June 25, 2025

RAD RERUN!! Hotel, Motel, Holiday Inn

RAD RERUN!! Hotel, Motel, Holiday Inn
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Imagine you're 17, have never quite fit in, and now have a chance for your dream job working at a local hotel. Then imagine that you have the highest maintenance guest you could possibly think of. Then imagine what you would do on your own to fix it - at midnight.

This is such a funny story with such a happy ending.

So sit back, relax, and then please, rate and review if you have a sec!

๐ŸŒˆ Lost your EarPods? Procrastinating at your computer? Hate the sound of Jo's voice? Then you're in luck!

๐Ÿ€ All episodes are available for your reading pleasure at www.anxietyaddictsbedtimestories.com

๐Ÿ“š Love the stories?

๐Ÿ‘„ Have one to tell?

โฐ Only have three minutes? It's SO easy to submit your own! Just click on: www.anxietyaddictsbedtimestories.com/contact

โœ๏ธ How does it work?

๐Ÿ‘€ Is it annoying?

๐Ÿ‘ฎ Will the cops find me? You send three short sentences and we do the rest. It's less annoying than anything else in your inbox. And we change all names and identifying characteristics so the only thing knocking on your door after midnight is hopefully someone you invited.

๐Ÿ† Want funny pics? Links to the latest story? And videos of all the things stressing us the eff out? Lucky for you, our Insta is ๐Ÿ”ฅ Fire ๐Ÿ”ฅ So follow us here: @anxietyaddictsbedtimestories.

Need a 90-second life break to make you laugh and forget about the real world for an entire minute? Put your email in here for a good time: https://www.anxietyaddictsbedtimestories.com/Sweet dreams...xoxo

Jo & Morgan

WEBVTT

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To the restless, the insomniacs, the stressed out, the overwork

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the doom scrollers, the worried, and the board. This is

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for you. Good writing is meant to make you think.

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This is the opposite. Short, funny, and unfortunately true stories

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that have mostly to do with nothing to help you

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turn off your brain and turn on your ram. All

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names have been changed to protect the guilty. These are

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Anxiety Addicts bedtime stories.

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Here at Anxiety Addicts, it's hard to pick our favorite

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genre of BS.

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The first day of school stories, the meat.

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Cutes, the mishaps, the er visits not to mention, the

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first dats, and the links people will go to for friendship.

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They're all entertaining, heartwarming, hilarious, and painfully relied, but one

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that never ceases to entertain us time and time again.

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Our service industry stories. Maybe it's because Morgan and I

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were waitresses and bartenders for decades. We paid our rents,

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working long hours at nice restaurants and not so nice

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restaurants and.

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Very very shitty bars.

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We memorized hundreds of drinks and dozens of regulars, and

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we went to weird lengths to make people happy. That's

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what you do when you work in this world, it's

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not that the customer is always right, it's something else.

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In some places, yeah, usually the more upscale bars, and

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always Italian restaurants.

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There is this unspoken.

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Rule that you don't say no unless absolutely necessary. It

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doesn't matter where you worked in this country or when.

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There is always this connective tissue linking the experiences of

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those slogging it out in the service industry. These stories

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a special place in our hearts, and this one is

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no exception. This one is about Gregory. Gregory had a

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plan and it started young. Every night, for at least

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three years, he insisted that his mother read him the

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book Eloise, about a six year old girl who lived

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at the Plaza Hotel in New York. He'd prop himself

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up in bed, his eyes dissecting every illustration of Eloise

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terrorizing the most storied hotel in Manhattan. He leaned into

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every detail. When his mother finished the story, she'd turn

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off the light, close the door, and leave Gregory to

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the whims of his imagination. The dreams that followed weren't

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about him playing the part of Eloise.

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No.

