The innkeeper’s wife ….
Chapter 1
Money makes the world go round. It is also true that the one who spends least is the winner.
Chapter 2
Mohamed Imran came in when Betty summoned him. Mr. Imran is a middle-aged man with no airs. His apple turnover was perfect. It was not too sweet with a lot of crumbs. Betty has it regularly at least once a week.
Without a further word, he passed her a note. In it said, “I request that all meals be sent to my room at 1:00 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. with immediate effect. And every meal must be accompanied with a red rose.”
She has gone crazy! Betty told herself. Mr. Imran nodded his head seemingly, but he disagreed with Betty. She could see that he thought otherwise, and she was rather displeased with him. He is always on her side. Betty thought to herself.
Imran could read what Betty was thinking of. Betty Ling liked people who agreed with everything that she said. But he was not about to kowtow to Betty. Imran decided to talk to Simon about the note.
Betty once asked Simon to be her psychiatrist. “To be a psychiatrist you need a medical degree. I have never been to the university I could only act as a counsellor. A doctor must have a calm and even temperament. Moreover, I have never held a scalpel in my entire life.”
“A scalpel?” Betty asked.
“What is a scalpel?” “And what has a scalpel got to do with being a counsellor?” she asked again, ignorant.
“Chopper, I mean a knife for cutting meat.” Simon replied.
“But I am not asking you to operate on me!” Betty said, bewildered.
Simon rang Imran on the phone in front of Betty, “Has she ever cooked?” he asked.
“What has a chopper got to do with spiritual counselling?” Betty was still confused. She shouted after Simon as he was walking away.
Chapter 3
After he hung up the line with Mr. Imran, Simon quickly booked a room at the Smart Bacon Inn and asked to meet Patrick. He offered Patrick the key card to a room when he sat down in front of him. “246” Patrick looked at the folder with the key card slipped inside. Straight away Patrick took the card out and hid it in his trouser pocket although no one could conceivably have seen him at the time. He then took a sip of the wine and without finishing his salmon he stood up. He didn’t think that Simon was insincere in his offer.
“What shall I do?” Patrick Chan asked himself.
I really shouldn’t go out with Simon anymore. Patrick looked at his watch and registered the time as 18:06 and then he told himself to stay put for another twenty minutes. Once his patience wears out, I would be able to sneak out from the back door and leave by the hotel back entrance.
After Patrick had taken the key card, Simon found his dinner companion missing. Disappointed, he realized that Patrick had played him out. The cost of a room at the Smart Bacon Inn would have covered his Grab car ride for the entire month. So far this month, he has already spent two hundred and fifty-four dollars on private hire. You had no idea how much anights’ stay at the Smart Bacon Inn would cost.
“This woman must be punished,” he said at once, his mind thinking of Betty.
“Let me do it for you,” the waiter came and put a napkin on Simon’s lap.
Twenty minutes later, the waiter came back and placed a lamb chop on Simon’s table. Simon was so furious he had no mood to eat. But that since the food was already on his table, he decided to cut the meat into small square pieces and then he sprayed some tar 10 sauce over it, so that no one else could eat it. Tar 10 is a combination of Capsicum and Tomato Ketchup.
But, in effect it was too early for dinner. The purpose of the meeting was to have a heart-to-heart talk with Patrick. Patrick runs a photography studio. Now that the meeting was off, Simon had nothing more to do for the entire weekend. “Let me adjourn it to the next week,” Simon muttered under his breath.
Meanwhile, Betty had slipped out from the side of the Inn.
Chapter 4
This morning, when Mr. Imran went to the kitchen to give Betty a key card, Betty was slightly disappointed for she didn’t think that Simon too would complain to Patrick about her. Why would the lady of an Inn want a key card? Betty thought to herself.
The logical interpretation would be that Imran wanted Simon to check into the Smart Bacon Inn with her. But that she had not done anything untoward for him to trade her, unless one of their guests had offered him an “Indecent Proposal”.
Nobody knew that Betty had gone out with Keith for the night.
As usual Imran went to the tavern for a quick check before work. He found Keith at the corner. Keith was just finishing his plate and he gave Imran his credit card for payment. Imran found that his card failed.
