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It was a quarter past midnight. Rain was pounding on the windows a thousand times a minute. The lobby of the hotel occasionally lit up from the lightning. The news said that this was one of the worst storms of the year. None of the resident team members could sleep, the thunder being too loud to allow them to settle for the night.
Lida and Naveen sat in their usual chairs in the lounge area while Urbain mindlessly wiped down the front countertop.
BOOM
Another clap of thunder rang loud enough to make them all jump. Naveen adjusted himself in his seat and let out a sigh.
“Did they say when the storm was going to pass?” he asked the others.
“Nope. But you know Lumiose, rain never lasts long.” Urbain answered cheerfully.
“Let’s hope this storm doesn’t last, too.” Lida added, giving a half smile to cheer her friends up. They both nodded and returned doing what they were doing before. Naveen was watching a Canari stream, the “Storm Special” she had called it. Urbain started to trifle through some paperwork behind the counter.
The room sat quietly until they heard what they thought to be footsteps outside the door. They all glanced up at each other, then the door.
Click. The front door began to open. Urbain stood up straight to welcome whoever was about to walk in. They could feel the wind forcing its way into the lobby through the opening. One foot stepped across, then another. A man stood in the entryway, drenched head to foot. The sound of rain pounded loudly behind him before he shut the door.
The man had long blonde hair that was tied back in a low ponytail. There were a couple soaked locks that hung freely over his left eye and were clinging to his face. Despite everything he wore being clung tightly to his figure, he seemed rather put together. As if he hadn’t just traveled however far during a bad storm. He appeared to be in his mid to late twenties. The underside of his grey eyes were slightly dark like he hadn’t slept well in a long, long time. He was wearing light wash jeans with a dark blue long sleeve shirt. Both clinging to his body from the rain. He had brown leather boots that went up to his calves, his jeans tucked in them. With him was a large yellow duffle bag.
“This is quite the storm, isn’t it?” The man said, a little too cheerfully. He took a quick survey of his surroundings before walking to the front desk.
“I do hope you have an opening.” He spoke to Urbain. Who just nodded awkwardly in response. Guests were few and far between, but a guest arriving this late never happened.
“Sign in here, sir.” Urbain handed the man a pen and gestured to the open book in front of him. The blonde man rested his bag on the ground and reached for the pen. He did as he was told before exchanging Urbain's pen for a key, room 304.
Even though it had been over a year they still left room 202 empty and untouched. Putting anyone in that room, even just for a night, felt like a betrayal of their lost friend. With the exception of themselves and Corbeau. On the nights when they missed her a little extra, one of them would stay the night in her room. They couldn’t remember who had done it first but they all silently agreed that it helped them feel closer to her. Corbeau didn’t say anything on the nights he would visit, but he didn’t have to. They all knew the reason for him being at the hotel. So one of them would hand him the room key and he would put it back when he left in the morning.
“The weather out there is nasty, so don’t you kids go out there and catch yourself a cold!” he said, overly cheerful. One hand rested on his hip while the other was waving up and down whilst pointing at Urbain. It was a comical gesture, like he was lecturing him. Urbain gave him a forced smile before bidding their guest goodnight.
Once they heard the elevator start to move after the doors closed they all let out an exaggerated breath.
“He was weird.” Naveen stated as a matter of fact.
“NAVEEN!” Lida chastised him. Naveen shrugged, he knew he was right.
BOOM
They all jumped again at the thunder and sighed in unison. It was going to be a long night.
………………………………………….
Despite the horrid weather of the night before, it was a beautiful morning. Sunlight was beaming through the windows in the lobby. The pidgey were chirping in the trees of the courtyard and the greenery was glowing from the rain and sunshine.
Urbain had just finished cleaning up after breakfast. He was dragging this morning from being up late and not getting any quality sleep when they did all go to bed. He could feel the bags forming under his eyes. Despite how he felt there was work to be done.
He dried his hands on a kitchen towel before returning back to the space behind the desk. Just as he stepped back into the lobby he was stopped short. The blonde man from the previous night was behind the counter, staring at something on the wall. Whatever he was looking at was keeping his attention. His hand was absently rubbing his jaw, his eyes drawn together. For a brief moment he almost looked sad. Urbain cleared his throat to announce his presence before taking a few steps into the room.
This startled his oddly focused guest, who gave him a sheepish smile, embarrassed to be caught somewhere he shouldn’t be. As Urbain got closer he could see what the man was looking at. His stomach twisted with a mix of feelings. It was a picture he had hung up a few years back, his favorite picture. It was taken right in front of this hotel on a beautiful sunny morning, much like today. Him and his friends were standing in front of the building. Him and Naveen on the left, Lida on the right, and standing next to her was you. Smiling so wide it made your eyes squint just slightly. What he would give to be able to see you smile like that just one more time.
The sound of the door hinges creaking and the flip top counter smacking back down into place brought Urbain back to reality. The man had returned back to the appropriate side of the counter. He was wearing a similar outfit as the night prior. His golden hair was now put up in a loose bun with the same piece of hair left over his eye.
“My apologies, I thought I saw someone I recognized.” He said as he placed his room key on the counter.
“Do you know her?” Urbain asked him, gesturing towards the photo on the wall. Swallowing back the pain in his voice.
“No….no. I was mistaken.” His voice was lower now and he kept his eyes fixed on the counter.
They didn’t speak while he paid for his room and finished checking out.
“Do you need anything else? There’s something I have to finish in the other room.” Urbain asked, voice low now too.
“Not a thing.” He gave him an overly friendly smile. Urbain then stepped into the hallway behind the counter.
The man reached down to pick up his bag and took a step towards the door. He paused, turning slightly to take one last glance at the picture again. A slight frown on his face.
“Was this your home, lost one?” He muttered to himself as he walked to the door, taking his leave.
In the dark hallway behind the counter Urbain stood, his back leaning against it. He stared down at the floor, fighting the tears that were threatening their way out. It had been a while since he was reminded of the pain that once felt all too consuming. He slowly slid down the wall, now sitting on his heels. He wrapped his arms around himself and buried his face in his legs.
If he was going to break down he didn’t want anyone to see it.