Chapter 46
The cool air and smell of an hotel filled her nostrils as she entered the white building. Since it was Friday the hotel were supposed to be packed but it was the opposite of packed. It was somewhat empty. Then she remembered. It was still three in the afternoon.
The receptionist smiled from afar as Ariana approached her.
"Hello and welcome to Chanolle Hotels, I am Emily and I'm at your service," She said with the brightest smile.
"I just want a room for forty eight hours," Ariana requested.
"Couple or just a normal room?" She asked as she stared at the ring on her hand.
Ariana didn't even bother to know why she asked such a question. The ring in particular was given to her by her mom, it was her engagement ring when she was just twenty four years old.
"A normal room please."
"That would be two hundred US Dollars. Would you like to pay in cash, credit, debit, transfer or gift card?" Emily asked as she stared into the computer that was in front of her.
"Debit would be fine," Ariana answered.
"MasterCard, American Express, Verve or Fargo?" She asked again.
"MasterCard and yes I'll pay full not by instalments," Ariana replied.
Her questions were too much, and unnecessary at the same time. Ariana handed her the card.
Ariana watched as Emily swiped her card on the machine beside her.
"Okay, your room is on the ninth floor. The man over there will Escort you to your room," She said again with another smile as she handed her the card.
"Thanks."
Ariana walked towards the man, He took her bag and showed her to the elevator.
They both entered inside and he pressed the ninth button. The elevator was not as fast as usual. It took at least four minutes before they reached the ninth floor.
The man walked out and showed her to her room before he handed her, her bags and the key to the hotel.
Ariana checked her bag and tipped him with a twenty dollar bill.
"Thank you ma'am," He appreciated.
"You are welcome," Ariana returned before the chaperon walked away.
She unlocked the room and walked in. It was too sophisticated and fancy for just two hundred dollars.
It was almost like the luxury hotels beside her workplace, or the ones Alice stayed in when they were on a business trips even though she let her stay on the floor on most of their trips.
The first thing she did was collapse on the bed. She felt her stomach grumble as she rolled around on her back.
"Miss Ariana brown, if you need anything please do no hesitate to use the line on the dressing table," Emily spoke through the phone.
Ariana grabbed it and put it on her ear
"What is on the menu today?" Ariana asked.
"On Today's menu is the grill spicy lobster meat and cheese lasagna," Emily said.
"Okay well I'm hungry," Ariana answered.
"Your meal will come to you in a short moment," Emily concluded before the line went dead.
While Ariana waited, she checked on her phone for the hotel, there were few google searches on it.
The hotel was a new one. This was their first branch. The rumble in her stomach became stronger and she squeezed her stomach with her hands.
It felt like It was climbing up her stomach, once the pain reached her heart it was going to subside. But the wait was cut short as a woman in her late forties brought in a tray of food on a food cart.
She arranged it on the table beside her in an organized way.
"Thank you," Ariana thanked as she stared at the covered meals.
It had being long since she had ate real food. And she really craved for some of it.
Ariana first rushed to her bag to get another bill but she found a fifty and three hundreds Ariana grabbed a hundred dollar bill and placed it in her tip jar.
The expression on the woman's face was priceless. Ariana just felt the need to give out the money to her.
"Thank you so much Ma'am," She said happily as she stared at the bill inside the jar.
"Please try to lock the door ma'am," The lady said to Ariana as she carried a box and placed it on her bed.
The lady gave her some privacy by leaving the room for her.
The moment the lady locked the door. She jumped to the side and opened the plates in front of her.
She placed a spoonful of lasagna in her mouth and it melted like candle wax on fire.
The chef was an excellent cook, every spoon she took made her more hungry. She cleared the entire plate before she opened the lobster meal and finished everything in a matter of minutes.
It felt like she was pregnant when she was done. The last time she had eaten this much food she was with Lisa.
It brought back memories of home. When her mother cooked she never ate them, she would let it spoil, but if it was possible for her to go back to that time and fill those food she wasted in her fridge it would have been better.
She stared at the paintings she didn't notice on the wall, they were all pretty and mysterious at the same time.
They had a lot of questions and discoveries attached to them even though they were just replicas of them.
Ariana stretched her hands to get a hold of her bag. She was successful in her quest and she brought her phone from her bag.
The moment she switched it on, a thousand messaged popped up from her social media.
Sooner or later she had to answer all of them, maybe today was finally the day.
She already started to check her messages but one popped up.
It was almost as if her heart changed positions in her chest. If she kept on getting this same kind of feeling everyday she might have to result to life support.
"Hello, baby girl," the message said and her heart stopped.