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In his dreams, he was always mister Salomony, the manager

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that was his castle in the air. As Gregory matured,

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so did his dreams. It wasn't a wes Anderson obsession

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that led him to see the Grand Budapest Hotel no

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less than six times in the theaters. It was firstly

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the hotel itself, and a close second was Monsieur gustave H,

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the famed concierge, played by an inimitable Ralph Fines. He

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dragged along his best friend Chloe twice in one day,

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first for the matinee and then when she agreed that

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they were witnessing unparalleled cinematic greatness, they hung around in

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the lobby for an hour and then stayed for the

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dinner showing. Of course, without even thinking, he brought his

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mother Lily once on a Sunday and then dragged her

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across town to the theater of Indie Darlings so they could

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catch the midnight screening. The following day, Gregory ran up

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his elderly neighbor Glorieta. She had never heard of Wes Anderson.

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Out of all of his dates, it was Glorieta who

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loved it the most. He would have taken Glorieta for

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a second time, but the movie's run ended before he

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could gets his next bookstore paycheck.

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The following year, his on screen.

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Hotel devotion took a much more how do we say

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this downscale turn, schitz Creek debuted and well inevitably became

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Gregory's entire personality. Unlike so many of the viewers who

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were rooting for Stevie, Alexis or David, Gregory was compelled,

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as a die hard schitz Creek fan to root for

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the Rosebud Motel itself. So when the guidance counselor had

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him fill out a nine page survey his senior year,

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Gregory didn't feel the need to answer dozens of questions

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about his interests and skill sets. He knew that he

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wanted to run a hotel. He handed the blank questionnaire back.

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So Missus McNally looked at him over her horn, rim

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glasses and a sparkle in her eye. She'd worked at

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the school her entire adult life and had a soft

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spot for decisive students. I'll fill out hospitality, Gregory shook

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his head. That's too general. I want to run a hotel, obviously,

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I won't start with the Fountain Blue. I need a

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resume before I just show up in Miami, take over

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the place and restore it back to its original nineteen

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sixties heyday. But this is what I am meant to do.

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Gregory imagined himself as the sort of hotel manager like

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the actor Hector Alonzo did and pretty woman for Julia Roberts.

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He had big plans, big huge Anyway, I have to

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be shopping now. Missus McNally's fingers whizzed across the keyboard.

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Do you have a backup?

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She knew the question was silly, but she was so

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enjoying her time with Gregory that she.

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Didn't want him to leave.

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He answered in the form of a raised left eyebrow.

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You had to hand it to the kid. He had

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some moves. The smile that spread across Missus McNally's mouth

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was contagious. Look, I don't always make personal connections for students,

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but I do know the manager of the Hyatt. Maybe

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you could start working this year, and then I want

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to encourage you to apply to the big schools. The

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worst thing that they can do is say no, and

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I can only imagine how your personal essay will read.

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Wait the Hyat, Gregory felt his stomach flip flop.

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He didn't know why.

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He'd never considered working in a hotel while he still

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lived at home, and it just seemed like a real

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professional job for real professional adults. Although he had just

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turned seventeen, he was still a scrawny kid who usually

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got away with buying a youth ticket at the movie theater.

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He didn't have a strand of facial hair to his name,

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and his voice still occasionally squeaked when he got nervous,

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like now, wait. His generation said that a lot. Maybe

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the world really was moving too fast. Do you really

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think that they would hire me? How it was missus

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McNally's turn to silently raise an eyebrow. Apply to the

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big schools, Cornell n YU Hospitality Management. You need the

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degree and you will learn so much. You get on

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those applications, and I'll see about getting you a job.

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The cloud that carried Gregory out of missus McNally's office

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pushed him down the hallway, out the door, and to

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Starbucks to get himself a little treat. He didn't know

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what he was celebrating, but he knew that it was

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going to be good. When Gregory saw the email from

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Hernandez George at High at forty four, dot com. He

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nearly jumped out of his skin. He and his mother

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were zoned out for their nightly fix of reality TV

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on the old sofa when he clicked it open. His

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cry scared his mother, who was deeply invested in the

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cheating scandal involving people whom she'd never met. I have

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an interview, he sang.

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Lily jumped up.

