"Is there anything else I can do for you, Mr Whittaker?" He asked politely. The task of changing a light bulb was pretty simple and he was in and out of the room within two minutes.

"No, thank you, Mr Knight." The man smiled genuinely.

"Sorry about the bulb again." He rubbed the back of his neck. A nervous trait.

The man smiled and waved him off. "Don't worry about it."

"Alright, I'll see you at breakfast then." He nodded and walked away just as Mr Whittaker began closing the room door.

Thelonious was never much of a smiler – or a people's person for that matter – and that was just something his customers would have to get used to. It hadn't proved to be a problem thus far.

Seeing as he was already up, he might as well make his rounds. Opting to take the stairs down to the main floor instead of the lift, he made a mental note to hit the gym later that evening.

Hours passed and everything appeared to be in order. All the staff had arrived on time, breakfast was over and done with and Macadamian, the chef and a dear friend of his, had already started preparing lunch. The cleaning staff had already been round to all the rooms; the day had started off on the right foot.

There were six rooms that had been booked prior, one for the night and the rest of variations from three days to ten. A further nine bookings were scheduled for tomorrow. Neither accounted for the few walk-ins that they seemed to receive throughout the week.

It was turning out to be a good weekend.

Thelonious stood behind the reception area, his eyes skimming over all the figures on the computer screen. Their profits had spiked significantly over the past few months so he was able to add a good chunk of it to the savings. The rest would go towards paying everyone's salary and investing back into the hotel.

He had never really excelled at school, but it was always in Maths where he shined. The one subject that he had actually bothered to pay attention to regardless of the withering old lady that had been appointed to teach him and his fellow students.

Numbers made him feel comfortable. Prepared, even. There was always one correct answer and if not, you could easily determine how many possible outcomes there would be. There was always a right or wrong, never an in-between.

Things were just easier that way.

The bell sounded, forcing him out of his reverie.

Tearing his eyes away from the computer screen, Thelonious looked up to be greeted with a familiar face.

"Miss Bright, nice to see you again." He greeted her politely. The closest he got to a smile was the slight twitching of his lips that the lady had noticed. She was a regular so she was used to his mannerisms, accepted them even. "Back for business?" He asked politely, attempting some light conversation.

It didn't hurt to be friendly.

Miss Bright smiled and rested her arms on the counter. "Yes, business. Is my usual room free?" She asked.

He was thankful that he no longer needed to make any more polite conversation. Frankly, he did not have the patience for it but according to the others, it was normal human conventions which unfortunately, he had to abide by if he wished to remain the owner of a semi-successful business and avoid falling under.

He nodded in response, his fingers already typing away at his computer. "How many nights can I book you in for?" His eyes remained on the screen.

She pursed her lips, thinking about it. "Put me down for five for the moment. But I'll let you know if that changes."

He nodded in response.

After all the details had been discussed and the payment processed, Thelonious turned around and grabbed the key for room 29 from the hook and handed it to her with a cordial nod. "I'll send Romeo up with your bags in a second." He informed her, already wondering where Romeo could possibly be, especially since he was supposed to be manning the desk while Thelonious did his rounds.

She nodded and smiled, already heading towards the lift.

"I hope you have a pleasant stay." He called after her but visibly winced immediately. He wouldn't be doing that again.

"I always do."

As soon as the doors to the lift had closed, Thelonious sprung into business and headed to the kitchen where Romeo was helping set up the food for the buffet they provided every day for lunch. It was pretty popular with his guests.

"Mac!" He called out to his friend as soon as he spotted him stood in front of the stove.

A sandy haired blonde with green eyes and thick, arched eyebrows turned around, a chef's coat donned, doing nothing to hide his muscular figure and a ladle in his hand as he stirred the soup of the day. "What?" He called over his shoulder.

He walked up his friend. "Where's Romeo?"

The chef jerked his head towards the back of the kitchen where the pantry was located, a sly smile on his face. His friend didn't notice it.

Thelonious' eyebrows shot up at that, surprised. It was pretty questionable as to why Romeo was in the pantry, especially since it seems that majority of the lunch menu had already been prepared. It was mostly the plating and transferring the food to the restaurant area of the hotel that really remained. More than just the hotel staff and customers frequented the hotel. They had become quite well known for the delicious food that their in-house chef had to offer; all thanks to Macadamian.

Approaching the back of the kitchen, he paused when he reached the door.

A sly smile crept up onto his face, one similar to that of Mac's earlier.

Raising his fisted hand, he knocked on the door once, twice and then thrice before his fist retreated to his side. "If you're not out of there and delivering the bags to room 29 within the next minute then you're both going to find yourself out on the streets!" He boomed, his voice loud and strong. The threat was empty and his tone was teasing, but neither the young Romeo nor his female companion knew that.

