"Um, I Know It Seems Silly"

"But they have to be there, the bellboy said he would arrange it. Where is he ?" Debbi was still arguing with the girl behind the reception desk. "He will have gone home madam. Our front of house staff have all changed shift." "OK, so phone him then, ask him what the hell he's done with them" Debbi demanded. "I'm sorry madam but hotel policy is that we only bother our off duty staff in the event of an emergency" the girl explained. "But this is an emergency. I've lost all my clothes" Debbi whined. Those waiting behind her found this to be most amusing. "I'm very sorry madam but that does not constitute an emergency in the hotel's eyes."

"Oh, I'm fed up with this. I'm going up to the room and checking for myself !" A red mist had descended on Debbi. "You can't do that madam, the room has already been cleaned and allocated to new guests." But the receptionist's objections fell on deaf ears and everyone could only watch the undulations of Debbi's buttocks as she strode determinedly across the lobby to the lift. "What are you looking at ?" she cried aggressively at the confused party of Japanese tourists who joined her in the lift and were cowed into silence until they reached the fourth floor.

Debbi was still steaming but her confidence rapidly diminished with every step she took along the corridor, so that by the time she reached the door, she could only administer a very tentative knock. No response. Drawing a deep breath, Debbi summoned up the nerve to knock more loudly. "What on earth ?" This time the door was opened by a good looking businessman in shirtsleeves. "Er, um, I'm very sorry. I know it looks strange but I think I left my clothes in your bathroom" Debbi stammered. "You think ?" the man grinned, openly staring at Debbi's revealing outfit. "Er, no, um, what I mean is I DID leave my clothes in your bathroom. If I could just have a look ?" "Is this one of those hidden camera pranks ?" the man wondered, looking beyond Debbi to see if he could spot any such device. "No, um, look, I know it seems silly but I'm a sales manager with a clothing company and we were showing clients some samples in here earlier" Debbi tried to explain, all the while realising how absurd it all sounded.

A woman of similar age to the man suddenly appeared behind him. "Look darling, I don't know what your game is but I've been in the bathroom to freshen up and there were no skanky clothes left lying around in there. So bugger off !" With that she pushed past the man and slammed the door in Debbi's face. Debbi contemplated trying again but deep down she knew that the woman was probably telling the truth.

It was the cleaners, she suddenly thought. The cleaners must have taken her clothes.