Hotel Palava - Episode 1

 

Adesuwa's POV

May hotel staffs anxiously anticipates the coming of  the new manager. Everyone seemed skeptical about the news since the last one wasn't commendable. He made every workers life miserable. The others were nothing to write home about. They were all the same, as though there was this spirit that came with being the manager.
They were all nothing but inconsiderate, womanizers. The last manager, Segun; would have sex with his female employees in his office.
I caught him pant down more times than I could count . A good number of the staffs wanted him gone, I on the other hand wanted him dead.
The news had every personnel talking. I walked into the maids quarter; Lilian and Michelle who were my fellow colleagues in the clean up department were inside discussing.
"I hear say the man don come oh" Lilian announced to my disbelief. Michelle didn't believe her either.
"I'm serious" she added and i hissed and rolled my eyes at my best friend's assumption.
"You guys don't believe me" she scoffed. I noticed she was already getting offended. We all had our reasons for not believing. 
"You said the same thing last week" I complained then I heaved a sigh,   "Lillian, no be say I no believe you, I'm tired of putting my hopes up. You do know that last week, I was in my best behavior" i added and Michelle agreed.
"WelI, i heard it from all these executive babe oh" Lilian added and Michelle laughed.
  'Executive babe' was a term I use to politely describe prostitutes without their knowledge.
"Them say the guy na oyinbo (white) guy

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. The guy carry standard cash for pocket" she continued and all attention fell on her. 
"I being hear say na half-caste him be oh." Uju, another maid who had been listening in to our conversation walked into the quarter and Lilian smiled. She has finally gotten the full attention she wanted from us.
At least now we can give her the benefit of the doubt.
"Girls are so eager to meet this man" Lilian continued.
"Ahem!" We heard from behind then we turned to see Mrs. Haruna, the staff director walk in then she folded her hands. She had that look on her face, that accusive and disappointing look.
Then  she shook her head.
Her suspicious gaze fell on me.
"So is this what the hotel is paying you guys for?" She chastised and we all stood up.
"I'm sure Adesuwa was the mastermind behind this meeting" she blamed and i rolled my eyes. I knew she would blame me.
 I didn't even call for any meeting! Our meeting at the maids quarter was simply based on coincidence.
"Before I open and close my eyes, I need everyone out, everyone except Adesuwa" she demanded.
I rolled my eyes.
 How covenient! I knew Mrs. Haruna would only dish her usual complain to me. I've heard it more times than I can count. 
After everyone left i raised her hands in surrender - something I usually do to avoid further complains.
"I know what you're going to say already, I'm irresponsible and if I'm not careful, you'll have me fired." I answered and Mrs. haruna scoffed. 
"How long have I been saying this?" She asked, "Since I started working here two years ago"
"Someday I'm going to fire you for real" she threatened. She has been making that threat for two years too.
"I'm sorry" i apologized. 
"The manager would be flying in from London tomorrow," " So he's truly an half-caste" i interrupted and she hissed.
"You had better be in your best behavior" 
"Why? Not like I'm the only worker here"
"You're the only one with an attention-seeking characteristic"
"I don't intentionally seek  for attention" i argued and Mrs Haruna rolled her eyes. "You can't even walk into a room without drawing attention to yourself."
"I promise to be in my best behavior" "If you want to survive while working under this new management, I'll suggest you try to avoid the new manager"
"Is he that bad? Segun was a tyrant, the rest were not that good. Don't tell me they hired another tyrant"
"I don't know, I've never met him before but we'll get to know more about him hopefully." Mrs Haruna replied leaving the room.
"Hopefully" I muttered with a troubled sigh. 
I really won't like to relieve the experiences I went through with the other managers.
Olusegun Olaniyi was a heartless manager who paid little or no attention to the worker's needs. He managed and controlled the organization unruly.
He fired workers at will. His dismissal was shocking to a lot of persons who thought it was impossible since he was a cousin to the owner of the hotel.
I hated him for a whole lot of reasons that encompassed more than just his tyranny rule.
I continuously sent mails to Olaniyi Olaniyi, the hotel owner who resides abroad, until he finally did something about the ill treatment the workers got.
I hope for God sake and the sake of everyone that the new manager would be better than the others.

