Lily stepped out of the Hummer stretch limo that had pulled up to the front of the hotel. As she walked her blonde, pulled back hair swayed in perfect rhythm with her mocha colored Prada boots. Two men dressed all in black, who could have easily passed as models, held the door open for her as she went by. Once inside she made her way to the elevators, careful to adjust a painting or two on her way. She called the elevator and waited. A few seconds later the golden doors slid open, revealing their exquisite interiors. More exquisite, however, was who she found inside. A tall man with dark brown hair, dressed very professionally was standing in the far right corner of the elevator. She gave him a quick once over, noticing his Armani briefcase and Rolex watch. He certainly was up to her speed. He flashed her smile. ‘Wow, he has perfect teeth,’ she thought, returning a curt smile.

“What floor?” he asked her.

“Third. Thank you.” ‘So Mr. Armani talks, huh,’ she thought to herself. Less than a minute later the doors opened and Lily stepped out. As she did so, she quickly looked back, but it was too late, the doors had closed shut. She sighed and went back to business. She kept walking straight until she came to the Presidential Suite. She knocked twice. No response.

“Good afternoon, this is Lily Carmichael, is there anyone in there?” She waited a few more minutes, still nothing.

“I’m going to have to enter this room.” She pulled out a heavy set of keys attached to one big clip, searching for the one marked “P”. Once found, she unlocked the door and proceeded to enter. As she did this a woman in a towel came running out of a room from the left.

“Yes, I’m sorry. Uh- can I help you?”
Slightly taken aback, Lily replied, “Um, yes, hi. My name is Lily Carm-“
“Carmitchell, I know, I heard you making a scene out here.”
“CarMICHAEL, actually. But more importantly, Ms. Flinch is the news I received earlier about some complaints of disturbances coming from this room.” Lily glanced around inside, checking for anybody else. “Are you, um, alone, Ms. Flinch?”
“Yes-uh, no, I mean- Ms. Carmitchell I don’t believe that is of any concern to you!”
“I’m just doing my job. Here at the Breakers we like to be accommodating to all our guests. But perhaps there was a mix up, if so I apologize. Is there anything I can do for you while I’m here?”
“Hmph. Well, since you aaare up here, would you be a doll and have some champagne sent up?” She stood with a very matter-of-fact look pressed upon her face.
“Of course, Ms. Flinch, and let it be on us. I’ll have that sent up immediately, and again, I apologize for any confusion.” With that Ms. Flinch waved her away and slammed the door in her face. Lily turned her heel and made her way back to the elevator. She laughed to herself a little as she called the elevator once more. She knew one thing was for sure, and that was that the guests never failed to amuse her. There were the snobbish jet-setters with their Louis Vuitton this and their Gucci that, the honeymoon couple looking for a nice getaway, and almost always there were the senior retirees of Miami, wasting away a few weeks at Palm Beach. Finally the doors opened and, surprise, Mr. Armani was there again, looking just as perfect as she had left him. This time they smiled at each other together. The doors closed.
“I’m Lily, Lily Carmichael. I manage the hotel.” ‘Shoot,’ she thought, ‘too forward.’
“Ryan, Ryan Ashton. I’m from Travel Leisure Magazine. We’re doing a spread on your place, it’s quite the hotel.” Lily blushed, as she always did when the hotel was referred to as hers.
“Oh, thank you. We do try to keep it in top condition.”
“I can see that. Listen, I’ve been running around all day trying to find some sort of supervisor here, I’m looking for someone to interview about the hotel. Seeing as your manager and all, you’d be-“
“I would be more than happy too.” She smiled. “I’m on my way to the café now; I’ve just got to take care of something with the concierge, first. How about some drinks, on me, and we can take care of your interview?”
“Sounds great.” Ryan smiled, revealing those perfect teeth once more. The doors slid open.
“After you, Ms. Carmichael.” This time they both let out a little laugh. Lily led the way, bee lining it straight for the two men hidden behind a long glass desk at the front of the hotel.
“This will only take a minute”, she assured Ryan with a grin.
“Good afternoon, gentlemen. Do you think it’s possible for one of you to remind me of our policy on unaccompanied children running around the hotel?” She looked from one to the other, burning through their skulls with her big blue eyes. One of them raised a hand.
“Yes, Pierre. Do enlighten me.”
“A-always make sure the c-c-child is attended to by a supervised adult. I-i-if the child is lost, get their information to phone their guardians and h-h-have them stay in the d-daycare center while they wait.”
“Thank you Pierre, that is precisely correct. And tell me, Browning, what is one to do if the child is creating or has left behind an uncleanly environment?” This time she focused all her attention on the shorter of the two, who looked like he was about to cry.
“Well…what do you mean uncleanly environment, Ms. Carmichael?” This one had no stutter, but it took him a great deal of force to get the words out of his mouth.
“I mean, Browning, that there is a rather horribly drawn picture of a purple elephant on that wall that I can only assume was put there by that boy.” She pointed directly across from where they were standing. Sure enough, right in the middle of the wall was a large and circular object one could only identify as an elephant due to the large tube that was drawn from its face. The culprit was directly below the drawing, now making his way to the center of the room. She then proceeded to draw their attention to the little boy, now running around the lobby. “Please have this taken care of at once. I will see that the young boy is returned to his parents while you two take care of that mess on the wall. Thank you, and don’t let it happen again.” With that said she flashed the two men a curt smile and turned on her heel, motioning with her head for Ryan to follow. They were making their way towards the little boy in the center of the room now, Lily leading the way. He was lying down in the middle of the floor making snow angel figures on the carpet. Lily knelt down beside him.
“Hi there, what’s your name?” She smiled, patiently waiting for the little boy to look up.

