I should have kept walking, but anger rose inside me at the entitlement of this prick. Stalking back to him, I leaned in the window, narrowing my eyes at him. “That’s twenty percent.”
He scoffed, pulling his cap down over his eyes. “Barely covers my gas. Prick.”
“What the?—”
The cab tore away from the curb, and I tripped trying to escape the tail end of the car, nearly ending up on my ass. The cab hit the brakes before taking a hard right, nearly running over a pedestrian.
“What the fuck is wrong with people?”
A man shoved past me, nearly sending me back into the road, and when I turned to snap at him, he was already moving on, completely ignoring me. Other than that one man, there was no one else nearby. The streets were dead at this hour. At least I wouldn’t have to deal with too many other people tonight.
I headed into the hotel, relishing the warm air of California. Thank God I was out of that frozen state. Who actually lived like that?
Not that Pennsylvania was much better, but there was a definite difference.
“Checking in?” the lady asked me. Her perky smile and bright eyes were more than I could take today.
“Yes. Rob Markum.”
“Okay, sir. I see you’re not a loyalty rewards member with us. Would you like to take a brief five minutes to fill out the forms to get some excellent rewards your way?”
I stared at her, wondering how she didn’t see the haggard lines on my face or the pissed-off look radiating from every pore on my body. And yet, I somehow didn’t snap at her.
“Just checking in.”
“Right,” she added with a smile. “Well, I’m happy to tell you that your room is ready and turn down service is available for you with just a click of a button,” she giggled, pressing her finger in the air as if she was pressing a button.
I waited, bit back my anger, then answered as calmly as possible. “No, thank you.”
“Alrighty.” That damn smile was still in place. “Our restaurant is open until eleven tonight with a full bar. And it opens again for breakfast at eight a.m. If you want something before then, we’d be happy to direct you to any fine establishment in the area.”
“Perfect,” I muttered.
“You’re in room seven thirteen, and?—”
“Whoa, hold on,” I muttered, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Did you say seven thirteen?”
“I sure did!”
“I’m not staying in that room. Find me another one.”
She continued to smile as she clacked away on the keyboard, never missing a beat. “I’m sorry, sir, but that’s our last available room.”
“Switch me with someone else.”
“I’m really sorry, but I can’t do that.”
“Why not?” I argued.
“Because each of our rooms has been reserved according to our guests’ specifications. But I’d be happy to send up a fruit basket for any inconvenience.”
“Yeah, a fruit basket is gonna help bad luck.”
“I’m sorry, what was that?” Again, that cheery smile and those dimples now popped out. Fuck, I just couldn’t get rid of this woman.
“It’s fine. Just hand over the cards.”
“Oh, we don’t use cards here. Opening a locked case behind the counter, she pulled out a key, handing it over to me. “Now, don’t lose that. We only have one duplicate. Is there anything else I can get for you?”