Nice to Know

Key

The Paradiso Hotel was a towering structure that shot up into the sky. I could barely bend my head back far enough to see the top.

"Got to give this one to Randall, he's got impressive taste when it comes to hotels." I mumbled.

"You can say that again." Peter said beside me.

We walked through the tall glass doors. The lobby had champagne colored floors that echoed every time we took a step. A gold metalic fountain sat in the middle, littered with pennies and dimes. In the center was what looked like a gold woman, water trickling from her eyes and dripping off of her chin.

As we circled her I caught sight of a pair of valumanous wings, that hung low on her back defeatedly. The sight of her made my stomach turn, and I wasn't totally sure why.

Just past her was the front desk with a collection of people in matching suits buzzing around.

"Hello." I greeted one of the workers.

"Just one second ma'am." She said quickly, not removing her eyes from the computer.

While we waited I turned back to the fountain, watching the deep curve of the wings.

"Mrs. Amy?" It took me a second to realize the baritone voice was referring to me. For PR reasons I wasn't slowed to change my name back just yet.

"Yes?" I turned back to see a man who's outfit was just slightly more dapper than his counter parts.

"We've been expecting you."

I could see the girl at the computer actually look at me, her face turning red. I wanted to tell her it was no big deal, but I was whisked away to fast to do so.

I was brought into a back office where I was given the down low on the whole building.

Most of it was just details about the buying price and renovations, so that I could make an accurate estimation of how much I could get for it if I decided to sell. According to the man, it probably wasn't worth it to sell just yet.

I mostly say back and let my lawyer deal with this kind of stuff, given I was no business typhoon, but Gary wouldn't be in town until the next day. This just left me and Peter to sit here and nod our heads.

By the end of the whole deal I was just ready to get a room and go to sleep.

"Well we have a few very nice suites open, but you might want to stay in the penthouse, I'd guess." His voice was unsure.

"Why wouldn't we want to stay in the penthouse?" I asked.

"Well no one's been up there in years," he explained, "No one is allowed up there except Mr. Amy, and now you. It hadn't even been cleaned since 1991."

"Why not?" Peter chimed in curiously.

The man just shrugged, "He just liked his privacy.

With that he got up from his seat and crossed over to a safe that was mounted on the wall. He turned the dial a few times before it clicked open.

He dug his arm in, sifting through stacks of money and paperwork before pulling out a yellowed envelope.

Walking back over to us he leaned over the desk, offering it to me.

I took it, feeling something loose and heavy shift around inside. I pulled at the delicate paper top snd then dumped a heavy iron key into the palm of my hand.

"You'll need that in the elevator. There's no other way to get to it."

I closed my fingers around it and we all did the obligatory goodbyes, setting up plans for tomorrow when Gary would actually be around.

As soon as we left the room me and Peter exchanged looks.

"What do you think it is?" He asked as we made our way over to ghe elevator.

"I wish I had any way of knowing." I sighed.

We pressed the up button, but had to wait for a few minutes to find an elevator that was empty.

While we waited Peter had one of the employees store our bags behind the desk until we decided where we planned on staying.

When an elevator came up empty we climbed inside.

There were several rows of buttons, each numbering a floor, all except the very top one. The button on the top only had a keyhole under it. I tried pressing it without putting the key in, just for kicks, and it didn't do anything.

I took the heavy piece of iron, stuck it in and turned it, then proceeded to press the button.

This time it lit up and the doors slammed shut faster than I'd expected.

The elevator began its escent enthusiasticslly.

Me and Peter turned to each other. We didn't know what we were going to find up there, but we were going to find it very soon.