The Love Hotel

I’m sorry if your food was overcooked but sometimes such things happen, you must understand. We cook a lot of food here. And as for the food being expensive, I don’t think it’s all that expensive. You were not eating at a restaurant, you were eating the basic food that this hotel cooks for its guests, the cheapest food available at the hotel. I am sorry that you were disappointed by the quality of your food, but with all due respect no one is asking you to eat it. All you have to do is say the word and we will get you food from a more expensive restaurant in this hotel and that food will be completely guaranteed to be completely healthy and delicious.”

The man looked like he was going to explode. Rochelle knew that she had struck a nerve. She had told the rich man that he might not be able to afford something, and there was nothing that a rich man hated more than being made to feel like he was, for some reason, not as rich as he thought he was. She was surprised that he had managed to stay quiet while she was talking. It was probably because of the fact that she had been talking in such a firm way, and that she had not allowed him to cut her off in any way and had not allowed him to make her feel like what she had to say was not important. She was glad that she had the mental strength to do this now. She was glad that she was strong enough to stand up to these rich customers who thought that they could bully the work staff simply because they were paying some money to the hotel.

“I want to speak to the manager!” said the rich, fat man. “I want to talk to somebody about your misbehavior. Who do you think you’re talking to? I am a regular at this hotel, I regular I say! I will be treated with respect, do you understand?”

“Yes?” came a soft voice from behind Rochelle. She turned and saw that it was Bradley. She was rather surprised to see him. She had not been expecting it at all. She had not seen him for two whole weeks and she had not expected that he would be around at the hotel on a day like this when he would probably have so many other things that he would have to deal with.

”How can I help you?” said Bradley in the same soft voice. He sounded very different. He didn’t sound impatient at all. Quite the opposite he sounded… angry. Rochelle didn’t know how this could be possible. She didn’t know how this man could be angry at all. He certainly didn’t seem like that kind of person at all. On the contrary, he seemed like the type of person that barely showed any type of emotion whatsoever, and she was frankly a little bit scared that he was showing emotion right now. She wondered if he was the kind of person that got quiet when they were angry. If that was the case then she was positive that he was angry right now, because he was standing in a completely rigid way, the way a person would stand when they are readying themselves for a physical brawl.

It scared her because if he was the type of man to quiet down in anger, it meant that the other person might misjudge just how dangerous the person they are talking to is.

The rich, fat man, however, was not stupid. He was arrogant and crude but he certainly was not stupid, and he could see that he possibly had risen the ire of a very powerful man and he was ready to excuse himself and make Rochelle out to be the bad guy and hopefully curry some support so that he could keep on believing that he deserved to be as spoiled as he was.

“This worker,” said the rich, fat man, “has been very rude to me. I just came in complaining about how my roast was over cooked. I am a regular, you see, and I am used to special treatment. I stay at this hotel for a month every single year. I have been doing so for six whole years! I feel like I should be given some respect when it comes to such things. Especially from a worker, doesn’t she know her place?”

“First of all,” said Bradley, “you are not supposed to be here. I don’t care how regular you are, rules are rules and guests are never allowed in the kitchen. It’s a rule for a reason. Hence, if you are breaking the rules then the staff have all of the right to tell you to leave and not entertain your query at all. If your roast was overcooked, I am sorry. It will be replaced. You will get your order again and if it is still not to your liking you can have absolutely anything else you want from the menu free of charge from any restaurant from the hotel. However, I’m afraid I’m on the side of this ‘worker’ as you insist on calling her. She was in the right to not be polite to you, because you were breaking the rules.”

The man seemed positively miffed. “Listen you,” he said, poking his finger into Bradley’s chest. “I don’t know who you think you are, but I am going to complain about you too. What are you, some kind of low level manager? You bought a fancy suit and you think that you can talk to your betters like this? What utter nonsense. I am going to have you fired. I am going to go to Bradley Charles himself, he’s a friend of mine you know! I’m going to go to him and tell him to have the lot of you fired and good riddance to you all!”

“I am Bradley Charles,” said Bradley, simply. Rochelle had to stifle a laugh. The man had not been expecting it at all. His bloodshot, buggy eyes seemed to bulge out of his head a little bit and he seemed like he was not able to breath for a second. Rochelle loved the way Bradley had said it. He had not said it with any kind of flourish at all, he had simply said it the way anyone would say it. He said it simply and did not pretend to soften the blow. He was Bradley Charles, and that was that.

“Well,” said the man. “Mr. Charles. I am really offended by your behavior.”

“Who are you?” said Bradley. “I have no idea who you are. Yet you claim to be a friend of mine. Do you always lie about who you are friends with in order to seem more important or are you just doing it today?”

The man gaped and said, “Listen, I was just trying to get a good meal.”

“A good meal will be provided to you free of charge,” said Bradley. “Now, please leave.”

The man straightened and looked offended but he did not say anything before leaving. He left in a huff and after he left Rochelle burst out laughing.

“That was incredible!” she said. “How did you do that? How did you make him feel like he was such a complete idiot without even raising your voice?”

“Because he is a complete idiot,” said Bradley, “and I am not going to raise my voice trying to make a complete idiot realize what he is. That can be done in a much easier manner, and the energy that would have been wasted on that is better utilized on other things.”

“What other things?” asked Rochelle, curious.”

“Nothing special,” said Bradley, “I just need to talk to you about something.”

“Oh?” asked Rochelle, her curiosity definitely aroused by now. “What do you want to talk to me about?”

“When do you get off work?” asked Bradley.

“Soon,” said Rochelle, “in just a few minutes in fact. Fifteen to be precise.”

“Then I shall see you in an hour,” said Bradley. “Meet me for dinner at the Chateaux Sauvignon restaurant. We will dine there after you are fresh and showered and we will talk about something very important.”

He turned and exited the kitchen through the back door and left Rochelle there, curious out of her mind about what this enigmatic man was about to tell her. She wondered what he could possibly want. One thing was certain though, she was excited at the possibilities.