Fic Bloom's Hotel 8/8
Story Title: Bloom's Hotel
Author: Saga
Chronology: The very first story for the site and place. To get a hum over the place you have to read this first.
Summary: The very first encounters with Bloom's hotel and their residents. Here you get introduce to the town Donbury, that lies a few miles from the mystic and special place called Bloom's Hotel or Bloom's Land. There lives for the moment eight guy's. It is here you get introduced to them.
Please do not print this, not even for private use.
* Chapter 8 *
When we had all groomed our horses Joe let them out to pasture. Joe picked up his saddle, Will and I did the same, following him inside where Joe pointed out where to hang them. Passing the stalls it appeared that not many were occupied as of yet. I couldn’t think that the stable would change from day to day… or was it as simple as they were expecting more horses to arrive soon? What had they said about the place yesterday?
It was while I stood inside the stables that I thought of the foal. “How’s Snow White today?”
“She’s getting’ stronger every day tha’ passes. I think we don’ need ta check her as much as we have been.” Joe told me, leading me over to the mother and baby.
We stood outside their stall, which allowed me to see that she seemed to be an eager foal and as strong as Joe had said.
“Who’s her sire?” I asked, looking to the Irish horsemaster.
“Legolas’ stallion Brego. Ye know he’s from tha’ Elvish horse race.” Joe grinned at me, causing me to wonder just how serious he was about Snow White’s sire.
“Aren’t those strong and have good stamina?” I wondered aloud; I think that at least that’s what the books said.
“Aye, they are, but Legolas knows more about them than anyone. What were ye thinkin’ about?”
“Nothing special.” I shook my head, turning to walk out of the stable.
I stopped just outside to shield my eyes from the sudden brightness of the sun as I discerned another horse and its trots on the hardpacked earth, causing Joe to run straight into me, me to lose my balance and end on my knees.
“A’m sorry. I hope I did na hurt ye.” Joe exclaimed, “Let me help ye up.” Before he could, he turned to the approaching horse I’d heard on the earth outside of the stable.
“I see that at least someone around here knows how to use manners,” came a cheeky voice above me, after the horse stopped not far from where we were.
I felt my anger rise. I got to my feet immediately, ignoring that Joe still held a hand out to help me up, brushing the dirt from my trousers.
“Nice to see you again, Prince Paris,” I said, allowing him to really hear my emphasis on his title.
“If you went riding, why didn’t you come with us?” Will inquired as he joined us.
Paris ignored Will’s question as he got down from his horse. I watched him for a moment, a part of me sad for him at the aloof way he seemed to always act. Joe and I move aside to leave the way open for him to stable his horse.
The atmosphere was charged. I felt that as I was a guest, I didn’t have the right to say anything and I actually wanted to get away from them all for a moment.
“Ye’ll have ta excuse the Prince’s behavior. He has na been ‘ere tha’ long an’… well, I actually have no excuse fer it. Ye have ta take ‘im as he is.” Joe shrugged.
I lifted one eyebrow. Was it like Joe to say a thing like that? I wondered, but nodded, deciding to stay as neutral as possible until I got to know them better.
“I need ta tend ta some o’ the t’other horses before I can join ye fer lunch. We can see each t’other later,” Joe continued before bowing to me and returning to the stables.
Things felt like they were happening too quickly… much too quickly and they were almost overwhelming me. I felt slightly lightheaded from all that had gone on in the past two days. I swallowed hard, making an effort to keep my wits about me; I didn’t want a repeat of yesterday’s bout.
A hmm made me look over at Will. “Are you ready to go down to the Hotel?” he asked, once he had my attention.
“Yes. I am.” I was short in my reply, happy that he didn’t seem to wait for me to expound anymore.
We walked in silence. I managed a few glances towards Will, unable to deny that it felt very special and strange to be there with a man I sort of had special feelings for. Would I be able to feel it normally or would it always seem like a dream?
Inside the Hotel, I was greeted by David who was behind the counter.
“Jimmy left this for you.” He lifted up my backpack. “Was the ride good?”
“Thanks. Yes it was. It has been quite some time since I have been out riding so it felt very good indeed.” I replied, taking my backpack from him. “Do you think I can freshen up somewhere?”
“Of course. You can go to the locker room by the pool or to the ladies room right over there,” David pointed with his had to the other side of the entré. “Depends on whether you want to shower or just wash your face and fix your hair.” He moved from behind the desk to make ready to might help me more.
“That sounds good, but I think I’ll use the locker room. Do you know if there’s any towels and soap I can use, since I forgot to bring any with me?”
“I will find out if you’ll give me a moment. You can find the room right down that corridor if you remember.” He disappeared in another direction.
I followed his instruction, seeing what I hadn’t noticed the day before: it had separate rooms for men and women. I opened the ladies’ door, setting my backpack down on a bench. Waiting for David, I opened the door to the pool room and looked inside it.
