Chancey’s was bustling and busy as usual that evening after Ashley had gotten off work. When she walked in to meet Chris, she saw Joey’s wife Janelle sitting at the bar and talking with him. The two couples had gone out on a few dates together but Ashley hadn’t really seen much of Janelle since she’d had Aamya, their now two-month-old daughter.

Janelle had been a former model in Miami and was born and raised in Nassau, Bahamas. Her mother was French and her father was full-blooded Bahamian. When she got irritated or upset, she would rail at Joey in French and Joey would look helplessly at her until she realized she was speaking another language. It was a funny sight to see and one that Chris always told Ashley he hoped would happen more often.

“Ashley!” Janelle waved to her as Ashley walked over to them. “Haven’t seen you in weeks. How is life?” Janelle reached out to give Ashley a hug.

“Busy. Wedding plans, work, keeping up with Chris.” Ashley grinned and pulled away. “You look amazing for just having had a baby. How is Aamya?”

“She’s home with my mother. I wanted to come see my husband for a little bit. And I’m not nursing so bottoms up!” Janelle held up a bottle of Corona and sipped it.

“We saved you and Chris a spot at the bar.” Joey pointed out two seats next to Janelle. “Where is his lame ass, anyway?”

“He had a rough day. I thought he’d already be up here, though.” Ashley scanned the bar to see if she’d missed him but all she saw were several hotel guests and a few employees of the hotel.

Chancey’s was the watering hole of the employees where they’d all meet for Happy Hour. With their hotel discount and accessibility-not to mention that Joey made the best drinks on the island-it was the easiest choice for them to come and drink.

“Rough day, huh? What did Chasez do now?” Joey wiped out a beer mug and looked over at another bar tender. “Hey, Stuart, do me a favor? Can you man that side for a few? The wife’s here.”

Stuart, a college-aged coed, nodded his head and began to take the next order from the guest seated in front of him.

“He told Chris to come up with a new Room Service menu and so Chris did and Mr. Chasez didn’t like it. So he basically wasted a lot of time and then had to go to a meeting where Mr. Chasez shot down every single idea. Apparently Delaney was on Chris’ side and told him they’d meet again in a few weeks so he’s got hope that something might come out of the time he put into the menu.” Ashley rested her elbow on the bar and placed her cheek in the palm of her hand. “If Chris didn’t like his job so much, he would’ve quit years ago.”

“Chasez’s just mad cause Chris got you and he didn’t.” Joey shook his head and handed Ashley a menu.

Ashley winced at that memory. Five years ago when she’d come on as the Assistant Spa Manager, JC had just been promoted to General Manager. They’d had to go through the same training and there were several times that JC had come onto her, asked her out to dinner, or insisted on walking her to her car at night. Ashley, though flattered, had declined every advance and instead started talking to Chris, who would break for lunch at the same time as she did. As handsome as JC had been, he was too assertive and Chris had been the humor that she’d needed after coming into a job and position that was so much different than the spa she’d left in Atlanta.

There was already tension between Chris and JC from other issues in their teenage years together, but this had been the icing on the cake. JC used his newfound power to continually make Chris’ life miserable. It had worked except for the fact that Chris wasn’t backing down like JC had thought he would, or so it seemed to Ashley.

“That was five years ago.” Ashley rolled her eyes and looked down at the menu, even though she already knew she’d be ordering a Mojito as always. “If he’s still upset about that he really should go see a professional.”

“Seems to me Chasez is upset about a lot of shit. He’s a miserable son-of-a-bitch if you ask me,” said Joey as he pulled a tall glass from the shelf below him. “Mojito?”

“Yeah. I don’t even know why I look at the menu anymore.” Ashley pushed the menu away and rested her hands on top of each other. “Speaking of Mr. Chasez, he has a new fling.”

“The new lobby chick. I know. It’s so obvious they’re fucking.” Joey looked at Janelle. “He looks at her like a tiger ready to pounce. She’s like, 19 or 20, or not much older than that, and she is all about him. You can tell it every time she sees him.”

