It was the most enraging day. It started off with two of our rooms in the hotel I run, being overbooked. How does that even happen?

I looked at the computer screen. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Montoya. Since this is due to an error on our part, we can get you into one of our suites at no extra charge. You will be very pleased with it. Our suites are much larger and have more amenities than our standard rooms. How does that sound?"

Mr. Montoya smiled. "That sounds excellent! Muchas gracias!"

I handed him a room key and had an attendant escort him to his room with his luggage following close behind on a cart. Then, I turned my attention back to the computer screen, searching for the name of the employee who made the reservation.

"Dexter Harris. I should've known." I rolled my eyes and took off to find him, but as usual, he was late.

I went into my office and wrote a message on a sticky note informing Dexter to come speak with me before he punched in for work. Then, stuck it to his locker door in the employee locker room.

A while later, there was a knock on my door. "Come in!" I shouted.

The door opened and Dexter stepped through. "You wanted to see me, sir?"

I folded my hands on my desk. "Please, have a seat."

He warily sat down and proceeded to spew his lies. "I'm sorry I was late; I had to help my girlfriend this morning. She was sick and...."

I raised my hand to silence him. "I really don't want to hear why you were late. I'm sure it's just another excuse in your long line of excuses as to why you're late for almost every shift. I do want to hear, however, why it is you are double booking rooms."

Dexter swallowed hard and stirred uncomfortably in his seat. "I'm not sure what you're talking about, sir."

"Cut the crap, Dexter! You know damn well what I'm talking about! Why are you double booking rooms! Especially for Mr. Montoya! He's a regularly returning customer!"

"I...I'm sorry. His usual room was booked and I didn't have another room to move that person to for Mr. Montoya. So, I booked the room for both of them. I figured that Mr. Montoya would beat that customer here and I could just find them another one, but I guess he wasn't early like normal."

"His flight was delayed. So, no. He wasn't here early like usual. I had to give him a suite for all of his trouble. That also goes for the two couples celebrating their honeymoon whom you booked for the honeymoon suite!"

"I did?"

"Don't play dumb with me!"

Dexter winced when I yelled. "Mr. Pierce, I'm so, so sorry. I won't do it again. I swear!"

"Damn right you won't! This is your last time, Dexter. I'm putting you on probation."

"But, sir..."

"Don't interrupt me!" I stood up and looked down at Dexter, who was still sitting across from me. "You will not be late anymore. You will do your job the right way and if there are any problems, you will bring it to my attention or you will be fired! Am I understood?"

Dexter gulped and nodded. "Yes, sir."

I sat back down and lowered my voice. "Good. Now, go do your job."

Dexter headed for the door, but before he could exit, I stopped him.

"Oh, and Dexter?"

He turned around to face me. "Yes, sir?"

"You will be staying late today to make up for not showing up on time. That'll be all."

"Yes, sir," he replied and left my office.

*****

Later that evening, I was headed upstairs to my room, when I got a phone call from my Dad.

"What's this I hear about double bookings?" My father asked as soon as I answered the phone.

"I handled it, Dad. It's all been taken care of."

"This is not the first time, Alexander. I thought by giving you your own hotel to run, you would step up and be the responsible man you're supposed to be, but maybe I was wrong. Maybe you aren't ready yet."

I rolled my eyes and huffed. "Father, I said I handled it and I meant it. I am doing my best to run this hotel the way that you..."

He cut me off. "I don't wanna hear your excuses, Alexander! Now, either you get this under control or I will and if I have to come there to clean up your mess, there will be consequences! Am I understood?!"

I gritted my teeth. "Yes, father."

"Good. Now, your mother wants to come up and see you next month. I'm thinking more towards the end of the month."

"Ok..."

"When I get there, you better have your act together or I will be pulling the plug on your inheritance and giving it to your sister."

I sighed. "Yes, father."

"Good. Talk to you soon, son," he says then, hangs up.

I flung my door open and went to my room, flopping onto my bed. My father was so exhausting. How dare he think that I can't run this hotel properly. I should've fired Dexter, but there's a procedure. I didn't want him getting his panties in a bunch and suing the company for unlawful termination or something.

My father inherited this very hotel from his father. My grandfather, started it up when he was only thirty years old. He sunk every dime he had into it, trying to make it perfect.

When my father took over, he managed to branch out. One after the other, our hotels were popping up all over the country. We now own over two thousand hotels spanning from New York to California and almost every state in between.

