Page 47 of Sweeter than Honey

“Bye, Mrs. Harrison!” Arun yells.

“Harrigan,” I whisper out of the corner of my mouth. When she’s out of earshot, I give Arun an appreciative smile. “Thanks, you really saved me there.”

“Thanks for what?” he asks.

“Nothing,” I say. “Um, but you should probably button up your shirt, and find some shoes.”

“Why?”

“Hotel policy.”

“Does that mean I have to wear shoes?” Lilith asks, looking up from her paperback.

“Yes, you all have to wear shoes.” I frown. “Didn’t you read the employee manual I sent you? I includes our dress code.”

“Lexi said those weresuggestions.” Lilith wrinkles her nose. “I thought working at a hotel would be more fun. Do you always have to be so nice to people? I mean, they seem terrible, and they don’t treat you very well.”

“Just because they’re terrible, doesn’t mean you still shouldn’t treat them well,” I say with a shrug. “I mean, it’s customer service.”

“Still,” Lilith grimaces. “If you want me to hex her…”

“That won’t be necessary, Lilith,” I say quickly.

“Oh, Lily,” Arun says, buttoning up his shirt. “I have some suggestions for the hotel I wanted to tell you about!”

“Um, all right,” I say, tentatively.

“Envision this.” He gestures grandly out at the lobby. “Fountains. We have one outside the hotel, but what aboutinsidethehotel?”

“Well, that seems a little expensive…”

“Ok, ok, you could start with like, a really small fountain,” he says. “And then gradually work up to a big one. Maybe even a waterfall!”

I decide to humour him. “I’ll pass it along, Arun.”

He gives me a big smile.

I see Hallie coming out of the elevators at the end of the lobby. It must be late, if she’s already up. I pull my phone out of my pocket to check the time, but it’s dead.

She walks over to the three of us, giving Lilith a kiss on the cheek over the concierge desk. “Hi guys!”

“Hey, smart vampire,” Arun says.

“Hallie, how long have you been up?” I ask her.

“An hour or two,” she says. “Sorry, was I supposed to come here first? I thought my shift didn’t start until now.”

“It didn’t, but I should get back to my desk,” I say. “It’s been such a hectic shift, I’ve spent most of it away from the office.”

“We can take care of things down here,” Hallie says. Then she spots the book in Lilith’s hands. “What are youreading?”

I chuckle, and wave goodbye to the three of them as I head back to the emergency staircase. Renata was concerned about the Elmwood Inclusive Magic Academy summer internship program, and there have been some speed bumps, but all of the students have good hearts. And with Hallie there to watch over them, I feel better about going back to the office floor.

I hurry up the stairs. Usually I have an alarm on my phone that notifies me when the sun has set, but I must have missed it because of all of Dylan’s calls. I get to the office floor and plug my phone into the charger at my desk. I open my email, and see a message that Renata canceled her donor for this evening. That’s odd. For a moment, I wonder if…

No, what a silly thought. For a second, I almost thought that maybe she canceled the donor because she liked my blood so much. But that would be ridiculous. All blood must be the same, to her. I’m sure mine wasn’t special in any way.

But there’s a little spark of delight in my chest knowing that she canceled her donor. I have to admit, I felt a little jealous when I scheduled the appointment in the first place.