FROM AWAY ~ BOOK ONE by Mackey Jr. Deke

Author:Mackey Jr., Deke
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pearlcasting Productions
Published: 2015-07-18T04:00:00+00:00

~

No one sits in the sitting room.

Dawn cannot blame them. Without even the thinnest of cushions, the white wicker love seat and chairs look about as uncomfortable as any furnishings she’s ever seen. Better suited to loosening an enemy’s tongue than lounging while on vacation.

She looks around. The room is empty. The front counter unmanned. A mostly boiled-off pot of coffee and two dry-looking bran muffins all that remain from the continental breakfast. Somewhere nearby a television can be heard murmelling to itself, punctuated occasionally by condescending canned laughter.

On the counter: A shiny bell. Its surface buffed to mirror-reflectivity. Unmarred by fingerprints. She reaches an index finger over its button. Lets it drop...

...onto the back of someone’s hand. Which has suddenly materialized to block the bell from being rung.

“Oh!” She looks up. Finds herself facing a pale young man in a light suit and a long-suffering deadpan expression. His nametag identifies him: Graham. The concierge. He shifts the bell well out of reach before addressing her.

“And how may I help you?” The emphasis leads Dawn to believe Graham might be happier helping almost anyone else.

“I’d like to...” She pauses. Smiles. “Can you just tell me: The elderly couple outside. Are they--”

“Don’t you worry about them!” Graham’s face boils red. “They’re not hurting anyone!”

Dawn recoils in surprise.

Graham clenches his eyes shut. Pinches the bridge of his nose. Calms. Composes himself.

“Naturally, one might wonder what they’d done to warrant such an outburst. You’d be well within your rights to hold it against me. But I ask you to consider the possibility my brusqueness is entirely unrelated to your presence. Perhaps I’ve slept poorly the last few nights. Or recently suffered a disappointing personal setback.”

He leans forward, as though to underline the following: “Or possibly, I’ve just encountered a person - or a pair of persons - whose behavior toward me was exceedingly rude. And now - unintentionally, of course - I’ve taken out my resulting aggressions on you. An innocent bystander.

“Admittedly, there’s no justice in it, but I’m sure you can sympathize. Such shoddy treatment can’t help but have an impact and in turn, affect how I will approach those with whom I interact subsequently.”

Dawn blinks as Graham pauses. Is it her turn now? No.

“All this by way of apology: If I should now extend to you anything less than the simple courtesy and good humor you deserve, I hope you’ll grant me the benefit of the doubt. Please assume external factors are impacting on my behavior and that I intend you no personal slight.”

Now he’s done. He even manages a thin smile. Dawn gives him a moment more, just in case. He waits patiently.

“Could I just check in, then?”

“But of course.” He spins the Talbot Inn registration book on its lazy susan so it faces Dawn. With a fancy pen, he points to each blank in the next available entry. “Name. Point of origin. Make, model and license plate.”

He extends the pen.

Dawn takes it. Starts to fill in the blanks. But as she does, she reads the previous entry.

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