"Hey, Lady! Room service in the VIP suite! Penelope asked you to do that on her behalf, Manager Yra called her because of the commotion yesterday. "
She just arrived at the hotel lobby and that was the first thing she heard from Althea, the one who was assigned to the reception counter.
"Oh, okay," she said and walked towards her.
"The food is ready, get it in the kitchen." VIP suite. Room 587. 13th floor.
As soon as she finished reading their Chef's note, she immediately pushed the serving tray wheels. There was a lot of switching of food accidents happening in Pyeha Hotel, the reason why the hotel's chefs started to put notes in every order. The hoteliers don't want to repeat what happened before because they are the ones who will take all the scolding.
There are three elevators at the hotel. Two elevators for the guests and one elevator for the employees. She pushed the serving tray inside and pressed the right floor number.
Lady knocked three times before shouting, "Good afternoon! This is room service!" The door immediately opened. She pushed the serving tray wheels inside without looking at the person who opened the door.
"Please put it there, near the table, Ms. Thank you." She faced the guy with a polite smile on her face, "Enjoy your lunch, Sir." She slightly bowed. He escorted her to the door. He has that boy-next-door aura. He's tall, has fair skin, and has messy hair. But his eyes stood out because of their ash-grey color and long lashes.
"Thank you." He said.
'Oh. He has dimples. Cute.' Lady said in her mind when the man smiled at her.
Before he closed the door, Lady saw a man lying down on the bed. A white blanket was covering half of his body. She couldn't see his face because he was facing the other side.
When Lady left, the man looked at the guy who was still lying on his bed. "Is that her? The girl you have been searching for almost 2 years?" he asked.
The guy on the bed was now up. He did not answer the reason why the man chuckled. "And she is your employee. This is interesting." He said then they started to eat.
Lady put back the tray in the kitchen before going back to the lobby. Penelope was already there, pouting like she was scolded by her parents.
"Hey? What happened?" She looked at Althea before looking back at Penelope, again.
"The commotion yesterday was already settled," Althea answered.
"Let me guess, she scolded and rant at you at the same time?" She said, laughing.
"Whatever." Penelope rolled her eyes before going back to work.
At 8 pm, all the hoteliers fell in line in front of Manager Yra.
"Good work for today. Most of the guests said they enjoyed their stay here."
Manager Yra is in her mid-40 but she's still pretty. She's also kind except when you failed to do your job right.
"And Ms. Penelope," she stopped in front of Penelope. "Don't cause any problems, again. For Pete's sake, the one you messed up with yesterday was one of our biggest clients!"
"Yes, Manager. It will never happen again. I'm sorry."
They finished their shift at 8 p.m. She can only see a few guests roaming around the hotel because other guests were in their rooms, resting. That was why they were all shocked when they saw a girl, screaming for help, running in their direction.
"H-help! M-my friend... h-help her, p-please!" The girl was wearing a white nightgown that was almost covered with blood.
"Oh my god!" Althea uttered in shock while looking at the girl crying and trembling in front of them.
"S-security!" Manager Yra shouted when she got her senses back. Security came and called for the police and ambulance.
Lanie can't keep her eyes off her. The blood in her body made her tremble.
"Calm down, Miss. Tell us what happened?" the police officer asked the girl. Some policemen went to the room, the crime scene.
"I went to Angelica and her boyfriend's room to ask them to have a movie marathon. I knocked many times but no one answered. When I decided to enter... I saw... I saw Angelica... in the bathtub... bathing in her blood..." the girl stated then, the authorities became busy investigating and doing their work.
On the other side of the hotel, the two men were just standing there as they watched the commotion.
The other guy was busy observing the girl. "She killed her friend." He said and smirked.
While the other guy was looking at Lanie, who now looks not in her right mind, walking towards the elevator.
"Kieffer, follow her."
"Alright, Tyler." He nodded and followed Lady.
Lanie doesn't know why she was now in front of the crime scene. There were a few guests around, wondering what happened. She saw the yellow police tape on the door. There were marks of blood on the floor and there was a river of blood in the bathroom. She moved aside when the body was being carried by the authorities. Her eyes didn't leave the body until it was out of her sight.
Kieffer leaned on the wall as he studied every reaction and move of Lanie.
"Okay! Okay! Can you please go back to your respective rooms?" One of the officers shouted the reason why she was back to her senses. People were already leaving one by one.
She looked at the officer when he approached her. He showed her his I.D, "Lieutenant Patrick Alvarez from Violent Crimes Division Squad Three." The officer introduced himself. Kieffer was now looking at them with a loop smile on his lips.
"The victim's name is Angelica Corporado, 25 years old. She checked in here in your hotel yesterday with her best friend Luna Lim, right?"
"A-ah, yes. But they got two rooms. One for her and one for the other girl." He nodded and wrote something in his small notebook. He wrote every little detail in every crime he was assigned to.
"Luna Lim said that Angelica Corporado was supposed to be with her boyfriend in her room, that's why they got two rooms. One room for her and another room for the couple, right?" He added.
'Boyfriend?' She was the one who was assigned to their room service but she didn't see any guy in the room.
"Uhm... with her boyfriend?" She said, not sure of her answer. Lieutenant Alvarez stared at her for a few seconds before nodding.
"But I didn't see any guy when I went there for room service. It was Ms. Angelica and Ms. Luna only. "
"They eat lunch together?"
"Yes. Ms. Luna asked to serve the food in Ms. Angelica's room."
Lieutenant Alvarez's eyes suddenly became wide and quickly turned into the policemen.
"Check the suspect! Faster!" He shouted. The policemen alerted and ran towards the elevator to see the suspect. Lady also followed them. When they reached the lobby, the people there were in a big commotion. And there, she saw Luna Lim, lying on the floor... puking her blood.
"Shit!" She heard Lieutenant Alvarez curse.
Seeing her in that state made Lady tremble as fear filled her body. Slowly, that familiar feeling crawled into her system as she remembered those nightmare memories from the past. She turned her back, not wanting to look at the scene. She put her trembling hands on her mouth as tears slowly poured down her cheeks.
Meanwhile, Kieffer silently stood beside Tyler who was watching Lanie intensely. Kieffer also looked at her.