Sell the Hotel (1)

Rhodes woke up with a wild blush and a raging morning wood. He quickly curled in his bed, hiding underneath his thin blanket. His eyes shut tighter as if he could get rid of the weird feeling by getting angry at himself. 

Last night, he screamed within him in anger. Vanya responded to his hidden heartache and brought him into another dream. However, Vanya confessed to him. That dream was not happening in his mind. The man with a fedora kept pulling Rhodes's soul out of his body. They then ventured into a shared space called the spiritual realm.

Remembering the dream, Rhodes shot up to sit. He shook his head and realized he needed to find the chop shop. It was best for him not to be recognized as the tipper. However, he didn't have enough resources to become invisible to the law.

"Rhodes?" Knocks came to the door, and Deresita called him from outside. "Are you awake? Can we talk about what happened last night?"

"Give me a moment…" Rhodes feigned his sleepy response. He slowly moved to sound convincing. However, he was already dealing with his body's response to seeing Vanya again. 

The irresistible man freely held him. His hand was kissed, and his forehead was pressed. He didn't smell the blood on Vanya's nose, but he felt the man's breath on his face. The man also kept calling him 'dear' and his name with such a loving voice.

More and more, he felt like he married Vanya instead.

…

Outside, Deresita held onto her hands. She waited for Rhodes to leave the room. When he showed up, she couldn't help but feign a smile. "I'm sorry about this. Giles didn't seem to be in the mood to talk… but we both know we can't leave it as it is. Also, the bank loan… It's terrifyingly huge even for me. I didn't inherit a lot of money. The overhead expenses begin to get out of control…"

Rhodes nodded, behaving like he didn't wake up soaked in his own fluid. He walked with Deresita to the dining hall. "It's all right. Giles won't discuss the accident today, but he might have to show me around the hotel. He said he didn't know how much I'm willing to invest."

"It's because you wanted to close the hotel before." Deresita sighed and rubbed her hand. "Why would he think you want to revive it now?"

"That's one thing. I want to remember why I want to close it down." Rhodes didn't pout or scrunch his face. His expression remained neutral until they reached the dining hall.

Giles slowly ate his pancakes while Frieda kept taking photos of her perfect avocado toast. Deresita couldn't bring her feet to step inside, knowing that she would have to watch her husband suffer. However, Rhodes waltzed inside like nothing happened last night. He assumed his spot, attracting the gazes of the first two occupants.

Rhodes received his coffee and egg omelet from a maid. He gazed at Giles. "How are you feeling? Your ankle didn't look good."

"…it'll heal." Giles didn't look away from him. "I heard you agreed to tutor Frieda with her examination. She doesn't want to waste the opportunity to get into a top college. We're looking forward to her passing score of 1400. That's a far cry from her last results."

"I'm handling it." Rhodes started eating. "Do you want to get your car back? I don't think we can recover something like that anymore."

Giles sighed and massaged his forehead. He brought his utensils down and stared at Rhodes intently. "…did you sell Wester-Coles and Wester Corp to their competitors?"

Rhodes looked up to meet the man's intense gaze. However, his gaze was too lazy to compete with it. The doctor answered, "I offered to sell those to their executives, but they kept lowballing me. I don't think we have reached an agreement about the price yet. Whoever said that is tricking you. Why? Is that what the men were talking about?"

The father shook his head. "I heard it from one of our old executives. We ran into each other at the bank. His advice is to sell off the hotel for a lower price now. Whoever fails to buy those two giants might be convinced to buy other properties."

"Why don't you sell the hotel?"

"In its state, no one's buying it." Giles snorted. He tried doing that before this month. However, no one wanted a big building without a future use. The only usable part was the land, but rumors dictated the spot's fate. It was haunted; no business would succeed if erected in that patch of land.

"I want to see the hotel," Rhodes said, but he received a loud ridiculing laugh from Giles. He looked at the father, but Giles only turned away as if ashamed. Frieda and Deresita were there, yet he failed to keep his cool. Rhodes only asked to visit; why did he have to laugh so deprecatingly?

Giles cleared his throat and turned to the doctor. His glare worsened, keeping Rhodes as the sole target of his ire. "Rhodes Huxley, which is it? Do you want to see the hotel now? I remember you vowing not to step into that cursed place ever again. You even told everyone at a party for its foundation day. Why would you come to see it this time? What did my wife promise you?"

Rhodes stared at the man's challenging gaze. It was easy to respond to Giles's anger. However, Rhodes kept quiet for a few seconds. He finally answered, "I'm not the same idiot I was back then."

"He lost his memories," Deresita whispered to Giles. "We figured he could recover some in the hotel since he felt strongly against it."

"Perfect timing." Giles only snorted in sarcasm. "I'm dismissing the remaining employees today. I can't pay them for another day of service. Touring the hotel is the last thing you can ever do to it. I'm not bringing you. Rent a cab or whatever."

Rhodes wasn't happy about it, but he understood Giles. He couldn't remember the words that caused an empire's downfall. He even faced the man cleaning up the mess.

Frieda looked at her father first before gazing at Rhodes. "Uh, Uncle, will you be okay? I mean… everyone knew Faded Rose is a haunted hotel. The spirits there have even killed someone, they said. I don't think it's safe to tour it now."

"You're discouraging the wrong person." Rhodes hummed and offered a small smile. "I'll be all right. I just want to see if the hotel carries a fragment of memories for me."

"I wish it does," Giles said in between bites. He glanced at Rhodes. "At least you can remember how you destroyed the livelihood of a hundred people."

Rhodes couldn't help but pull on his lip corner. His half-smile didn't look amused. However, he made a promise to Deresita. He just wanted to see the hotel first to estimate how much to spend on it. Then, he'd look for someone willing to check the chop shop for him.