CHAPTER THREE

Who was it that said that a dead end was the end? Who was it that said that there was no way around anything? Who was it that said that if there was no light at the end of the tunnel the entire walk was futile?

Who was it that said that one must live their life carelessly? Who was it that said that nothing must go for nothing? And who was it that said that she will live just like that?! Who was it?! That person didn't deserve to know her because such a person possessed stupidity as wide as the oceans!

The reception of the inn was packed full with people, those who were patiently waiting their turn, for accommodation as the girls hurried into it. The madam was just right behind them, coming with them as they reported to their duty post. She supervised the staff switch shifts, making the hand over quite faster than it should have been. Then, she followed the evening shift who had just got off work out the reception and probably to the changing room. The girls breathed a sigh of relief behind the counter at the absence of her presence. Nine walked over to the notice board behind them all, at the back of the counter and checked the job rooster. She was on call duty. That simply meant that she had to deliver food, toiletries, medicine, clothing and other necessities to the present occupants of the inn.

It might sound like something tedious, but she undoubtedly enjoyed the cumbersome task more than sitting or standing behind the counter and attending to grousing potential customers, some of whom were very impatient, rude, annoying and sometimes obnoxious. She wholly preferred to bring food to those who were too hungry to bother her, clothing to those who were mostly in the shower or in bed and medicine to those who were too sick to actually get on her nerves.It was way better than counter duty or kitchen duty. She even prefer to be on laundry duty than the other two.

She scouted the counter cupboards and found the register of orders. Dinner was already over hours ago, but someone had ordered for a late hour snack and hot tea at twelve. She didn't find any other orders on food. But, three rooms ordered a variety of medicines and only one room requested for a sundress and a hat. She didn't know if that order had been met. She would look through the parcels in the stock room and find out then. She hurried to do as the register had informed her before madam Kratika would pop out like she usually did and yell at her.

She deciphered that it was better to attend to the people who ordered medicine and then move into checking the parcel. If nothing went wrong like it always did with her, it would leave her supple time to see to the person who had ordered the late night meal. She brushed back a thick strand of hair that had gotten loose from her ponytail with her fingers and went out of the counter at the same time as Liberty who went in the direction of the stock room. The way she was hurrying made her deduce that the lady was on oil duty. She had to make sure every room didn't run out of oil for the lanterns and the fire through the night.

She was soon done with delivering the medicine to those who needed it. Then, she proceeded to check if the parcel for Miss Simone had arrived. The slightly huge parcel was at the top of a pile in a corner of the stock room. It was labeled Miss Simone and the words "a long sleeved yellow sundress and matching hat" was written there, just underneath the bold letters. She took the parcel and delivered it to the appropriate person. Miss Simone was a tall brunette who seemed overly friendly from the way that she smiled at her on receiving the parcel. She returned the smile and left after hearing her gratitude to make arrangements for the late night meal with the kitchen staff.

The person who made the order had been very detailed. He wanted very soft cake and ice beet root tea alongside some desert made out of coconut. She guessed that he had a sweet tooth for he again specified that he wanted everything as sweet as possible. She hoped that he didn't have a running stomach from having as much sweetness as he was describing. She waited for his order in the kitchen, sitting at a corner. That was when her badluck struck. She fell asleep somewhere there and no one in the kitchen thought of rousing her from slumber.

It was the sound of something sizzling in rather hot oil that brought her back to the present. She checked the time on the wall clock. It was sixteen minutes to midnight. She snapped fully awake and jogged to the chef she had submitted the order to and met something more shocking that she nearly dropped to the floor. Je was sitting there, having a drink with some biscuits, chatting away with some of his colleagues. She demanded for her order and what he said made her stagger slightly. Lo and behold, the chef had forgotten all about her order. She grew red with rage. He scrambled to his feet and promised to start whipping it up at that time. At that time?! He had only a couple of minutes to do so. She felt frustrated. If only she hadn't fallen asleep. He would never have forgotten her order and this wouldn't have happened. But, it was maybe a little too late to regret it, to cry over spilt milk.

The chef was fast. He had the cake up in the oven about five minutes later, assuring her that he would make it before twelve and if he didn't, he would only be a scant late. She had no choice but to watch him in total anticipation, completely resigned to her fate. One of his colleagues went about making the beet root tea while he made something out of grated coconut. He stirred it into some sugar syrup and brought it down from the fire after a few stirs. He was right though she hadn't believed him. He was done at exactly three minutes until twelve o'clock.

She hurried away with the tray, up the stairs to the supposed room, running as lightly as she could to avoid upsetting or worse, spilling the beet root tea. She knew that it took long to make. She wondered why someone would love such reddish liquid without sugar or some sort of sweetener, especially someone with a sweet tooth like that. Mayhap he had had the chef put in all the sugar inside of the cake because he planned to dunk it in the tea. How gross! She shrugged at her hilarious thought and knocked on the door which opened much too instantly.

OmaPhinaPhire🔥