The Lovelane Motel のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 41 - チャプター 50

*** Solana *** Solana picked up her purse, turned off all appliances in her office, and strolled out, telling herself that, with the way she was feeling, she wouldn't step out of her suite until tomorrow morning once she went inside. Though today was a 'normal day,' it had been particularly eventful. When she and Mark returned to the office like an hour ago, the contractors were still hard at work. She'd met the elevator guys briefly, too. A small part of the inside of the motel had to be broken and sealed off with caution tapes and signs. It was where the new small-sized elevator would go. Installations would begin tomorrow. They were progressing quicker than she expected with this new bar project. Mark was swift. A part of the staircase was also affected by the remodeling. Caution tapes with large planks covered that part, leaving a narrow path up the stairs. She unwittingly inhaled a bit of dust and had to cough Head bowed, purse under her arm, she tiredly put one foot in front

*** Mark ***~ That same day ~Mark had an early dinner with the estate manager, who was also Mr. Johnson's associate, to discuss important developments regarding his mother's real estates. Uncle Johnny had also been in attendance as they needed his signatures to pay out agents' commissions. Apparently, there were new tenants in her other house, and two older ones had renewed their lease. One of the properties also required minor renovations before putting it in the market for letting.After his mother died, the man reported to Mark and treated him like he owned all the houses already. He took that to mean that his paternal relatives had not made any move to claim his mother's other assets yet. Not that he cared about those other properties other than the Pent house where he was born and raised plus the twenty-eight apartments below it.But the meeting was worthwhile, and not just because of all the revenue. But because he'd learned a few things about real estate, too. He was intrigued

*** Mark ****The bar was complete. Today was its launch. It was to be nothing grand, although Solana had suggested a ribbon-cutting party. The past week had been rather hectic with all the planning and organizing, and Mark had welcomed every distraction the work brought him. He would've preferred much more distractions.He was especially looking forward to the little party with the motel guests, customers, some relatives, and other well-wishers this evening. Lovelane was doing great now. Despite all the economic troubles brought on by low spending, the motel's revenue had surpassed former times by threefold and then some.Merely advertising the launch of the new 'Lovelane Sky Bar' was enough to shoot up their guest lists this past week. Uncle Johnny was so impressed. He fought hard to hide it, but Mark knew him too much not to be able to tell. Kendi, Mark's cousin, had finished her graduate program and should around by now. Though from the look of things, she will miss the launch to

*** Solana ***Ten minutes after the kissing encounter, Solana sat in her office, staring at her desk phone, waiting for Mark to ring for her and explain himself. Yvonne had left his office minutes ago. She could guess what the brief meeting was about, and she tried to care. Tried to worry about the staffing situation with launch starting in a few hours. That effort was to no avail. She willed the desk phone to ring. It did. The chiming abruptly tore into the silence of her office, causing her to jump. But the call was not from Mark. She stared at the phone as it rang beyond the familiar two chimes, then she snatched it up to quench the irritating, unending sound."Hey, Solana. You have a personal package in the lobby."It was Yvonne. Didn't she just leave Mark's office?"Package?" Oh right! She recalled Mark's little announcement about the flowers before he'd kissed her. She was too disoriented. "I'll be there."When she hung up, she waited a few minutes to see if Mark would ring h

*** Solana ***Fifty minutes later, Solana had changed into a simple evening gown. She came down to the lobby to find an unexpected crowd milling about. Soft jazz music melded with the chatter and laughter giving the place a warm, relaxing ambiance despite the steady crowd increase. The entrance was wide open and some people stood outside, talking, laughing, taking photos. It was dusk, so a few lights in the driveway have been turned on. All the faces were unfamiliar to her, including the other two security guards standing by different corners. Mark had contracted a security firm for the evening. She guessed these were the guys they sent.Where was he? Maybe he was still in his office. But he should be down any minute because the party was starting."Miss Jang. Looking good."Tony, the photographer called out, lifting his camera to take a picture. Smiling back, she struck a funny pose. As the camera clicked, her peripheral vision caught sight of Phil shaking someone's hand, though