©️ Opeyemi Akintunde
“Joy, where on earth are you? Another ‘money bag’ is here ooo” Isreal, the hotel manager said over the phone.
Joy couldn’t help but smile, as the imagined picture of her co-workers hovering over her Manager’s shoulder, while trying to listen to their conversation would have been a beautiful sight to behold .
She knew they were anticipating her arrival like their lives depended on it.
She was their ATM card; She was the one who withdrew money from unfortunate men who lodged at their hotel.
She was a PRO and she was exceptionally good.
Whoever was still recommending their hotel to people ought to have been hanged to death, but the truth was, no one was doing the recommendation. The hotel was still riding on the old horse called ‘Good Name”. There was a time in the past when the hotel basked in the glory of being the most booked hotel in the state.
Joy was just a mere cleaner back then, a cleaner that was not even noticed. She was a rat in the midst of elephants; Terrorising Elephants like Loveth the receptionist. However, things had changed…The Elephants were looking up to the rat for their next meal.
She was in charge !
How did the cleaner girl become the hope of the Hotel? The journey was not as straight one…
A death had put the hotel to death.
A man had killed his mistress because she came to the hotel with another man. The scenario played back in Joy’s mind like it was yesterday. She was fifteen years old and she had been cleaning the corridor when she noticed blood flowing from underneath the door of one of the rooms. Joy remembered screaming and bolting off.
She had never seen blood so real and thick in her fifteen years on earth.
Her scream had alerted everyone, with people hurriedly rushing out of their rooms.
Joy remembered how the scream had multiplied. She heard several screams following hers as it was an undeniably terrible situation.
Business went downhill, people stopped booking their hotel, the news had spread like wildfire.
A hotel synonymous to a fully occupied busy city suddenly had become a desert. The change was swift. There was no announcement for the change, it just changed. A business that was recording income in millions, could not boast of One hundred thousand in a month…
It was like a dream for her C.E.O, her beautiful heart could not handle it. She went from the bubbly personality every one knew and loved to a sad blank looking woman.
In no time, all fingers started pointing at Joy. People were of the opinion that if She had not screamed, the hotel would have managed the situation without other guests knowing about it. They would have told the story of the incident differently. The story that was going round was that the hotel lacked good security and hence was not a good recommendation for a hotel.
Joy remembered how the other staff members had called her to a meeting and lambasted her, telling her it was all her fault…
” It’s your fault this hotel has been destroyed”
” It’s your fault we no longer have our source of income”
” It’s your fault we all are going to find some criminal work to start doing”
” I AM SORRY…I HAVE SAID I AM SORRY A MILLION TIMES, WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT FROM ME?” Joy remembered how she had screamed very frustrated.
Everyone had been quiet , as no one knew She had it in her to scream, but trust Loveth, the big- mouthed Receptionist to speak…
” This one is a witch ooo, no remorse at all. Hey listen Witch girl, the same Witchcraft you used in pulling down this hotel, use it to build it up… Nonsense and let me warn you, Witchcraft does not work on me. My mother is a witch and she has not been able to kill me, so don’t try it with me. Use your witchcraft to build this hotel back.”
Joy remembered how those words had felt like a pressure on her. There was the sudden pressure to correct her error. She felt she had to do
anything she could do to salvage the situation.
She needed to find a way for the hotel…
Joy remembered how the opportunity to save the day came…
They had a guest!
To be continued…
DEEP THOTS NOVELS
Inspired by the TRUTH REVEALER
Written by Opeyemi Akintunde