Ashley shook her head at Joey. “No. She wasn’t who I was talking about.”

“What? He’s got two?” Joey had started to make the Mojito and held a cube of ice in midair with a pair of plastic tongs.

“From what I heard this morning he was gonna get with the girl who works in The Cup. He asked her for a special delivery and it was laced with sexual innuendo.” Ashley looked from Joey to Janelle. “Aren’t you glad you don’t work here and have to see all this shit first hand? It’s rather disgusting.”

“Are you kidding me?” Janelle laughed. “I’m stuck at home with a two-month-old all day. I love hearing all about As the Chancellor Turns!”

Ashley nodded her head in agreement. “Yep, that’s about right,” she said and looked at Joey. “You know, the girl from the coffee shop and the girl in the lobby started about the same time, I think. I heard they were roommates because they couldn’t find housing so HR put them up in an apartment together.”

“Well that sucks if he’s fucking them both.” Joey spoke in a softer voice so as not to gain attention from the hotel guests who were at the bar.

At that moment, Chris walked in looking glum but brightening when he saw Ashley and Janelle at the bar with Joey.

“Hey!” Ashley smiled at him and hopped off her barstool. She met him with a hug and a lingering kiss before taking his hand and leading him to the bar.

“Beer?” Joey held up a bottle of Budweiser and Chris took it almost instantly. He wedged himself between Janelle and Ashley, leaning into his fiancé.

“I hate this day. This and lunch were about the best parts of it.” Chris mumbled into his beer bottle.

Ashley played with his hair, raking it between her fingers and then wrapped her arm across the front of his chest. “Well, it’s over now and you’re with us.” She reached around to peck his cheek, then whispered in his ear, “And tonight when we get home I’ll do whatever you want me to do.”

Chris brightened at the thought and raised his beer bottle to toast her Mojito. “Cheers, baby.”

Rain had been forecasted the next three days in Islamorada due to a tropical storm off the coast of Florida. This meant that all the regularly scheduled outdoor summer activities would either be moved inside or that the Concierge desk would be promoting the local movie theater, indoor racquetball at the Tennis Club, or the nearest indoor shopping mall.

Delaney noticed that the interior of the hotel was much darker when it rained due to the floor to ceiling windows that normally brought in sunlight. The lobby felt almost gloomy to her as she walked through it making her rounds for the day. She passed by Todd at the Concierge and waved to the others at the desk. As she was about to round the corner to go and check on lunch at Miso’s, she was stopped by John, the irritating Valet Manager.

“Hi Ms. Nixon.” His voice seemed to get squeakier each time he spoke to her. “Wanted to let you know that the lots aren’t as full today because everyone’s off property.”

Delaney looked at him and waited for him to continue. When he stood there and simply looked at her, she realized this was what he must do on a regular basis with JC. He was a kiss-ass and was only telling her this bit of mindless information so that she would give him an accolade or praise.

“John.” Delaney cleared her throat and tried not to be as patronizing as she wanted to be with him. “You don’t have to let me know every two minutes when the lot is or isn’t full. That’s a waste of your breath.”

John’s face fell. “Yes, Ms. Nixon. It’s just that Mr. Chasez likes it when I inform him of-“

“I’m not Mr. Chasez.” Delaney looked at him and pursed her lips. “Just make sure with the weather like it is today that nobody gets in an accident.”

“Yes. Yes, Ms. Nixon.” John nodded and scurried off in the other direction. She rolled her eyes and continued to walk down the corridor that led to Miso’s.

“That’s it, Morgan. Yeah, you like it hard, don’t you mama?” JC growled into Morgan’s ear as she rode him in his desk chair. He was pumping into her hard and fast and she wasn’t relenting.

“Shit, JC!” Morgan nearly screamed. “Fuck me harder!”

