Season 1, Episode 5: Finnick Belvedere
1591 Words
SATURDAY
“Mr. Belvedere,” Mr. Ho said, shaking his hand with a slight bow. “It is a pleasure to meet you. Allow me to introduce Miss Natalie Torres. She is one of our best casino hostesses, so please feel free to reach out to her should you need anything to make your stay more comfortable.”
“It’s a pleasure, Miss Torres,” Mr. Belvedere said, extending his hand toward Natalie.
She thought she might get sick right there on his expensive shoes. With a deep breath through her nose, she took his hand, shaking it gently.
The thought of what that hand did to her body last night made her blush.
Stop it, Natalie! she scolded herself. That’s over. He’s acting like you’ve never met, so just play along!
“Mr. Belvedere, I apologize that we were not expecting your arrival until tomorrow,” said the general manager, Mr. Chou.
“I was trying to sneak in a day early,” replied Finnick Belvedere, releasing Natalie’s hand. His brown eyes seemed to glint mischievously beneath the modern light fixtures above, lingering on her for a moment longer than necessary. “But it seems as though you’ve foiled my plans for my secret hotel inspection.”
The three men laughed awkwardly as Natalie looked on. The tension between them was so palpable it was almost painful.
“Perhaps our staff can give you a tour of the hotel,” Natalie suggested, trying to break the uncomfortable atmosphere. “While you’re busy with that, I can update your reservation and make sure your suite is ready for tonight.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Mr. Belvedere replied, turning his gaze back onto her. “I was planning at staying at The Venetian for another night before checking in.”
His eyes seemed to convey a more subtle meaning to her that the other two didn’t seem to catch. Her heart was pounding in her chest, but she used every ounce of strength to keep a calm and collected façade.
“Oh, please, I insist, Mr. Belvedere,” Mr. Chou interjected. “And I’d be happy to escort you around the hotel while Miss Torres prepares your room.”
“Is there anything else I can do to make your stay more comfortable?” Natalie asked. “I’d be happy to arrange a night on the town for you and some colleagues. You seem like the type of guy that likes to work hard but play harder.”
She was proud of herself for the subtle jab, and judging by his bemused expression, he caught her intent. Mr. Chou and Mr. Ho both chuckled, completely missing her sarcasm.
“That won’t be necessary,” answered Mr. Belvedere. “However, do you have a business card? Just in case I change my mind and decide I need something?”
“Of course,” Natalie replied, plastering a fake smile on her face. She reached into her jacket pocket to pull out her business card case, opening it to pass a small, black card to him.
As he accepted the card, he brushed his fingers lightly against hers, sending shivers up her arm. He took a moment to study her card, holding it out in front of him thoughtfully.
“And just to confirm, this is your direct cell?” he asked.
“Yes,” she answered through gritted teeth.
“Excellent,” he grinned.
Ugh, he’s enjoying this way too much.
“Mr. Belvedere,” Mr. Chou interrupted, “if you’ll please follow me this way, I’d be happy to give you a personal tour of the property.”
Mr. Belvedere stepped after Mr. Chou, but not before turning his head to give Natalie one last smirk.
“Thank you, Miss Torres,” he said with a wink. “I’ll be calling you later.”
Great.
She let out a long sigh as they disappeared around the corner.
“You handled that well,” Mr. Ho said approvingly. “Do you need any help getting his room put together?”
“I’ll let you know once I check his guest profile,” Natalie answered. “Thank you.”
“Of course,” he nodded. “Just text me if you need anything.”
“I will.”
He set off in the direction of the casino floor, and Natalie jetted off back toward her office. She needed a minute to gather her thoughts and process this very unfortunate turn of events.
She immediately pulled out her phone as she darted quickly through the staff corridors, typing a hasty text message to Connie.
NT: Are you at work right now?
CW: No. I am off. You ok? You did not come home?
NT: I’m at work now, but I have MAJOR news. I’ll tell you tonight.
CW: OK, see u then
She smiled quickly at Esther as she hastened past her desk and into her office. Shutting the door behind her, Natalie sank into her office chair, burying her head in her hands.
“I’m f****d,” she muttered.
This was only her second week, and she might as well be packing her bags. If word got out that she’d slept with the vice president of the company, she’d be fired in an instant.
She already had a write-up in her file, and she couldn’t afford another one. Not that it was her fault, but it certainly wouldn’t look good if things came out about her tryst with Finnick Belvedere, especially given the nature of the alleged offense.
You have to be on your best behavior, Natalie, she thought to herself. Stop provoking him and just give him whatever he wants. You’ll be okay.
She opened up her computer and navigated to their property management system software. In the “Upcoming Arrivals” room log, she typed in Belvedere, and hit “Search.”
“Looks like Daddy’s coming in later this week, huh, Finnick?” she muttered to herself.
Finnick Belvedere’s name came up next to his father, Conrad Belvedere, in the log. She navigated to Finnick’s name and opened his guest profile. She scanned it quickly, but his list of guest preferences were quite short for a VIP. His only preference listed was “Likes Macallan whisky.”
“Simple enough,” she sighed.
She reached into her desk to grab some hotel stationary. She really wanted to say, “Don’t drink this all in one night!” but decided it would be best to keep things professional.
Mr. Belvedere,
Welcome to The Vesper Macau. Please let me know what I can do to make your stay more memorable.
Warm regards,
Natalie Torres
She re-read the note, which was her standard script for all her VIP guests. However, it seemed to hold a more salacious context given what had transpired between them the night before.
Crumpling up the paper, she tossed it into the wastebasket and pulled out another piece of stationary. She wrote the same exact note, except that this time she replaced the word “memorable” with “comfortable.”
“There,” she said, sighing in defeat.
She filled out an amenity request form for their most expensive bottle of Macallan to be sent up to his suite, and she updated the room reservation to get him checked in a day early. After running the notecard and the amenity form down to Room Service, she scurried back to her office and decided to do a little digging.
She typed “Belvedere Hotel Group” into the web browser, which navigated her directly to their company website. Clicking on the “Executive Leadership” tab, it pulled up a list of names and professional photos of each one, with a short bio next to each.
Conrad Belvedere stood out at the top of the page as the founder and CEO, and Natalie almost smacked herself. Finnick Belvedere looked so much like him that she was ashamed that she didn’t even recognize the resemblance. Everyone in Las Vegas knew of Conrad Belvedere, since he practically helped build the town in the late eighties and nineties. He sold his entire portfolio of smaller casinos to build The Vesper Las Vegas in 2005. Conrad’s face was very recognizable, especially since Natalie watched him deliver the quarterly earnings report to the company.
She scrolled down to Finnick’s profile, and his charming smile seemed to jump off the screen as her breath hitched in her throat. It was a basic profile that explained his position and relationship to his father, and that he resided in Las Vegas.
No juicy gossip there, she thought exasperatedly.
She navigated back to the search engine and typed his name. To her surprise, the list for Celebrity News Magazine’s “Hottest Bachelors of 2020” popped up, and she opened the page with curiosity.
Michael B. Jordan was named the “Hottest Bachelor of the Year,” but the list of runners-up included none other than Finnick Belvedere.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she muttered, rolling her eyes.
Again, there wasn’t much information about him in his profile, except that he was aged 32 at the time of printing, making him only a few years older than her.
She sighed, laying her head on her desk in resignation.
His reservation said it was for two full weeks here at the hotel.
“It’s going to be the longest fourteen days of my miserable life,” she moaned, banging her forehead against the desk.
- Writer
