City of Angels

VIP

Sophie manoeuvres the tall glass doors open while she scrubs at the coffee stain on her dress with crumpled napkins. The spill has turned clammy, clinging cold against her skin.
She shivers as the cool air inside the lobby of Ville d'Ange makes it worse. The hotel soars what looks like thousands of floors into the sky, populated by wealthy occupants.

Fed up, Sophie discards into a bin near the entry and pulls the oversized leather jacket around herself, scrunching her nose at the smell of body odour.
The fast clacking of her heels on the marble floors alert the receptionist sitting behind a smooth travertine counter.
"Hello," she greets Sophie, wearing her best customer service smile.
"How may I help you, ma'am?"

Sophie grimaces at the woman's earrings.
Fakes.

"Yep, hi. I have penthouse suite under Sophie Hunt."
She taps her nails on the counter impatiently, despite the words only just having rolled off her tongue.
"Of course, let me see... Hunt, was it?"
"Yes, I just said that," Sophie shoots back in a sharp tone, making the receptionist's smile falter.
"Of course, sorry, miss Hunt. And how many nights were you staying?"
Sophie heaves a bored sigh.
"Seven."

The woman pours over her spreadsheet, eyes darting from one name to another.
Disinterested, Sophie flicks the petal of a white rose belonging to a crystal vase atop the counter.

Out of habit, she assesses the price.
Her brows arch in surprise.
The vase should be approximately $400, judging by its quality. And there are plenty of them dotted around the lobby.
Sophie raises her chin in approval.

"I'm sorry," The receptionist begins, frowning.
"Unfortunately, other guests appear to have the Penthouse suite booked. They arrive tonight, so I'm afraid we can't accomodate you in that suite."
"No, obviously that's incorrect," Sophie replies, making the receptionist flinch. "I booked the suite a long time ago. Can't you bump the other guests?"
"Sorry ma'am. I'm not permitted to do that. The guests should be arriving very soon."
"Yup, that'd be us," a familiar voice says from close behind. Sophie turns slowly, anger flushing her cheeks pink.
"Nice to see you again, Princess," Says the dark haired man from the airport. She wonders how a man who looks as tacky as he managed to land the penthouse. She peers behind him to find a misfit group of three others.
A tall guy, a blond guy and an old guy.
They look as though they haven't bathed in years, all of them. She stifles a laugh.
There's not a chance they're staying in the penthouse.

"May I have your name?" The receptionist beams, neatening her hair as her attention turns to the dress-ruiner.
Sophie watches him expectantly, a frigid look in her eye.
"Nikki," he replies, looking directly at Sophie, an arrogant smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.
"And last name?"
"Sixx." 

Sophie thinks it's a stupid name, wearing an expression that looks as if she'd bitten into rotten fruit.

"Yes! These are yours." The woman grabs a key from a drawer and drops it into his open palm.
"Aw, too bad, Princess," Nikki remarks, giving her a mocking sympathetic look.
His eyes flick from her head to toe and back, lips twisting in a feral grin.
"You should wear leather more often, by the way. You look less like a snob."

Then he whistles piercingly at the group behind him and walks away as Sophie watches in fury.
The group laugh raucously and fill the entire lobby with noise, receiving stern looks from other guests. But it doesn't look as though they really care.