Gabrielle Demonico (29 page)

Sooooo predictable…

A few more seconds of instrument tuning passed before the band began to play its biggest hit, “Lost in Her”. It was the only one of their songs that Anabelle liked. She wanted to stay and listen but irked that she’d tricked herself into thinking they had been looking at her. It just killed any desire she had to hear it and she was disgusted with herself for letting it even go that far.

And anyway, she
’d gathered enough intelligence at this point. She quickly collected her things and bolted for the exit. Moments later, she plopped in to her copper clunker.
Copper
was a euphemism for rust but at least it was
paid for
rust. As she drove back to her apartment, she felt a sudden twinge of anger towards the two of them. Men like them had only ever been a source of pain in her life. Sure, they hadn’t intended to tease her at the bar but some part of her just took it that way.

It was stupid but she couldn
’t help herself.

More than anything, Anabelle couldn
’t wait for the interview, and her class, to just
freaking be over
already. It was so damn frustrating. Why the hell did Professor Wilkinson want them interviewed anyway? What was so special about them? Weren’t they just like any other band – red hot today and gone tomorrow?

The more Anabelle thought about it, the more indignant she became.

Just get through it. It’s only a couple of hours out of your life.

She
’d come this far and nothing… least of all a couple of sleazy bad boy rockers, were going to stop her now.

***

“Seriously? You have got to be kidding me.” Anabelle muttered as she checked the time on her cell phone. The Vossler brothers were already almost an hour late. To make matters worse, neither her texts nor calls to them had been returned or even so much as acknowledged.

As she sat in the lobby of the swankiest hotel in town, the Peninsula Grand Hotel, Anabelle fumed.

In her mind, these two were the embodiment of everything that was wrong with society today. They were rude, inconsiderate, self-centered jerks. No doubt they were out carousing until all hours with God knows how many women.

Arrogant pricks. Five minutes. That
’s it and not a second longer.

She stuffed her cell phone back into her bag, leaned her back into the chair and exhaled in an attempt to calm herself. As she sat watching hotel guests mill about in front of the nearby lunch buffet a tall, slender man approached.

“Miss Mitchell?” he said as he drew near.

“
Yes?” she replied.

“
Miss Mitchell, I’m Peter Tannyhill, concierge of the Peninsula Grand Hotel. Would you mind coming with me for a moment?”

With a hint of confusion in her voice Anabelle asked, “
Come with you? Well, I, I’m waiting for someone.”

“
Yes, ma’am. I know. If you please…”

A skeptical look came across Anabelle
’s face as she rose to her feet. “You know?” she said.

“
Yes.” He replied as he nodded. He then stepped to one side and made a sweeping gesture with his right hand. “Madam, if you please…”

Anabelle narrowed her eyes for a moment and said, “
Fine.” She then gathered up her belongings and trailed the gangly Mr. Tannyhill as he led her across the lobby towards a bank of elevators. A moment later, the pair entered one of the elevators and the doors closed behind them. Without turning to face her, Tannyhill reached in the breast pocket of his suit and removed a key. He then inserted it into the elevator panel and pressed a button simply labeled, “PS”.

As the elevator began to move he turned back to Anabelle and asked, “
Miss Mitchell, is this your first time visiting the Peninsula Grand?”

Anabelle
’s bag had begun to slip down her arm slightly. She reached down, tugged it upwards once more and replied jokingly, “Yes. It’s a bit out of my price range.”

“
I understand.” He replied as he smiled softly and nodded.

Anabelle hated growing up poor and places like this only reminded her of how much she
’d gone without in life. She didn’t hate the hotel per se, but what it represented to her – something she could never have, the unattainable things in life that weren’t meant for people like her. Deeply suppressed emotions begun to tug at her again. She could feel the resentment begin to grow, but luckily before they completely darkened her mood, the elevator stopped and the doors floated open.

“
Miss Mitchell.” Tannyhill said with a gentle nod and a gesture indicating that she should exit.

As she walked off the elevator, Anabelle was shocked by
what she saw.

For starters, the elevator hadn
’t opened into a hallway but rather directly in a room. And,
what a room
it was. Her eyes boggled as she stepped out of the elevator and into the spacious foyer. From behind, she could hear Tannyhill jiggle his keys and then a moment later, the click clack of his shoes made their way towards her across the gleaming marble floor.

He circled around in front of her and said, “
Miss Mitchell. Welcome to the Presidential Suite of the Peninsula Grand Hotel.”

Anabelle w
as, in a word,
awestruck
. It was truly magnificent.

“
Th… Thank you Mr. Tannyhill.” She replied.

He smiled and said, “
I am obliged to inform you that the gentlemen you are here to meet with were called away unexpectedly last night, just after the conclusion of their show.”

Suddenly Anabelle
’s blissful state was interrupted. For a moment, she’d lost track of what she was doing and why she was even with Tannyhill in the first place.

Her anger resurfaced.

She turned her head towards Tannyhill and said flatly, “Well, I called and texted them. Why couldn’t they have just told me all of this themselves? It is incredibly rude and inconsiderate.”

Tannyhill folded his hands together at his waist. He then nodded and replied, “
I couldn’t say ma’am. I do hope that you will forgive me as the bearer of such frustrating news. I have very limited information. I was asked only to escort you to their suite. Please do understand.”

