Arjan placed two steaming plates on the table with some flourish.
"Here you are, dad, Reonn – fried whitefish with roasted tomato. Enjoy!"
"I'm sure we will," Reonn assured him, looking at the portion in front of him with undisguised greed. "Mmm, smells delicious..."
"Looks delicious," Karos added. "And now that your hands are again free, Arjan my boy, I absolutely demand that you go and rescue the fair Loren from the vile clutches of those two vultures in there!"
"What?" Arjan glanced into the restaurant through the patio window. He didn't need long to spot Loren who was standing by a table and chatting with the group of artists seated around it, an empty tray in hand. "Why, what's going on?"
"Can't you see those persuasive expressions on their faces?" Karos specified.
"I'm sure Loren can fend for himself all right!" Reonn snorted.
"Yeah, but what is it?" Arjan inquired, amused.
"Oh, we walked here together with them, and at least Trion and Devin were hell bent on talking Loren into modeling for them sometime." Karos took a sip from his glass. "You might go there and put your foot down a bit."
Inside, Loren shook his head and laughed, and Arjan grinned.
"But what if I agree with Reonn?" he said. "He can look after himself."
"Sounds like chivalry is indeed dead," Karos sighed dramatically as his son vanished back indoors and headed towards the kitchen. Reonn chuckled.
"You're a talker, man... but now, let's toast!"
"To what?" Karos asked but nevertheless raised his glass readily enough. Reonn lifted his own and the edges touched together with a quiet clink.
"Oh, nothing in particular – how about drinking to a very pleasant evening?"
"That's a very good reason!"
Reonn took a mouthful of his wine and smothered a smirk behind the glass. He sure wasn't going to tell Karos that it was now exactly one year since he'd hauled the rest of his property into the studio in the attic and waved goodbye to his own apartment. That kind of news might put all kinds of strange ideas into the handsome artist's head.
The whitefish quickly absorbed their attention, but not so completely that they wouldn't have noticed the somewhat unusual group that some time later appeared outside the building. The coarse sand of the path that led to the front door crunched under their steps and the sturdy handcart pushed by a wiry, sweating man walking ahead. The handcart was loaded with suitcases, and together with the man's clothing it made his occupation clear enough: he was one of the porters working in the harbor.
Behind him walked a rather flustered couple, the man perhaps a few years short of thirty, the lady around twenty. The numerous steps they'd had to ascend to reach Old Rose had obviously wearied them quite a lot, but at least the sight that now met their eyes seemed to be a pleasant and even invigorating surprise.
"Well well," Karos muttered under his breath, food momentarily forgotten. "Now this looks promising, don't you think?"
They tried to peer after the newcomers without looking too much like they were staring, until the trio reached the front door and vanished inside. Reonn arched an eyebrow and winked at Karos.
"Keep your fingers crossed now," he breathed.
When the door opened, Loren automatically glanced towards it and his eyes went wide.
"Really, gentlemen, now you really have to excuse me..."
He left behind the group of insistent artists and hurried to the well-dressed couple. They had stopped at the reception desk and were now eyeing their surroundings with obvious interest.
"Good evening, how can I help you?"
The gentleman turned to Loren and bowed slightly in greeting.
"Good evening! This man here told us that this is a hotel, and that you'd have rooms free?"
"Indeed he's right on both counts!" Ignoring the man's somewhat huffy tone, Loren flashed his most fetching smile and slipped behind the desk. "We've only just opened, less than two weeks ago, and you're most welcome."
"Oh, that's so good!" The lady squeezed the man's arm and smiled to him. "We'll stay here, won't we? This place looks very nice."
"Yes, love, we will, at least for now." The gentleman dried his face with a handkerchief and removed his hat. "I must say that you're very high up, though."
"That's true," Loren agreed. "But now that you're here, perhaps you'd want to make the most of the fact and have the room that has a private balcony with a view over the sea?"
"Sounds lovely!" the young lady exclaimed. "I think I like this place far better than the Seaview Terrace!"
Loren glanced up from the book in front of him, interest piqued. "Seaview Terrace?"
The gentleman's mouth pressed into a tight line. "We'd booked rooms there for our honeymoon, and well in advance too, but it seems that they'd got their bookings thoroughly mixed up. There was no room, nor was anything available in the surroundings although they inquired – they said that this early in the main season, every place is full! Luckily this porter here knew to suggest your hotel."
"Oh my..." Loren grimaced in sympathy and shook his head. "Well, I dare hope that we can make you forget that unpleasant experience! Just come with me, I'll show the room to you – yes, it's No. 2 and I'm afraid you'll still have to climb a few more steps up as all our rooms are upstairs..."
On the way to the room he had time to discuss the weekly rates with the gentleman, who began to thaw considerably upon hearing them, and seeing the room convinced the newlyweds that they'd indeed made a good choice. Loren handed them the key, waited until the porter had finished unloading the suitcases, and when the door closed behind them, he nudged the man's shoulder.
"Big thanks for our first customers!" he whispered. "I bet you're thirsty, and maybe you wouldn't mind having something to eat as well?"
The man saluted with a broad grin and followed Loren downstairs.
