Surprise! Elephant!
{Conrad Hotel Basement party thread!}
The headwaitress at the Conrad hotel has seen an awful lot in her time working there. Angels, demons, shapeshifters, elementals who weren't aware they were elementals, and, on one particularly notorious occasion, an elemental who seemed to only be able to work with balsamic vinaigrette.
The white Indian elephant in the middle of the restaurant, too large to fit through any of the doors, is a new one, though.
This is a problem, not least because they had to ask that all the patrons leave (and provide an explanation as to the magically-appearing bit of Indian fauna for those who haven't cottoned onto the fact that the reality of Chicago is not entirely stable), and especially because they had just only been rolling out the dinner buffet.
Footsteps on plush carpet alerted her to the presence of one of her assistant hosts, a Communication major named Thomas Bernard, and she turned, crossing her arms. "Well?"
"I talked to someone who talked to someone who said they'd call Ms. Jones," Bernard said, "but I kinda got the feeling they thought she'd be indisposed. Or they thought I was joking. Um... should we clear out the tables to make sure that thing doesn't... sit on them, or anything?"
The elephant looked placidly in his direction.
The headwaitress sighed. "That might be a good idea. Did anyone call the zoo?"
Bernard scratched the back of his neck, then caught himself and dropped his hand immediately. Even if they weren't serving food, that sort of behavior was not appropriate in the restaurant. "Do you really just call up zoos and say 'We have an elephant, do you want it?'"
"Well, I don't see what else we're supposed to do, unless Ms. Jones has experience managing a safari park," the headwaitress says. Then she sighs. "...we had all the food all ready, didn't we?"
Bernard nodded. "Yeah. They were just going to start wheeling out the carts." He looks at the elephant. "What are we going to do with it all?"
The headwaitress purses her lips.
After a moment she motions him to follow her, goes into the locker room, retrieves her purse, and fishes out something.
"You've probably seen that elevator in the lobby that just has a card slot?" she asks, and hands him a keycard. "Swipe this through and take all the food down to the basement. And for God's sake, try not to gape at anything down there. And try not to tell anyone who doesn't already know."
-
Accompanying a small cadre of waiters rolling the buffet tables out of the elevator, Bernard had the feeling that the third order would be easier than the second. No one was going to believe him if he told them anyway - not that there was a secret giant lobby down here, not that there were a lot of people in it, not that one of them was wandering around with giant wings sticking out their back. No. That was not a danger.
The gaping, on the other hand, was more or less unavoidable.
"Um," he said, pushing the tables into the middle of the lobby. "There's... an elephant in the restaurant so we had to close early, but... free food!"
His fellow waiters helped him set up the rest of the tables, and he stood back, looking around the place. Right. This was not a normal day.
"Um. Dig in?"
The headwaitress at the Conrad hotel has seen an awful lot in her time working there. Angels, demons, shapeshifters, elementals who weren't aware they were elementals, and, on one particularly notorious occasion, an elemental who seemed to only be able to work with balsamic vinaigrette.
The white Indian elephant in the middle of the restaurant, too large to fit through any of the doors, is a new one, though.
This is a problem, not least because they had to ask that all the patrons leave (and provide an explanation as to the magically-appearing bit of Indian fauna for those who haven't cottoned onto the fact that the reality of Chicago is not entirely stable), and especially because they had just only been rolling out the dinner buffet.
Footsteps on plush carpet alerted her to the presence of one of her assistant hosts, a Communication major named Thomas Bernard, and she turned, crossing her arms. "Well?"
"I talked to someone who talked to someone who said they'd call Ms. Jones," Bernard said, "but I kinda got the feeling they thought she'd be indisposed. Or they thought I was joking. Um... should we clear out the tables to make sure that thing doesn't... sit on them, or anything?"
The elephant looked placidly in his direction.
The headwaitress sighed. "That might be a good idea. Did anyone call the zoo?"
Bernard scratched the back of his neck, then caught himself and dropped his hand immediately. Even if they weren't serving food, that sort of behavior was not appropriate in the restaurant. "Do you really just call up zoos and say 'We have an elephant, do you want it?'"
"Well, I don't see what else we're supposed to do, unless Ms. Jones has experience managing a safari park," the headwaitress says. Then she sighs. "...we had all the food all ready, didn't we?"
Bernard nodded. "Yeah. They were just going to start wheeling out the carts." He looks at the elephant. "What are we going to do with it all?"
The headwaitress purses her lips.
After a moment she motions him to follow her, goes into the locker room, retrieves her purse, and fishes out something.
"You've probably seen that elevator in the lobby that just has a card slot?" she asks, and hands him a keycard. "Swipe this through and take all the food down to the basement. And for God's sake, try not to gape at anything down there. And try not to tell anyone who doesn't already know."
-
Accompanying a small cadre of waiters rolling the buffet tables out of the elevator, Bernard had the feeling that the third order would be easier than the second. No one was going to believe him if he told them anyway - not that there was a secret giant lobby down here, not that there were a lot of people in it, not that one of them was wandering around with giant wings sticking out their back. No. That was not a danger.
The gaping, on the other hand, was more or less unavoidable.
"Um," he said, pushing the tables into the middle of the lobby. "There's... an elephant in the restaurant so we had to close early, but... free food!"
His fellow waiters helped him set up the rest of the tables, and he stood back, looking around the place. Right. This was not a normal day.
"Um. Dig in?"