NORTH CAROLINA ADVENTURES, CHAPTER #2

My daughter and I arrive back at the hotel in NC, and we decide to start getting the bed situation set up.  I don't mind sharing a king bed because I am one of those creepy sleepers -- I snuggle up on the far edge on my side, and I stay that way pretty much all night.  I sleep like a sardine in a can regardless of how spacious the accommodations.  Even though I offer to put up a pillow barrier and give my daughter 3/4 of the bed, she deems it way too creepy and opts for the pull-out couch.

I know from my first visit here that the linens are in the cupboard under the television, except they're not there.  I check the closet.  No linens.  I check the drawers, the bathroom, and every single kitchenette cabinet.  No linens.  So, I head to the main desk.  The young girl there offers me sheets, but, when I return to the room, I realize that we still need a mattress pad and a blanket.  I go back and ask for them.  The girl, sighing, says there are no blankets.  Hmmmm, wrong answer, I say.  She decides she will find them for us and bring them to us, which means she is going off to raid unbooked rooms.

After waiting a very long time, long enough for my daughter to give up and jump in the shower, I go back looking for the desk clerk.  I go back and forth to and from the room four times, but she is neither here nor there.  The last time I try to find her, I go behind the unmanned desk myself to the door marked "Employees Only," the one into which I saw her disappear to get the sheets a half hour ago.  The room is an office stocked with bottle after bottle of wine.  Tempting... but not what I'm after.  I quickly shut the door and step away.

As I turn the corner from the front desk, I see a door marked "Laundry."  Hmmmm.  I used to be a hotel housekeeper.  I know what I'm looking for, but the door will surely be secured.  I used to have to use a master key-pass to open the laundry door.

I try the handle, anyway, just for shits and giggles.

Surprise!  The door opens slightly.  I can see the wire rack with sheets.  I can also see a bedspread and a mattress pad.  I grab one of each and head back toward the room.  Halfway down the hall, I pass the desk clerk.  She gives me the evil eye, but I smile and keep on walking.  She has managed to find two blankets, which she delivers to my daughter while I am busy stalking the front desk.  The only advantage I have is that I do not think the desk clerk is bright enough to realize what I've done.

My daughter and I make up her bed, even though the mattress pad is king-sized and her pull-out is a double.  I throw one extra blanket on her bed and the other on mine.  Although the room's walls make weird electronic noises and we hear people chatting outside all night long, we are secure and comfy.

If I can just make it through the rest of the weekend without anyone checking the security camera tapes and without housekeeping coming in and discovering what we've pilfered, we should be safe and sound for another thirty-six hours.  We put the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door handle just in case, and it will stay there until we leave to check-out.