Chapter 2 - The Reservation That Shouldn't Exist
Adrian adjusted Lila’s weight, her sleeping breath a rhythmic, fragile rhythm against his shoulder. The marble floor beneath his shoes felt cold, a stark contrast to the heated opulence of the lobby. He looked at the screen, then back at Vanessa.
"Are you sure you're fully booked?" Adrian asked, his voice rough with exhaustion.
Vanessa didn't even look up. She rolled her eyes, a gesture of practiced disdain that seemed to cost her nothing. "Sir, have you looked around? The city is a zoo tonight. We are at one hundred percent occupancy."
She swiveled her monitor slightly, the glow reflecting in her polished glasses. The screen was a wall of red: 100% OCCUPIED. It looked official. It looked final. Adrian felt the blood drain from his face. He was just a tired father, a man standing in the way of a machine that didn't care about his story. It was hopeless.
But Adrian didn't flinch. He didn't apologize. He just stood there, his jaw set like granite.
"I don't think so," he said. It wasn't a question. It was a statement of fact.
Vanessa scoffed, turning back to her work. "Excuse me? Do you know how many people are on the waiting list?"
Adrian pointed a finger at the screen. "That red light... it’s static. It’s flickering."
He wasn't looking at the occupancy rate; he was looking at the code behind it. The second receptionist, a nervous girl named Chloe who had been hovering near the potted plants, suddenly gasped. She leaned over, her voice dropping to a terrified whisper. "Vanessa... the system just glitched. It showed a pending transaction."
Vanessa’s face paled, the color draining from her cheeks until she looked like a wax statue. She turned to Adrian, her eyes wide with panic. "Check again," she whispered, her voice trembling. "Check again. Under 'Cole'."
Vanessa’s fingers flew across the keyboard, a frantic, clattering storm of keystrokes. The silence in the lobby, usually filled with the hum of luxury, felt suffocating.
*Click. Click. Click.*
Then, silence.
The monitor shifted. A new window popped up, stark white against the red. RESERVATION: A. COLE. PENTHOUSE SUITE. PREPAID: 6 MONTHS AGO.
The room felt like it had dropped ten degrees. Vanessa stared at the screen, her smug arrogance evaporating instantly. She looked up at Adrian, her mouth slightly open, defeated.
May you like
"This must be a glitch," she stammered.
Adrian didn't blink. His eyes were cold, dead, and incredibly dangerous. He stared at the name on the screen, then back at the receptionist.
