Hospitality Inn Page #7

• Short story

								

     “Sheli, what do you want from them?” asked Nancy in her sinuous, solid black.
     In her new gym clothes, Sheli stood pouring cleaning fluid into a guest’s toilet bowl. “What do you mean by that?”
     “What purpose does this place serve? It’s not worth what it costs.”
     “I like the company. The people are nice.”
     “You should meet people on a personal level, not as their hostess in this ridiculous contraption. You’re 29 years old, Sheli. If you want to know the truth, it’s kinda sad.”
     “Just give it a little more time, will ya. I’ll find a man. I’ll start a family. I’ll be a pillar of the community.”
     “Why don’t you go back on the cruise ship? You found someone as soon as you stepped on.”
     “Well, you saw how that turned out,” said Sheli as she scrubbed the interior of the bowl. 
     “That’s just one fish in the sea.”
     “I get seasick.”
     “Never.” Nancy stretched her arms out and swayed back and forth. “I’m starting to feel a little seasick myself.”
     Sheli darted a stern look at her. “Can it, Nancy. We’re not even on the stilts.”
     Metal squealed when the canopy, the giant, free-standing elevator of Walnut Meadow, slowly rose before dinner and settled after dinner and rose again around sunset the next day. She turned the dial to Setting 1, and the structure moved up slowly. She turned the dial to Setting -1, and the structure moved down slowly. Some guests liked to drink and dance, so after dinner, Sheli left the inn raised up and turned on the light show from the floor and played music and dance instruction videos on the TV screen.
     Sheli rolled out a few young eucalyptus trees in wooden planters and placed them in a row in front of the view downhill. In the cold months, she set heaters around, and in summer, there was an ultraviolet insect light.
 
ELSEWHERE
 
Their blue academic gowns shone in the warm sunlight in front of the stately, white stone building with a neoclassic façade. They tossed up their caps, and Hannah’s got caught in a tree. Natalie reapplied her cherry lipstick in the mirror of her cellphone. After the family photos, a family member took a photo of the five friends. Ryan took photos of Natalie and Hannah.  
     “But you know it’s gonna rain on our lake adventure."
     “I like the lake in the rain.”
     “But not the lightening.”
     “I think we might get hail.”
     “Well, in that case, we’re gonna get pelted in the head; we better get back inside. And the caps aren’t any protection.”
     “And I’m about ready for my athletic shoes,” said Hannah.
     “Yeah, I wanna get out of this thing.”
     They removed their academic dress. The trolley cart squeaked as the trolley cart squeaker squeaked away a silky and squeaky explosion of gowns and academic stack of caps with tams tammed on this side and tams tammed on that side. Now, in their casual attire, the five graduates left on the first leg of their journey.
 
Camera H: a throw pillow has fallen off the couch in the common area.
 
Sheli wore a T-shirt and jeans. By a window, she sat inside the canopy with it lowered to the ground. There were no guests, and the place was quiet with just the sound of leaves rustling in a warm breeze. She gazed up at the row of baby trees and told the ceiling fan to spin.
     Nancy replaced the orange throw pillow. “I think I may have misjudged all of this, Sheli. Maybe this isn’t such a bad idea after all. You do have a good rapport with your guests, and some of them seem to want to keep in contact with you.”
     “But they live far away.”
     “Well, you can keep in touch online. But, you know, Sheli, you should be a little bit more proactive. You never take the initiative. You should suggest keeping in touch.” Nancy looked out the window. “Oh, here come some more guests. They look like a friendly bunch. Put on the charm, Sheli.”
      The group, taking notice of the surroundings, ambled around to the front and then stalled. Sheli could see a young, burly man standing near the entrance and scraping the ground idly with his foot while he listened to the others. All carrying backpacks, when they finally entered, the five stood and stared at Sheli as if wondering who she was.
     “Is this Hospitality Inn?” asked Hannah.
     Sheli stood up. “Yes, and welcome. Have you got a reservation?”
     “Yes, we made reservations online,” said Ryan.
     Natalie chuckled. “Who are you?”
     Sheli glanced down at her cellphone. “Well, I wear different hats. I’m the manager, the receptionist, the concierge, the porter, and the maid.” 
     “Great!” said Hannah. “You can check us in and give us our keys. We want to get a look at the lake before the sun goes down.”
     After Sheli gave them their key cards, she went to the kitchen to see what she had for dinner. When she returned, she heard them again talking outside by the entrance. She wondered if the rooms had been properly cleaned after the previous guests had left. She found a bed in one of the rooms unmade. As she was making the bed, she heard a door open and looked to see Bruce coming out of the bathroom wearing only a towel.
     He smirked. “Oh, my bad, I should have put up the do-not-disturb sign.”
     “No problem.” Her eyes somewhat carefully avoided his stunningly athletic build. 
     “Say, does this whole place really go up on stilts?
     She nodded in affirmation.
     They chatted for a few minutes, and once they came to an awkward silence, Sheli told him that dinner was at 6 and the movie was at 7.
     “We’ll probably eat at the lakefront,” he said. “But we might be back in time for the movie. Will you watch the movie with us?”
     “Well, I have to set it up.”
     He smiled. “I’m looking forward to it!”
     After the five left for the lake, she replaced the towels in Bruce’s room and gave him soap bars with a more masculine scent. 
     She changed into her evening wear and stood in front of a full-length mirror. Her long, peach-colored dress hung on her lithe body like a curtain twisting lovingly down onto the floor. She realized that the dress was too formal and impractical, but she wanted to wear something nicer than what she had had on before. She decided to change again into a silk, burgundy cocktail dress that finished at the knees. Bright red lipstick and black pumps. 
     Sheli turned the dial to Setting 1, and the B&B rose very slowly. She arranged six chairs around a table in the new space underneath. She called the yellow lights on. 
     When the five graduates returned at 9 pm, they didn’t seem moved by the raised condition of the B&B and quickly found their seats at the table under it. Natalie set a shopping bag in the sixth seat. Seeing that there was no place for her to sit, Sheli pulled up a seventh chair, but this action visibly shocked Ryan, and nobody made room.    

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