Xander Coltman's Story

Xander followed in behind the guy with the mohawk. He thought the dude was a poser, but he wouldn't say that out loud though. Confrantation was not his thing. He just doesn't do it. He hated drama in general. He ran his hands in his hair and and adjusted his shoulder strap. His duffel bag was getting heavy. He dropped his bag and rotated his shoulder. He sighed and waited for his turn at the counter.

He took a quick assessment of the people who have entered the lobby so far. First was Miles, seemed nice. That's how you look at all people when you first see them. He never trusted his first impressions of people. Then was Carla, again seems nice but, also a bit slow witted. Last was the guy with the Mohawk, hard to read. Xander didn't let his eyes wander on people for too long. He didn't want to seem like was staring. He wanted to seem he was taking in the surroundings. He needed a cigarette. He hasn't had one since he got on the shuttle.

He was so distracted by his surroundings he didn't realise he was next in line. He stepped up and smiled at the girl, "Name and ID right?" He reached in his pocket and pulled out his State ID and said, "Alexander Coltman, C-o-l-t-m-a-n." He wanted to say his nickname but, it's not important.

Athylia awoke to the sound of the shuttle stopping, she looked around at her surroundings and saw mostly trees and snow. She didn't mind getting away from the city for a while. Hopefully it would help her clear her mind. She waited for some others to get off the bus first, then she slowly stood up and made her way off the bus. When she walked in it seemed that one man was already making his way to his room, but she over herd the second man say his name "Tim" she said softly to her self. Then the third man walked up and said his name also. "Alexander" Athylia smiled that was a nice name, it was pretty almost like a girls name.

She walked up to the counter and smiled at the girl named Carla, she slid her ID to her and looked at the boy that was next to her. She smiled gently and stuck out her hand "Hi, I'm Athylia nice to meet you." She didn't want to come of to creepy but she wanted to make friends on the trip and not be a anti social monster.

She looked at the boys appearance, he seemed sort of like a trouble maker. He seemed not to nig to be in sports but he seemed tough enough to beat someone up. Athylia didn't want to get on his bad side either way so it seemed like a good idea to become friends with him.

Glad to be rid of the unhappy Mr. Greni, Carla's smile widened as a seemingly laid back man approached the desk. "Welcome, Mr. Coltman, to the Shelter Lodge." She handed him the document that he needed to sign, "Please sign this to show that you understand the terms and conditions of your stay here at Shelter Lodge." She grabbed a room key out of the drawer, and handed it to him, " Your room number is 102. There will be a tour of the facility in an hour, we will meet here in the lobby before beginning the tour. In the meantime, please make yourself at home, and if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to come back here, to the front desk, and I will assist you." As she spoke, her throat began to feel dry, causing the last part of the speech to sound raspy. Oh, Jeez, I forgot to bring water. I sure do hope I can make it through welcoming the rest of the guests..

The next guest approached her. She appeared to have just woken up from a nap. I sure do hope she takes time to improve her appearance before the tour. A vacation is no excuse for letting yourself look so sloppy!, Carla thought disdainfully. The woman introduced herself as "Athylia Leferber", Carla welcomed her to the lodge, and went through the same routine as before. Taking the signed document from Athylia, Carla went on with the welcoming process, " Thank you, Ms. Leferber, your room number is 111. Please feel free to visit your room and settle down. I will be hosting a tour in an hour's time that will begin here in the lobby. If you have any questions or concerns please come to the front desk, and I will be happy to assist you."

Carla took a deep breathe. Her voice had gotten a bit more raspier, and she was growing bored with the welcoming speech. Maybe I should try to spice things up a bit with the next one, she thought to herself, or else this is going to be a long night.

Xander smiled as he signed his life away and took his his room key and turned to the girl who appeared next to him. "Well, I guess I don't need an introduction. I believe you caught my name. If you didn't I'll be more than happy to repeat it. Alexander Coltman is my name, but I would prefer you call me Xander, and don't please don't call me Alex. My mother calls me Alex." He picked up his bag and got out of the way. He didn't want to block other guests getting to the desk.