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These entitled people in their extramarital affairs and obscene wardrobes

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would have.

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To wait in no time at all.

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She'd set up her iron, her lavender spray, and barked

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orders at her only child the white shirt. They always

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wear white at hotels. Gregory was still in shock and

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unable to think clearly. He took stock of the button

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down that his mother held out on a wire hanger.

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It really wasn't speaking his language. What about my pink

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pin stripe. It's much more sophisticated. It says I have style.

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You have style when you walk, Lily exclaimed, you don't

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need your shirt to be doing the talking for you.

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This was a tough statement to counter. One could argue

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that Gregory Mendoza had the most stylish walk in all

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of Somerville County, and so it went. Mother and son

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eventually settled on a gray check shirt with herringbone pants,

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which Lily expertly let out an inch at the hem

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you are growing. Her speech was garbled her mouth holding

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a pair of sewing scissors and a pen. Gregory didn't

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know why seamstresses always held their tools between their teeth.

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His grandmother and aunts did the same. Luckily, he knew

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how to understand this very specific speech impediment not fast enough.

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It was true he was a late bloomer. At least

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that's what Lily said. Gregory knew how to compensate for

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his lack of physical stature. There was never a more

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impressive class clown. We say that because he also managed

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to get the teachers to laugh. He'd been the star

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of the marching band all throughout high school, and his

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cookies were the first to sell out at the many

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many bake sales.

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But he didn't feel like he was growing.

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The truth was a lot of life felt pretty easy

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to our soon to be hotel manager. He needed a challenge,

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but he didn't know that yet. The day of the

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interview felt like it belonged to one of his favorite shows.

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The sun was shining the sky was blue, and the

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birds chirped overhead as if there were a feathered family

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reunion taking place in the cherry trees outside of the hyat.

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Lily drove right to the front door and insisted on

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waiting outside for her son. The immaculately dressed bellman opened

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the door, checking in, ma'am. Lily beamed as if she'd

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recently had headlights and planted into her forehead. Oh no,

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you see my son here. He's interviewing for a job.

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He wants to run a hotel one day.

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Mom.

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Gregory was used to chastising his mother and her more

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braggadocious tendencies, but on this particular day, he felt just

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as proud as she did, and his voice was anything

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but fierce. Lily turned to her handsome boy, Good luck,

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you are a star. They would be lucky to have you.

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I'll wait right here. Gregory escaped the motherly smothering and

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hopped out of the passenger door, waving behind him as

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he walked confidently into the lobby. Lily gripped the steering wheel.

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She couldn't tame the butterflies zipping around in her stomach.

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The bellman stuck his head in the window. Ma'am, you

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can't actually wait right here, this is a loading zone.

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Lily just smiled. She didn't get to where she was

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in life by following rules. She put the car in

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drive and pulled up four feet. Then I will wait here,

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She grinned playfully at the man in the chauffeur's cap.

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The smile had been part of her success. The man

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tipped the brim and went back to his post. This

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was how Gregory and Lily worked.

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They were a team.

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She'd instilled in him a limitless drive, compassion, a sense

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of humor, and an ability to finesse the rules. Gregory

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was an eager learner. Now. If Lily had thought that

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he'd grown while fixing his trousers, she thought he'd doubled

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in size.

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Walking out of the revolving.

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Door, his back was street, his head high, his smile confident,

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and although she kept this to herself, she swears she

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spotted a shadow of a mustache that hadn't been there

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forty five minutes earlier. He didn't even have to tell

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her that he'd gotten the job. Their hug lasted for

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an entire Gloria Estefon song on the FM radio, and

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then they went to lunch to celebrate just a little treat.

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Lily shrugged, her face bursting with joy. This was, of course,

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a fabulous turn in Gregory's life events, because life is life.

