Tracy came in to a true mess. The lobby was packed and Mandi was already there. She looked like she was going to cry. She was not a front desk agent, and hated doing that particular job. However she filled in if necessary. Mandi was the director of special events. In other words she set up tables, bought food, and kept an eye on groups, just like she did the night before.
Tracy slipped behind the desk. He hated people. That was his decision after his first week, but he actually liked his job. He slipped into the back office as he heard someone shout, “Is that the manager?”
Shannon was there drinking a coffee. The situation clearly wore upon her. “Hey, Jerome didn’t show…again.”
“He’s still employed here why?”
“As soon as anyone finds Tamara I doubt he will still be.” She said, cluing him in on one of the problems.
“Tamara is missing?”
“Fionn too.”
“What do we know about him?”
“He’s a fae from another world,” she supplied. “Aaron and his men are scouring the property looking for her. Last I talked to her she said to auth rooms and if that failed cancel them. None of the phone numbers worked for any of them, so we had no way to contact them or their group. Now they’re all shown up at once, 25 rooms and the circle grove.”
“Nothing cleared up on that?”
“Nope. Although Lord Aris showed up to check on the place and she took him out back. I think they might have worked something out. He came back wanting a conference room and called his men in for discussions. To my knowledge the dead ball is still happening.”
“Let me deal with this first.” Tracy stopped her as the noise outside the small room grew to an unattainable pitch. He chilled himself with a deep breath and turned to the open doorway. He stepped up next to Mandi and spoke from his diaphragm. His voice echoed effortlessly throughout the lobby. Such rooms were made for echoes. “May I speak to Mister Elberton?”
“Who are you?” One of the men at the counter demanded. They were all in suits and ties. They reminded Tracy of the Jehovah’s witnesses when they were going door to door.
“I am the night manager,” he replied evenly. It was a bit of an exaggeration. He was the only employee on at night, so he got away with upgrading his title on occasion. “If you can come over here for a moment where we can talk and hear each other.”
People began to argue again as the berthy man obediently came to the side of the desk. Tracy noted through the corner of his eye the familiar figure of the troll coming up the hall. The noise from the lobby must have had reached him if his portal was still there. Tracy paid it no mind as he focused on the man who had booked the event. “Sir, we tried to reach you today to inform you that we would not be able to host your event. Your contact information seems to have been in error.”
“Bullshit.” The man spat at him. “We booked this room and paid our deposits.”
“Yes sir, but the event site is physically unavailable. If you had given us correct contact information we would have been able to inform you.”
“I want to talk to your boss.”
“And you can, in the morning. But right now I am going to have to ask you and your party to leave.”
“We booked rooms too.”
“And you were informed at the time of your reservation that payment needed to happen in advance for room rentals in conjunction with the event site. We could not authorize payments on any credit cards provided and also their contact information seemed to not be valid either.”
“Why? So you could call our homes and tell people what we were up to?”
“To inform you we would not be able to honor your reservation sir,” Tracy replied. Again he saw the troll wandering around the edge of the room towards him looking confused. “Now I need to ask you to leave the premises with your people. You can call in the morning and speak with the owners about rebooking your reservation.”
“We have tonight booked!” The man boomed.
“You haven’t paid for it,” Tracy replied using a different method of logic. People liked to hold themselves firm and not listen to reason, so instead of beating his head against the wall he tried an angle. “Nor are any of your rooms paid for. It is part of your contract that payment is up front.”
“You can take it now.”
“No sir, I can’t. Now you’re going to have to leave the premises before I call security.”
“Security my ass,” The man barked at him. “Get your scrawny ass behind that desk and give us our space.”
Tracy looked up at the troll, “Could you assist me please?”
The troll nodded and turned to the crowd. “OUT, NOW!”
As much as they were willing to argue with the mortals at the counter, a hulking troll that seems to be growing in size before them was another matter. Tracy barely believed his eyes, then noted a slight shimmering and understood. It must be a tactical trick trolls used. It was a magic illusion to make them look bigger. Not that an eight foot tall hulking humanoid wasn’t intimidating to begin with.
“This isn't finished,” The leader shouted as they crowded out. The two women came up behind Tracy as the lobby doors finally swooshed shut. They let out such a sigh. Mandi disappeared into the back office and he was sure it was to cry. Those men had been hard on her.
“Thank you,” Tracy said politely to the troll. "I apologize you have to deal with rude people two nights in a row."
The troll nodded . “There seems to be many of them here.” Tracy gave him a weak smile. “The nice ones come in during the day. Late night is another matter.”
“Why am I still here?”
“I don’t know,” Tracy admitted. “I am glad you were”
The troll let out a grunt that Tracy suspected was a chuckle.
“I owe you a debt,” Tracy said. He figured it was best to be up front with a creature like this. It had just done what he had asked, and bargaining was a big thing to them. “However I do not have an explanation yet why your door opens into our hotel. I have just arrived and thought to take care of the crowd before getting the full update.”
“It looked more like they were on a witch hunt,” The troll commented dryly.
“Then it was up to me to protect my witches,” Tracy replied wryly.
The troll grunted again. “So there may be an explanation yet?”
Tracy turned to smile bravely at Shannon who was eyeing them warily. “Don’t look at me, I’m just the dayshift.”
“Riddle me this? Riddle me that?” Tracy prompted.
“You clown,” she said with a weary smile. “Okay, so Lord Aris may still go on with his activities tomorrow. Not sure what is going on there, but he and Tamara seemed to be working on something. Then Tamara and her wolf friend vanished. No one has been able to find them. Aaron left for a bit, came back with an investigator. They’ve been searching for her ever since. We have armed guards on all exits of the hotel; to be sure no one comes through the portals and wanders off. We have cancelled all incoming reservations except the ones for the dead ball.”
“Housekeeping?”
“We kept close ears and made sure any vacant room that says its vacant is clean and ready. All occupied rooms checked out without incident. The diplomat squad then helped housekeeping check the odd rooms, and they are indeed all portals. Some have come and gone, and others have remained steady.”
“Why is it happening?” the troll asked. Tracy was amazed on how educated he sounded. His experience with trolls was once in a council meeting and the troll did a lot of grunting. It occurred to him that may be their language, and when translated this was how they sounded. It was revolutionary to him and made him rethink of what he thought of that encounter.
“We have an area people can use for magical purposes. Last night’s group took no safety measures, and the results are portals in the hotel.” Tracy explained. It didn’t seem reasonable to coat the truth to this creature. If he was a guest Tracy might not have been so forthcoming.
The troll nodded thoughtfully. “It is oddly comforting to know there are stupid people no matter where you go.”
Shannon chuckled. “Sounds like you and Tracy have the same attitude.”
“You should get rest my little siren,” Tracy suggested. “Without that group I should be prepared for the night. And I have help, uh, what is your name sir?”
"Agaust." The troll said.
“Mandi will crash down in the laundry room,” Shannon said, “The cots are already there, and you may need her.”
“I appreciate that,” Tracy said with a nod. If nothing else they were a team. More often than not they felt like they only had themselves to rely on. Tracy was thankful to not be totally on his own with the hotel in this state.
“I will remain,” the troll stated. “I wish to understand more of this place.”