I went up the wooden stairs of an old hotel heading to my room. There were only two hotels in this remote town. The other hotel were fully occupied and this was my only choice. Earlier on, at the counter, I was told by the old lady in charge that only two rooms were taken. So I made a random choice and took room 107. Upon reaching the top of the stairs, I found out that room 107 was at the far end. The first room was numbered 100, and the adjacent room was 111. There were ten rooms on either side.
The first two adjacent rooms were taken and as I walked pass, there were voices indicating that there were more than one occupants in each room. Then a few doors away I came to room 107. I opened the door and stepped into the stuffy room. Leaving the door ajar, I went straight to unlatched the windows. It was an old fashioned twin window. A gust of wind blew into the room.
I turned around and got a shock of my life as I came face to face with the old lady. She doubled up as a receptionist and the housekeeper. She came in silently and caught me off guarded. She handed me a towel and a mini bar of soap. All the while she was staring at me with very unfriendly look. I took the two items from her and watched her reluctantly walking out. Upon reaching the door, she turned to have another stare at me straight in the eyes. I went to lock the door. What an eerie encounter that was like some scenes in a horror film.
Feeling fresh after a good bath, I intended to hang around the town. As I walked to the stairs, I noticed the neighbouring rooms were still unoccupied and their doors remained locked. I won't be surprise if no clients checked in after me. The rooms at the second and third floor were rarely taken I presumed. By the poor maintenance of the interiors, one could tell that business wasn't good.
The town was quite busy though it was late in the afternoon. I came across some friends in a cafe. Upon seeing me, they invited me to their table. So there we updated ourselves. There were so many interesting things that took place in my absence. From the afternoon coffee we chatted right to dinner time. We ordered our dinner and it looked like a reunion.
As they wanted to know where I was putting up for the night, I told them the hotel I checked into. One of them suggested the other hotel with a simple reason that mine was dilapidated. I told them that I didn't mind much as I don't have the choice, the other being fully occupied. Our focus was then diverted to our after supper activity, that was a session in one of the pub. So it was pub affair till midnight. I had to leave the group and be back at the hotel before it closed by 12am.
I had to hurry before the hotel closed its door. In cities, hotel operates 24hours, so we do not face problems of being shut out. I reached the main entrance just as the caretaker was preparing to close. She was at the door and didn't even bother to step aside to allow me in. I had to squeeze side ways to get in. I went upstairs and headed straight to my room. The other occupants might have been asleep as it was silent up here.
I took a shower before bed. It didn't take long for me to fall into a good night sleep. I could say the night was peaceful as I had an uninterrupted sleep or was it that I slept like a log.
The morning sun shone directly into the hotel room. I had the windows opened the whole night as it could be very stuffy inside a box like room. After a shower I was on my way down for breakfast. I went to the nearest cafe and read the morning papers while waiting to be served. I should be on my way to the airport by noon, but somehow I changed my plan to stay for another day. I strolled through the town just to enjoy the busy market scenes. My friends knew of my earlier plan and perhaps they thought I was somewhere at the airport waiting to fly back to my home town.
After an early lunch, I returned to the hotel to extend my stay. The caretaker thought I was checking out, but to her surprise I requested another day and promptly paid for the room. After writing something in the guest book, she handed me a receipt. I proceeded to my room. I saw the first two rooms now vacant with doors wide open. The caretaker who was also doing the housekeeping came up behind me and proceeded to tidy up the rooms. I could be the only guest left though I didn't give it much thought. Probably some guests may check in later.
I was walking pass room 105 when I noticed that the door was ajar. I peeked inside and saw a young woman sitting on the bed. She looked up and smiled. I nodded my head and went straight to my room. I can't help being attracted to her at first sight. She seemed friendly an approachable. I couldn't be sure if she was alone. Somehow I can't get her off my mind. So I started drafting a fool proof plan to approach her. If she should have a partner with her then my approach would be totally casual. So I proceeded to walk by again. If someone was with her then I will just walk straight on like I was heading downstairs.