Love Triangle

Nice guy

She was embarrassed that he had caught her crying, but still, she was happy to see a familiar face, or at least, a sort of familiar face. She looked away, wiped her face, and blew her nose before turning to address him.

“At this point, it almost seems like you’re stalking me. Are you?” She asked jokingly, wiggling her eyebrows at him to show that she was only kidding, but he stared solemnly at her and did not answer her quip. Lucy had to admit to herself that it probably wasn’t funny to start.

“What’s wrong?” He asked finally, digging in his pocket and handing her a handkerchief so that she could clean her face better.

“Thanks. It’s nothing. I’m no longer staying here, it seems.”

“Why’s that? Didn’t you book a room here?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Lucy said in embarrassment. She had nothing to be embarrassed about as far as she was concerned, though. It was those lying assholes who were supposed to feel embarrassed at their shameless selves, not her.

“Look, if there is a problem with the service or something, I can talk to the owner for you. As I told you earlier, I know him. It would be no trouble at all.” Eric offered.

“There’s no problem. It’s nothing like that. Why are you still here anyway? I thought you had a date with your bed.”

“Oh, yeah. I got talking with the owner of the hotel and we shared some drinks. I was just about to leave when I saw you dragging your luggage around the hotel in what I presumed to be great anger. You were making quite a ruckus so I took it upon myself to come to ask what was wrong.”

“Oh, I was pretty upset, but talking to you has somehow made me feel much better,” Lucy told him, her cheeks flaming as she realized how she must have looked, crying, and dragging her luggage about in a most undignified and childish manner.

“It’s okay. These things happen. I’m glad you feel better, Lucy. Come on, let’s go.”

“Go? Go where?”

“Well, you said you don’t want to stay here. I wouldn’t stay here too, despite the fact that I know the owner, no offense. It probably wasn’t what you were expecting, and after that long trip, everything got to you, hence the tantrum. It's okay, I understand. My hotel is much better. It’s a five-star hotel, so you’ll be very comfortable there. Come on, I’ll show you.” Eric told her, standing up and offering her his hand so that she had no choice but to take it and follow him. She could by no means afford to stay in a 5-star hotel for the duration of the vacation, but that was okay since she was not staying anyway. She should be able to afford it for one night. Eric carried her luggage with his other hand and they went outside the hotel to see that the driver who had picked them up from the hotel was still waiting.

“What? He has been waiting this whole time?” Lucy exclaimed in surprise.

“It hasn’t been that long. It’s not even up to an hour yet, but don’t worry. He works for me every time I come here for vacation. As a matter of fact, he looks forward to it.”

“Oh. Okay.”

They got into the car and drove to Eric’s hotel. The guy was clearly loaded if he was staying in a five-star hotel. When they got to the hotel, Lucy began to have doubts about staying there. The place was huge, extremely classy, and no doubt it was going to cost an arm and a leg to stay here. Thankfully, she was only staying for one night, so the price wouldn’t kill her. Besides, it would be good to know what real luxury felt like for once in her life. As soon as the driver parked the car, Eric spoke.

“Wait here. I’ll be back shortly.” He told her and then got down from the car, walking briskly through the grand entrance of the hotel and disappearing through it. He came out fifteen minutes later and informed her that they could go in now.

“Here’s the key to your room.” He said, handing her a key which she collected and stared at in surprise.

“I don’t understand…”

“I booked you a room to stay in for your vacation. It's all yours to stay in for two weeks. I remember you saying that your vacation is about two weeks long.” Eric explained patiently, as though he was informing her that he bought her candy or something equally trivial.

“You did what?! I can’t afford that!”

“Well, I paid for it already and do not expect you to pay me back. Let’s just call it a gift to the first friend I made on this vacation. Okay, the main reason is that you looked so sad earlier, and I wanted to cheer you up. So I thought to myself ‘what’s the best way to cheer her up?’ I couldn’t come up with any tangible answer, seeing as I’ve known you for less than two days, so I decided that I could at least take the burden of looking for and booking a new hotel off you. I hope you’re not mad.”

“Wow! Thanks a lot. I really appreciate your nice gesture, but the thing is, you didn't have to do that. Actually, I’m leaving tomorrow.” Lucy informed him in surprise, hardly able to believe that he would do that within days of knowing her.

“Excuse me?”

“Well, this vacation has lost its appeal and meaning for me, so I’ll rather just go back home.”

“You're going back home? After flying all this way and going through all this hassle? Are you sure? The payment for the hotel room is non-refundable. You might as well stay and enjoy it. Also, I’ll be really pissed at you for making me waste money on a fancy room. I booked for two weeks. You don’t want to see me when I’m pissed.” Eric told her, mock growling and squeezing his face in a way that made her burst out laughing immediately, her anger and pain forgotten in an instant.

“Thank you very much. I’m sorry, but I can’t take it for free. I’ll have to pay you back your money.” She informed him when she finished laughing.

“By all means. Here’s the receipt.” Eric told her, his eyes twinkling.

She took it from him and glanced down at it before gasping loudly when she saw the astronomical bill on it. Her face went white immediately.

“There’s no way I can pay you for it. This is way, way above my budget!” She exclaimed in dismay.

“Good, because I’m beginning to get offended by your refusal to accept it. It’s a gift as I told you earlier. I don’t expect you to pay me back … oh wait, I’ve thought of a way in which you can pay me back.” Eric announced, his eyes twinkling mischievously.

“Oh, really? What’s that?” Lucy asked suspiciously.

“Try your best to enjoy this vacation as much as possible. You came here for a reason. Don’t let that reason be defeated, okay?” He asked her, his face all serious and every element that he had been joking minutes ago, wiped from it.

“I really don't know what to say..."

"You don't have to say anything except 'okay, I'm staying.'"

"Okay. I'm staying. Once again, thank you for everything that you’ve done for me within two days of meeting me. I really can’t thank you enough. Are you sure that you’re not Santa Claus?” Lucy asked him playfully, thinking to herself that the reason for her coming on this vacation was to have a romantic getaway with her now ex-fiancé, and it had been sorely defeated, but there was no need for him to know that.

“Santa Claus? Not by any means. Alright then. Are you coming in now? I have that date with the bed in my suite, remember? Also, I think I’ve heard enough ‘thank yous’ to last for a lifetime. I don’t want to hear any more of them.”

“Oh, okay. Sure, let’s go in.” Lucy replied. This guy must be well and truly loaded. He was a nice guy, but she hoped that that was all that there was to it. They walked into the large and beautiful hotel in companionable silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

“Okay. I guess this is where we part ways. Your room is on this floor. Mine is three floors above this one. Have a nice vacation, Lucy. Hopefully, I’ll see you around.” Eric told Lucy when they got to her floor, and without another word, he was gone.