Arjan raised his eyebrows in question when he spotted the blond descending the stairs, and dashed to him as quickly as he could.
"Where did you vanish?" he asked. "There were two plates waiting to be served and –"
"Took our first guests to their room," Loren interrupted, beaming. "Boy, has Seaview Terrace made a major blunder! Double-booking, and those two are here for their honeymoon!"
"Good grief!" Arjan rolled his eyes. "Talk about nasty surprises!"
"I agree. They're settling in now and will probably have a bath, but they're definitely coming down for dinner, so we must make sure there's a nice table for them... But now, Arjan, how about you take this excellent man to the kitchen for something to eat? And don't forget to run a cold beer for him on the way!"
"I'd be delighted," Arjan said with a nod to the porter. "Just come with me!"
That night, as the two young hotel owners were looking after their customers and chatting with quite a few of them, it was plain to see that they were in an even better mood than usual. All of the regulars had naturally observed the arrival of the couple, and those that hadn't been there to witness it were immediately informed of the new turn of events as soon as they sat down. Even Karos and Reonn, who'd declared their intention not to stay until closing time for once, had long since finished their dinner but were still firmly seated on the patio with fresh glasses of wine on the table, not wanting to miss anything.
Nearly two hours later the couple could be seen descending the stairs, looking much refreshed. The mural, fully visible from that angle, promptly attracted their attention, and Loren got to hear it being volubly praised when he went to inquire where the lady and gentleman would like to sit down for their dinner.
They hadn't made up their mind yet, though, before Arjan emerged next to Loren and introduced himself.
"I was wondering, since it's your honeymoon and all, if you'd like to have a very special dinner – in the little gazebo we have in the garden? I could take you to see it, so you can decide if you'd rather dine there or indoors."
"Gazebo?" The young couple were immediately interested, and a moment later Arjan was already headed out of the door, the two of them trailing after him.
When he returned a few minutes later, it was Loren's turn to snag his sleeve.
"In that ramshackle old gazebo? Are you crazy?" he hissed.
"Nope," Arjan grinned. "You know it's not that ramshackle, didn't we decide that it's charming just the way it is? Besides, I did already check it earlier when we had that quieter moment, and then sent Dinn there to clean and sweep it and make it ready just in case. And, for your information, they loved it. They'll be dining there. Where's the bottle of sparkly wine you promised them on the house?"
"Okay, you're crazy but you're also a genius," Loren sighed.
"Just an artist and a romantic," Arjan corrected. "Don't you agree that it's a very romantic place for a very special and very private dinner between lovers?"
True enough, Loren blushed a little, and Arjan laughed under his breath.
"Ahh, what a relief... so you haven't forgotten our romantic dinners there, either," he said with a wink. "Now you'll have to excuse me, I need to take them the wine and the menu!"
"Will you be serving them?"
"Sure thing, I'll look after them. Where are all our wine coolers..."
Arjan disappeared into the kitchen, and for the rest of the evening he kept shuttling between the restaurant and the old gazebo that they had, to their great surprise, found nestled in the middle of some particularly overgrown bushes. After some trimming of bushes and a lot of cleaning they'd decided that the gazebo was indeed just perfect where it was, practically invisible from the garden except for the little path that led to it, and left it be.
To Loren's consternation Arjan insisted on winking at him every time he made another tour to take something to the newlyweds, and for some reason he just couldn't help remembering the activity they'd engaged in after declaring the place ready for use. As if it hadn't been enough to 'try out' the restaurant and all hotel rooms before they were opened for public...
At last the day was over. The last guests had left, as had Samiel, Dinn and Fayell, who came to help in the evenings to get the kitchen cleaned for the night. Loren looked around in the dark restaurant and let out a satisfied sigh, listening in excited wonder to the sound of running water from upstairs.
Arjan closed the front door, slipped the keys into their box and leaned against the reception desk, a wide smile on his face.
"They were no end pleased," he said. "Didn't mind at all that it started raining, the lady said it sounded so charming to hear it pattering on the roof."
"So they said as they went upstairs," Loren nodded. "Damn, it was a stroke of genius!"
"Now, now..." Arjan preened. "Though I'm not denying that I'm so glad it occurred to me. Something special to start the honeymoon, after that mess with the first hotel."
"Their blunder, our luck!" Loren shook his head, still dizzy with wonder. "Our very first guests... By the way, they wanted breakfast at nine, I have the order here."
Arjan picked up the paper and studied it. "Hmm, looks like I'll be cooking it."
"Yeah, they're your specialties, both of them. Now you get to try out for real what Samiel has been teaching you!"
"Isn't that great?" Arjan stretched his arms and yawned. "But that means getting up a bit earlier in the morning. Which means we'd better get to bed now."
"Not quite yet."
"What do you mean?"
"How about a moment in the gazebo? Sami said that there's still some of the shrimp salad in the cellar." Loren swallowed and then chuckled to himself. "Damn, I just needed to say that and now my mouth is watering!"
"Actually I'm starving as well," Arjan realized. "You're right, we haven't really eaten anything the whole night."
"So, doesn't shrimp salad in the gazebo sound good?" Loren tilted his head.
"In the rain," Arjan completed. "Yes, it sounds fantastic. Let's go!"
