002 - A DOZEN YEARS LATER

Lee-Anne walked slowly towards her manager's office. The lady was very stern, and asking for time off, especially on a busy night, was one of the things she never wanted to hear about. After hesitating for a while, Lee-Anne knocked at the door.

"Yes!" the manager already sounded irritated. Lee-Anne slowly pushed the door open and stepped inside.

She looked as if she was ready to run away any minute, but she managed to talk,

"Excuse me…I…there is…"

"Just say what you want to say!" the lady screamed at the top of her voice. She sounded so angry that Lee-Anne was not sure if she could go on. But she had no option,

"I'm sorry to…."

"Say what you need to say!"

"OK, may I have time off. My mother and my father are critically ill in hospital. They were involved in a fatal car accident. You can check it online, it is the trending topic. I really need to go to them, I…."

"Tonight our hotel is hosting the Pinkertons! Do you have any idea who the Pinkertons are? This is an opportunity of a lifetime for us, and the best you can do is to mess it up?" the woman frowned and threw a look of hatred at poor Lee-Anne.

"I understand, but please. Please, may I be with my parents. I am their only child, I am the only person they have, please…"

The manager looked at Lee-Anne and uttered a few words before she marched out of her office, roughly pushing Lee-Anne out of the way

***

Kiara had just finished making dinner when her phone rang. She quickly answered it and after a while, she walked to her parents to tell them, "Mum and dad, Lee-Anne is asking if I can stand in for her at her job. The hotel where she works is hosting the Pinkertons, and she has to be with her parents."

"Is that allowed? Did her superiors allow that?" Travis asked almost absent-mindedly.

"She said her manager approved. Besides, the manager knows me from the last time I worked for her for just a month. I can go and waitress there tonight."

"What do you say, Aletha?" Travis yawned loudly before coughing violently.

"Cover your mouth, for crying out loud!" Aletha hated it when Travis sneezed or coughed without covering his mouth.

"Sorry," the man mumbled.

"If you want you can go," Aletha spoke to her daughter.

"What time will you be back?"

"Oh, I forgot to ask Lee-Anne," Kiara said.

Aletha nodded her head and said, "I also need to go and see Lee-Anne's parents, don't you think so, Travis?"

Travis shook his head and asked, "hmm? What did you say?"

"Do you ever pay attention? I'm saying wouldn't it be prudent for us to go and see Lee-Anne's parents?"

Travis stared into space for a while, followed by, "I don't know. We hardly know each other. Our daughters were classmates, that's all that connects us. Kiara and Lee-Anne are not even friends."

He shrugged and picked up his glass of wine to continue drinking. Very much irritated, Aletha just shook her head and walked away.

***

When Kiara arrived at the Two-Sons hotel, everyone was running up and down, making sure that everything was in place. Since she had worked there before, she knew the place well, so she rushed to see the manager first, collected a waitress uniform for herself, and she dressed up.

In the bathroom, two other waitresses were fixing their hair and make-up. Since Kiara had come just at the last minute, she had not brought any accessories with her. She simply made sure that her face looked good, and as she was about to walk out, one of the girls said,

"Let us give you some of our makeup. Here, you can use my kit."

Kiara thought about it for a while and then answered, "no thank you. I think I will be fine just as I am."

"She already looks very beautiful without makeup. Some people are blessed," the other waitress commented before she turned to the mirror to finalise her makeup.

Kiara slowly walked out and headed to the lounge area in order to get her duties for the night.

"Where are those two useless girls?" the manager was shouting to no-one in particular, moving towards the exit of the hall in which the event was to be held. Kiara and the woman almost bumped into each other, and apologizing profusely, Kiara stood very close to the wall, making way for her angry manager.

"Who are you by the way? Kiara, am I right?" her voice was loud and angry.

"Yes, I am Kiara Noels."

"Listen, I assigned two girls to receive our guests, and only heaven knows where they are. Now I want you to stand in their place. Welcome the guests warmly to Two-Sons Hotel. You know who our guests are, don't you? The Pinkertons, and they are already here. Go and wait at the entrance. You are to smile at them and be as polite as you can."

