Leilani Squalor- the cities sixth most important financial advisor's daughter

Part 20

I take a deep breathe, smiling up at the sun. Slowly, I clamber out the submarine, groaning as I rub my arm. Carmi follows me out, along with all the adults and triangle eyes. Mum walks over to me and hugs me, still talking about how she would do anything for us. How she knew what she was doing. How she would let me find Jerome if I wanted. I look up at her, and realise she is blinking back tears. Mum looks at me and I ask, "If I ask to leave, would you leave and not get the sugar bowl?"
Mum bites her tongue, before eventually sighing, "If you genuinely tell me that we are in danger, I'll come with you. Leilani, you can't use that lightly. If there is a fire that would kill me, sure. Just... slap some sense into me."
She smiles, and I force myself to. I mean, the suits she forced us to wear don't actually look to bad, other than the fact pink might not be my colour. I haven't been able to bleach my hair nicely in a while, but it looks good. Good enough. Carmi grabs my hand and beams at me. She's been way to happy over all of this. I'm really hoping the sadistic and mental tendencies are a phase, but I don't know what I would be able to do if they weren't. Olaf walks over to me, his arms crossed. He looks fuming and excited at the same time. I roll my eyes as he laughs, "The last safe place! VFD will all get what they deserve!"
I scoff, "How do you think you'd be able to give them what they deserve? Who will even be there?"
"Everyone the Baudelaires met that I did not murder will be there," Olaf beams, "Now, walk. I think it takes a while to get to the hotel anyway. Nevermind, don't walk. We'll take the Olaf."
"The Carmelita two," Carmi snaps.
"The Olaf."
"The carmelita two."
"The. O. Laf.
"THE CARMELITA TWO!"
"The Carmelita two..."

                                                                                             ***
The hotel is nice, and impressive too. I put my hands on my hips as the receptionist sighs, "Welcome to the hotel. I can help you today, this is my name."
They reluctantly raise their hand to their name tag, and sigh, "How can I help you?"
Mum looks at me, rolling her eyes and I groan inwardly. I feel like every single time I'm in public, things aren't how I was told they would be. I might've been set up to fail."
Olaf drags us away for a second, without another word. I feel a little bad, but my attention is dragged away when Carmi snaps, "I want more hench people!"
She stomps her foot, and Olaf sighs, "Do you think I don't want some too? I've had to start carrying my own stuff, including the weight of my past actions."
"Really?" Mum asks, "I didn't put you down as someone who would be sorry about anything you've ever done."
"I'm not someone who is sorry," Olaf laughs, "I would never carry the weight of my own actions, it's boring. Who wants to talk to the front desk person?"
"The receptionist?" I ask, "I'll do that. In fact, why don't we just take the key reserved for us?"
"There isn't one," Olaf rolls his eyes, before scoffing, "They did not."
"I think you will find they did," I walk up to the desk. The boy looks at me, groaning as I ask, "Has a key been reserved for a woman called Esme Squalor?"
The boy scrolls down a list on his computer, before saying, "Not Esme Squalor, but Leilani Gigi Squalor. It has a note. The note says, 'we hope this finds you in good health, and we hope Olaf isn't too annoying. Take this room as a gift, and you wont owe us anything.' Is that it?"
I take the key out the guys hand, turning on my heel and walking to the lift. Mum and Olaf are arguing, so I roll my eyes and try ignoring them. Carmi snaps, "My real parents took me anywhere I wanted."
"Yeah?" Olaf hisses, "Well they wouldn't even pay the ransom."
Mum steps to Carmi, sighing, "Your daddy is very stressed about work at the moment. We'll go on a real vacation soon, I promise."
"Yeah, lie to her. Real good parenting," Olaf hisses, "God, I need a drink."
The lift doors ping open, and as we step in, Olaf groans, "Remind me why we can't send her back to her real parents?"
"We burned their house down with them inside," Mum mutters. Carmi's eyes grow wide as she asks, "Wait, what did you just say?"
"Nothing," I scoff, "They said nothing."
Carmi shrugs it off, and I glare at the both of the 'mature adults'. Mum smiles, and as soon as the doors ping open, she is striding out. I drag Carmi along, despite her protests. Mum and Olaf both leave the room, leaving me to try get Carmi to calm down. She begs me to let her follow after mum, and I let her, rolling my eyes. Slowly, I begin walking round the corridors, glaring at everyone who walks passed.

I storm through a particularly dark hall, before crashing into a boy. He sends me stumbling back, and I snap, "Hey! Stupid conci... Klaus?"
"I'm so sorry... Leilani?"
I splutter, "What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing!" Klaus says, brushing off his uniform, "You've spent time making my life miserable. I don't think I should be talking to you right now."
"You've spent time ruining Olaf's plans time and time again," I tilt my head to the side, "I struggle to see why I should be talking to you."
"I saw Jerome," Klaus blurts. I look at him, struggling to find words, before I whisper, "Klaus. I wont tell anyone I've seen you. I just need you to tell me one thing."
Klaus nods, and I ask, "Does my dad miss me?"
I blink back tears as Klaus explains, "Jerome said his second biggest regret in life is letting my siblings and I go."
"His first biggest regret?" I ask.
"Letting you leave."