Chapter Twenty-six

No way! Megan cried silently as she stared in horror at the hotel outside the bus window. No freaking way!

Brian made his way to the front of the bus, announcing their arrival at their hotel.

“I need a nap, and lunch, and, er, a nap,” he mumbled.

Dana came to sit beside Megan, who was still staring out the window.

“Is this it?” she asked quietly, already knowing the answer. She could see it in her friend’s eyes.

“Sure is. Of all the places in Phoenix to stay. . . “

“Denise didn’t know-”

“I know she didn’t,” Megan sighed. “It’s not her fault we’ve ended up in hell.”

Brad glanced in his rearview mirror and said loudly, “All right. Things are being done a little differently today. Guys, you’re first. Boys off in front, girls off in back.”

“Now that sounds kinky,” AJ said, grabbing his backpack and joining the others near the door. He paused to give Megan a peck on the cheek. “Meet you inside.”

She quickly wiped away any signs of moisture from her eyes and smiled. “You betcha,” she said, forcing herself to sound cheery.

Kevin glanced at her and Dana suspiciously as he passed them. He could tell something was up, but he didn’t know what.

After the Boys had gotten off the bus, Brad steered it around the building to the back entrance.

“Maybe she doesn’t work here anymore,” Dana said softly, trying to sound hopeful.

Megan snorted. “There is no way on earth she’d ever leave this job.” She shook her head. “No, she’s here. I can feel it.”

Dana put an arm around Megan’s shoulders for support. If her mother really was there at that hotel, Dana knew this was not going to be an easy three days.

They picked up their things and left the bus to enter the hotel. As soon as she stepped inside, Megan felt as if she was being suffocated. She knew this building like the back of her hand, having spent many afternoons and weekends there with her mother when she was younger. This place did not hold fond memories.

Megan pictured a flood gate opening up inside her brain, releasing all the unhappy thoughts that she’d desperately and successfully forgotten about. Now they were all crashing around between the walls of her mind, forcing themselves to be remembered. She gripped her head, trying to keep them all inside.

Dana saw this action and her apprehension grew by the second.

They met Denise near the front desk.

“Are you okay?” she asked Megan, concern in her voice.

Megan straightened, dropping her hands to her sides. “I’m fine.”

“All right. Let’s check in, shall we?”

The three women stopped at the desk and were instantly greeted by a very young, very happy woman with a too bright smile. Megan suddenly felt like puking.

“Hello, I’m Gina. How may I help you today?”

Denise set her purse on the countertop. “We have a reservation for a floor, made by an agency named The Firm. It should be for three nights.”

Gina nodded and turned to the computer. “The Firm,” she said softly, searching the screen. “Ah yes, for the Backstreet Boys?”

It seemed to dawn on her the moment she said the name, just exactly who she was dealing with. She turned to Denise, her eyes wide and her mouth open wide.

“Omigod, you’re AJ’s mom, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Oh wow! There was a rumor you would be staying here, but wow! I didn’t think it was true!” Gina gushed. “I’m a huge fan, I have tickets to tomorrow’s show.”

“That’s nice, dear,” Denise said politely, eager to get back to business. The Boys would be coming inside soon, and she wanted to get them to their rooms as quickly as possible for some quiet time.

Gina sensed the need for speed and quickly composed herself.

“Anyway, um,” she said, looking back at the screen. A frown slowly crossed her lips. “Well, we have you booked for three nights, but it seems you’ve been split up between floors thirty-three and thirty-four.”

Now it was Denise’s turn to frown. “There must be some mistake. For security purposes, we absolutely cannot be split up. Is there any way to fix it?”

“I’m sure there is,” Gina said hastily. “But I don’t know how. Wait, let me get my manager.”

Denise drummed her fingers on the counter impatiently as Gina ran off to get help.

“Well this is just ducky,” she muttered.

Dana nodded in agreement, but Megan’s attention was focused elsewhere. She was busily scanning the lobby for any signs of her mother.

Gina came back a moment later with an older woman dressed in a navy blue skirt and a white silk blouse. Her honey colored hair was twisted up in a professional style that screamed authority.

“Hello, I’m Charlene Arnold, assistant manager of the hotel. What seems to be the problem?”