The pool looked inviting and large enough in which to do laps in. I knew I would have to see if it was so at a later time. I turned around to see David entering the room, bringing with him towels, shampoo and soap.
“When you’re finished, you can just leave it in there and one of us will take care of it later,” he told me as he left.
“Thanks, again. It will be nice to get away from the horse smell, even if it has a special meaning when you love it.”
He didn’t have any knowledge of it, merely bowed his head towards me as he shut the door behind him. I retreated back into the locker room, relieved that I could lock it as I didn’t want any surprise visitors.
Standing under the spray of hot water was a relief. I rinsed out my hair with help of my fingers. When I accidentally brushed a finger over my right ear, a hard shudder went through me. I knew my ear was sensitive, but this shudder felt different, almost as if the place made me more receptive to even the littlest of things.
When I dried myself off, I stopped to look in the mirror. Was there ever a time in the order of my life that I hadn’t wished to have two normal ears? I followed the contour of my right one. Why did I have to have these ears? It was one of the things I been teased about throughout my whole life. I had always kept my hair long to try to hide them. I brushed my hair and let it fall over them again.
I took my time. It was good that the Hotel was well built, disallowing sounds to pass through the walls separating the rooms. I felt that I needed the alone time.
I did as David said, leaving the towels in the locker room. I could still faintly smell horse on my clothes, but I would be able to live with it until I washed them.
On the way back to the front desk, I took the time to take a closer look in the rooms dotting the hall way back to the lobby, finding myself more and more amazed at how well equipped the place appeared to be. The Hotel really seemed to offer so much to its guests that I was certain it missed nothing in catering to all kinds of people and their difference likes and dislikes.
When I arrived at my destination, David sat behind the front desk, Will and Todd in the couches. Will was looking towards me, but when he saw me he quickly turned his head away.
“Jimmy was just here and he told us that lunch will be ready in half an hour. As it is so lovely outside, he thought we should take it on the terrace,” David informed me.
I nodded, continuing to where the others were seated. Standing, watching them, I felt little out of place as I didn’t know what to say or do. I figured that it probably came down to it just felt plain strange and awkward to be with different characters created by one and the same person. I thought it probably would feel that way for quite some time, that I would need to give myself the occasional pinch to remind myself that it really was real.
“Do you wanna see our gardens and terrace, since we didn’t do it yesterday, Sunniva?” Todd asked me, saving us from any uncomfortable silence.
“Yes, that would be nice. The weather is so fine and not quite what I’m used to in December,” I replied, giving them a small smile.
The guys rose, showing me the way to a door behind the staircase that led out to the terrace. The terrace showed to fill the space between the wings. In the corners were fire escapes going all the way up to the top floor.
“There’s exits from the pub, kitchen, restaurant and the music room, so you don‘t have to use the one we went through just now,” Todd enlightens me. He seemed to take up the tour of the terrace like he did the Hotel yesterday.
I noticed that they had prepared a table for the lunch, close to the kitchen and restaurant doors. The sun shone on most of the terrace, though the surrounding wings of the hotel sheltered it from the wind, making it feel even warmer.
Passing the table I put down my backpack on the chair at the head of the table, having learned from the day before that they probably would sit me there. Before following Todd down from the terrace, I picked up my camera. I would most likely get some nice pictures from the gardens, since such peaceful places always seemed to have nice flowers and be well tended.
We started to the left and into what was evidently the flower garden, but the majority of what grew, were roses. To my surprise, there was some that were in bloom.
“Roses always grow here,” Todd told me, since he must have seen my wonderment. “We learned quickly that you don’t need greenhouses here to have fresh things year around. It’s the same for the other gardens as well, which you’ll see in our herb and vegetable gardens on the other side.”
I nodded, leaning down to smell one of the roses. It wasn’t ordinary for me to do it if I wasn’t at a flower shop, buying roses. The fragrance almost got me to say ‘as sweet as you guys are’, but something thankfully caused me to stay silent. Of the blooms, its color was not only one. They all looked special and I began to snap some pictures.
“Do you take a lot of pictures?” Todd’s question almost startled me.
Turning towards him, I snapped one of him before replying, “I do, especially when I’m traveling. I like to have the pictures to remind me of what I’ve seen and where I’ve been.”
“You probably have quite a few albums at home then? Have you published any of ‘em?”
“The idea has only stayed in my thoughts… but I’m not sure if they’re good enough.” I turned around to see if there was anything else I wanted to catch before I added, “Though I use some of them for other arts. I guess you could call it a sort of inspiration.”
“You sure seem to have many strings to your bow, as Paris would say,” Todd commented, shoving his hands in his pockets.
“I do and like I told you in the tavern and at the dinner, I love to try out all kinds of things, however I’m not sure that is so smart all the time. I run the risk of finding out that I’m not very good at anything.”
