4 - A Missing Guest

As Mj and Veronica walked back to the reception table, she explained why they hired an assistant for her. Suddenly, a voice called out to them.

        "Mj ! Please come"

       They looked in the direction of the voice.  It was Zuri and another girl, she had a dark brown skin, reddish brown hair packed into two ponytails and purple eyes. She wore a maroon oversized cardigan that had a teddy bear design, very short cream shorts with black pop socks and gladiator shoes. She had a lot of hair ornaments, "Zuri, Yomi how are you ?"  Mj asked with a smile. "We're good"  Zuri replied with a smile as well.

        "Veronica, this is Zuri, our guest relation manager and Abayomi Orji, the event planner"  Mj said introducing  both girls to Veronica. "You can call me Yomi for short"  Abayomi said as she winked at Veronica, "so,what do you guys need ?"  Mj asked. "oh we were reviewing some documents and we were wondering if you could help us out"  Abayomi said, Mj agreed and they all went to the reception table, Veronica brought out 2 extra chairs for Zuri and Abayomi. The documents were about a previous case that was solved recently. As they reviewed it, Veronica asked Zuri and Abayomi about the category of non-humans they fall into.

        "I'm a fairy"  Zuri stated "I'm a hybrid, half elf, half fairy"  Abayomi said as she winked at Veronica. "Oh I see, so me and Mj are the only humans here"  Veronica said, "Oh no, Mr Daisuke and Miss Diana are also humans"   Zuri said. MJ further clarified by saying they are mages and how the kaen's clan has the blessings of the Phoenix and that their fiery coloured hair is proof of that; Their abilities are mostly fire based, they can either manipulate or create fire. "Hey Veronica, please can you go give these documents to Jared, you'll see him on the third floor; just walk straight and enter a corner, the beige coloured door is where you'll find him"   Zuri said handing out a file to Veronica, Veronica collected it and left.

        The elevator came to a stop at the third floor, the doors opened leading to an art gallery. Different artworks were on the wall by the right and by the left was the city view, Veronica was in awe of the place when She remembered what she was there for. She entered a corner which led to a hallway and found the beige coloured door. She knocked and a deep voice was heard.

        "Come in"  and she did. When she entered, She saw a boy around her age, he had black hair, amber eyes, fair complexion and had a handsome face. He wore a black jacket as a cape, White dress shirt and black trousers, "looks like that's Jared"  She thought. "Good morning, Zuri said I should give you these documents", "Oh yeah, please hold on for a while"  He said as he went into a room.

       "Hello"  a voice said. Veronica was startled since she thought she was the only one there. It was a boy, he wore a huge red varsity jacket, an Ash colored shirt, slightly rugged jeans of an oyster Grey color, he had ear piercings and wore a black eye patch. He had dark brown skin and reddish brown hair with purple eyes. "Wow he looks exactly like Abayomi, could they be twins ?"  She thought. "Hello, My name is Amari Orji"  the boy said "wait Orji ? You're Abayomi's brother"  Veronica stated " Yes, I am her twin brother"  Amari said. "Wow, nice to meet you, I'm Veronica"  She said, "Yeah, I know". Amari was so plain in his manner that Veronica couldn't tell if he was mean or nice, but she noticed he had an unpleasant look on his face, so she assumed he wasn't the social type, but in reality, he was just shy.

         "Okay, I'm back, here you go Amari"  Jared said as he handed a notebook to Amari, with that he left. "It's not easy for an introvert huh, anyway what did you want to give me Veronica ?"  Jared asked as he turned to face Veronica. "Ah yes, Zuri said I should give you these"  Veronica said that she handed the file to Jared. She was just about to leave when Jared called out to her. "hey wait, don't go, tell me introduce myself after all we are colleagues" ;  "yeah but is there any need ? I mean you know me and I know you"  Veronica said since she's the kind of person who doesn't easily associate with people (she's an ambivert). "Come on, don't be like that, fine let me introduce myself, my name is Jared Anderson, I'm in charge of hospitality and I assists Zuri whenever it comes to guests and also, I'm a vampire and my abilities are that of an average vampire, I also have pyrokinesis" .

          "Oh wow"  Veronica said slightly amused "I'm Veronica and I'm hu..."  "Human ?  Yeah I can tell"   Jared said with a soft smile. "Wow, I can see why he'll be in the hospitality section, with a smile like that, anyone's heart can melt, anyone but me though"  She thought. "By the way, I need you to help me to check if this music box is working, it's actually a gift and I don't want to mess it up"  Jared said handing her a purple and gold music box. Veronica collected it from him and unwinded it, she heard music playing from it and expected a ballerina figurine to come out; only for her to see a clown figure which sprayed water right into her face. Jared held a party air horn and blew some confetti in her face, some of which got stuck to her hair. "What the hell was that for ?"   Veronica asked sounding annoyed, Jared chuckled and told her to consider it as a welcome gift. Veronica was even more annoyed but decided not to get too worked up since it was a harmless prank and left.

