Chapter One: Another Book Nerd - Stuck in an Office

Another Book Nerd, Stuck in an Office

Josephine

Things are about to get hectic. The end of winter is a time of conflicting emotions for everyone at The Pellington Grand. We get our fair share of visitors during the cold season. It's only about a quarter of what we get during the rest of the year.

I’ve always found it odd it isn’t the other way around. The Adirondack region of New York is world famous for our snow covered mountains, ski slopes, and snowmobile trails. And when I say “world famous,” I mean it.

The 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympic games were held a half hour from here in the bustling and picturesque town of Lake Placid. They always stay a heck of a lot busier than we do up here. Pellington is no Lake Placid. They have cute tourist shops and amazing dining options.

What do we have? A gas station, a grocery store, and my family’s ridiculously enourmous, extremely out-of-date, luxury Hotel.

The Pellington Grand boasts two hundred and sixty rooms, out of which forty are suites, and then of course, there is The Tower, the Pellington’s over-the-top version of a penthouse. Not all of the rooms are for the guests though. During the span of the last one hundred and twenty-nine years, the Hotel has been home to five generations of Pellingtons.

I’m the oldest sibling of the newest generation to call this place home. With any luck, one of my younger siblings will end up married and start a family so my great-great-grandfather’s legacy can continue, because at almost thirty-years-old, the odds of me finding love, are not looking favorable.

There might be a chance for me to meet someone, if I would leave the back office once in a while. At least that’s what Clara keeps telling me. But, I’ve gotten so comfortable being alone, and have long accepted the fact that I am beyond socially awkward. That’s why this back office job is the perfect fit for me.

I do the book keeping. I answer phones. I order supplies. I send emails and schedule housekeeping. It’s predictable and although I wouldn’t say I love it, it’s a job that I tolerate. I’m good at it too.

Clara, my sister, runs the front of the house. She’s charismatic and absolutely stunning to look at. I used to hate her for it. But over the years I have learned that her beauty has brought its own share of problems with it. Seeing the shit she has had to deal with, on a regular basis too, makes me appreciate my chubby, frumpy self. Although, I still find it incredibly irritating when people tell me I look exactly like my father.

What girl wants to be told that? Seriously?

• * I would say that the beautiful Clara Pellington is the most likely one of us to settle down and have children one day. Our brother Artie, is more of a lost cause than I am, but for the opposite reason. He, like Clara, is blessed with text-book movie-star looks, and has perfected using them to his advantage to sleep with as many women as he can.

It’s gross. He doesn’t try to hide it either. Our hotel is the ideal environment for his sexual appetites. He pounces on the guests, has a fling, and then boom, they check out, never to be seen again. All the fun, none of the work.

That’s Artie. It wouldn’t bother me so much if he did some work around here.But he does nothing to help. He’s useless.

It’s absolute bull that he gets a free pass to do whatever he wants with whoever he wants. And he never takes any flack for it. If I behaved the way he does, I’m sure the old man would send me packing.

The old man has never been very fond of me though.

He’s a grouch to everyone except Artie, but he’s particularly sharp with me. Maybe he is miserable because we are barely getting by. Expenses keep going up and income keeps slowing down. He’s always questioning me about the numbers, and I try explaining to him that the economy has shifted, and it’s not only us. But also that we need to modernize and adjust if we want to be successful in today’s market.

Our guests rooms don't even have Wi-fi.

He grumbles back at me and shuffles down the hall to his tiny dark corner bedroom. I think, he thinks it’s my fault the hotel is struggling.

I’ll need to find a way to get him to see reason.