Emily Declines And Heads to the Hotel.

"Not a chance, Mom. I still remember when you 'borrowed' my earrings." Emily replied, putting the necklace on in a flash.

"That was ONE TIME. And you didn't even have your ears pierced yet." Nicole replied with a teasing grin. "Why don't you come with me to the hotel? You can put it in your room, and I'll give you and Rebekah the only keys to it."

Nodding, Emily got out of the water with Nicole and threw on her spare shirt. This way, Emily could have the necklace someplace safe and choose which bed she'd have. Rebekah might've always hogged whatever bed she wanted, but she definitely would think the necklace was too gaudy.

Gasping, the two women practically collapsed onto the front desk at the hotel. "Why-Why did Rebekah need all this?!" Emily gasped, setting around a dozen bags onto the floor.

"Did Scott bring rocks?!" Nicole gasped, placing her own assortment of bags onto the floor. "He-He only has 2 bags!"

"Pro-Probably his laptop. And game console." Emily gasped back, feeling like rubbing it in that she only needed a single backpack.

"Definitely not condoms." Nicole joked under her breath. Breaking out into a laugh at hearing this, Emily flopped back in one of the lobby's chairs as her ribs began to hurt.

Just then, a set of doors opened and some hotel employees approached. "Perfect check-in time! Nicole? Or-"

"Yep! Nicole! Family of five, dog included. We talked over the phone." Nicole chirped.

"Excellent! We'll show you to your rooms now!" Replied the hotel employees as they lifted some of the bags with seemingly no effort.

Surprisingly to Nicole and Emily, the two women even took the stairs with the luggage, and were waiting at rooms 201 and 202 when they got off the elevator. "Geez, you two have some pep in your step!" Nicole joked as the employees unlocked their doors.

"Of course! My name is Kim, and I'm the manager if there is ANYTHING your family needs. This is Mina, and she's only a step away from assistant manager! So please, trust her if I'm not available!" The taller employee chirped.

"Of course! Thank you so much for that Kim!" Mina replied, with a clearly **** smile. "But trust me, Kim is WAAAAY better at handling matters than I am! And she loves dogs, I'm sure she can walk yours anytime you ask!"

"Of course! But Mina here is much more free than I am! So please, call on her." Kim snapped back in a cheery, yet menacing, tone.

Trying to diffuse the obvious tension, Nicole chuckled nervously. "Well thank you for being so reliable! We can take our bags from here!"

As quick as they could, Emily and Nicole packed their rooms full with their belongings as Mina and Kim continued to argue as they got further away. Seeing the door that separated her and Rebekah's room (202) and Nicole's, Daniel's, and Scott's room (201) locked from her side, Emily relaxed. She'd have at least some privacy for once.

Unlocking and opening the connecting door, for now, Emily and Nicole sorted the various bags out between the rooms before getting winded and flopping on the beds. "Did you know the windowside bed is-" Nicole began to say.

"A waterbed. Yeah, why do you think I claimed it?" Emily finished with a smile.

"I'm sure your sister will pitch a fit." Nicole muttered, sighing.

"Pfft. She already has. Her boyfriend wasn't invited, remember?" Emily grunted.

"Oh, believe me. She made sure to complain when I told her she wasn't getting her own room with him. When I broke the news he wasn't coming at all, I swore she was gonna explode!" Nicole sighed with a weak chuckle.

After some more back-and-forth, the two decided to go their separate ways. Nicole was headed to the hotel bar for a drink, it was her vacation after all. Emily, making sure to lock the connecting door, decided to take a quick shower before heading back to the beach. For some reason even she couldn't explain, however, she kept the necklace on as she stood under the hot water, compltely oblivious to the sound of the bathroom door opening...