“My name’s Damien. I’m at a hotel!” He didn’t look up.

“OK, Damien. Where are mommy and daddy? It isn’t safe for you to be here all alone like this, you know.” She maintained her patience. She waited for an answer, but he ignored her.

“Damien, sweetie, I need you to tell me where your parents are or you have to wait in another room, with big scary adults watching you.” She glanced at Ryan, who was hastily taking notes, grinning now and then at her pathetic attempt to reason with the child. After a few more seconds of a non-responsive child, Lily stood up and smoothed out her clothes. She turned to Ryan.

“Looks like I’m going to have to call day care. I’m so sorry you have to witness me on one of my chaotic days.”

“Not a problem. That’s what I look for when I’m interviewing; the person’s natural state of work. It’s perfect.” He flashed her another perfect smile. She melted. Just as she turned to make a call a woman came running up behind her, nearly smashing up against her face.

“Oh, excuse me, I’m so sorry!” She moved aside, bending down and grabbing the little boy by his arm, practically lifting him off the floor.

“WHERE have you been, young man?! I have been looking everywhere for you! We’re leaving, let’s go! Your father is extremely upset with you, Damien.”
“But, nanaaaa! I wanna play!” Lily watched the nanny drag the whining boy away. She sighed and shook her head, amused by the whole thing.
“We get a lot of there around here. Too many parents can’t handle the kid themselves, so they bring along their nannies everywhere they go. Why have the kid in the first place, right?” They both laughed and Lily once again initiated the way to the café. Half an hour later the two of them were sitting at a table outside by the pool, sipping cocktails and laughing. The waiter came around with more drinks and a fancy little bowl of assorted nuts.
“Did I already tell you about the time Britney was here and no one could recognize her with her hat! I mean she looked ridiculous!” Lily grabbed a handful of nuts.
“Ha, ha, yeah I think you did. Can’t imagine how anyone could recognize her with that outfit you described, either…” They started laughing again. Time elapsed quickly and before either of them knew it, six o’clock approached and the evening rush started pouring in.
“Oh, god, what time is it? Six already?! Wow, I can’t remember the last time I had that much fun over an interview!” Lily blushed a little.
“Yeah, I know. Listen I had a great time though. Thank so much for the interview and getting to know you. You may fool a lot of people, you know that.” He smiled and got up, grabbing his things. Lily stood up, also, and they hugged each other goodbye.So Long, Mr. Armani