This one, however, was ground zero. This was the one that meant the most to all of us and it was now my job to run it. If I did well, if I proved I could be responsible; then I inherited it. I wanted that more than anything.

I picked my hand up to check my phone for the time. 9:02 I need to get out of here.

I got up, got dressed and headed out to my favorite club.

*****

"Hey, Xander! What's up?" Cole, the bartender, asked as I approached the bar.

"Hey, Cole! Not much, dude. Just trying to take a break from my life," I replied, taking the drink Cole sat in front of me.

"Man, if I had your life, I don't think I'd need a break from it," he chuckled.

I shook my head. "It might seem like it's all roses, but it's really not."

Cole laughed. "I guess I'll never know."

He headed over to fill drink orders for other customers and I turned around to scan the club, sipping my rum and coke. It was pretty packed, but then again, it was like that pretty much every night. The girls were dressed in skimpy outfits, showing as much skin as possible while the boys were dressed in tight t-shirts that hugged their biceps, trying to show off as much muscle as they can through a shirt.

My eyes fell upon a gorgeous blonde and her friend, dancing together across the room on the dancefloor. She was smiling and laughing, shaking her body in all different directions while they took turns twirling each other around. I grinned and was completely entranced by her.

Suddenly two guys came up behind them and started rubbing up on them. Her friend seemed to be happy with it, but the blonde appeared to be very displeased. There proceeded to be some sort of argument and when I saw him grab her as she tried to walk away, I moved quickly towards her.

"I said no! Just leave me alone, Max!" She yelled right before she blew past me and out the door.

I stood there for a moment, looking towards where she went and where she came from. She must've known the guy because she called him Max. Max shook his head and walked in the other direction. I was caught between going after her and leaving her alone. It didn't take me long to decide. Something was drawing me to her. I had to go.

I hit the door, half expecting her to be out of the alleyway by now, but she hadn't gone far at all. She was sobbing and turned away from me so that I couldn't see her face.

"Are you okay?" I asked, startling her.

She looked up at me with red, tear-filled eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks," she replied, wiping her face.

I looked back towards the door of the club and back to her. "I saw you arguing with that hands-y guy in there. I was almost to you when you ran out. I thought I'd see if you were ok....if you needed help."

She looked into my eyes and seemed to be searching them for something. Her ocean-blue eyes were mesmerizing.

"I'm ok. Thank you for checking on me," she said and started to walk away.

I couldn't let her go. I jogged up beside her. "Would you like to get something to eat with me? There's a diner around the corner. They have the best pie you've ever tasted."

She stopped to look at me. "Are you asking me on a date?"

I beamed. "Yes."

She smiled back and shook her head. "I don't even know you."

"My name's Xander. Xander Pierce and you are?"

"Grace Devine."

That was such a beautiful name. I smiled at her. "It's nice to meet you, Grace. Now that we know each other...how about that pie?"

"Ok...." she agreed, nervously.

"Great! It's right over here," I gestured for her to follow me and she did.

We walked side by side in silence for a minute before I broke it. "Have you ever been to this club before?"

She didn't look at me when she spoke, just kept looking straight ahead. "Maybe once. I don't go out much."

"Oh? Why is that?"

"I was never really able to."

Grace seemed sad. Something told me that it had to do with that guy in the club.

We reached the diner and I opened the door for her. She looked at me stunned then, stepped inside.

"Where would you like to sit?" I asked her while she glanced at the booths around us.

Grace took a seat at the corner booth by a big window and I filed in across from her.

As soon as we sat down, the waitress was over handing us our menus. "What can I get you to drink?"

"I'll have a coffee, please. Grace?"

"Do you have hot chocolate?"

"Yes, we do. Would you like whipped cream with that?"

Grace's eyes lit up. "Ooh, yes, please!" She smiled.

We ordered some food and talked a little about some of the things we liked. We enjoyed a lot of the same things. We both listened to classic rock. We both loved comedy and horror movies, while she does like to watch chick flicks, too.

"I'll watch one, with the right company," I hinted to her.

Grace raised an eyebrow at me. "Oh, yeah? Well...."

BANG BANG BANG

"GRACE!" Her friend from the club yelled as she pounded on the window next to us, making Grace nearly jump out of her seat. "There you are!"

She ran inside and plopped herself down in the booth next to Grace. "I have been looking all over for you! I saw Max come up and start dancing with you." She looked over at me. "Hey, I'm Alicia and you are?" She extended her hand to me.

"Xander. It's nice to meet you," I replied, taking her hand and shaking it.