Room Number

Chapter One

32. 33. 34.

Jackson Grint counted as he stepped onto his floor and proceeded towards his room. He could not stop thinking about his floor number. It's incredible that he would be in a hotel which the topmost floor corresponds to his age. And what's more incredible was his overly vigorous hotel floor neighbors.

On the very first day of his stay at the hotel, he was greeted by a wail of a petulant child next door. He just came in after a five-hour first-day conference and he was anything but cranky. He immediately went into his room and shut his door blocking the noise.

After taking a short shower, he decided to drink a glass if wine on the balcony. Just as he slipped into the balcony, he heard the shrill complaints of his neighbor's kid through their opened balcony doors. He decided to go back inside after taking a few sips on his glass when he heard it.

At first, he wasn't sure if he heard it right but there it was again. A soft whisper that sounded like it was there to caress anything nearby. He stood quite still for a few seconds as he listened to a woman's enchanting voice coming from the room on his right. He turned to see who it was but to his dismay the voice was coming from the room facing the other side of the building. Jackson mentally chided himself for forgetting that his room was located around the corner.

As he couldn't see the owner of the voice, he resorted to taking a seat and listened. The enthralling voice gained volume and he finally could recognize the words. It was a rendition of an old song his mother would often listen to.

"Two drifters, off to see the world
There's such a lot of world to see
We're after the same rainbow's end, waitin' 'round the bend
My huckleberry friend, Moon river, and me. . . "

Jackson liked that song and to hear it during a tiring night such as this made him feel he could just sit there all evening listening to this woman's serene voice. It was soothing and only befitting to the situation as he realized that the cries from his tiny irritable neighbor subsided.

He find it beautiful, also.

He thought as he contemplated that anyone, even a child, could recognize the mesmerizing effect the singer was evoking. True to his word, Jackson Grint stayed all night outside his balcony listening until he heard the voice yawned and a small banging of the door confirming the performance of the evening was finally over.

It was last night on the second day of the conference that he first found out three pieces of information about the mystery singer. Jackson has been standing on the balcony admiring the Portugal skyline and rejoicing the silence he was experiencing since his clamorous next-door neighbors seems to be out when suddenly he heard a phone ring from the room on the other side of the building.

"What?", the voice exasperatedly answered her caller.

"Don't you dare tell me that it's partially my fault!"

"You're the one screwing someone else!"

"Shut up. I already told you it's over. We're over."

He was thoroughly astonished to have overheard the entire thing. He didn't dare move in fear that he will make a sound that will alert the neighbor of his presence. Once again, Jackson Grint was outside on his balcony listening to his neighbor sniffling for several minutes clearly trying to choke back tears. It was only when he heard the balcony door closing next door that he tried to move and get inside his room.

His next-door neighbor had broken up with her boyfriend, because he cheated on her, and she's definitely crying.