“It didn’t go through, Sir,” Imran went back to his guest and told him.
“So, what does that mean?” Keith asked.
“Do you have another payment method?” Imran tried to help.
“Of course, I have,” Keith quickly replied, opening his wallet.
“There you go,” Keith dug out another card.
How many credit cards does he have? Imran thought to himself.
Chapter 5
This morning Mr. Imran presented Betty with an omelet in the kitchen. Betty was in an extremely bad mood, not having slept the entire night.
“What did you put inside?” Betty asked, almost raising her voice.
“I didn’t put anything inside, ma’am,” Imran replied, he always called Betty ma’am whenever they were alone together.
“I thought I saw you in my room last night,” Betty replied in sarcasms.
“Don’t frighten me like that, Ma’am,” Imran opened his eyes wide and continued, “I couldn’t have entered your room,” and becoming angry as well.
“Then someone else must have come in,” Betty insisted.
“You locked me out, don’t you remember?”
“My word is final,” “If I say that you did, it means that you did,” Betty was really in a very foul mood.
Mr. Imran looked at her in dismay and he said again, “Ma’am, I am a truthful witness, I can swear an oath if you wish,”
Of course, Betty couldn’t hear that part of the conversation, as she had already walked out of the kitchen.
Chapter 6
Patrick decided that he must help Imran. So, the next thing he did was to see a therapist. He could then refer her to Imran. A therapist is generally someone who would make you feel better, she could either give you a massage, a spa, or someone who was prepared to lend you a listening ear, not having any preconceived notions about your past and non-judgmental. But that they would charge you at the end of the session. If you have the money, why not?
Patrick did a thorough web search before he found the Tic-Tac-Toe Room.
The man arrived at the Moore Lords Building. The place was large and there was no clear sign telling him where to go and how to get to the therapist’s office. He knew the unit number. Finally, when he found Claire Chang’s clinic, the receptionist told him that it was impossible to see her unless he had a prior appointment, he became slightly crossed with himself.
“Wish I hadn’t come,” Patrick muttered.
“I can hear you,” the man standing next to him said.
“What?” Patrick’s voice got louder.
“Oh, just keep quiet, will you?” the stranger said.
“Why are you so rude?’ Patrick became angry with the man.
“Anyone who talks to himself is possessed by an evil spirit,” the man said.
“What evil spirit?” Patrick was shocked, “Who?” “Where is it now?”
Before he could get a response, the lady at the reception passed him a card to fill in.
Patrick grabbed the card and sat down by the lounge.
Impatient, he stood outside the consultation room for twenty minutes instead of sitting down, waiting for the assistant to open the door.
“How can I help you?” first things Claire Chang asked.
“I would like to know the name of your man outside,” he was still angry.
“Err, what man?” Claire Chang was curious.
“Your next patient,” Patrick said.
“Wait a minute, for this I would have to check with my assistant,” Claire replied, her hand on the intercom.
She buzzed and a nice girl came in.
“Jill, could you let me know who my next patient is?”
“Oh ok, his name is …. Alex,” Jill looked at the card.
Claire turned to Patrick, “So, what is your next question?”
“Ok, let me explain,” Patrick elaborated, “I saw a man outside,”
“Outside, outside where?” Claire continued with the thread.
“Outside your clinic, of course,” Patrick said, instead of “room”.
“Did you have difficulty finding my clinic?” Claire asked.
“Yes, it’s too deep,”
“Too deep? What do you mean by too deep?” Claire asked.
“First of all, it’s on the tenth floor, … then there are too many units here,”
“How long did you take to find me?” Claire.
“Almost half an hour,” Patrick.
“Oh my God!” Claire said, she buzzed Jill again.
Jill came in, “Yes, Ms. Claire?”
Where is the sign board for my unit?”
“It was taken away by the management,”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” by this time Claire was sullen.
Jill, “Sorry Ms. Claire, I was too busy,”
Claire said, “Doing what?” She looked at Jill.
Inside, Patrick was laughing, he thought to himself, I can make a therapist angry!
He stood up immediately, and he quickly rushed out of the clinic.
