Noelle continued to stare at the young man who looked like he was caught red-handed while stealing something.
"Answer me!" Noelle demanded, not giving him any leeway to escape out of the trouble he had walked in willingly.
"Y-you…" Corey began but trailed off. He found himself cornered without any chances of getting out.
"Corey, please, tell me." This time she thought of asking him politely, thinking that he would give her the answer she wanted.
Noelle knew how her sisters' minds worked when it came to getting people into problems. She was fairly sure that her concussion was at least seventy percent right, if not one hundred. But she wanted to hear it from the man himself, hoping that maybe, this time she would turn out to be wrong.
It only took Corey a little while to tell that he had no other choice except for letting the cat out of the bag as it had already managed to peep its head out. "It was your sisters. I haven't gotten into trouble with anyone else since I joined as a concierge." He answered her truthfully.
"The manager didn't tell me the names of the complainants, but the way he phrased things out made it too obvious." He continued with his explanation while keeping his head looking down. He was feeling guilty ratting the two of them out to their younger sister. He had no intention of starting a rift between the three sisters.
As her mind registered the man's word, Noelle heaved out a tired sigh. Her sisters had done this once again. They seemed to love putting people's jobs on the line. Other than that there was one more thing which they loved doing. They loved expelling people out of their jobs.
Noelle couldn't count it on her fingers the number of times she had to go out of her way to help such people to stay put in their jobs. All she had to do was to lie before her step sisters that she had found a replacement. Since they never paid much attention to those around them, it was hard for them to not believe her words. For them, it was the new staff.
"What else did the manager say to you?" Noelle was having a hard time keeping her dismay at bay.
"He said that it was the last time he was warning me." Corey found keepings from her a little useless now, so he answered her honestly.
"So, what my dear sisters did, it earned you a strike of your slate?" She pursed her lips together as she got lost in her thoughts.
"You can say that." The man replied to her in a not-so-sure manner.
"Why don't we wipe your slate clean?" Noelle mumbled as she wiggled her eyebrows in a playful manner.
"Huh?" Her actions combined with her words, only added confusion to the man's brain.
"I will explain it to you on our way, and after we are done with that, you can give me a tour of the hotel. How does that sound for a deal?" Noelle suggested to him only to see the frown on his forehead deepening. "Don't frown this much. You might end up with permanent marks on your forehead." She reprimanded him before slipping inside her room.
"Also, can you please wait here for a couple of minutes. I need to change into some presentable clothes." Noelle added before shutting the door of her room right before his face. She didn't even give the man a chance to speak for himself.
'The apple doesn't fall from the tree, does it?' Corey couldn't help but think to himself as he stared at the white door. He could see the whole situation flipping out for his good, but he knew that it wouldn't last for long. He knew that it would flip back to what it was now once he revealed to the lady how he couldn't do the latter one.
"'Why me?" He mumbled to himself, complaining under his breath to the heavens up above.
Why did it have to be him who ran into the Sundseth's young miss number one, who found it hard in remembering people's names? Then he had to bear talking to the Sundseth's young miss number two, who for the record was only a step behind from the first one.
He already had his hands full with the two of them when he, literally, ran into the Sundseth's young miss number three, who looked like she was about to walk down the same path, following her sisters' footsteps. At least that was what Corey was thinking.
Now all he could do was wait and let fate do its job. Meanwhile, he would just stare at the cards which he had been dealt with.
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[Ten to fifteen minutes later.]
"I am ready for our tour." The door of the room flew open once again and Noelle walked out, looking all cheerful. "Are you ready though?" She asked the man who was now standing on the other side of the corridor, with his back leaning against the wall, his head looking down. He looked like he was lost in his own world.
Listening to her crystal clear voice, Corey snapped his face up. "There is something you should…" The rest of his words died down at the back of his throat as soon as his eyes landed on her dolled up figure.
She was wearing a light golden yellow summer dress which was supported by two spaghetti straps running over her shoulders. A number of copper bronze buttons were spaced out along the center of the dress.
Her dark brown hair was let loose with a couple of locks falling over her shoulders. A straw hat was resting on top of her head. In terms of accessories, she was only supporting a golden locket with a very fine chain going around her neck, and a pair of flat brown converse on her feet.
"Shall we go then?" She asked him again after realizing that he hadn't given her any response.
"Ummm… yes." Corey managed to tear his gaze away from her smiling face. "But there is something you should know first." He cleared his throat a little. He only found it fair to share it with her first before she helped him out.
"What is it?" Seeing the turmoil on his face, Noelle couldn't hold her curiosity back. She was eager to know what was going on in his mind.