“That’s what I wanna hear, baby.” JC pulled her hair and watched her as she bounced on top of him, her breasts right at eye level. Burying his face between them, he bit at her skin and Morgan groaned in a mixture of pain and delight. He grabbed onto her rear and slapped her there, making Morgan scream once more. He watched as she looked down to watch his dick being swallowed by her center and then began to massage her clit.

“No, baby. Let me take care of that.” JC pulled her arm away and replaced her fingers with his. He rubbed her hard and fast, his fingers nearly drenched by how wet she was. “You feel so fucking good, Morgan. Keep riding me, baby.”

“I ordered a strawberry margarita! This is not a strawberry margarita!”

Joey looked up to see an older woman yelling at one of the servers. He looked at the situation in confusion, especially because it was Leighanne, one of the most professional waitresses he had hired at Chancey’s.

“Mrs. Corley, I’m really sorry.” Leighanne apologized and took the margarita away. “But we have a special strawberry kiwi margarita and then our regular strawberry margarita. I apologize for putting in the wrong order-“

“This is the second time this has happened at this damn hotel!” Mrs. Corley snapped at her. “Last night at your steak restaurant, my potato was ice cold.”

“Now, Gertie, it wasn’t ice cold. It was warm, but it wasn’t cold-“ The man sitting next to her began to speak but was immediately silenced by her.

“Marvin, shut up!” Mrs. Corley yelled. “You always take the help’s side.”

Mr. Corley looked up at Leighanne, quite embarrassed. “Please forgive my wife. She doesn’t mean-“

“I most certainly do mean!” Mrs. Corley snapped. “Who is the manager of this place?”

Leighanne was about to answer, but Joey had stepped from behind the bar to assess the situation more carefully and was right by her side.

“I manage the bar,” Joey answered and looked at Mrs. Corley. “What can I help you with?”

“Perhaps you should tell the people who run this hotel how terrible their service is at their restaurants. Not to mention we had to wait in the longest line I’ve ever waited in to check in!”

“I’m very sorry, ma’am. Why don’t we get you the right drink and it’ll be on us.” Joey was trying to be reasonable.

“No!” Mrs. Corley shook her head vehemently. “I want to speak to a manager! Now!”

Joey groaned inwardly and went back to the bar to dial JC’s office number.

The phone started to ring just as Morgan had reached her climax. She was shaking and convulsing on top of JC and he was too into it to break away from her. She was probably some of the best sex he’d had in a long time.

“Oh…shit..” Morgan fell against JC as she finished. “Shit, JC. That was so hot.”

The phone continued to ring and Morgan pulled away from him. “Shouldn’t you get that, boss?”

“You’re so sexy when you call me that.” JC ignored her question. “Get my dick hard again and then get on your hands and knees. You’re gonna be here for a while.”

Joey hung up the phone in frustration and looked over at the Corley’s. Mrs. Corley was yelling at her husband and the whole bar was looking at them. Thankfully, it was a smaller crowd but it was still bringing unwanted attention. Leighanne had gone to the back to collect herself upon Joey’s orders.

Joey sighed and picked up the phone once more, this time calling for Delaney.

Delaney had just come back to her office when the phone began to ring. After sampling a few pieces of sushi and a small cup of ginger flavored ice cream, she was craving a real meal and had decided to go down to the cafeteria. She hoped the phone call wouldn’t take too long.

“Delaney Nixon.” She answered on the third ring.

“Hey, Ms. Nixon, it’s Joey Fatone. I’ve got a situation with a guest down here in Chancey’s. Can you come check it out?”

“Sure, Joey. What seems to be the issue?” Delaney knew lunch was going to have to wait.

“Um, just come down here. We’ve got a disgruntled guest so to speak.”

Delaney hung up the phone and quickly walked out of her office, back down to the lobby, and down the corridor to Chancey’s. When she walked into the bar, Joey was standing at a table talking calmly with an older gentleman and who Delaney assumed to be his wife. The wife was scowling and shaking her head at everything Joey was saying to them.

“Hi, I’m Delaney Nixon. I’m the Assistant Manager. Is there something I can do?” Delaney was all business and wore a smile on her face. It was genuine and Joey recognized that. Genuine wasn’t something he was used to from JC, who looked down on everyone under him as though they were serfs in his kingdom.