Indignant, Anabelle shook her head slowly and said, “
No… I know Mr. Tannyhill. It’s not your fault. I apologize if I was short with you.”

“
There’s no need for an apology Miss Mitchell.”

“
Do you have any idea when I can be expecting them?”

“
No madam, unfortunately I do not.”

“
I see.”

“
Have you decided that you will wait for them?”

Anabelle grimaced and c
onsidered her options but the truth was that there weren’t any and she knew it. She was going to have to just wait. Frustrated she replied, “Yes, I suppose I don’t have any choice. Do I?”

“
That is a decision only you can make Miss Mitchell.”

“
Yes. I know.” Anabelle’s eyes lazily made their way around the suite’s interior, drinking in the splendor of it all as they did. “Alright Mr. Tannyhill. I will stay here for a little while longer but if you happen to hear from them, please let them know how long I have been waiting.”

“
Yes, madam. I will do as you ask. Is there anything I can have delivered to you while you wait?”

“
No, no thank you Mr. Tannyhill.”

“
Very well. I will leave you now. Should you require anything further, please contact me directly using the house phone. Dial seven to ring me.”

“
Thanks. I will.”

Tannyhill turned to leave and within moments the elevator doors had closed and with that, she was alone.

Anabelle cast a wandering gaze around the suite once more. If two
rock stars
were staying in this place, you never would have guessed it. In fact, as far as Anabelle could tell, it didn’t look like anyone was staying here at all. Curious, she began exploring the opulent accommodations and as she did, random thoughts entered her consciousness.

Ahhhh…
the rock star life…Five star luxury hotels, private jets and beautiful women at every turn.

As she sauntered about, she imagined that no whim was too extravagant, no desire beyond the reach of their fame and fortune. They were young, rich, talented and in
credibly good looking. She was quite certain that neither one of them knew how good they had it in life. As she headed down a hallway towards the bedrooms she thought about how different they might be if they’d only had to struggle and fight for everything like she had. If that was the case, then they might be more familiar with basic rules of decorum like humility and respect for others. It was obvious neither of them possessed such traits.

In fact, the more she considered it, the more convinced she became
that they likely saw
nothing wrong
with the way they’d behaved. After all, who the hell was she? To them, she was just another college groupie disguised as a journalist and a chubby one at that. Finally, Anabelle entered one of the bedrooms. She paused for a moment and then walked across the room to a large window that overlooked downtown.

Once arriving at it, she peered out over the great expanse beneath her. As much as she hated to admit it, it was a beautiful view. From here, her troubles seemed miles a
way as if they could be carried away by one of the clouds passing overhead. She wondered what it must be like to be free of troubles and live each day as if the world existed for your own pleasure, like they most assuredly thought it did.

She lingered at t
he window for a few more moments before turning and heading back towards the king sized bed in the center of the room. Big as it was, even it seemed tiny in the vast expanse of walls and twelve foot ceilings that surrounded it. She hopped on to the edge of the bed, tossed her feet up on to it and reclined back into the pillows.

Wow…

Never in her life had Anabelle lay down on anything so comfortable. In that split second she realized that the rich really do live better that everyone else and in probably every single way imaginable. As she lie there, the rays of the warm afternoon sun stretched across the room towards her. The heat from them draped across her body and, for the moment at least, calmed her for the first time all day. So much so that within minutes she was overcome with a sudden urge for sleep, if only for a few minutes.

Just a quick nap…

It was the last conscious thought she had. When Anabelle’s eyes next opened, the previously sun kissed bedroom was now cloaked in darkness.

Shit!
She thought as she bolted into an upright position.

To her left, light from adjacent room caught her attention. She swallowed hard and turned her head to in an attempt to determine if anyone was there with her. She braced herself with her left arm and as she did, the lar
ge bed groaned a bit. She couldn’t see or hear anything, it appeared as if she were still alone. After a few moments, she reached the most obvious conclusion possible. She bit her lower lip and cursed audibly, “Those
mother fuckers
never showed.”

Disgusted
, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and prepared to leave once and for all when a male voice from across the room said, “Mother fuckers?
Man
, that’s pretty harsh.”

Anabelle
’s head snapped to her right, in the direction of the voice.

They were sea
ted at opposite ends of a large chaise lounge. Long, lean bodies rested comfortably and angled slightly towards one another. There was a casual air about them as if watching women they didn’t know sleep was just something they did all the time.

It probably
was.

Suddenly indignant, Anabelle cleared her throat and straightened her back. There was at least ten to twelve hours of pent up anger that she was poised to spew
at them specifically
and a lifetime’s worth at men like them in general.

But before she unl
eashed a torrent of obscenity, she collected her thoughts just long enough to remind herself of the bigger picture and what was at-stake. After a deep inhale, she looked in their collective direction and said firmly, “Look… I appreciate that you have agreed to meet with me. I do. But, you’ve kept me waiting for… God, I don’t even know what time it is…”

“
Eight eleven.” Tanner Vossler said dryly.

“
Jesus! Over twelve hours!” Anabelle exclaimed.

Apparently unmoved by the demands of Anabelle
’s rigid timetables, the brothers did not respond.

She was right.

She’d known it all along.

Fucking assholes…