And by this time the rude man had already left.
In the room, Claire was asking Jill, “Where is my next patient?”
“There is no one else outside,” Jill said. So that Claire left to go outside for lunch, and then she gave herself the rest of the day off since she had to do retail therapy for herself.
Patrick wasn’t born yesterday. He hid behind the door at the staircase for at least another half an hour until he was sure that Claire had left the clinic.
Hiding at the staircase landing seemed to be his forte. Patrick was happy that both therapist and assistant had left the clinic. He had done web search and found out that the charges were at one-hundred and seventy dollars per session. And that was provided that he need not see Claire Chang again.
Chapter 7
Claire Chang kept permed hair, and although her eyes were large, the rest of her features were small. Her face reminded him of some fruit which he used to like, round and full. Her body was neither too thin nor too fat, but short. Patrick has no objections with short women. The thing he liked about her was her voice.
“What happened to you?” The first things she asked.
Patrick was in a good mood.
“If you are asking me about myself, of course I can tell you the truth. Surely, I know what happened to me.” Patrick told Claire specifically when he sat down in front of her at the next session.
Patrick re-examined her this time. He looked at her again and decided that she was too good to be true. Then he looked at her ring finger. There was no ring!
“So, how much would this cost me?” he came straight to the point, his mind thinking of the ring he would need to buy in order to get Claire to marry him.
Outside, Jill recorded a debit of three hundred and forty dollars for two sessions.
Once he was out of the counselling room, Patrick headed straight towards the nearest jewelers to hunt for a ring. He saw several but then he could not decide on which one. The salesgirl approached him and asked, almost confrontational,
“Are you interested?”
“Of course, why do you think I am here?”
“I am not sure what I want,” Patrick said.
“Ok, I am available now,” the salesgirl offered immediately.
“I like one with a stone inside a large band,” he said.
“We have several; emerald, ruby, and sapphire,” salesgirl pulled out a tray from her drawer.
Patrick looked at them, he frowned, then he said, “No, not these,”
“Bring the bride here the next time,” the salesgirl ordered.
I do not know how long it would take. Patrick was lost for a moment. And he immediately rang Simon for help.
“Listen, can I check in using your key card and bring another woman in?”
Chapter 8
Today Betty found herself in the Smart Bacon Inn alone waiting for a new guest to arrive. She had received a text message from an anonymous caller telling her that she needed to check in urgently.
The caller was a man. Betty usually got male guests. The men were mostly noisy tourists who checked in because they were transiting in the country. The women were often guests who came in only for an hour or two. Some could still recognize her, but most could not remember her name. She always recorded the names of all her guests.
They saw her for one or two nights and then they would just wake up to the situation and left. Betty was relaxed about this. She had enough capital to last her for at least three years. The Inn was bought over from an estate magnet Richard Phua in 2006 after she and Imran came back from London.
Before the guests checked in, she always knew what to ask them,
“So, where are you going for a holiday next?” The smart ones would respond with,
“Am I not on holiday now?”
Some would say, “If I ever come back to Singapore again, I would certainly check into this Inn,”
To which Betty would respond, “Sure, we would be around,”
Another would ask, “For how long?”
“For as long as your heart’s desire,”
“A diamond for a Christmas present?”
“Oh, let me make a booking for next Christmas,”
Betty would look at her calendar and record the date.
Today the note came again, “You missed my rose last night at 11:00 p.m., what happened?”
Betty wrote, “Florist closed,” and she went up to the second floor and slipped the note under the room door of “246”.
There was no reply.
Chapter 9
“Are you awake?” this morning Betty was concerned. She went to room “246” again and slipped another note under the door.
When she went down again, she saw a text from the same anonymous caller, the man who wanted to check in.
“Where are you from?” she asked.
“I am here,” responded the text.
Here? Where? Betty couldn’t see anyone in front of her now.
This is serious, my guest has gone MIA. Betty became more worried.
Keep calm. She remembered the advice given by Imran whenever she was in a frenzy.
“Call me now,” the next text came.
Immediately Betty rang Imran.
“Why did you call me?” Imran shouted at her the minute he picked up the phone.