He wasn't left wondering if he had been heard or not for within a few seconds, the door yanked open and Romeo ran out of the kitchen, fastening his belt bucket and tucking his shirt into his trousers on the way, clearly having taken his boss' words very seriously.

He chuckled and turned around to head back into the kitchen. Pausing midstride, he cast a glance over his shoulder. "I don't pay you to sleep around on the job." He muttered loud and clear to the woman whom he recognised as the new cleaner he had hired just last week. It seemed as if she wouldn't be lasting as long as he had hoped.

He may have been teasing his friend but there was a serious undertone to it and all three of them knew it.

The woman merely nodded and he left to allow her to gather her bearings and discarded garments before she got back to work. If that happened again then he would have to let her go and have a serious talk with Romeo.

That was the second time he had been caught sleeping with the staff.

Thelonious sighed and rubbed a hand down his face. They were slightly understaffed as it was and he did most of the hands-on work himself in order to be able to save some money. He had bigger dreams than just owning a single hotel.

KNIGHTS REST was doing well – especially promising in the past six months or so, but not well enough where he could hire an abundant number of employees and not wonder about being able to pay them all at the end of the month if he wanted to make a substantial deposit to his savings account.

Situations like that needed to stop, but he didn't have much time to dwell on the thought as his phone vibrated in his pocket.

"Thelonious Knight," he answered without checking the caller ID as he walked back into the kitchen. Mac looked like he needed some help filling the buffet trays.

From what he could see through the one-way transparent window that provided them with a glance into the dining area, a few tables were already filled and a large group of people had just filed in.

"Baloney!" A cheerful voice sounded on the other end. Thelonious immediately scowled, wondering if it was too late to hang up. "You miss me yet?"

"No," he snarled before putting the call on speaker and placing it on the kitchen counter. "What do you want?" He asked as he began helping out dish all the food. Glancing briefly at his watch, he noted that there were only five minutes left till the appointed lunch hour arrived. "I'm kind of busy." He muttered quietly.

"Charming as ever." Ryland's voice was thick with sarcasm. "Is Mac there?"

"Right here, buddy." The blonde piped up.

"Has Baloney replaced me already?" He asked, much more cheery now despite his question.

Thelonious grunted but continued working.

"Not yet," Mac chuckled to himself. "But Romeo might be gone by the time you get back."

"Ah! What did the kid do now?" The excitement for gossip was evident in his voice.

"Baloney walked in on him getting it on in the pantry."

His lip curled up in distaste at the nickname that all his friends constantly loved to call him, though he said nothing about it. It didn't even make any sense. "He can't keep doing that." He muttered under his breath.

"Let the kid have some fun."

"Not in my pantry." He denied.

They all chuckled at that, including some of the other staff working in the kitchen.

"How's things going on your end?" Mac asked.

Ryland sighed, suddenly serious. "She wants nothing to do with me." His tone had changed and the mood had dipped significantly. The desperation was clear.

"Keep trying." Thelonious urged his friend. He knew the true extent to Ryland's feelings. "If you love her then you'll do anything to get her back."

"I know, I know. I fucked up really bad though." Ryland groaned, disgusted with himself.

Mac snorted. "You sure did."

"That isn't helping."

"Take her out for dinner."

"She slammed the door in my face last night."

The kitchen was filled with chuckles all around.

"Take dinner to her. And when did a closed door ever stop you from getting what you want?" Thelonious paused, wiping his hands on a tea towel. "And this is the girl of your dreams we're talking about here." He pointed out.

"You're right." Determination sounded aloud.

"Can you live without her?"

"Hell no."

"Then you know what to do."

They spoke for a minute or so longer until Thelonious declared that it was time to push the buffet trays out for lunch. But before he could hang up, Ryland had one thing to say. "Don't forget that you're cleaning the university library today."

Thelonious cursed aloud but his friend had already hung up. Initially, he was just supposed to be covering for his friend for the last week before summer. But summer came and went, and Ryland still hadn't returned having not earned back the forgiveness of the woman of his dreams yet. This meant that he was forced to continue working part-time as a university cleaner indefinitely for now.

For the umpteenth time that week, he cursed Ryland for being a fool in love.

-

All my stories can be found on Inkitt for FREE: https://inkitt.app.link/RA__illuminating_

Chapters of Beating Hearts [Knight's Rest #1] will be uploaded on Inkitt a week earlier than on Wattpad as well as exclusive bonus chapters at the end of the story. So, be sure to check out Beating Hearts on Inkitt here: https://inkitt.app.link/RA__illuminating_

Chapter 04 is available on Inkitt NOW!

Layla Knight

12.06.19