Jamal’s POV
In about fifteen minutes we got to the hotel. I turned off the engine and stared at it. Hotel Presidential. This was the one Conrad recommended, said it was the closest to an atmosphere deserving of an Alpha and furthest from the filth of the human realm. I hope he’s right as usual on that call. I stepped out and woke the kids, then carried our luggage from the back compartment. Someone was waiting at the staircase, and he promptly helped with the luggage while I minded the kids as we walked through the front door.
Once inside, I stared at the architecture. It was wooden, looked like it had been around for at least a century. They find old things more elegant looking, and I was starting to see reason in that argument. The furniture looked impeccably maintained, each chair having a gold outline with adornments that looked handpicked by an expert. I couldn’t see the air conditioning boxes that looked so out of place in other human buildings, but the air still had the same chilly scent. I was looking around, trying to find a single thing to throw my mind off about the place when the receptionist called out to me politely.
“Good day, Sir. Welcome to the Hotel Presidential. How may I help you today?”
I grunted and looked at her. “I would like a room for myself and my two kids.”
She smiled and started hitting keys on her keyboard which was just out of sight. “They look lovely, Sir. And how long would you be with us?”
I paused to ponder on that question. Just how long would be enough to convince Methis to come back with me and be my Luna? Knowing her, it’ll be pretty difficult, especially after how I treated her in the past. “Give and take, I should be staying for about a month and a half.”
Her eyes widened a little bit, but she didn’t let it show too much and instantly resumed hitting the keys on her keyboard. “That’s really lovely Sir. And what brings you to this wonderful place this time of year?”
I smiled and looked towards my kids. I felt the urge to tell her to mind her own fucking business and stop being so nosy, but I guessed this was all part of how human receptionists are meant to act. They probably saw it as proper hotel etiquette. “I’m here for vacation with my children. Wanted them to try out a different atmosphere to the one they’re already used to back home.”
She smiled and continued the hitting of keys. “And would you like me to give you a mini-map of the best things to do while you’re in the city?” She brought out a pamphlet and handed it to me.
I stared at it for a bit. It contained a scaled down version of the map of the area with indicators pointing out what they thought were the best places to visit while on vacation. I handed it to the kids who snatched it and stared at it in glee. “That’s lovely from you, ma’am. We could drop our bags right here and head out immediately for a night on the town like your pamphlet suggests.”
She laughed politely at my joke and kept hitting on her keyboard. “No, Sir. My guess is you’re badly jetlagged right now, and a night of pure rest at the Hotel Presidential has been known to work wonders on a tired mind. So you and the lovely children can go crazy tomorrow.”
“Alright then.” I nodded dryly. I was growing tired of the conversation.
“One more question Sir. Out of curiosity, have you noticed anything different in this city? As compared to Doha, that is.”
I tried remembering at what point in the conversation I told her I flew in from Doha, then remembered it was in the flight ticket Conrad gave me. I only took one lazy look at the ticket when I was preparing to come here with the kids. I smiled back at the lady. “Well. For starters, it’s a lot less hot. That’s about the only thing I’ve noticed I think, we just got in this evening. Why do you ask? Been there before?”
She smiled and looked downwards. “For someone who’s never travelled. I love reading and hearing about other cities. I would love to visit Doha one day, it’s definitely among my top five cities in the world.”
“And why don’t you travel often? That sounds like a bad hotel receptionist to me.”
“Well, this job is what I do to survive, so it is kind of fitting that it is what takes away my joys in life. I love it though, it just – I barely get any time off the job, and the little time I get is barely enough to travel and return talk less of properly experiencing the city I would travel to.”
“Sounds like you’re leading an incredibly boring life. You entice other people about your city, you make them want to stay here, and it’s what you do for a living. Why would you not want to be enticed about other cities? Travel there, explore opportunities, and make the world your playground. That way you would truly sell the benefits of this city to any visitors you get, because then you would actually know what you can get here that you can’t get in Mumbai or Jakarta or any other city in the world. When you can do that, this job would feel like paradise to you.”
She looked at me and smiled to herself. “Okay Sir, so what’s the name?”
“Mr. Jamal would do nicely.”
“Alright then.” She hit one more key and a receipt started printing. When it was one, she handed it and a key to me. “Christopher here would show you to your room, Sir. Once again, it’s a pleasure to have you at Hotel Presidential.”
I took the kids and followed Christopher into the elevator. While on the way up, I took out my phone and sent Methis a text, asking to meet here the next day.
By the time we got into our room and Christopher had left, she had replied. She wanted to know what time to come over. I smiled to myself.
“Autumn, Summer, you both are going to meet that lady tomorrow.”