×Predawn×
Drug!
Staylie slammed shut the door of the online taxi she'd just taken. She rushed through the hotel lobby in a hurry.
If we rewind to just one hour ago—Staylie was beyond pissed. She couldn’t believe what she had just heard about someone causing chaos in the lobby of her father’s hotel.
The call she received had come from Ella, the receptionist who was supposed to be on duty tonight. When Staylie picked up, she saw a security guard standing at the front desk with a tall, pale-skinned man who had very narrow eyes. Chinese, if Staylie had to guess.
“Hello... Why are you calling this late?” she answered after connecting the call.
“Hello, Miss Staylie,” Ella responded from the other end. “It’s urgent, Miss.”
“Urgent at this hour?!” Staylie snapped, glancing at the wall clock in her bedroom. She tilted her head up slightly—1 a.m.
“There’s an important guest, Miss. He’s throwing a tantrum in the hotel lobby.”
Sigh...
Staylie exhaled sharply, massaging her temple while closing her eyes.
“And what does that have to do with me, exactly?”
“I need to ask permission, Miss. Technically, I’m on the night shift but…”
Staylie could already feel what was coming next. And it raised her blood pressure instantly.
“But... my husband’s already here to pick me up, hehehe…”
Unbelievable. Damn you, Ella!
“Miss, please—you need to get here ASAP. The guest is now attacking Mr. Asep at the front desk! I’m already on my way home with my husband. Miss—!”
Ella’s voice was frantic, mixed with the rev of a motorbike speeding away.
Staylie’s eyes flew open wide at those words, jumping up from the edge of her bed.
“What do you mean, La? Attacking Mr. Asep how?! Hello? Ella?!”
Tut. Tut. Tut.
The call was cut—by Ella.
Zrrrk.
Soon after, Staylie received a WhatsApp message from Ella. It was a photo showing two people arguing—one of them clearly on the attack, completely out of control.
Panicked, Staylie quickly got dressed in her supervisor uniform. She ordered a ride from her house and waited out front.
She did have a car, but it had been at the repair shop for the past week for an engine upgrade. That’s why her older sister, Lana, had been driving her around lately.
---
"Sir, I don’t care. Where is the receptionist? Why is no one here?! I’m exhausted—I just want to check in and sleep!”
The “important guest” Ella mentioned was now clinging to Mr. Asep’s leg, literally kneeling on the floor and crying while shaking his foot.
Click clack click clack.
Staylie’s heels echoed across the lobby as she approached them.
“Good evening, Sir. How may I help you?” she said sweetly, keeping her tone aligned with the hotel’s service protocol.
Screech!
The man, still gripping Mr. Asep’s leg, turned and shot Staylie a sharp, cutting glare.
She met it with nothing more than a polite smile.
“Who are you?!” he snapped with sarcasm, now standing up to face her directly.
“I’m the supervisor at Atma Start Hotel,” she replied warmly, still clinging to her courtesy despite the internal annoyance. “Is there anything I can assist you with?”
The man crossed his arms, stomping one foot impatiently.
“I’m with the Sky Clash company delegation. I just arrived tonight because I had work outside the city.”
Oh. So he’s the VIP guest she was supposed to welcome earlier this evening. No wonder there was such a fuss—and just her luck, the receptionist ditched her post too.
At 4 PM that day, a group of fifteen people had arrived—previously scheduled to stay at the hotel for the next few months while working on a construction project nearby. Fourteen of them were booked in standard rooms. One was booked in a VIP suite.
When asked why the different room?
Apparently, this guy was the project lead—their boss.
“I need one VIP suite. Full package.”
Hah! Staylie laughed silently in her head.
What is this, ordering takeout? “One complete order with fried egg, please.” Tch.
“Alright, let me check availability,” she said.
Mr. Asep, who had been stuck entertaining the guest, gave Staylie a slight nod and returned to his security post at the hotel gate.
Staylie searched for the VIP suite availability from the front desk computer. Once the room was locked in, she began entering his data.
But oddly enough, the man refused to give his real identity.
“Sir, come on. A face like that and your name is Ujang Mandadang?”
Staylie squinted at him, suspicion all over her face.
“Huh!”
The man exhaled in annoyance and stood with hands on hips, giving her a flat stare.
“Are you mocking me? Judging my name?!”
“I’m not mocking anyone,” Staylie responded. “But you gotta admit... your name doesn’t match your face. It’s throwing me off.”
“So what—you want me to change it to Robert Pattinson, huh?!”
Staylie paused... then responded.
“Okay, let’s do this. Please show me your ID cards—company ID, passport, visa, and national ID. I need to verify everything right now.”
No more polite smiles. She rolled up her sleeves like a thug about to shake someone down on the street.
“Fine,” the man replied.
He opened his crossbody bag and dumped the contents onto the front desk in a chaotic mess.
Staylie’s patience was done.
THUD!
His final ID landed in front of her.
“Go ahead. Check all my IDs, like you asked.”
What a piece of work. Still, Staylie stayed calm. This was her father’s hotel, and she had to stick to protocol.
She chose to stay cool—handling this walking red flag of a man.
She picked up the light-blue Indonesian ID card and squinted at it. Something was... off.
She didn’t comment yet. Instead, she continued verifying everything—passport, visa, company badge. The name Ujang Mandadang was listed across all of them.
“Sir, I’m not accusing you of anything,” Staylie said, holding the ID card up. “But I’m pretty sure this ID is fake.”
She flipped it around and pointed at the hologram.
“Look closely, Sir. The hologram’s worn off. See? Here...”
She rubbed at the grayish-gold section—and sure enough, the print faded even more.
“Miss, please. I just want to sleep. I’m exhausted.”
He waved a hand dramatically in front of his face. “And it’s boiling in here.”
“OH MY GOD, DUDE. YOU CAN’T JUST WALK INTO A HOTEL WITH FAKE ID AND EXPECT TO GET AWAY WITH IT!”
Of course, that was just Staylie’s inner monologue. She couldn’t say that out loud. Etiquette, people. Etiquette.
Her personal motto as a supervisor:
Be polite, smile, greet every guest, serve with all your heart, build the hotel’s reputation…
And most importantly: score tips from VIP and suite guests, lol.
In the end, with great reluctance, Staylie entered his details under the name Ujang Mandadang.
But that wasn’t the end of her headache.
“Get me the best food around here.”
Of course, she complied.
“Also... I want fried onions, sautéed water spinach, smoked fish, Madura-style soto.”
What?? Where was she supposed to find all that at 1 A.M.?
Be serious!
“Oh, and don’t forget to massage my feet after bringing the food, okay?”
He casually tossed that out before heading toward the bathroom.
Staylie opened her mouth to speak—but the man raised his palm like a stop sign.
“I almost forgot. Buy me sunscreen too. I have to work early tomorrow and won’t have time. SPF 50++, okay?”
Staylie’s ears were burning. Her head? Boiling.
“FIIINE!” she growled, storming out of the suite and slamming the door behind her.
Srrtt... Srrttt...
Yeah. At this point, she was so exhausted, she decided to drag herself across the floor instead of walking.
She scooted across the hallway all the way to the elevator.
Ding!