“The problem is that my tour group has been split between floors. This is a mistake. We should have one floor to ourselves. Security will throw a fit if this can’t be fixed,” Denise explained.

Charlene Arnold frowned. “Security?”

“Yes, we’re with a group called the Backstreet Boys.”

“Oh yes. We were informed of your arrival last week. Well, let’s see what we can do about this.”

They all watched as Charlene tapped away on the computer keyboard and then smiled.

“There, all done. The guests for floor thirty-four haven’t arrived yet, so we’ll just move them to floor thirty-three,” she said brightly.

“It’s that easy?” Denise asked doubtfully.

“It’s that easy,” Charlene answered. “Please accept our apologies. Now, let’s get you the keys to your rooms. Gina, will you help?”

The girl nodded, obviously fearing the older woman’s power and presense. As they began distributing the white, plastic card keys, Megan startled them all by slamming her hand down on the marble countertop, palm down.

“So that’s it then?” she demanded in a harsh voice that trembled slightly. “You just shuffle people around with no regard for anything but covering your own ass. I can see things haven’t changed at all with you. . . .Mother.”

Dana nearly gave herself whiplash, whipping her head from Megan to the woman behind the desk. This was Megan’s mother?! She looked nothing like the picture Megan had shown her.

Charlene neatly stacked a pile of card keys and regarded her daughter cooly.

“I was wondering when you were going to acknowledge me,” she said. “How have you been, dear?”

“Don’t you dare pretend to care about me now, you bitch!” Megan cried.

Denise didn’t understand what was going on, but she was determined to put a stop to it. She took hold of Megan’s arm and tugged.

“Let’s go upstairs, Megan. The Boys will be coming in soon,” she said.

Charlene smirked and said in a low voice, “So you’re with them, are you? Tell me, dear, which one of those fine young men have you snared and screwed?”

Megan let out a murderous cry and tried to leap across the desk, reaching for her mother’s throat. It took both Dana and Denise to pull her back.

“What’s going on out here?” a male voice demanded.

Everyone watched as a man about Megan’s age came to stand beside Charlene. Gina had backed up nearly to the wall, cowering beside the fax machine and watching in fascination at the scene before her.

“Nothing, Clayton,” Charlene purred to the younger man. “I was just having a conversation with some guests. You remember my daughter Megan, don’t you?” she asked, gesturing to Megan, who was doing her best not to commit homicide.

“You should remember me, Clayton,” she spat out. “You were my lab partner in tenth grade chemistry.”

Clayton squinted at her and then slowly nodded. “Yes, I do remember you,” he said.

“Megan, please speak nicely to your step-father,” Charlene scolded in a sugary tone.

“What?! You’re married?!”

“Quite happily. Clayton’s taken the hotel over from his father, and he’s done a tremendous job with it,” Charlene informed her. She proudly straightened her husband’s tie and smiled. “We would have invited you to the wedding, but seeing as how we didn’t have your address. . .”

“I wouldn’t have come anyway.”

“Ah, well then, we saved a stamp.”

Megan’s face was so red, Dana feared she would simply burst into flames right there on the spot.

“Come on, Meg, not here,” she whispered to her friend. “Let’s go upstairs and relax, okay?”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Denise said, grabbing the card keys. “Thank you very much.”

“Happy to be of service,” Charlene said, still smiling. “Please enjoy your stay here, and if you have any problems, just let us know. Megan, perhaps when you’ve calmed down a bit, we could talk and clear things up between us.”

Megan fought the urge to laugh hysterically.

“It’ll be a cold day in hell before anything is cleared up between us,” she said, turning to follow Denise.

But she stopped at the sound of AJ’s familiar rasp.

“Hey, babe!” he called out.

She turned around to see him, along with the rest of the guys, hurrying towards them.

AJ reached her side and hugged her to him. Noticing her flushed appearance, he asked her what was wrong.

“Nothing, let’s go, please.”

“Sure thing,” he said uncertainly.

He didn’t miss the icy exchange of glances between Megan and the woman at the desk, and immediately his radar went up. Kevin looked to Dana for an explanation and was rewarded with a shake of her head.

Denise led the way. “Everyone, upstairs, now,” she said firmly.