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The job at the Hyatt was not exactly the seamless

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answer to his dreams. Yes he was hired as a

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seventeen year old with no experience, but yes he had

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the weekend night shift. Going into work at ten pm

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was almost an otherworldly experience. When the rest of the

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city was packing it in for the nighter heading out

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to party, Gregory was walking through the revolving doors in

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his perfectly pressed pants and clocking in on the machine

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in the employee locker room. His excitement was tempered by

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his anxiety. He'd already shadowed the front desk agents for

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three entire shifts. He thought he knew all of the

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things that could go wrong. His overnight duties would include

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very late check ins, noise disturbances, and hopefully not sending

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up the handyman crew for any maintenance issues. A weekend

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shift could be faster famine as far as issues went,

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and he hoped for an easy night. The music pumped

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in through the speakers was a funny mix of spot

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and techno. Gregory spent the next two hours organizing the

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desk drawers, trimming down the flower stems on the many

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vases in the ledge, and lighting the scented candles he

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found on the back shelves. When the clock ticked to midnight,

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he secretly hoped that a guest would ding the metal

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bell and summon him, as if the universe was listening.

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It did.

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Suddenly, appearing in front of his post was the most

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quafft woman he'd ever seen in his life. Her platinum

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blonde hair was coiled into a perfect chinnon, and she

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could have been anywhere between the ages of like fifty

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and seventy five. Some parts of her were clearly much

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much younger. She reached out a manicured hand, dripping with

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enough blame to put a top forty rapper to shame.

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Missus Helena Richardson. Gregory couldn't find his voice. He didn't

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know much about spirit animals, but he knew in that

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moment that he would do absolutely anything for this woman. Gregory,

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he squeaked out, chimed, I have a problem. Missus Helena

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00:14:48.240 --> 00:14:51.799
Richardson had a smile that could melt butter. She smelled

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00:14:51.840 --> 00:14:56.879
like a combination of expensive perfume and expensive vodka. I

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ordered extra towels. They brought way, way, way too many.

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Missus Helena Richardson grabbed onto the counter as if the

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thought of that much linen could make her collapse at

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any time. Oh no, Gregory was as horrified as his guest.

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How could you look at this woman and deliver her

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anything but the perfect amount of towels. I have to

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apologize on behalf of the entire establishment. I will send

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someone up right now to remove them. Gregory immediately picked

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00:15:29.039 --> 00:15:31.159
up the house phone and dialed Star one one for

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housekeeping and informed them of the issue. Oh right, he

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said into the receiver. Caught off guard, let me ask

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missus Richardson your room number, please.

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Fifteen fifty.

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Missus Helena Richardson pressed her lips together and nodded, pulling

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a fifty dollar bill out of her Chanel purse and

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sliding it across the counter. Oh no, I couldn't accept that,

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Gregory cried. He wasn't sure if he'd ever seen a

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fifty dollar bill before. No, not you, he yelped to

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room service before hanging up the phone. They will take

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care of it, right now. Missus Richardson smiled and winked,

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you're a good kid.

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I like you. Her words were a bit slurred, but.

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That didn't stop them from making Gregory's heart burst with pride.

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He watched her wobble on her kitten heels to the

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elevator and up to the top floor. That was a

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big event. It was not what he was expecting. Gregory

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had just finished walking round the lobby and checking all

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of the scented candles were burning evenly when the elevator

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dinged and Missus Helena Richardson was standing in front of

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the desk. Still there, she cried, wobbling even more. Gregory

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was infuriated.

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How could the Hyatt, one.

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Of the most respectable hotel chains in the world, let

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down the most glamorous woman he had ever met. He

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was embarrassed, appalled, and determined to make sure that Missus

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Helena Richardson would come back or worse, so much worse,

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not leave a negative Internet review. He raced to the phone,

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dialed housekeeping and insisted that they take out every single

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tell except one. Did I make myself clear, he said,

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in a voice mimicking the soap operas that he used

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00:17:22.200 --> 00:17:24.799
to watch with his mother when he was homesick from school.

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I am so, so very sorry, Missus Richardson. I insist

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on making this better. I Gregory looked around his desk.