He did a quick once over on Athylia and tried to assess her. He couldn't tell much, but he felt that she didn't mean him immediate harm. He figured might as well be friendly. It's so much work being a dick. He just couldn't handle it for that few months. He figured out who his real friends were though. He started to think about his friends, and after a short while he concluded that they were all stupid. He snapped back to reality. He hoped that nobody noticed his little adventure in his own brain. They happened often, but they usually didn't last long.

Xander:

Xander left for his room while the other guest were arriving. He hated crowds that grew too quickly. This was one of those instants. When he got there he put his key in the door and walked in. He was met by a nice looking room with a queen sized bed. He tossed his stuff on the floor and laid down on the bed, "Ah, It feels good to be on a real matteress instead of my air one." His eyes started to shut on him. A voice in his head told him to wake up, there was people to see and meet. There's a whole room filled decent looking chicks. Have a weekend fling, and never call her again. Xander mulled it over and decided the voice was right. The voice had been there since he was young. It was like his own little pair of an angel and a devil but, had more power over him. He sat up and grabbed his bag. He needed to unpack. He opened it and saw he didn't pack much.

Xander went through the motions of putting stuff away and when he got to the last few items in his bag. He left his carton of smokes on his dresser. It was already opened and missing a few packs. He grabbed a pen from the bedside table and wrote how many packs were left. That way if they get stolen he would know about it. His pocket knife went into his pocket and he tossed his bag with the rest of his stuff under his bed. He pulled out his pack of cigarettes and checked the contents. He had 13 full cigarettes and a half of another one. He put a full one behind ear and proceeded back to the lobby. Now the party had begun the gang was all hear. Xander didn't notice a chair in the lobby. As he walked by his right foot got caught on one of the legs and down he went. The next thing he knew he was on his stomach groaning. He hoped that nobody saw, it was a strech. He looked to the right and saw two human legs attached to the chair. Great, somebody did notice. and it happened right infront of them. Let's hope it's not a cute girl.

Johnny:

Johnny walked in the lobby, he saw all the people that were here. A few cute girls but, nothing else. A punk just tripped and fell next to a tom boy, nothing special. He wanted to pick on the punk but, he moved past that stage of his life. He was now a pencil pusher, not a NFL starter. He walked by ignoring the groaning man. He waited in line for his turn at the front desk. When he got there he knew the routine, "Johnathan Richmond." He grabbed his wallet and flashed his ID. He had gone on business trips before. His company was one of the more successful ones in New York, and he sometimes went across the nation to meet with his clients. He saw in the mirror that his tie wasn't straight. He fixed it with ease. He had been wearing ties ever since he graduated college.

Carla heard a loud thump, she snapped her gaze towards the source of the sound. Oh how delicious, that Xander boy has tripped and fallen right in front of of Ms. Collins. That'll teach him to watch where he's going. She chuckled to herself, and returned her attention to the guest that had just approached her desk. He was tall, and a bit muscular. "Welcome to Shelter Lodge, Mr. Richmond.", Carla replied, going through the introduction process with him. "Thank you, Mr. Richmond. Your room number is 101, please make yourself at home. Also, I will be hosting a tour in thirty minutes time of the facility. If you care to join us, it will begin here in the lobby." As Johnny walked away, Carla thought to herself, "Man is he cute. He must work hard to keep up that body."

She tore her gaze away from Johnny, to focus on the stuck up girl that had just approached the desk. "Famous? you wish, honey.", Carla thought, fighting the urge to roll her eyes. "Welcome, Ms. Otto!", Carla went through the introduction process with her. "Thank you, Ms. Otto. Your room number is 106. Feel free to visit your room, and get settled. I hope you will join us for the tour in thirty minutes time that will begin here in the lobby."

✧Winny✧

"Oh my god you fell," she looked down at the guy who she had just tripped. She was shocked. She hadn't meant to be in the way, "I'm sorry."

She stood up and put her hand out to help him up.


✧Miles✧

Miles almost grabbed her luggage instantaneously but then realized that he needed to play it cool,

"Yeah, I guess I have developed some muscles over the years. . .you know with, like, football and baseball. I can bench 265," he winked and held her luggage firmly.