“Err … I thought you told me to call you …” Betty stammered.
“Since when?” Imran shouted.
Betty quickly concocted a tale, “You told me to call you in the morning,”
“From the bedroom?” he asked.
“From in the kitchen,” she replied,
“Make up your mind, kitchen or bedroom?” Imran nailed her.
“Err … I think it was the kitchen,” she replied, meekly.
“But I thought you said that I was in the bedroom with you?”
“Err … bedroom and kitchen!” the frightened woman answered.
“Ok, I am in the kitchen now, come down from the bedroom right away,” Imran ordered.
But I am not in the bedroom now …. Betty started to panic.
Chapter 10
After the shower, Keith told Betty to hurry down to the counter.
“Your husband is downstairs waiting for you,” he said.
“But I am not ready yet!” Betty wanted to go into the bathroom.
“Hurry, dear,” Keith said.
“Ok, as you say, darling,” the woman complied.
Once Betty was out of the room, Keith quickly checked his wallet.
There was only a hundred-dollar bill, and two ten-dollar notes.
“Oh my God!” Keith muttered.
He decided to go down to see Imran the inn keeper.
Imran was just standing at the reception.
“What can I do for you this morning?” he asked the pale looking man.
“Can you debit my account and hold on to the charge when I come in next time?”
“Of course, I can,” Imran was generous.
“But for this I would have to charge you for the two nights stay with my wife,” Imran was firm.
“No, it was just one night,” Keith tried to defend himself.
“So, you did have sex with my wife,” Imran got it figured out.
“How much would that cost?” Keith was prepared to pay for it.
“Do you have another credit card?” Imran asked.
Keith dipped his hand into his pocket, and he fished out a new card called “The Delight”.
He handed it to Imran, and he whispered, apologetically, “I don’t normally use this card, but for reasons best known to you, I am using it now,”
“Is it good?” Imran asked.
“Yes, of course, else I won’t surrender the card to you,” “And how much is the stay this time?”
“Charge you mean?” Imran.
“Yes, yes, of course, charge?” Keith.
As Imran was returning the invoice to Keith, he muttered, “Next time you come, the charge would be at five hundred and eight dollars per night.”
Now Betty is downstairs and standing next to Imran.
“So, where are you going for a holiday next?” not being privy to the conversation earlier on.
“Lady, I will let you know before I come next time,” Keith said.
Imran was satisfied, he buzzed, and Betty accompanied the man out of the Smart Bacon Inn.
Instead, Keith went back to the Inn from the side entrance the moment Betty was out of range and he went straight up to “246”.
Chapter 11
Patrick finally drifted into the Smart Bacon Inn. He pushed the door and it opened on its own.
A lady with short curly hair was standing at the counter. She had a radiant smile and she said “Hello” even before Patrick had greeted her.
“Would you like a room, sir?” Betty asked.
“Yes, of course, else I won’t be here,”
“Oh yes Patrick! It’s you!”
“You thought I was somebody else?” Patrick asked.
“Err … no, I thought you were another guest, haven’t seen you for a long time,” she said.
“Yes, it’s been three, four years?” Patrick had no reason to be offended.
“Ok, I know why you are here,” immediately Betty said.
“Why?” Patrick asked.
“I don’t know actually,” Betty became worried again. She was still recovering from Keith last night.
Patrick looked at her and put her fears at rest, “I have the key to a room already,”
“What number?” the lady asked.
“Number 246,” the man answered.
“NO!!!” the lady of the inn shouted at the top of her voice!
You can’t check into that room!!!
“Why not? Patrick asked, confounded.
Without another word, Betty rushed out of the counter, away from the kitchen, she went to the second floor and as she arrived at the door, Keith was just coming out.
“So you are the anonymous caller!” Betty shouted, “And you have been sleeping with my daughter!!”
She gave Keith a tight slap immediately, even before the poor man had anything to say.
Meanwhile, Imran was downstairs calculating the bill, and closing the Smart Bacon Inn for the night.
The bill for Keith still stands at five hundred and eight, and the one for Patrick was free.
And for Simon Lee, he never entered the hotel.
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