A Patchwork Fantasy Tale in eight parts.

Our second visit to Hotel Olympus, during which a receptionist is befriended.

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Transcript

[Upbeat, inquisitive music]

Laura: Hi, you can call me Laura. I’m here to tell you a story if you like. This is Patchwork Fairy Tales and today we’re visiting Hotel Olympus. If you want to read as well as listen, check out the transcript linked in the description.

[Music fades]

As far as jobs went, Charlie had had stranger starts than her first day at Hotel Olympus. The general manager – she still couldn’t remember his name and absolutely no one seemed to use it, so she had decided to stick to “sir” and “chief” like the other employees – had introduced her to the principal staff with a hurried sort of good humour and had then run off for “a meeting with His Majesty”. Charlie didn’t know who exactly that referred to, but as long as Mister Majesty wasn’t due to check into her hotel today she didn’t much care.

Her hotel, of course, because it was. There was no other way to run front office properly, she had to think of all of it as her own. A strange, unnerving place it may be. With stables that bore inexplicable plaques saying “Mares of Thrace not allowed” and “locked rooms labelled “deities only”. But she had decided it would be hers and so it was. And as it was her own, she would make sure it all ran smoothly.

Which is why she went straight up to the check-in counter at the first glimpse of the receptionist’s expression. Receptionists were often stressed, this was a fact Charlie felt unable to fix, but a visibly frustrated receptionist always foretold trouble.

“Hi!” she smiled warmly. “Don’t tell me, it was Cassandra, right?”

“Yes, miss,” the young woman agreed, quickly straightening up behind the counter.

“Charlie is just fine,” she assured her. “Is something the matter? You look displeased.”

Cassandra gave her a level stare. “Not that it will help to tell you, but we’re going to end up double booked.”

Charlie made sure not to frown at the first statement. Clearly whoever managed front of house before her hadn’t been worth their salt. “Really? How come?”

“Yes,” she sighed. “Both Selene and Artemis are going to want the penthouse suite next week. It will be a blue moon and everyone will be doing moon rituals. We will have to give the room to Artemis, because nowadays way more people call on her, and Selene will be furious. So then Eos and Helios will be furious too and the manager will be upset with us all.”

Poor Cassandra, Charlie concluded, was a bit of a pessimist. She knew of no better cure for that than practicality and realism, though, so she nodded and replied: “I see, well that’s no good. I will speak to Facility about temporarily making the conservatory available as a bedroom.”

Cassandra gaped at her. “W-what?”

“If a good view of the night’s sky is the point, the conservatory would do just as well, wouldn’t it?” Charlie asked. “I mean, I presume Selena and Ortemis have something to do with the moon, if people need them for a blue moon.” She still had no clue why people would want gods to show up for natural phenomena that were going to happen with or without them, but that was not her concern right now.

“Yes, but, I-” Cassandra stammered, eyes round as saucers. “You believe me?”

“Why wouldn’t I? You’ve worked here much longer than I have. I can imagine this sort of thing has happened before.”

“Yes but, surely it’s not going to happen now, right?” Cassandra pressed frantically. “Not now I told you about it?”

Charlie frowned. “How would I know? You take care of booking in the guests, I trust your judgement. Even if there’s a chance this might happen, we should be prepared.”

Cassandra, astonishingly, suddenly looked very much like she might cry. “…do you not believe in Apollo?”

Charlie blinked. “Who?”

On the whole Charlie liked to think she was prepared for pretty much anything in her professional life. But this was certainly the first time she had been hugged round the neck by a sobbing receptionist.

[Upbeat, inquisitive music returns]

Laura: Thank you very much for listening, I hope you liked this installment of Hotel Olympus. Transcripts, easy streaming, and all the information about this podcast and all my other creations can be found on laurasimons.com.

There’s another tale to tell some other day, but until then: remember to mind your mythology, guard your name, and be safe.

[Music fades]

_{Copyright Laura Simons, please do not copy my stories without my permission, lest you insult the fae.}