The yellow cab screeched to a halt at the front entrance of Imperial Village. Almost immediately, the doorman was opening the door nearest him and allowing a tall, slender but shapely, and dressed too warm for Texas young woman to step out of the cab. Natasha smiled as he took her hand and said, "Thank you."
He returned her smile and said, "Of course, ma'am."
On the other side of the cab, a much taller, but younger girl stepped out and handed the cab driver a bill to cover the ride and his tip. The doorman noticed that this one was also more casually dressed in a yellow, sleeveless, tee shirt and pale blue, running shorts and Reebok cross trainers. The doorman returned his glance to the young woman next to him. She was able to look him directly in the eye; so since she had on three-inch heels that matched her navy blue blazer and slacks, he decided that she must be about five-seven as opposed to his five-ten. Even with the heels, she still had to look up to her friend though. As Natasha removed her jacket and let her light brown hair fall onto the collar of her white, silk blouse, she looked at her friend and said, "You were right, Frankie. It's a lot hotter down here than it was in New York."
Francine brushed away the strands of her blonde hair that had fallen into her blue eyes and said, "Of course I was right. Now you just need to lighten up and relax. We're here to let loose and have some fun."
Nat smiled and said, "No. You're here to let loose. I'm here because your parents would not have let you come without me."
Francine giggled and said, "If only they knew how poor a job you did of chaperoning me in Amsterdam."
Nat rolled her gray eyes and said, "If only."
As Francine stepped to the rear of the car, the doorman couldn't help notice that neither her shorts nor Natasha's slacks were able to conceal the round shapeliness of their asses. Given a choice, he would have taken the older one. Her tits were much bigger, her hips were wider; and she'd probably hold up better to the pounding that he'd like to give her. Besides, it was always the aloof bitches like her that were the real hellcats in bed. Of course, were he truly given his choice, he would choose to become the meat for a sandwich that the two of them were the bread for.
The cabbie opened up the trunk so the doorman could help him remove their bags and the girls followed them inside the hotel. Once inside, they sat down the bags for a bellhop to be able to take and the cabbie left. Natasha had been instructed by both her father and her Uncle Howie to never tip any of the employees of one of Uncle Howie's hotels. Still, she dug into her purse and pulled out a couple of bills and handed them to the doorman. She couldn't stand the thought of being considered cheap. He thanked her and took the last opportunity to steal looks at their asses as they strolled to the reception desk. Goddamn, he thought to himself. I'd give a months pay to fuck either one of them.
As they neared the desk, they noticed a young, short, boyishly pretty, olive skinned girl placing a cigarette into her mouth and lighting it as she had an obviously heated debate with the clerk. "Ma'am," the clerk said. "I've told you there is no smoking in the lobby."
The girl lit the cigarette anyway and blew a stream of smoke in the clerk's direction. "I don't give a rat's ass what the fuck you told me," she said. "I'm either going to have a smoke right now, or I'm going to fucking kill you. Now do what I told you and call the fucking manager."
The clerk's face reddened as he fumed and said, "If I call anyone it will be security. I've already explained to you our policy. The manager will only tell you the same thing. Found items can only be returned to the registered guest of a room or suite. You were not the registered guest."
"I know that, you stupid, little, fucking twit; but I was a guest of the registered guest. Now, if you don't give me back my motherfucking diamond, I'm just going to have to beat the shit out of you and take it."
Before the clerk could respond, Natasha cleared her throat and said, "Maybe it would be better if you just called the manager as she asked."
Both the girl and the clerk turned their gaze to Natasha and Francine. The angry young girl's dark brown eyes immediately lit up and she ran to give them a hug. She jubilantly squeezed them to her and pulled both the taller girls down to give them kisses. Francine allowed the girl's lips to softly brush her own, but Natasha just managed to turn her head so that the girl's kiss landed on her cheek instead of her lips. Then the girl hugged Francine again and screeched, "Frankie! It's so fucking good to see you."
Before Francine could reply, the girl turned to Natasha and said, "You too, Nat."
Natasha smiled despite herself and said, "Okay, Laurie. What have you gotten yourself into?"
Laurie sighed and said, "You want the long story or the short story?"
Nat and Frankie exchanged glances and Nat said, "Since we're standing out in the open lobby, better make it the abbreviated version."
"Got yuh," Laurie said. "I was visiting a friend of mine at the hospital and I saw your dad there visiting with Cleo. I kind of had to leave where I was staying in a rush and didn't get to take a shower. He kindly offered to let me come over here and use his before he left because I hated the thought of flying back home all yucky and sticky. This humidity sucks.
"When my plane laid over in San Antonio, I noticed that I didn't have my navel ring anymore. It wasn't on the plane, so I changed directions and traced back to here." She paused to give the clerk an evil look and continued, "This asshole has it, but he won't give it to me."
Nat looked at the clerk and said, "Do you have it?"
Not liking the authoritative tone of Nat's voice, the clerk turned his nose up and said, "A diamond similar to the one she described losing was found in that suite by housekeeping, but as I've tried to explain to her, I can only turn it over to the registered guest."
"Well," Natasha said. "I can assure you that my father has not taken to wearing diamond navel rings."
"Still," the clerk began but stopped as soon as Natasha held up her hand.
"Just give your manager a call. Okay?" Natasha said to him. "It might save you a few headaches."
The clerk folded his arms across his chest and shook his head from side to side.
"Fucking faggot," Laurie muttered half under her breath but definitely loud enough for everyone, including the clerk, to hear.
"That won't help," Natasha said as she shot Laurie a dirty look. Then she turned back to the clerk and said, "Would you please just call the manager?"
"No!" the clerk said firmly.
Natasha shrugged and took her phone out of her purse. She punched one of the numbers on her speed dial and waited for an answer before saying, "Hi, mum."
Pause.
"Yeah. We're in Dallas."
Pause.
"Yes, mum. It's very hot."
Pause.
"Yeah. I need Uncle Howie's personal number."
Pause.
"No. I'm okay. I just want to call him. Maybe we can get together while I'm here."
Nat took a pen from her purse and jotted down a number on a loose piece of paper she found in the bottom. "Okay, Mum. You know I'll take good care of Frankie. Love you."
Laurie and Frankie both giggled at that. Natasha pressed the end call button and punched out the number Jenny had just given her. Once it was answered, Nat said, "Uncle Howie? This is Natasha."
Pause.
"I'm doing well."
Pause.
"Yes. They're doing well too. Dad's in Vancouver for business."