Room & Board & More

“Wait a minute. You did not tell me any of this. We had a deal before I went to college. You do remember, Right? You gave me a promise. That being, I did not have to work here as long as I was in college!” Julia felt and knew her face was imitating a tomato right now.

“Dear, please understand that we are under enormous pressure. If you would come back for even this summer, that would help out your old man immensely. Also, you did not sign up for any classes this summer.” Her father stated.

Her father was old, approaching his sixty soon. His deep brown eyes pierced hers with a mixture of pleading and anger. If he were not seated down, they would be staring at eye level at 5’10”

She spat, “No, I have done enough for you and Mother in helping run this place. I have my own choices that I can make. I want to do something else besides this. If you and Haha can not run this place anymore, sell it to someone else!”

Any composure the man had crashed hard into a wall. Fists clenching tightly, he slammed his fist into the desk he was behind and rose from his seated position.

“In case you forgot, dear, your Okaasan and I have financed your little sojourn into college.” He bellowed, “And for what, a writing degree that’s worth nothing. In contrast, we have a successful hotel that we run. What are you doing with that degree anyway? No one hires a writer. At best, you’ll be an editor to AI that writes all the newsworthy items. And you are not getting into a damn warzone! You should have gotten one of those STEM degrees if you want to make enough to live away from us! We would be so happy for you to do that!”

A hesitant knock on the door of the office stopped any more action from coming from Julia’s father. He **** himself to calm down and sit down. Picking up a book from his desk, he looked a moment down before addressing his daughter.

“Now, chunjo, please leave. You can take your room and think about today. I expect you to be here tomorrow and working. Please let the accountant know he can come in. Tell him this was just a family dispute.” he said, waving one arm towards the door.

Julia, fuming, stomped her way out of the office. She did not give the accountant a single glance or thought as she stormed into the lobby.

‘Damn, tyrants. They have not supported my independence. I had to fight for every right I have now. God, why did you give me such anal parents.’ Her thoughts stewed. ‘The only thing right they say is that I need help to pay for college. I don’t have an independent job separate from my family. I suspect that they privately tell all my potential employers something. What that something is, I can’t even begin to imagine what it is. How else can I not find a job that is not retail? I have applied to plenty of paid internships from news organizations. Apply to local, regional, and national papers, and not one bite. The wages for working for my ryou shin or the internships are twice that of retail. If only…’

While her thoughts ran a familiar track, her steps took her up a path to the service rooms. She had room for herself there. Living in this hotel for the past twenty years made the room hers. The room she entered was originally a boiler room. The boiler was repurposed as a fireplace in her room. It did not cause any trouble as a new unit replaced it.

As she walked into the room, she noticed something off. There was a booklet on her bed that she did not recognize. She went over and picked up the book. When she saw the book was titled Harem Hotel Rules, rage sprang in her heart, and she hurled the booklet into the fireplace. She grabbed a packet of matches the hotel gave out and stuck one. As she started the fire, she suddenly felt dizzy and fell. Her vision swam between blinding white to pure black.

Fire burst on stage. When it subsided stood a black-haired beauty. Her brown eyes stared down a button nose that had perched a pair of glasses. An ocean blouse covered her torso and very petite frame. A knee-length skirt billowed around her slim waist. Her hair fell straight to her shoulders. What marred her beauty was an awful red hue to her face, as if it had gotten a sunburn.

Justine looked at the contestant with a mild smirk. “Oh my, we have such a naughty contestant. You burn the rules before getting a chance to read them. What would your dear father say about that? We’ll get you a new rule book so that … ”

Julia paused a moment before hurling herself at Justine with a banshee scream. And a fist would have crashed into Justine's face if not for the butler suddenly catching Julia mere feet away from Justine. Julia then started hurling curses at the butler and host in English and Japanese. She struggled a lot against the butler. However, no matter how she twisted or turned, she could not free herself.

“Now, dear, please calm down. I know this is rather a shock, but I assure you that if you stop hurling insults and kindly introduce yourself, things will be easier on you.” Justine said with tension in her voice.

The response she got was more profanity and spit aimed toward her. Julia's glasses had fallen off during her charge, so the spit was off the mark.

Justine spoke calmly, “If you insist on continuing like that, I will leave you no doubts about what I can do.”

Justine snapped her fingers. The verbal torrent fell away to silence. The butler released Julie. Stiffly, she spun toward the stage and clambered up.

“How about you show us some moves.” Justine laugh.

Julia wordlessly started twisting and twirling around. It did not look like any regular dance move. The expression on her face suggested pain was coursing through her. Still, no sound emanated from her lips.

Justine held up her hand. Julia stopped the particular movement and stood ramrod straight.

“Now, my dear, since I let you stop, how about you introduce yourself.” She said, giving a humorless smile.

“I am Julia Hase. I am twenty-one. My current occupation is as a student working part-time as a hotel worker. I know Dr. Haywood from a class I took with him. Next semester I plan on taking another course with him. I argued with my father. We were arguing about my future and present. It ended with him insulting my choice of major and telling me to go to my room. I am a turnip for that reason.” Julia said in a complete monotone.

“Well done. I could have you say more, but I let you off.” Justine cooed, snapping her fingers. “Now, dear, I don’t want to do more of that since we still have a lot of contestants to introduce.”

Julia felt control of her actions again and promptly collapsed to the floor. She started to weep. The butler came to her side. He gently stood her up and guided her to one of the seats. He also placed her glasses in her hands.

”Please kindly sit in that set and close that mouth of yours. Justin will give you a copy of the rules. I will not give another warning to you.”

Thomas looked at a now cowed Julia as she took a seat and sat motionless. His face had concern written all over it. Justine felt his muscles tense to get up and comfort the girl.

“Now, dear Thomas, could you tell me what is going on in that noggin of yours?” Justine said sweetly.

He shifted his gaze from the weeping woman to the one beside him. He gave her a cool stare. He seemed to challenge her to make him do something.

She gently shrugged her shoulders. "You don’t need to express it. I know that the display shown must bewilder you and Miss Hase. You two can sort your feelings on that later. But…"

She grandly waved her hand in a fashion. “We are going sky high to get our next contestant. Please welcome aboard …”