Xander:

"It wasn't your fault. I tripped over the chairs' leg. I really got to start watching where I'm going." Xander said taking her hand. When he got up he started to dust himself off. A fine layer dirt and dust fell off of him. It was kind of entertaining. "Anyway, I'm Xander sorry to... uh, well drop in would be the appropriate thing to say right now." His hand went to his right ear and he didn't feel the paper tube behind it. He looked down and saw that it broke in two. He squated down and said, "Man, Cigarette abuse. I should be arrested." He picked up the two half and pulled out his pack and opened it. It could be salvaged, a bit of toilet paper and some saliva and it will be right as rain. He pulled out another one and stuck it behind his ear. He always did that for the cigarettes he was going to smoke. It was a weird habit, but it was his.

Johnny:

Johnny signed the paper and was about to leave when Julia walked up to the counter. He noted she was good looking, but overall not his type. She was to stuck up for him. He used to be like that; arrougant, had that drive to be famous, and thought you are better than everyone else. After he graduated, Johnny realized that's a terrible person to be and nobody wanted to be his friend. It was just honest a terrible way to live his life. So he started being nice to people and just be himself. "Thank you," Johnny said as he took his key and made his way to his room.

Xander:

Xander just shrugged, people who didn't smoked always asked him the same question, 'Why do you smoke, it kills you.' He never understood why he smoked either. At first he smoked because it was illegal, then the reason changed. He smoked because of the stress of his life. "Yeah, that's what it says on the box. I guess the phrase, "Old enough to know better, too young to care." He said. His fingers started drumming against his side. It was just something he did when he really needed a cigarette. "So, this is quite the place. I couldn't afford this place if they didn't send that invitation. I don't make nearly enough to stay here. It was kind of weird getting that letter. I don't remember entering any type contest. Half of them are scams anyway. I'm expecting them to sit us through a time share presentation." Xander joked. He was a comedian when he wasn't nervous, when he is nervous the jokes get worse.

Johnny:

Johnny made it to his room. It wasn't new agey or anything like that. It was pretty old fashioned. He sat down on the bed and opened his bag and started to put his clothes away. To him there was nothing of interest. He entered the bathroom and started splashing water on his face. He pulled out his phone and checked to see if he had signal. "You have got to be kidding me. Nothing, great now I'm going to have to bust my ass when I get back to civilization." He put his phone in his suitcase. Johnny headed out of his room. He could see that the 'actor' was now sitting in a chair. The boy who fell was finally on his feet and talking to a girl with short hair, and a group of three girl talking among each other. He couldn't believe he was going to do this. He hated people like her. If he could start respecting people, then anyone could. He walked up to Julia and said, "My first impression of you was bitch. The clothes, the 'screw-people-I'm-going-to-be-Famous,' attitude, and the way you carried yourself. It just screamed bitch. Sorry if your offended but, I thought I should let you know."

The others in the lobby watched Laurie and Miles disappear upstairs.

"I guess they'll be missing the tour..." someone muttered.

Carla did a quick once-over of all the rooms. "Richmond, 101. Coltman, 02. Gap, 03. Collins, 04, Greni, 05, Otto, 06, Shillia, 07, Maxxwel, 08 and 10, Lefeber, 111." There was one missing. Barbara Phillips, room 109. Carla scanned the room. She could have sworn she'd seen a blonde-haired woman around earlier. But this was all the guests, minus the two that were already going on upstairs.

"All right, everyone, since we're all here we might as well get the tour started a little early. If you'd all gather around."

Snoring with his arms spread over the table in the staff room, John had fallen asleep after just a couple sips of his coffee. Suddenly he jumped awake, knocking his chair back slightly, and almost toppled onto the floor. His heart was pounding, and he was covered in sweat. Man that was some dream., he thought as he stretched and sat back in his chair, allowing the details of the dream to slowly dissipate until he could only vaguely recall that it involved a murder of some sort. Reaching for his coffee, he cursed noticing that he had managed to spill it during his nap. He cursed again when he noticed that his shirt had soaked up a good amount of the coffee, leaving a rather large brown stain on the left sleeve of his shirt. He go up to grab some paper towel, when his eyes fell on the clock that hung on the wall. His heart almost stopped, Oh shoot the tour!. Carla had made quite certain that he knew to attend the tour of the facilities. Her desire was to introduce all the guests to the employees to make them feel more at home, and willing to provide feedback on their stay. Forgetting the spill, and the stain, he took off down the hall towards the lobby. I hope she hasn't started yet, she'll never let me hear the end of it if I am late!