“Ms. Nixon, I want to apologize,” said the older gentleman. “I’m Marvin Corley. My wife and I have been longtime guests of this hotel.“ He stopped speaking and leaned closer to Delaney. “And she’s got the onset stages of dementia. I wanted to bring her here one more time because I don’t know how she’ll be during the summer which is when we normally come. She got real upset with an order being messed up. Yelled at one of your kind waitresses. The thing is, she wanted a strawberry margarita. Well, she can’t have alcohol with the medication she’s on so I told her to make it a virgin. I guess Gertie can tell the difference because she got real upset and started yelling at her.”

Delaney looked at Joey and back at the couple. Her heart went out to them, particularly because her own grandmother had lost a battle with Alzheimer’s two summers ago. This couple looked as though they were from old money, typical for the older guests who came and vacationed at The Chancellor. It wasn’t as though they couldn’t afford the drink but Delaney knew it was the only way to smooth things over, especially because she’d felt bad for Mr. Corley.

“Comp the drink,” she said to Joey in a soft voice. Joey nodded. “Mr. Corley, we’d like to offer you a gift card to Chancey’s worth $25. And we’re very sorry this happened, Mrs. Corley.”

“Oh, honey, it’s okay. I’m sure we’ll find it.” Mrs. Corley gave a broad smile as though nothing had been wrong in the first place.

“Find what-“ Joey started to ask but Delaney shook her head and Joey closed his mouth.

“I’m sure you will.” Delaney looked pitifully at the Corley’s. “You can pick up your gift card whenever you’re ready to leave. Joey will have it all made up for you.”

“Thank you.” Mr. Corley took Delaney’s hand and squeezed it. “This means so much.” He looked at Joey. “Sir, I’m sorry we disturbed your bar.”

Joey shook his head and put his hand up. “No need for apologies. We understand.”

“Let me know if there’s anything else we can give you while you’re here.” Delaney shook hands with Mr. Corley and turned to follow Joey to the side of the cash register.

“What in the hell was that about?” Joey looked over at the Corley’s who were sitting down once more and then back at Delaney.

“She’s got the onsets of dementia. It’s kind of like the predecessor to Alzheimer’s. That’s why she probably had no idea about any of what she did.”

Joey ran a hand through his hair, a puzzled expression on his face. “Well, kudos to you for handling it like you did. I’ll get the gift card ready to go.”

“Sure. Anytime. Do you need anything else before I head to lunch?” Delaney asked and began to walk towards the entrance of the bar.

“No. Thanks, Ms. Nixon. I really appreciate the way you handled it.” Joey gave a grateful smile and began to work on the gift card.

“That’s my job, Joey.” Delaney left the bar and headed down to the cafeteria.

“I wanna see you again.” JC pressed his lips to Morgan’s and slid his tongue inside of her mouth. “You better have your cell phone on when you’re at work. I’ll be texting you a lot. Maybe off the clock, too.” He was holding her against the door to his office and waited before opening it.

“Don’t worry, JC. I’ll be waiting.” Morgan kissed him again and he let her go, watching her disappear down the stairs. He cracked his door and turned around to observe the mess they’d made. His desk was covered in her scent, a chair had been knocked over in the seating area, and the used condom hadn’t made it into the trashcan, but was resting next to it. JC grabbed for a few tissues and picked it up, tossing it into the bin, then began to straighten up his office. As he finished with his desk, he looked at the missed calls he’d received while Morgan had been there.

Three missed calls from Chancey’s.

He picked up the phone and called Joey’s office.

“Joey Fatone.”

“Joey, it’s Mr. Chasez. I saw I had a few missed calls?”

“Oh, yeah, yes sir, it was a disgruntled guest but Ms. Nixon got it all figured out.”

“She did, did she? What did she do?”

“She comp’d the drink and gave the couple a gift card to the bar.”

“For how much?”