       "Hey ...oh"  Mj stopped in her tracks when she saw the confetti on Veronica's hair. "Did Jared pull a prank on you ?"  She asked. "Yes; claiming it was a welcome gift, wait how did you know ?"  Veronica asked  as she sat down at the reception table. "You got some confetti on your hair"  Mj said as she pointed a finger to her hair, Veronica was shocked and began to dust her hair. "Don't worry about him, by the time you get to know him, you'll figure out he's not a bad guy after all",  "Right"  Veronica said sounding unconvinced. They suddenly heard someone coming in through the entrance. When they turned, they saw a lady, she wore a peach slim fit gown, a black fur coat and an elegant black hat which had peacock feathers on it. When she came closer, they were able to see her physical appearance. She had dark skin, long ash blonde hair and hazel eyes. "Hello, excuse me, is this the hotel that takes in non humans as guests ?"  The lady asked. "Yes ma'am"  Veronica said.

          The lady stated of how she would like to book a room. Mj brought out a form for her to fill while Veronica asked her what kind of room she would like, After she filled the form, Mj told the lady to follow her to take a look at the rooms available and pick the one she likes and told Veronica to stay back in case another guest comes in. After carrying out the normal hotel procedure for booking a room, Mj came back to meet Veronica. "So did she pick a room ?"  She asked, "Yes, her name is Miss Georgina and she booked a room for a stay of three days also she's a Dragon"  Mj stated.

       3 days later, which was a Friday, Veronica went to work as usual but rather than wearing a white dress shirt, a black tie and a pair of black trousers; She wore a lilac hoodie and a pair of black trousers. When she entered the building, she saw Jared and Mj discussing and walked towards them. "Good morning"  She said  "Good morning Vero"  Mj said with a smile. "Good morning"  Jared said with a vibrant smile on his face, "Yeah"  Veronica said remembering his so called "welcome gift" from yesterday. Jared couldn't help but laugh when he saw the look on her face. "Relax, I know we got off from the wrong foot but please lets try to get along in the future"  Jared said as he stretched forth his hand to shake her. Veronica did the same with the thought of forming a good relationship with her colleague, Jared handed her a remote which had a red button on it; she knew that this had to be another prank so she pressed the button and quickly handed it to Jared.

       She was expecting an absurd thing to happen but her expectations were in vain, puzzled, she took back the remote and pressed the button again. This time, it revealed a mini sprinkler which sprayed some water in her face, and later sprayed confetti and some got stuck to her hair. "What the hell is your problem man ?"  Veronica asked with all annoyance her in voice, Jared just laughed as he found her reaction funny. "Wow Jared, looks like you're full of energy, you know what ? Why don't you stay here with Veronica and help her out, I need to go and see Ray, okay"  Mj said with a soft smile   "what ?, but I got things to do as well"  Jared said. "Well if you did, you would have left this place a long time rather than pulling pranks here and there".  Jared try to protest the more but when Mj gave him a death glare, he mellowed down and she left.

        Jared turned to face Veronica, she gave him a smug smile . "Wipe that smile off your face"   Jared said, "Yeah as if, now come"  Veronica said as she sat down and Jared did the same, Veronica brought out a guest book from the drawer when she spotted Jared putting on a black Panama hat. "You wear hats ?" She asked  "Yeah, all the time"  He said. "Black hat, black trousers, the black jacket you wore as a cape" you kinda dress like the typical vampire in romance stories, or are you a fan of stories of that genre?"  She asked with a mocking smile. "What ? No, I mean I have read books like that because Yomi recommended it to me but I'm not a fan"   He said collecting the guest book from Veronica. Veronica just chuckled at his funny gestures when she heard a voice.

         "Oh so that's where you are"  they both looked in the direction of the voice. It was a woman, she had tan skin, white flowy hair, wore a fur white shawl, floral kimono jacket, a short blue slim fit gown and white thigh boots. Veronica immediately recognized the woman. "You, it's you, what are you doing here ?"  She asked feeling astounded. "What do you mean honey ? I work here, can't I be here ?"  The woman asked feigning heartbreak. "No. .. it's just"  Veronica stopped in her tracks not knowing what to say upon seeing the woman's feigned heartbreak. "What do you want  Eniola?"  Jared asked as he wasn't pleased by her presence, "what do you mean by that Jared Anderson ?"  Eniola asked. "If you're here to show off, just know we care about you just like we would for a white pencil"  Jared said.

       Veronica was shocked by the comment he made, and was more shocked when Eniola angrily grabbed him by the collar, "You better watch your mouth kid, I'm a witch and you know what I can do "  She growled with fire in her eyes, "I. .. I'm so sorry ma'am"  Jared said in a terrified voice. Veronica couldn't help but laugh at how Jared will immediately mellow down once someone gives him a piece of their mind, then it hit her. "Wait, you're a witch?"  she asked, "Yes I am"  Eniola said as she dropped Jared and he fell down hard. "My name is Eniola Eyitola, I'm a witch and my main ability is matter manipulation".

       "Wow, no kidding when they said most of the workers here aren't human"   Veronica thought. Just then, someone came in through the entrance, it was two ladies, an older one and a younger one. The older lady had ash blonde hair while the younger one had auburn brown hair. They walked towards the reception table and claimed to be Georgina's Mother and sister. Veronica told them the room and floor Georgina was staying in and how to get there. They thanked her and left.

        After a few minutes, they saw Mj coming out of the elevator, panting. "What's wrong Mj dear ?"  Eniola asked. "You guys... You need to come ... To ...the third floor now"  Mj said feeling out of breath. "What why ?"  Veronica asked.

         "The guest that came here three days ago....Miss Georgina..... Has gone missing"  Mj said.

    Note: the kimono Jacket that Eniola wears is not the Japanese kind of kimono. But the Ankara kimono jacket style (from Nigeria). Just felt like clarifying it🙂.