!