"Hello, this is Hotel Security," a respectful male voice answered.
"Hi, I'm a guest in Room 3601."
As soon as he heard '3601,' the security operator's eyes widened, and he immediately became highly attentive.
His tone became even more cautious and deferential. "Miss, how can I assist you?"
"There's a crazy person banging on my door, seriously disturbing my rest. I'd like to request that security send someone over to handle the situation."
"Understood. I'll dispatch someone immediately. Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience."
"It's fine. Just get someone to drag her away quickly."
"Rest assured, Miss!"
The moment the call ended, the operator jumped up and ran out.
"Captain! Captain!"
Inside the head of security's office, right next to the operator's desk, a man in a sharp black uniform with slicked-back hair was focused on the surveillance screen in front of him.
Hearing the flustered voice, he frowned and asked impatiently, "Why aren't you at your post in the operator's room? What are you doing here?"
"Captain!" the operator panted. "I just received a complaint from a guest-someone's been banging on their door non-stop, and they're asking us to send someone over to remove the person!"
The captain immediately looked enlightened and said, "Another overreaction, no doubt! If it were really a criminal, they wouldn't be drawing that much attention by banging on the door, right? Real troublemakers sneak around quietly, not making a sound."
"Then should we...?"
"No need!" the captain waved him off. "I've worked security at other X Group hotels. I've seen this a million times!"
"There was this one time, a female guest called in screaming for help. I rushed to her room, thinking it was serious. Guess what it was?"
The operator's eyes widened with curiosity. "What? Was there an intruder?!"
"Hell no! There was a bug on the floor!"
The captain held his thumb and forefinger close together for emphasis. "About this big, barely larger than an ant, no wings! I was speechless. She made all that fuss over such a tiny thing!"
"So what did you do?" the operator asked.
"What else? I stepped on it, wrapped it in tissue, and tossed it out."
The operator relaxed visibly after hearing the story. "Then I guess we won't bother sending anyone up this time either. The lady in 3601 sounded calm-probably just another false alarm."
He turned to go back to his desk.
But as he took a few steps, the captain suddenly shouted behind him, "Wait!"
The operator turned around. "Captain, what is it?"
"Which room did you say the call came from?"
"3601."
"3601? That's our hotel's only top-floor presidential suite?!"
"That's right."
The security captain immediately stood up and hurried toward the door, his expression now completely serious. "Why didn't you say sooner that the call was from 3601?!"
The operator looked innocent. "I was going to, but I got caught up listening to your story and forgot. And besides, didn't I mention it earlier?"
"You mentioned it too late!"
As he rushed past, the captain snapped, "What are you standing around for? Get back to the operator's desk and stay on standby!"
"Captain, where are you going?"
"I'm heading to the 36th floor to check it out myself!"
"But... didn't you just say we didn't need to worry about it?"
"That was before! This is now!"
Without further explanation, he jumped into the elevator.
Anyone staying on the 36th floor wasn't just anybody. VIP guests couldn't be neglected!
The operator scratched his head as he watched the captain leave. On his way back, he mumbled, "Didn't he say women always overreact? Then why's he rushing up there now?"
By the time the captain reached the 36th floor, Karina was still throwing a tantrum outside the door.
After tiring from knocking, she leaned against the door and continued hurling insults:
"Serena, you shameless little tramp! You really have no idea how out of place you are here! If I were you, I'd be too embarrassed to keep clinging to something that clearly doesn't belong to me!"
"Get out here now! This room is meant for someone like me!"
"Serena! You slut! Are you deaf?! Open this door!"
Inside the bedroom, Serena, now wearing earplugs, was already fast asleep again.
She didn't hear a single word of Karina's shrieking-but the security captain heard everything, loud and clear.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
A loud bark startled Karina, who clutched her chest and turned around, her expression stormy.
"And who are you, crawling out of whatever hole you came from?! Can't you speak properly?! What's with all the shouting?!"
The security captain straightened up, full of righteous authority. "I'm the head of hotel security! Who are you?"
Before she could answer, he gave her a once-over and continued, "Yelling and swearing in broad daylight-you clearly don't look like a decent person! What's wrong with me yelling at you?! If you don't explain who you are right now, I'll have you taken down and call the police!"
"Oh, so you're just a lowly security captain," Karina sneered, lifting her chin arrogantly. "Let me tell you, I'm someone you can't afford to mess with!"
"Whether I can or not, we'll see once you identify yourself."
"And what if I refuse?"
"Then don't blame me for being rude!"
***