I glanced at Nora, who had passed out in her booth. My head was throbbing as I came up with a plan. “There are hotel rooms above, right?”
This was a high-end nightclub, so most of the patrons were rich and powerful. The rooms above were designated so they could continue having fun upstairs in the privacy of their own rooms.
The attendant nodded, but she seemed stumped. “Yes, we have rooms, but they have been reserved in advance. Some of the rooms are prepared for our VIP clients and aren’t accessible usually. I’m afraid I can’t get a room for you right now.”
I pursed my lips. Looks like Armond earns a lot of money here. I pondered slightly before asking, “Does Mr. Murphy have his own room, then?”
“Yes, but…”
I dialed Armond’s number, and he answered my call almost immediately. “What’s wrong?” came his soft voice. “Are you missing me at night? Do you need me to accompany you?”
Feeling disgusted, I retorted, “I need a room in Imperial Hotel for Nora. It’s too late for me to bring her home. I’m still pregnant.”
His light chuckled sounded over the line. “Looks like I did the right thing by asking you to pick her up. Let me talk to my staff.”
Looking up, I glanced at the attendant before handing the phone to her. “Armond wants to talk to you.” She accepted my phone hastily with both hands. “Hello, Mr. Murphy!”
The attendant listened to what Armond had to say attentively. Shortly after, she returned my phone to me. “Ms. Stovall, please follow me!”
She proceeded to order the two other attendants. “Bring Ms. Oberick to No. 2806, the presidential suite on the twenty-eighth floor. I’ll help Ms. Stovall check in now.”
The two attendants brought Nora into the elevator while I followed the other attendant to the front desk so she could process my check-in. After Armond talked to the lady, she seemed to be extra careful around me.
I wasn’t bothered at all. While we were waiting for the elevator to come, a few tipsy men joined us. This was, after all, a nightclub and a hotel in one building.
The attendant seemed to recognize them and greeted them politely. One man took her arm. “You’re Rita, right? I heard you’re a manager here. Didn’t they say there’s a virgin here tonight? I didn’t see her anywhere. What’s wrong? Are you looking down on us?”
The other men chimed in drunkenly. Rita flashed an awkward smile and replied, “You’ve gotten the wrong information. That girl is here as a waitress. She’s just a peasant from the countryside. I’m afraid that you’ll despise her.”
“Oh?” The man chuckled. “So what if she’s from the countryside? Over ten years ago, we lived in the countryside, too. Peasant girls are strong. Don’t forget to bring her to our room later so we can have fun together.”
Rita nodded hastily. As the doors opened, she bade goodbye to them and led me out.
After bringing me to my room, she flashed a smile and bade farewell to me. I heard her talking to someone on her walkie-talkie. “Logistics, send Ann Weeder to the sixteenth floor. A client just asked for her. Remember to tell her to be obedient.”
I was about to close the door when I heard the familiar name. Stopping in my tracks, I looked out, but Rita had already left.
Sixteenth floor?
I entered the room to see Nora sleeping soundly on the bed. She had passed out, and I couldn’t wake her up.
As she seemed to be okay, I took the room card and headed to the sixteenth floor.
After I found the room, I stood outside. The rooms on this floor were karaoke rooms. There were girls heading in and out of the rooms. The girls who came out were obviously wounded with stacks of money in their hands, while the girls who headed in were empty-handed.
I couldn’t see what was going on inside the room, so I came out with a plan. After getting prepared, I pushed the door open and staggered in. “Friends, come on. Let’s drink!” I yelled, pretending to be drunk.
The people in the room froze immediately when I barged in without warning. When they realized I was drunk, someone stood up to chase me out.
