Dapper

Chapter Twenty One

It was starting to get dark outside. Robert decided to watch the sunset over the beach before starting his performance. Once he walked out on the sand, he saw Susan and Patrick walking along the beach while holding hands. "You're kidding..." Robert whispers. 

Before going back in the hotel in a bad mood, Robert mentally decided to go to his "thinking spot" the following morning. 

"Robert, have you seen Patrick?" Jeffrey asks as Robert walks to the door of the club.

"Yeah, he's taking a lovely stroll along the beach with Susan at the moment. He might've decided to take the night off." Robert says bitterly. 

"Well, he deserves it. He's always working hard. I will get someone else to tend the bar tonight." Robert frowns at Jeffrey's statement. "You better get in there, the public is waiting for your voice!" Jeffrey says before he walks away.

"He deserves it?! What about me? I work my ass off too, and if I slack off for even a second, Jeffrey is on my ass about it!" Robert rants to himself before walking in the club.

~

The next morning, Robert finds himself on an empty balcony of the abandoned hotel. "How the hell can I become a father? I can't even keep a woman..." 

Unbeknownst to Robert, Jeffrey and Vera contacted the owner of the rundown hotel. The ex-couple are planned to see the inside of the building that same morning. "Excited to see our newest project?" Vera asks Jeffrey. 

"Sure." He says with a straight face.

"Why are you so grumpy?" Vera asks.

"My life isn't ideal for me at the moment." Jeffrey shrugs. 

"I don't think life is ideal for anybody ever, Jeffrey..." 

"Easy for you to say, you weren't the one who was dumped." He rolls his eyes.

"I was neglected! I had plans for us, Jeffrey! You are too busy to have a stable social life..." Vera defends and Jeffrey stays silent. They both stop on the sidewalk outside the building.

"Vera... If you told me these things, I could've changed for you. I could've changed for us..." He says seriously.

"I don't want you to change into something you're not, Jeffrey-"

"But I would be changing for the better! It'd be a good change, a change I probably need..." Both stay silent for awhile. 

"Let's just go check out the building..." Vera says quietly. Jeffrey sighs but follows her anyways. 

"Not bad for being abandoned... A lot could easily be kept." Jeffrey says as he looks around.

"This is only the first floor though." 

"Very true. Let's start going up each floor." They both find the stairwell and immediately notice footprints in the dust on the floor. "Looks like someone has trespassed before..."

"Well, not for long they won't."

As Robert is thinking and leaning against the railing of the balcony, he starts to hear voices in the distance. "Probably some stupid kids discussing how to get in, thinking they are 'so cool'..." Robert says mockingly as he rolls his eyes. 

"That's a lot of broken wood..." Vera says.

"Damn, looks like someone got angry one night and destroyed these wood fixtures..." Jeffrey goes to touch a piece of wood, but it comes crashing down and makes a loud noise, almost crushing Vera's foot.

"Jeffrey! You almost took my foot off with that thing!"

"Relax! You're fine. Let's move on."

Robert heard the bang and looks back inside quickly, hoping it was just a rodent. He then hears a woman yelling. "Shit... Someone is probably buying this place and I'm gonna be arrested for trespassing..." He whispers to himself, looking for a good hiding spot and hoping for the best. "Looks like this old closet will do..." He whispers, squeezing himself in the small opening of what used to be a closet.

"This rooms door is open, let's check it out." Vera says but Jeffrey pulls her back.

"Be careful! You saw the footprints, someone dangerous might be in there..." 

"Calm down, Ben is the most dangerous person around and I'm not scared of him..."

"Because he likes you and you're not a man." Jeffrey mutters and slowly walks in the room. "Hello?" Jeffrey says loudly, hoping nobody responds.

"Jeffrey, I doubt anybody is in here, they probably just sleep in here..."

"You never know."

"Jeffrey, what the fuck are you doing here?" Robert asks as soon as he heard Jeffrey's voice. 

"Holy shit man! You scared the balls off of me!" Jeffrey yells, startled when Robert quickly darts out of the closet. 

"You? I heard a loud bang and yelling so I was scared I was gonna get arrested!"

"Is this where you go off to?" Jeffrey asks, looking around what once was a room.

"Yeah, I usually hang out on the balcony to think about stuff, nothing else." Jeffrey nods.

"Well, I hate to tell you but, Vera and I are gonna buy this place and make it a functioning hotel again..." Robert smiles.

"That's awesome! I'm always upset watching this place decay every moment it sits. Make it something nice, alright?" 

"Absolutely, man. Is there anything specific you want to stay here?" Jeffrey asks.

"Actually, come to think of it, my grandfather engraved something in a piece of wood somewhere here. It'd be cool to find it and either keep it in the place or I'll take it home." Jeffrey nods and smiles.

"We can make that happen. Enjoy your thinking time, we are gonna meet with the owner and discuss more things."

"Alright, see ya tonight." Robert says before going back on the balcony, now with a smile on his face.

~

A/N

Another chapter! Sorry this one is kinda boring, I wasn't sure what to write so I guess it's just a filler chapter. If any of you are still reading this, thank you so much! With everything going on I might find time to update some of my stories (or possibly write new ones). I promise the next chapter will be more interesting! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter anyways, thanks guys!