He arrived through the door located behind the front desk just as Carla was saying," All right, everyone, since we're all here we might as well get the tour started a little early. If you'd all gather around."

"Phew!", he panted as wiped the sweat from his forehead, and tried to calm his breathing down to normal.

Carla turned her husband, her smile quickly turning to a look of annoyance, and whispered severely," You dolt! Causing all this commotion, you're lucky the guests are here or I'd have your arse!" She then turned back to the guests displaying her phony smile, "I would first like to introduce you to the staff of this Shelter Lodge. Firstly, there is me. I am Carla, and I run the front end of the Shelter Lodge. Next, there is John, my husband, who is the mechanic responsible for fixing anything that breaks.", at the mention of his name, John, attempted to smile at the crowd of guests, but gave up and just lifted his hand and gave a small wave, "Feel free to take up any questions or concerns with either of us. Now let us begin the tour!"

Carla walked out from behind the front desk, and stood in front of the large fireplace. John trailed behind her, and stood a few feet to the left of her. Carla spread her arms out wide, proudly announcing, "Now this, as you all may know, is the lobby. From here you can easily make it to every other part of this resort. This is a place where you can rest, hang out, and call upon me to resolve any issues you may have. Any questions?"

Xander:

"Well, I can't ski either. So that makes the two of us." Xander said smiling. He was about to break away from her and smoke his cigarette but, Carla started the tour early. "Great, when I want a smoke, I get stopped. When I don't want one, I have all the freaking time in the world. As she introduced her husband, he was thinking about where were the maids, the cooks, and the Janitors? Xander raised his hand and asked, "Hey, I was wondering... Where is the rest of the staff. I thought a luxury resort would have a few more people working here than just you two." He figured he would be the one to address the elephant in the room.

Carla froze for a moment when Xander asked where the rest of the staff was. "Well..um..", she stammered as she tried to think of a good excuse. "You see, this is the trial weekend, if all goes according to plan, then we will be hiring more employees to care for our future guests." She started to sweat a little, hoping that this would serve as a good enough excuse. To prevent any other awkward questions Carla decided to continue on with the tour, "Now if you will follow me down this hallway,", she indicated the hallway with her left hand," we will be moving on to the dining area of the facility."

She led the guests down the hall, and into the Dining room. It consisted of one long, wooden table down the middle of the room that was lined with a large number of chairs. She led them around the perimeter of the room, stopping in front of the kitchen doors. "This!", she announced spreading her arms wide again,"is the dining facility. Three meals will be served here everyday at a set time. I will be providing a pamphlet with the meal times, and course descriptions at the end of the tour." As she spoke, Carla cursed the employees that had failed to arrive, I hope they rot in Hell, she thought spitefully. She did not allow her anger to show through to the guests, maintaining an overly cheerful facade she herder the guests into the kitchen. "This is our state of the art kitchen. All of our appliances are brand new, and very high end. Nothing but the best for our guests!" Carla was quite proud of the kitchen so she gave the guests a moment to gaze in awe at all the beautiful stainless steel appliances. "So what do you think so far?", she asked eager to hear their compliments.

John followed Carla silently. I don't know why she's making everyone go on this silly tour. Just give them a map of the place, I mean it is not like they have never been to a hotel before! Not only was he annoyed at Carla, the reminder of the lack of employees caused him to feel a deep anger towards them. They better not show their faces now, or I'll pound them to a pulp! The nerve of those people, leaving Carla and I to look after all of these people. He shook his head to snap out of his anger as his wife was leading everyone into the kitchen. The last think he needed right now was for Carla to catch him daydreaming in the middle of the tour she had be so looking forward to hosting.

