Going into Hiding

As you walk into the over lit reception area you see across the desk a guy not too much older than yourself staring at his phone. He had the pale doughy skin and dead eyes of a guy who had pulled way too many graveyard shifts in his time. Despite the fact it appeared he had absolutely nothing to do he seemed extremely inconvenienced by your appearance. You hear him let out an irked sigh and slowly gets to his feet.

You slap your wallet on the desk and try to hurry this transaction along. "I'd like a room for the night please."

He doesn't say a word. He finishes what he was doing on his phone then sets it down. He walks to the desk at a glacial pace then starts tapping a few buttons on a computer that was there.

You tap your bare foot against the cold tile floor impatiently.

...

...

...

What the fuck was he doing!? He taps this button then that one. He mouses over and clicks something. All the while he still hadn't said a word or even really acknowledged you. All the while all you could think about was your scared sister sitting alone in the car.

"Dude, I am really tired. If we could just..."

"Single room or double?" He interrupts you. You might have been offended if you hadn't been in such a hurry.

"Single. Just anything will do. The cheapest you got."

"Mmm hmm."

Tap, tap, tap, click, click.

This was wearing on your already frayed nerves. "Just any..."

"Smoking or non-smoking." He interrupts you again. Was this guy trying to be an asshole right now?

"Non-smoking. Anything. I just need a bed for the night."

"Mmm hmm." He says in that monotone voice of his.

Tap, tap, click, click, click.

You glance over your shoulder. God, you knew Fiona would be getting nervous by now. Alone in that big dark parking lot. Alone with her deepest darkest thoughts.

"Is there anyway we can hurry this up?" You snap.

"Nope." He shoots right back. "This stuff won't fill itself out. Besides, room's not going anywhere."

You rub your eyes and tamp your anger down. Going off right now would only slow things down.

Click, click, tap, tap, tappity tap.

"How much do you have to...!"

"Name?" Yet another interruption.

You say through gritted teeth. "Jesse Bailey. Need I.D.?"

He ignores your question.

Tappity, tappity, tap. This was maddening! How long does it take to type your name!?

"Dude..."

"Any pets?" He asks.

"Pets!? Are you kid..."

"There's a charge for pets."

You **** yourself to take a deep breath. "No, no pets. Just a normal, single room for the night. The cheapest one you've got. I don't care about anything else."

"Just for yourself?"

What the fuck business was it of his? You sigh. "No, there are two of us. She's waiting in the car and she's very tired as well."

"He he he. Yeah, tired."

You sigh with exasperation.

He taps away. "There are bagels and coffee her in the office in the morning. Check out is 11 am."

"Excellent, sounds great. Awesome. Let's do this."

He finally looks up and to actually see you for the first time. You could see the fucker was enjoying this torment. Tonight of all nights.

"If you need anything the truck stop across the road has most anything." He says with a snarky grin.

"Are you going to rent me this room or..."

Just then you just make out an engine start up out in the parking lot. Like a bolt from the blue you are gripped by a sudden panic. El had told Fiona to go away...forever. Fiona had the keys to your car and had been sitting alone thinking about everything...FUCK!

You scramble and dash from the office, leaving your wallet behind in your hurry. Running back out into the parking lot...you are relieved to see it was one of the few other vehicles from one of the other guests that had started up. You let out a huge sigh of relief. Looking over to your car you can see your sister still in the passenger seat. Her head was down and she looked scared out of her mind. Spinning back on your heel you storm back into the office.

"Are you going to fucking rent me a room or am I taking my business elsewhere!" You bark.

You see he had a shit eating grin as he waited for you. On the desk was a room key and the bank card pin pad sat ready for you along with a paper you had to sign.

"High strung, aren't ya? 'Fraid she was gonna run off?" He sneers.

Muttering under your breath. "Fuckin asshole."

You pay the bill, which mostly drained your anemic bank account, sign the paper, and grab the key. Without another word you rush back out the door. You take straight line back to the car, hopping over some broken glass along the way without even slowing down.

You knock on Fiona's window which causes her to startle. She immediately relaxes when she sees it is you. She unlocks the door and you open it up. You help her out of the car, she still clutched your keys with both hands. You lean in to take her handbag and lock the doors once more before shutting it up. When you turn back to her Fiona steps right up next to you, literally pressing herself into you. Her arms were held tight to her body. Everything about her body language was closed off and timid.

"I tried to be brave." She whispers.

You take her in your arms. "You were very brave. Sorry it took so long. It's okay, Jesse's here now. I've got ya." You give the front office one last icy **** glare before you carefully lead your barefooted sister to your shared ground level room for the night.