"Yes ma'am."

"And if they say anything, even if it irritates you, you shall smile. Understood?"

"I understand," Kiara nodded her head.

"Why on earth are you not wearing any make up?" the lady looked at Kiara from head to toe, and her frown softened before she said, "you're beautiful all the same. I think you look perfect even without make up. Now go!"

Kiara walked briskly, breathing in and out heavily as a way of trying to calm herself down.She stood at the door to see a silver luxurious car driving in. A man dressed in black came out and opened the doors. The hotel staff meant to open the doors too, but there were some bodyguards who would not allow anyone to come near the Pinkertons.

Wow! Kiara thought to herself. Finally I get to see the Pinkertons in person.

The old man who came out first was undoubtedly the man who people referred to as Master Pinkerton. He was very old and dressed in an extremely beautiful suit. This family was well known and admired by many. They ran various businesses, including hotels, hiring of cruise ships, boutiques and various other things. His wife, Lady Pinkerton, followed closely, dressed in a sparkling white gown. Kiara watched as her heart began to pound uncontrollably. She was not sure if she was going to do the right thing. She was very scared.

Why did they have to choose this hotel, anyway? She asked herself.She stood very close to the door and started greeting the guests, remembering very well that their manager had strictly instructed everyone to address the three as Master Pinkerton, Lady Pinkerton and Young Master Pinkerton. This was the way in which many people, especially those employed by the Pinkertons, called them. Since their events manager was really hoping for Two-Sons hotel to find favour with the Pinkertons, she insisted that they be addressed in such manner.

"Welcome to Two-Sons hotel, Master and Lady Pinkerton. It is an honour to have you here as our guests today at…at…at our hotel". Kiara smiled.

She suddenly realised that she was stammering due to anxiety. Hoping that the guests had not noticed, she continued to smile and led them in. For real the Pinkertons were not ordinary people. Many people always spoke about them. The husband and wife had been blessed with only one son, who died young, leaving a son. The grandson, whose name was Vine, was reported to be seriously spoilt by his grandfather and grandmother. People said he got anything and everything that he ever asked for, and he never lifted a finger to do any work, unless if he himself wanted to.

Kiara looked at the car driving off, and thinking that there was no other guest, she began to walk away when the events manager nudged her and whispered, "wait for young master Vine."

Oh! OK. Young master Vine. Kiara stood rooted to her spot, starting to feel very uneasy. Of course she had heard a lot about Vine, but never in her life had she dreamt of one day being the one to welcome him to an event. Another car parked close to the entrance, and many bodyguards came out.

A young man dressed in white ripped jeans and a white t-shirt came out. He looked very uninterested in what was happening. Shaking off the bodyguards who came too close to him, the young man walked slowly towards the entrance.

"Welcome to Two-Sons hotel, it is an honour to have you with us here today, young master Pinkerton," Kiara smiled what she thought to be her best smile.The young man stopped and looked at Kiara. For a moment she thought she had made a mistake, or said something wrong; and she became seriously scared. She could not dare cross Vine Pinkerton, for who knew what he was capable of? Who knew what he would do if anyone made him angry?

"I'm…I'm sorry I…" she stammered.

To her surprise, Vine smiled a little and said, "you don't have to be sorry," before he walked off.

Judging by all the other guests who were at the event, one could tell that for real, Vine was spoiled. While everyone was dressed formally in suits and evening gowns, Vine wore his ripped jeans and a t-shirt, and he seemed not to care at all. Kiara quickly walked to the spot where her manager had told her to work from, and she watched the very rich family and their guests enjoying their life. She had no idea what the event was, but it seemed to have a lot of speeches.

One person after the other, they stood up to speak. When finally their manager told them to serve the food, Kiara felt a bit relieved. She was extremely tired and she just wanted to go home and take some rest. When she was going to the kitchen to check if some special sauce was ready, her phone rang. Knowing that the events manager would never tolerate calls during working hours, Kiara hid behind a curtain and answered the call.