CHAPTER FIVE (YET ANOTHER NIGHT)

"....who....are you??...you moron... Let me go" the girl said as Bryan pulled her by the arm. They sauntered into the reception of a five star hotel. One of the best hotels in LA. Bryan paused for a split second to stare at the luxurious aura of the room. His gaze settled on the shiny stairs and elevators, and to the beaming chandelier above his head.

He looked back and forth for a few seconds before the supposed girl's violent pull yanked him off his realm of admiration. It dawned on him once again that's he's in a hotel and rooms are meant to be booked.

Bryan dragged the girl - leading her to the desk of the receptionist.

'....hello.." Bryan muttered - he still couldn't stop himself from looking all around the reception. "We desire a room" he added - without looking at the receptionist.

"....y...you want to kill me in a hotel r.room, right?" The drunk girl stammered.

"Every room has been occupied. There's no room" the receptionist said.

Her words made Bryan turn to finally stare at her. He feigned a disappointed frown - lost of words. And the irked look on the receptionist's face made him quack with a slight glint of dissatisfaction.

Bryan puffed out sharply, his hands - around the drunk girl's waist. "Wow.... What I'm I supposed to do now?" Bryan asked - directing the question to one. His nervous and anxious tone made it seem like he was posing the question to the irritated receptionist.

"You can sleep on the streets for all I care" the receptionist shot him a lethal glare. If stares were knives - Bryan's skin will be battered with lacerations.

Bryan scoffed. He was about to give a response when a women stepped into the scene. Her long dark hair - jiggled to the rhythm of every step she took. She leaned her hands on the receptionist's desk - canines bared in a cheerful smile.

"Hi.. Can check in? I need a room" she said.

The receptionist's face lit up as if a chandelier was concealed beneath her tongue. Her enthusiasm made Bryan wonder if she was till the same lady who spoke to him like some piece of paper - scraped in a bank dustbin.

"You're welcome ma'am" The receptionist retorted - her alluringly hoop dimple revealing. "We have a lot of rooms available, we've got 10 vacant rooms on the second floor, we have 6 on the third... Which of them do you want ma'am?" The receptionist suggested.

The woman flickered skeptically - moments later she snapped her finger. "I'd go for one of the rooms in the third floor" she said.

"Alright ma'am" the receptionist said. She dragged out a cabinet from her desk and took out a card. "That's the access card" the receptionist said, stretching out the card to the woman - her lips still bared in a euphoric smile.

The woman took the keys, and walked away.

Bryan watched every bit of the scene unfold, and when the women left, he was too dazed to utter a word. The thought that there were over sixteen vacant rooms, and he was denied access into any of them made him a bit enraged and ready to vent.

He watched the woman ascend the stairs. When she was out of sight he moved closer to the receptionist and stumped his arm over her desk " You said there were no vacant room right?"

"Yes" the receptionist retorted - swiftly.

"But you checked that woman in. You even gave her sixteen rooms to choose from. Why did you do that?" Bryan said.

The receptionist glared at him for the umpteenth time. "This is a five star hotel. Not a street motel we don't accommodate assassins in the disguise of delivery boys here" receptionist said.

Her words took Bryan off guard and it dawned on him that he was still wearing his 'delivery boy' uniform and the blood stains from the taxi - still lingered on his shirt. He broke eye contact with the receptionist - staring above her head.

"You can't even afford a meal here - talk more of an entire room. You look like a criminal, and if don't leave right now, I'd call security" the receptionist threatened.

The annoying seriousness on her face negated Bryan to speak. "There's no need for that. You don't have to judge me by how I look. I can afford it" he said.

The receptionist stared at Bryan in outright disbelief and she suddenly led out a long and audible cackle.

Goosebumps graced Bryan's skin not only because of the receptionist's demeaning tone, but because her snarling laughter was beginning to draw attention.

"You must think this is a joke, huh?" the receptionist said amidst laughter.

Bryan bit his lips. He nervously swallowed the lump in his throat. "How much is a room?" He asked.

The laughter faded off the receptionist's lips. "Five thousand dollars" she said sternly. She thought Bryan was going to take a million step backwards and never look back. But he didn't.

Bryan creased his eyebrows. He dipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out a credit card. "There you. I'm paying for a night" he said - stretching the card to her so she could swipe it.

She reluctantly took the card off Bryan's grip and swiped it. The ,'ding' sound that followed made her widened her eyebrows... Oops and her mouth pouted in shock too. That was the least she expected to happen. She wavered, for a moment - lost in the shock of what just happened. Until Bryan hit her desk, she didn't realize how aghast she was.

She handed an access card to Bryan, still unable to break eye contact with him.

Bryan clutched the card. He pulled the drunk girl closer and was about to ascend the elevator. "What's the room number?" He asked.

"752"

Bryan turned, ready to walk away and he unexpectedly turned back to the receptionist like he knew she still had eyes stuck on him.

"Next time, learn not to judge people, by how they look. You might ended up messing with the wrong person" Bryan said.

He clutched the drunk girl's arm and they ascended the stairs - leaving the receptionist in solitude.