“I think you’re probably really good at a lot of things. Bein’ Keeper, you really would need to know a lot,” Todd tried to reassure me. “To be able to learn - and be good at - more than one thing is way above average and to do this job, you would have to possess that kind of understanding, you know?”
“You think so? What about you?” I asked, wondering what else he did.
“Nothin’ much… actually. It hasn’t occurred to me to do much more than I learned. It felt like I had all the time in the world… well, there was that and my want to fight for my country.”
“May I ask...?” Waiting for him to reply, I kept walking.
Todd fell in behind me, his gait telling me that he was nervous. It was a minute before he answered my question with one of his own. “What do you wanna know?”
“What do you do here when you have completed your tasks and anything else that you have to get done?” I turned so I could watch his face.
“You mean in my free time?” but he looked confused.
“Well… haven’t you been here for sometime? Would you not have been able to try to learn new things?” I tried to make my words clearer so that he hopefully would understand me better.
He drew his eyebrows together before he replied, “Oh! Yeah. We probably could have learned a lot of new things, but everyone’s pretty much kept with what they’re used to.”
“Okay.” I silently made plans to investigate the subject later.
We continued the tour of the gardens; they were kept well, to one degree and Todd had been right when he’d said that there were ‘fresh’ things growing; however, the Greek garden was the newest and long from being finished.
When we returned to the terrace, more of the guys had arrived for lunch and as I had my camera in hand, I decided to take some more pictures that I could place in my album.
When we had been away on our walk through the gardens had our lunch had been put on the table, looking simpler than the dinner had been the evening prior. A few salads had been prepared, as had a few sausages, meatballs and breads. For beverages, on could choose from cold water to hot coffee.
“Great to have you back here,” Jimmy commented as he came through the door with yet another tray filled with fruits. “It’s only Joe that hasn’t arrived yet from the stables… well, and Legolas if he decided to come back from his trip.”
“Aw, cor… Jim, are ye talkin’ about little ol’ me?” Joe’s voice floated down from the doorway behind the staircase. “A’m flattered, mate!”
“You arrive just in time for us to start eating,” the barman grumbled easily to his brother.
As if on cue, we sat down to do just what he’d said. Everyone seemed to be quite satisfied to have dig into the food before any conversation started.
Most of them watched me from the corner of their eyes, which made things more than a little uncomfortable since it wasn’t everyday that I had so many interested in me at the same time. The only times that really happened occurred when I’ve been working.
“Have you decided yet if you will take the job or not?” Jimmy finally asked, unable to quell his curiosity.
“Obviously, there can’t really be anything that would make you re-consider taking it.” Peter, as usual, with his abrasive tone.
I looked at him, wondering what he was after with a comment like that.
“The time we’ve spent with you these past couple of days has been great and I think I speak for all of us when I say that we would all love to see you here.” Todd offered with a smile.
They were so different from other employers! Never before had anyone really tried to convince me so badly to take a job. It had more often than not been that I’d have to wait for a phone call that told me if they wanted me, causing me to be very grateful if I actually got a phone call that said I’d gotten the job. I felt a blush flood my cheeks, making me quite nervous.
“You are all too kind.” A giggle that I really tried to hold in, fell from my lips anyway. “Kind in the sense that way you almost make me consider if it might be too much.”
“Oh, no don’t take it as such. Please, Sunniva.” Wills voice was thick with apprehension.
I turned to him, smiling. I had been so right about him to have what happen in the forest fresh in mind. I thought to make them sweat a little bit longer. “Hmm. What would I think… one tried to shoot me… one seem to only have sex in mind… one could probably have stabbed me… touching one made me feel like I was being pulled apart… and one asked some personal questions that could have been taken very badly.” Suddenly, several of them looked to places other than me, leaving only David’s worried eyes trained on my face.
“Have we done all that?” Jimmy asked nervously.
“Things have happened, sure, but they could have happened to anyone and since it was one at a time, it really wasn’t that fatal. It might sound like… what would you call it.” I had a smile left in me.
“You have decided, haven’t you?” Jimmy wondered aloud.
“Yes, I think I have.”
“Only think?” David asked.
“I still think I need a little more time to take things in and think about them thoroughly. What if I came to regret the decision?”
“That would not be good, no.” David agreed.
I was glad that they let the subject lie, not pushing me any further. They knew they would get a reply from me. None of them seemed on a hurry to do anything so we sat there for another hour. When it was time to leave I did promise to call them soon with my answer, of what it would be things would be fixed give their words on.
If I had been little more sure of myself, I might have said I wanted to be driven back to the town by Todd or Jimmy, but I didn’t want to appear ungrateful or that I played favorites, so I didn’t anything of the like when Peter said he would take me back to the motel. The drive was short and I kept my own confidence, neither encouraging nor discouraging him to continue flirting and talking. At the Three Star motel, I was flooded with relief to be back. Hopefully, I would not need to go anywhere with him again any time soon.