Hotel Chambley (Closed)

[cbelle02]

Rebekah strode along the corridor of the Chambley Hotel, on her way to the front desk to start her shift. She had practically grown up in the hotel that her father owned and knew every inch of the place. Even after the recent expansion. It wasn’t huge, but was located just outside the city so it was popular for it’s cheaper rates. It was a high quality, 5-star hotel, despite it’s size. It was a favorite place for businesses to house their traveling employees for meetings or work in the city as well. Rebekah recalled running the hallways and playing in the pool as a kid. Now, at 23, she worked there. She mostly took care of the paperwork for her father and ran the front desk. But truthfully, she did a little of everything. Of course, carrying on the family business hadn’t been her dream. But it paid the bills for now. Her dream was her art. Mostly photography. She’d just gotten a new camera and had been playing around with it in her free time.

She smoothed down the front of her red, sleeveless blouse and straightened her black skirt that stopped mid thigh. She wasn’t a huge fan of dressing up, but she had to look the part. She did love her new boots though. They were black, shiny, and came up almost to her knees. Her long hair was pulled back from her face with a clip, but otherwise hung loosely around her shoulders.

It was a slow day. She was contemplating what to have for lunch when a familiar face came through the doors of the hotel. He was a frequent visitor, sent to the hotel often on business. She’d seen him often, but they’d only spoken in passing. She knew him by name though.

“Adrian! Welcome back!” She said with a genuine smile as he approached the front desk. “They don’t let you stay away for long, do they?”

 

[CFMB_fan]

His arrival...

.

His trip had been long, flying from the UK for another couple of weeks of meetings in the states, but being greeted by a radiant smile at the end somehow seemed to make the trip worthwhile.

He is a project manager for an international corporation, who is building a new manufacturing plant in America, and he was one of the managers of the project, which required frequent trips to the city, and the hotel.

“Afternoon Rebekah.” he replied quickly and confidently, “And how are you?”

He looked around the reception area briefly as he listened to her reply, and then offered Rebekah from his bag the confirmation of the booking, and his Passport as they completed the necessities.

He was scheduled to stay there for two weeks, though he had the weekend off, not that he had any plans yet. He was considering a trip to New England and to partake in his passion for photography.

He wasn’t brilliant, but he enjoyed photography, had done since a teenager, though he had a break due to the costs of film developing. But the development of digital cameras reignited his photography passion.

“Thank you see you later I’m sure” as he took the card key from Rebekah, her lovely eyes drawing him in briefly. And with jus this shoulder bag, he headed to the lift, knowing his two bags would quickly follow him.

Despite his build, he wasn’t unfit, though he needed to lose more weight. One advantage of the hotel was its narrow-ish 20-metre swimming pool. He took the opportunity to swim whenever he could staying there, to begin with, he was struggling with more than 25 lengths.

But a mixture of more cycling back at home, and other activities, his fitness, and health was improving. He looked around as he swam, before thinking, using the time to focus on whatever needed his mental attention, including, that afternoon Rebekah’s cuteness, as she had dealt with his arrival earlier. As he touched the side of the pool, he had reached fifty lengths, and climbed out, placing his hands on the edge of the pool to lift himself out of the water and walked over to the sun lounger and reached for his towel, patting himself dry before redoning his hotel robe, and picking up his bag, headed to the terrace bar for a coffee.

And soon, as he sipped his coffee, he started to look at some photos on his MacPro under some shelter, unaware that Rebekah was glancing in his direction.

 

[cbelle02]

Rebekah smiled at the deep, smooth accented timbre of the man's voice as he greeted her. She always enjoyed it.

"I'm doing very well, thank you." She assured him as she completed the transaction, handing him his key card. Their fingers brushed briefly during the exchange. "I'm sure I will see you around. I hope you enjoy your stay!"

She watched him walk off toward the elevators and motioned for a nearby bellboy to grab his other bags, before turning to greet the next guest.

The shift seemed to trudge by, but soon it was time for her break. On sunny days like today, she often liked to spend her breaks outside, walking the beautifully landscaped perimeter of the hotel or relaxing by the pool with a drink. One of the many perks of being the owner's daughter.

Today she found herself walking down by the newly installed bar, overlooking the pool. From her vantage point, she saw Adrian climb out of the pool and approach the bar, pulling out his laptop. She watched curiously for a minute or two, sipping on her drink, before walking over.

"Those are some really nice shots, did you take them?" She asked, sliding into the seat next to him, apologizing for her intrusion.

 

[CFMB_fan]

.

He was lost in his own little world, enjoying the sun, the fresh air and the local American craft ale, beer that the bar served. He had recently been away for a few days with his wife and another couple to North Wales, A couple of days hill walking, and a couple of days doing the scenic tours. As such he had various photos to edit, some of the walks, the panoramic views, and others down on the coastal paths, where they had walked to various lighthouses and other tranquil photogenic places that dotted that lovely part of the world.

He was currently editing a lighthouse scene, with the blue sky leading to the darker blue sea, the stark white tower bathed in sunlight, and the white of the seahorses as they crashed against the rocky shore.

He turned to face her slightly hypnotic voice and smiled as he saw her sit next to him, still in his luxurious white robe supplied by the hotel, still in his trunks underneath.

“Hi Rebekah” he offered with a warm smile. “Ys, last weekend as it happened, I had a long weekend with Clare and some friends before flying back here for another two weeks or so…”

He turned the Apple Mac slightly to allow her to have a better view.

“So what do you think?”

 

[cbelle02]

"Sounds like you had a lovely vacation then." She said, taking his cue and looking through the pictures he had taken. "These are really breathtaking, you have an amazing eye." She told him. "Makes me want to go there."

She continued browsing his photos. "I wish I had your talent for capturing the perfect angle and the sunlight and brightness...and it looks like you got most of it without much editing yet." She sighed turned the laptop back to him.

"I call myself an amateur photographer. I really enjoy capturing landscape scenery and portraits, sometimes combined. But I have yet to create something like those." She gestured to his laptop. "Magnificent."

 

[CFMB_fan]

.


He looked at her and smiled.

It wasn’t as much as a vacation but a long weekend away. Enjoyable and relaxing to a point, but still a rush to get everything done that we wanted to do do in a couple of days.”

“Ah, a fellow photographer! And what camera do you have? I’m a Nikon guy.” he stated as he inhaled deeply, before continuing.

“I’m also an amateur, never made any cash from my photographs though on a few times in the annual Christmas Photography competition at work!”

“So what sort of landscapes do you prefer?” he asked, curious as to what style of photography interested her. There were parts of th hotel he thought were quite intriguing, that called out to be used as a backdrop. The large entrance in the old part of the building had a reasonable large curvy staircase, reminiscent of the large staircases that were used in Hollywood style musicals in the golden age of musicals. He had seen photos of the two ‘Honeymoon’ suites with their large poster beds, and ‘in floor’ jacuzzis. And then there were the gardens.

Yep, plenty of scope for locations in the hotel and ground.

He looked at her and grinned.

 

[cbelle02]

"I have a Nikon as well! It's my first 'real' camera and I love it." She told him, taking a sip of her drink. "And well, I'm sure you noticed, there's a lot of gorgeous scenery just around the hotel. I love wandering about and capturing whatever I see. Natural beauty. Waterfalls, mountains, people..." She grinned.

"Just north of here, there are several gorgeous hiking trails. You should check them out before you leave. Lots of photo ops along the way and epic waterfalls at the end." She pulled out her phone to pull up her photographs she had uploaded to her online gallery. "These are a few I took the last time I went out."