Xalia Squalor; because sometimes being in is not enough

Hit me

I stand at the reception, my dress over half way up my thighs. It's a bright white, and I've got a matching bow in my hair. Olaf shoves me over to the reception, and I look the receptionist up and down. He must be early twenties, but he looks so fed up it's actually awe inspiring. I say, "Hi sir."
I smile at him, and his eyes widen. I'm wearing so much make up so we can ideally get a discount. The man says, "Hi, ma'am, have you got a reservation?"
"Depends," I shrug, "Is the name Squalor in your system?"
The man checks, and says, "Yeah, we've got two rooms. There's a note to be told to you. Xalia May has her own room, under the conditions she doesn't try being nice to the other little girl. The others can share a room."
Mum groans along with Carmelita, and Olaf stands behind me, jaw dropped. The man says, "Are you... free tonight?"
I look at him, and smile. His eyes are fun of apprehension, and I say, "I would be, but I'm fifteen."
"I'm eighteen," The man says quickly. I shake my head, before I'm dragged to the elevator.

Olaf says, "Remember, we need to convince everyone that we're a normal, happy family on vacation."
"I don't want to stay at some cakesniffing hotel," Carmelita snaps, "I wanted to go to Littlest Elf Land."
Olaf hisses, "Tell your darling little girl to stop attracting so much attention."
The elevators ping open, and we all step inside. Violet is here? We make eye contact just as the doors close and Carmelita snaps, "My real parents took me wherever I wanted to go."
"Some parents," Olaf rolls his eyes, "They wouldn't even pay your ransom."
Mum tries to cover up what Olaf has said, but he continues, "The manager is on our side of the schism. Well, one of them is anyway-"
"I hear there's a spa here," Mum says, "Do you get to pick whose face, or do you just peel off whoever's around?"
"That's not how it works, Mum," I sigh. Carmelita says, "I don't want to go to the room. I'm an adorable, beautiful, cute, dainty, eye-pleasing, flawless girl, and I want to go to the pool."
Olaf slams the button, on the elevator, and as we don't rise, he asks, "Remind me why we can't send her back to her real parents?"
"You burned down their house with them inside," I remind, staring at my nails. Painted white to match the colours of my clothes, but not freshly. I put my foot outside the lift, and slip through the doors before they shut again, saying, "I'll find the room myself!"

Finally, I'm able to explore on my own. The Baudelaires have all split up, and I watch as all of them slip away from me. There is a man at the front desk, a different one this time. He's average height this time, with deep black hair and a moustache. I walk up to him, and ask, "Are you one of the managers?"
"I happen to be, yes," The man replies. I say, "Finally. How quickly can I find out who you are?"
The man smiles at me. He says, "That is an interesting question. Are you who I think you are?"
"That is an interesting question," I shrug, "Who do you think I am?"
The man says, "I think you're Xalia May. I also think you're taking time away from the things you should be looking for."
I stare at him, and he stares back. He says, "Are you looking for people?"
"I'm not doing the interesting questions rubbish," I roll my eyes, "Tell me where the people are, now."
The man asks, "Are you usually this rude?"
"Yeah," I shrug. The man nods, "Rich children often are. I've notice a theme of that with the rich children I've met."
I look at him suspiciously. He raises his eyebrows, and I say, "You should know enough about me if you've recognised me. Just tell me where the people are. Please?"
"Must go."

With that, he walks off, and I groan as the next person walks to desk. It's the young man again, and he asks, "Are you still unavailable?"
"VERY."
I storm off, and look round. There are six floors in this hotel, and there's a huge glass roof that spirals up. And yet, in such a big hotel, I doubt there'll be anyone I know. Slowly, I turn round, and groan yet again. Klaus. He smiles at me, and I groan, "Why are you here? You could have got away."
Klaus sighs, "I couldn't leave the last safe place without getting help. Why are you here?"
"Same reason as you," I sigh, "Have you met the manager?"
I look up at the clock. It's just gone three o clock. Klaus says, "One of them."
"I've met one," I say, "Which means one of us met Frank, and one met Ernest. I imagine you met them before me though, so we may have actually just met the same one. When did you meet them?"
"I met them at three."
"I met them at just past three," I sigh, "So there is a huge possibility we met the same one. Who did yours seem like?"
Klaus sighs, "Truthfully, I feel like there was a bigger chance that I met Frank. What about you?"
I think for a second, before saying, "Hard to tell. I mean, sure, the one I met knew me, and could be on the same side of the schism as Olaf, but he could also be a religious reader of the daily punctilio."
"We should discuss this with the others," Klaus says, "If you met one of them after us, you could compare our stories, and then maybe we could figure out who met who. One of us wont have met anyone, and then we can figure it out from there?"
I hug Klaus, and he hugs me back. Slowly, I step away from him, and sigh, "You've done so much."
"And there's so much left to do," Klaus shrugs, "Are you on our side of the schism?"
I nod, and sigh, "I am. Olaf might be my step father, but he isn't a good person. I don't have to be a good person to see that either."