“Twenty-five. They were really grateful.”

JC cringed. “Twenty-five dollars?! That’s ridiculous!”

“Ah, well, I don’t know what to tell you, Mr. Chasez. We couldn’t reach you and-“

“Fine. Next time you call until I answer. Got it?”

“Yes sir.”

JC slammed the phone down on the receiver and left the office in a huff. He stormed down the office steps and down the hall to Delaney’s office. It was empty and there was no sign of her. Checking his watch, he saw it was almost one. Maybe she was down in the cafeteria. If not, he’d sit and wait for her until she returned.

“Is this seat taken?” Delaney asked Ashley, who was sitting in a booth with Chris at the cafeteria.

“It’s all yours, Ms-I mean, Delaney.” Ashley smiled and moved the salt and pepper out of the way of Delaney’s tray.

“Looks healthy.” Chris noted the food on Delaney’s tray: A salmon salad, fruit plate, and mineral water.

“Better than a bacon grilled cheese with fries and Coke.” Ashley turned her nose up at Chris’ selection.

“Hey, I’m a growing boy!” Chris teased her and Ashley put her hand on his stomach, giving it a pat.

“You sure are, babe.” She winked at him and then leaned over to kiss his cheek. “Hey, Joey told us about the Corley’s. You did a great job handling her. They’re such a sweet couple. I feel bad for them with all that’s happened with her getting sick. I remember she used to come to the spa for pedicures a few years ago.”

“Well, my grandmother died of Alzheimer’s so my heart went out to them.” Delaney began to cut into her salmon. “I don’t know if they’ll be back after this season. Mr. Corley made it sound like they were taking the trip earlier because of her condition.”

“Don’t look now but Chasez’s in the cafeteria.” Chris muttered, causing an automatic change of subject. “Damn he looks pissed, too.”

Delaney turned to see JC scanning the cafeteria, his lips pursed, an angered expression on his face. When he spotted her, he immediately began to make his way to their booth.

“Shit. I probably fucked up a food order.” Chris rubbed his eyes with his hands and Ashley put a supportive hand on his back.

“I don’t think he’s coming to talk to you.” Ashley whispered and just as she looked up, JC was standing next to them, glaring down at Delaney.

“Ms. Nixon, I’d like to speak to you in private. Now.” He didn’t acknowledge Chris or Ashley, only stood looking at Delaney like a cobra ready to strike.

Delaney wasn’t fazed by him and said, “I’m eating. I can meet with you when I’m-“

“I don’t care what you’re doing. Come outside with me, please.” JC moved from the booth gesturing her with his arm.

Excusing herself, Delaney stood and followed JC outside of the employee cafeteria. She watched him look to both ends of the hallway before he started in on her.

“What the fuck are you thinking giving guests a twenty-five dollar gift card? Are you crazy? A situation like that is worth ten, maybe fifteen. But twenty-five?!” JC’s voice cracked as he said the last sentence.

“Do you even know what happened?” She asked him and folded her arms across her chest.

“Disgruntled guest. Happens all the fucking time. You tell them to get over it and give them ten dollars to the damn gift shop!” JC raised his voice.

“The couple has been longtime guests at the hotel, JC. The Corley’s. Ring a bell? She has dementia and it’s probably his last time bringing her here!” Delaney didn’t care that she was on the verge of yelling but JC did because he grabbed her arm and pulled her around the corner.

“I don’t care. That’s a lot of money! Once they tell all of their old friends, do you know how many of them will try to pull the same bullshit?!”

“You have no idea if that will even happen, JC! You can’t base what I did on something that may or may not happen in the future. And besides, where was your ass when Joey tried to get a hold of you? Perhaps the whole thing could have been avoided had you been around? Or should I say not fucking half the employees at the hotel!” Delaney glowered at him waiting for his response.

JC said nothing, only backed away from her, and before he turned, Delaney could have sworn she saw a look of panic across his face.

Good, Delaney thought. Maybe that will teach him to keep his dick in his pants and his mind on his work.