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I wondered why she used the other tone with everyone when she was on a job. Perhaps it was just the one that had gotten her the most results before.
As we played, I learned that she had quick reflexes. She matched some of the best men in my command, and I appreciated that. It always made this game a lot more fun. Also made sure that no one won too many games in a row. She won the first game, which impressed me. The first time I played this game, I definitely didn’t do very well at all. Then again, I had been teamed up with a lot of men who were only getting refresher courses when I learned. They had all had the same kind of reflexes that Grace and I had now.
“Would you like to shuffle for the next game?” I held my cards out for her. “That was a good game. You learn quickly.”
“You have to in order to get to the top of this profession,” Grace said as she took them. “It’s a skill I’ve honed over the years. I suppose not all for naught, either.”
I smiled a little.
“And it looks like the storm is finally calming down.” I motioned towards the window.
However, as soon as I said this, the power went out in the hotel. I huffed. Of course, the power would go out.
“Don’t panic!” the employee yelled from the front desk. “I’ll go get the generator started.”
“Thanks.” Grace looked over at the employee as she put her hands over her arms. “I get cold easily.”
I offered her my jacket, which I had been keeping near me in case of a power outage or unexpected drafts. Unlike Grace, I got hot easily, so the jacket was still sitting over the back of my chair. I’d be fine for long enough to make sure the generator went on. If this wasn’t going to happen, then we’d have a problem. She took it with a smile.
“Thanks, Gabe.”
“Of course.”
We continued to play until the lights flickered on. The generator didn’t appear to be running everything. I hadn’t expected it to. It probably wasn’t built to survive something like a winter storm on its own.
“We have a secondary one, but it’s out of gas. Some of the rooms get power from that generator so one or both of you might be without power,” the employee said as he walked over to us. “For your troubles with the power going out, here are some complimentary items.” In his hands, he held two white paper bags with the inn’s logo. Inside each bag was a sleeping mask, some breath mints, and two bottles of the shampoo and body wash given complimentary in the room.
“Thank you, sir.” Other than the sleep mask, these were all things that the hotel ordered in bulk anyway.
Grace gasped suddenly. “Oh no! I meant to ask you earlier. My keycard was acting up. It let me into my room originally, but then it stopped. I was going to ask you to reprogram it. Can you still do that?”
The clerk considered, “I’ll try. Though, the machine is finicky even when it’s not running on partial generator power, so I can’t promise anything.”
He fiddled with the machine for a few minutes. He inserted the card a few times, but nothing seemed to happen. Eventually he shrugged. “Try this, but I’m not hopeful.”
“I should probably go check my room,” Grace said to me. “Would you mind watching the cards?”
“If you’ll do the same while I check mine when you get back. I’d like to see if it has power or not.”
Grace nodded. She walked away to go try her room key, and I watched the empty lobby. There were probably other guests here – and I had noticed a couple more check-in since we had been up this morning thanks to the storm – but I didn’t believe the hotel was full.
Grace returned a moment later shaking her head.
“Your turn.”
I went to my room. My keycard still worked, and I made sure I still had electricity in the room. The entire room still functioned, though it was a little less bright in there. I was all right with that.
I returned to the lobby.
“My room’s alright. How about yours?” I looked at Grace, who was still wearing my jacket. I knew the answer before she said it.
“My key doesn’t want to open the door,” she said. “Couldn’t even get it to beep at me.” She shrugged. “I can sleep out here and get a blanket from the front desk.”
“What about a new room?”
Again, Grace shook her head. “Already asked. They’re full, and the few rooms that are empty either don’t have power or are in the middle of being remodeled.”
“Then you can use my room,” I replied. “I’ll take the couch. The heater in here isn’t going to make the room as warm as it should get for you to sleep in here. If you get cold easily, I think you’ll need more than one blanket.”