Carla waited in vain for a few moments before clearing her throat, and leading the guests over to the walk in Fridge. She opened the large silver door, and pushed the rubber flaps aside to give them a glimpse at the food. "Our fridge is fully stocked with only the best of foods. All of it is organic, and hormone free." She boasted, closing the door, and leading the guests of the kitchen through a side door. She took them down the hall, and into the first room on the right. "This is the game room. Just like the kitchen, everything in here is brand new and very high end. For you to enjoy at your leisure are foosball table, air hockey, some arcade game, pool tables, and a self-serve bar." She pointed to each of the items as she mentioned them. Carla them moved over to the door that led to the staff room. She opened it, leading the way inside. "Now this is the Staff room. If you can't seem to find either me or John, you can always check in here, or if it is late at night you can always find us in our room, 301."

Carla gave the group a second to take everything in before leading them back to the lobby."Before I end the tour, I would like to point out how to get to our skiing slopes. Unfortunately, I am unable to show you at this time due to the bad weather." She explained apologetically as she pointed to the heavy snowfall that was taking place just outside the window. "To get there you simply need to follow the path labeled 'Ski Slopes' that starts just as you walk outside. There is also a small rental shop up on the hill where you can rent out skiis, boots, and jackets. Due to the shortage of staff, you simply need to come to me if you desire to rent something, and I will log into the database via the front desk computer." Carla paused to take a deep breathe before continuing, "Thank you for attending the tour of the Shelter Lodge, remember that if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to approach either myself, or John and we will be happy to assist you."

Just as Carla made it back behind her desk, she realized that she had forgotten something. "Oh Wait!", she shouted, "I forgot to hand out the dining pamphlets!" She grabbed the pile of light pink pamphlets, and began handing them out to the guests. "The meal times are clearly marked, but I would just like to mention that dinner will be taking place in three hours. We will be serving oven roasted chicken with asparagus and mashed potatoes."

Once everything was over, Carla made her way back to the front desk, and motioned for John to follow her. "I need you here so I can get that meal started. We can't have the guests starving all because those pests didn't bother showing up!, Carla hissed this at John, and didn't give him a chance to respond before stalking off to the kitchen. It's going to be a long weekend, John sighed, while leaning on the counter hoping that the guests would entertain themselves so he could relax.

Xander:

"A game room with a self serve bar... I must be in heaven." Xander said to himself. He didn't care if people heard him. He talked to himself often. It kept him company when nobody wanted to hang out. He plucked the cigarette out of his ear and put it back in the pack. He didn't need his cigarettes if there was alcohol. His favorite drink is the Screwdriver. It was pretty basic on the cocktail list but he liked the taste of it. He headed for the game room with one thought on his mind, getting a buzz on. When he walked in the game room he took the long way to the bar, it wasn't like the drinks were going anywhere. He wanted to see what games they had in here. As Xander passed the pool table a thought crossed his mind, and he smiled at it.

Johnny:

"I was kind of hoping to go skiing. Hopefully this storm passes." Johnny said quietly. He wasn't surprised on how Julia first reacted. The thing that he was surprised about was when she said she liked him. That caught him off guard, he couldn't begin to fathom why she said that. He shrugged it off and decided that a drink was a decent thing. He hadn't had one since he left.

Nara
Nara wondered away from the group, thinking of where she wanted to go. She paused, seeing some guy put a cigarette away and go to the game room. Deciding the game room would be a good way to waste time, Nara went there. The guy she saw went straight to the bar, which made Nara roll her eyes a bit.

Looking around, she found a few arcade games, most of which she hadn't heard of before. There was, however, the classic pac-man machine. Or, at least a rip off of one. The title was different, and had different characters, but the idea was the same. Smiling a bit to herself, Nara went over to go play it. After about five minutes of playing, she got a bit bored. She loved games, but there was only so many times you could play one game. Sighing, Nara turned and looked around for something else to do.

Tim
Tim decided the best place for him to be right now was not among people, since the few people he had met already didn't like him it seemed. After a brief pause to look around, Tim headed back to his room. Once inside, he threw the dinner pamphlet onto his open bag, and laid down on the bed. It was comfy, he had to admit. But the place was a little too orderly for his tastes. It was the reason he didn't like hotels, they always made you feel like you had to keep it really clean.

Taking out his iPod from his pocket, he put the earphones in and closed his eyes, intent on taking a nap. Maybe some sleep would get his attitude into a better place so he could at least attempt to socialize.