Henry's POV

I arrived Nigeria in the evening. I lied to the hotel caretaker about coming the following day. I wanted to pay the hotel a surprise visit. I intended to see the hotel for what it originally is.
I didn't want the workers giving me false impression on how the hotel management operates. I wanted to catch them at their worse, it was my way of managing any company efficiently.
By seven, I was already at the hotel. I expected to be welcomed by the doorman in front of the hotel but i wasn't. Every guest should be welcomed by the doorman who in turn helps the guest with their luggages.
I walked into the hotel dragging my luggage all by myself to the receptionist's counter where a man was complaining about the hotel's poor room service delivery.
"My girlfriend and I ordered for fisherman soup but what we got wasn't fisherman soup"
"What did you get?" She asked, "Fried rice and chicken" "Whoever did it must have given you reasons for"
"The idiot said there was no fisherman soup so instead of coming into the room empty, he brought fried rice. Does that even makes sense?" He complained looking at my direction. I immediately shrugged, what could I have said?
"I would love to talk to your manager" he complained, "This is annoying!"
"Sir I'll relay your complains to the appropriate authority. For now our manager hasn't arrived. I apologise for the inconveniences" she answered and i nodded, impressed with the way she handled the matter.
After the man left she rolled her eyes then hissed. 
"Abeg make manager do come ! I don taya" she answered.
A lady walked towards her. She was on a uniform, I guess she was a maid. I didn't understand why people still use stereotypical uniforms for maids.
"Wetin happened?" She asked turning over to the man who just left.
 "Michelle, Amebo go kill you!" The receptionist snapped. 
"Gist me nah" she pleaded.
"Them mix the man order, fried rice instead of fisherman soup" she answered and this Michelle laughed. 
"I just taya for all the complains, I still prefer when Oga Segun being dey. There was orderliness, now things don scatter" the receptionist confessed.
Meanwhile I waited there waiting for some sort of attention. I was feeling disappointed already. You don't leave a guest hanging. 
I began to wonder what kind of services these workers have been rendering.
 "I hear say Manager dey come" Michelle chipped in, "Abeg make I hear word" the receptionist retorted, "You know since when I don dey hear say Manager go come? The man go tell me if na traffic dey hold am" she added and Michelle laughed.
"Maybe traffic hold am for airport or maybe Petrol finish for air" Michelle teased and the receptionist laughed hard. 
I scoffed within, if only they knew the manager was right in front of them.
"Mrs. Haruna don sha dey make preparation for am oh, everywhere go dey sparkling clean tomorrow, you no go recognize this your counter again" Michelle continued.

I had to clear my throat to bring the receptionist back to earth. She completely forgot that I was standing there. 
"Oh sorry sir" she apologized, "Good afternoon Sir, sorry good evening" she added. 
"Good evening to you too" i answered trying hard to contain my British accent.  No matter how hard I try, it still comes out that way.
"Did you already book a room?" She asked, "No" i lied.
"Would you like to book one?" She asked and I raised his brow at her in shock. Of course I would like to, what did she expect?
"I'm sorry sir, stupid question. What's your name Sir."
"Lawrence Micheal" I lied.

Adesuwa's POV

I arrived at the hotel before eight. While going around my normal cleaning duty, i got a call from Mrs. Haruna to clean up Room 29. 
"I'm kind of busy right now Ma"
"For the first time in your life Adesuwa, obey before complain."
"I'll clean it up when I'm through with this room" i answered dusting some feathery material from the bed sheet on a bed. 
Afterwards, i walked over to Room 29, then i knocked severally, but there was no response. 
The only thing i heard was a high-life, mixed alternative music that played from inside the room.
After waiting for like five minutes, i pressed the door knob downwards and the door opened. I was skeptical about entering but I did anyways; after all, I knocked.
 In the room was a half naked man who stood close to the bed. 
He didnt have anything on, only cloth that he held on to, in order to cover his private part. For a spilt second, I thought I saw him fully nude beofe he held the clothe.
"Who are you?" he asked in what came out as a British accent. It's not our first time having foreign guests. It's a normal thing, hit it wasn't a normal thing to walk in on them when they're n*ked.
 I looked at my uniform, I was dumbfounded.
I knew i was in a hot pot of soup. I had no idea who the man was but from the shock clearly written on his face, i knew that he would definitely report the situation to Mrs. Haruna or rather to the manager.
For a moment, i  wondered why i was still gazing at him, despite the mess I was in already. 
Was it because of the shock or his glorious body?
Damn! He looked like one of those Black American surfers. 
 "Wh...what are you doing here?" he stammered.
This time i swallowed hard, finally recovering from the present and imminent infactuation; then i made a run for it.

I rushed off into a room, my hands were placed on my chest in fear. My heart beat loudly and faster.
 I cursed ever entering into the room; i still didn't understand why the man would call for room service knowing fully well that he would be n*ked.
My phone rang again, it was Mrs Haruna. I picked it up angrily.  "Why haven't you gone to the room?" She asked and i almost hissed. 
I just walked into a n*ked man, not like I haven't seen a man n*ked before but it didn't have to be a customer!
In my two years of working for the hotel, I've never ever been in this kind of situation. I didn't even know what to do.
"You're supposed to clean up the upper floor, Mr.

Read " Palm lines 2 " by the same author ( Essien Eno )

. Babalola's suite. He'll be here soon. Room 49"
I blinked my eyes in shock. I must be hearing wrongly, did she just say Room 49?
"You said 29" I argued, "Seriously?" She asked.
 "Yes Ma'am" I answered. 
"You're wrong. It's not me. I said 49, what would make me say 29?" She answered and I rolled my eyes. 
"I'll go there Ma" i answered then I hung up with a worried sigh. 
Suddenly a mental image of the British black man flashed through my head like lightening.
 On second thought, i didn't regret going in. I mean, who would see such a body and regret seeing it?
 I quickly snapped myself out of my lustful euphoria with a hit on my head.
"Aw" i yelled painfully, i didn't expect it to hurt that much.
 I suddenly started to justify my actions. A habit of mine to shy away from guilt.
 After all i didn't enter carelessly, i knocked and knocked several times but he never responded. Perhaps it was because he was bathing that he didn't hear or  was it the music playing?
 I sighed once again, then i shrugged. How will he find me anyway? I thought to myself, after all i'm not the only maid in the hotel. 
It's not as if he's following me that moment or he took a picture of me. Besides, he's only a customer who would soon leave.
I felt a hand on my shoulder, my heart skipped. 
Have i been caught?