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He wanted to give her something, anything, to smooth over

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what he considered to be an utter catastrophe. He reached

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into the ceramic dish on the counter and pulled out

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a large handful of mints, and then, without using his brain,

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sort of flung them at the woman, who was basically

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Beyonce and Cher and the Queen of England all rolled

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00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:57.440
into one here. Missus Helena Richardson stood stunned as she

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was showered in Bratch's star bright cand.

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I'm so sorry.

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The level of fluster that Gregory was now experiencing could

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have shot him through the ceiling like a rocket, but

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it didn't, because this was the moment that he was

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born for. He flew out from behind the desk, offering

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his elbow to the Grand Dome as if he were

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escorting her into the dining room of the Titanic. I

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shall take you there personally, he declared. Do you have

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your key card? Missus Helena Richardson handed it over and

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they rode up to the top floor of the Hia

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in an elevator that boasted not one, but two velvet benches.

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During the forty five second ride, missus Helena Richardson managed

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to spread herself out on the left one and fall asleep.

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As the car dinged and the doors opened, Gregory did

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his best to wake her with as much respect as

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humanly possible. Oh here, the golden girl asked. She got

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up from the bench, smoothed out her skirt, and marched

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down the hallway, Gregory tripping over himself to keep up

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after her. He trailed her, taking a right and then

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a left, winding up the penthouse suite. But before he

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could open the door for his very important guest, he

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watched missus Helena Richardson bang on a different door before

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flinging it open and gasping. She turned to the newest

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desk clerk at the hotel, now furious, you see, and

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Gregory did. From floor to ceiling there were perfectly stacked

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rows of white towels and sheets, pillows, extra blankets. They

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filled the entire room. There wasn't anywhere to sleep or

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unpack a suitcase. There wasn't even a bathroom because.

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This was the linen closet.

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Now, Gregory may have been brand new to the industry,

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but he understood stood this moment like he was a

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00:20:02.359 --> 00:20:06.640
seasoned veteran Mister Salmony or the guy from Pretty Woman.

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He again extended his elbow, looked straight ahead, and guided

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missus Helena richardson to her door, her real door, her

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large room with a sofa and a TV and a

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bed and a bathroom with the appropriate amount of towels

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with no eye contact, and a small bow that came

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00:20:27.720 --> 00:20:31.000
from I don't know, a childhood of watching Disney films.

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Gregory left then went down to the lobby. The rest

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of the night, poor Gregory was in a bit of shock.

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He had never in his life had to accommodate a

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very drunk, older, sophisticated woman before. He hoped with all

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00:20:47.119 --> 00:20:49.039
his heart that he did a good job, but that

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didn't stop him from worrying. The next morning, he was

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woken with a start as lily pounded on his door.

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Wake Up, wake up, it is the boss calling you.

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George Hernandez.

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Gregory jumped out of bed, groggy from his overnight shift,

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the knot in his stomach creeping its way up to

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his throat and threatening to strangle him. Lily threw the

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phone in his face. Wake up, wake up, it is

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the boss calling you. George Hernandez. Gregory jumped out of bed,

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groggy from his overnight shift, the knot in his stomach

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creeping its way up to his throat and threatening to

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strangle him.

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Lily threw the phone.

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In his face.

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00:21:31.160 --> 00:21:33.720
Hello, Yes, this is he.

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It was, in fact mister Hernandez, and he was in

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fact calling about Missus Helena Richardson. Missus Richardson, it turned out,

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was not only a regular at the hotel, but the

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owner's wife. To vanquish her embarrassment, she called George and

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00:21:57.519 --> 00:22:03.319
insisted on a promotion for Gregory. Gregory fell back asleep

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with a smile on his face, dreaming about nothing but

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towels for the rest of the day.

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Sweet Dreams.

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00:22:25.519 --> 00:22:28.960
Thanks for listening. If you still can't sleep, why not

365
00:22:29.079 --> 00:22:33.119
do some shopping on the small business links at anxiety Addicts,

366
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