Post by buck on Jun 7, 2023 15:40:15 GMT -5
“Difficulties in your life do not come to destroy you, but to help you realize your hidden potential and power. Let difficulties know that you too are difficult.”
~ Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
Not so long ago. In a place much closer than you think.
“Master Eli, are you certain this is wise?”
Eli Buchanan stared long at the open doorway in front of him before he answered. Sadness creased his face, making him appear much older than his twenty-nine years. Eventually he nodded his head and turned to Captain, Hotel California’s concierge.
“Yes, I need to move on with my life. Have it done.”
“It shall be done, Master.”
Captain bowed and walked away, whispering beneath his breath. Far be it for him to question his master’s motives, but he wondered exactly where Eli’s head was these days. This request seemed out of character for the Master of Hotel California, and a foolish one at that.
As he walked down the hall towards the reception desk, he passed by Charlotte O’Neal. The two of them shared a silent glance with one another, as if reading each other’s minds, before continuing on their separate ways. There was a tension in the air, they both could feel it, and Eli was in the middle of it all.
Charlotte glanced back at Captain for a second, before hastening towards her husband. She tapped the stack of envelopes in her hand against the palm of her other hand and nervously bit her lip. As she approached him she forced a sweet smile and tried to hide her concern. She kissed him on the cheek.
“Here you are. What’re you up to?”
Eli didn’t turn to face her. He continued to stare at the doorway in front of him. When he spoke, Charlotte could hear the sadness in his voice.
“I’m having this door closed off.”
Charlotte looked with shock at her husband. She found herself fighting the urge to step away from her husband. Instead, she wrapped an arm around his waist and held him close.
“You want to close ‘The Room With No Door’? Your special place, the room you go to soul search and recharge. You want to close up the room where you discovered Him. Do you think that’s a good idea, Tiger?”
“Yes I do. Why do people keep asking me that?”
He finally pulled away from Charlotte and finally turned to face his wife. She now saw the pain in his eyes. He had been crying and fresh tears began to run down his cheeks. Her normally strong husband looked tormented and she felt her heart breaking for him.
“I’m so tired, Charlie. For years I’ve felt this weight slowly dragging me down. Everything I’ve done to stop it has failed! No matter who I’ve tried to become, no matter how I’ve attempted to go about things, I keep getting dragged deeper and deeper. I’m slowly drowning, Charlie, and I can’t see the surface anymore.”
He turned back towards the open doorway, his reddened eyes glaring at it with disdain.
“That place was supposed to help me, Charlie. It was supposed to heal me, to help me find my way again. But what has it really done for me? How has it helped me? All it has done, all that HE has done, is make me feel like I don’t belong even more than I already do; to make me feel like more of an outcast. I don’t even know who I am anymore, Charlie.”
Eli screamed with obvious frustration. He picked up a vase and tossed it at the doorway. The vase flew through, making no sound at all, and disappeared into the abyss on the other side.
Disappointed, Eli dropped to his knees and covered his face with his hands as he began to cry again. Charlotte tossed the envelopes aside and rushed to comfort him. She wrapped her arms around him and held him as he wept. The two of them huddled there, not saying a word for a long time.
Several doors in the hotel opened at the sound of the commotion. People stepped out into the hallways, or peaked their heads out of doorways, curious at what was happening. Charlotte lifted her head up and silently glared at them. The onlookers quickly got the message and faded away back to their own business; it wasn’t a wise move to make Charlotte, the queen of this castle, angry at you. Heads would roll, sometimes literally.
Eventually, Eli’s sobs subsided. Charlotte helped him to his feet and hugged him gently.
“Alright,” she said, her voice little more than a whisper, “let’s close off the door.”
Eli nodded his head, unable to speak for a time. The two shared a tender kiss and stood there a long time in each other's arms, resting their foreheads against one another. Finally, Eli pulled away from his wife and wiped his eyes again. He turned to notice the pile of envelopes which Charlie had discarded.
“What’s that, more bills?”
“A few,” Charlotte replied, “Mostly junk mail though.”
She bent down to pick up the envelopes and shuffled through them.
“There’s one here from those idiots at the House of the Rising Sun, offering to make peace. Honestly though, haven’t they heard of using email? At least then I could mark them as spam and delete them right away.”
She handed Eli an envelope.
“Think that’s the documents you were waiting for from our lawyer’s office.”
Eli opened the envelope and pulled out the documents. For the first time since she had approached him, Charlotte saw him smile. He chuckled to himself and folded the papers back up before putting them away back in the envelope.
“Good news, I take it,” Charlotte asked.
“Let’s just say that we finally have a use of that property in Houston we’ve been holding onto since twenty-sixteen.”
Eli handed her back the envelope and kissed her passionately. He picked her up and spun her around as they embraced. When he finally set her back down again, his back was towards the open doorway.
Charlotte felt her knees quiver. She held onto him for a moment, fearing she’d fall if she didn’t.
Eli chuckled to himself, clearly feeling better and enjoying what he was doing to his wife.
“So,” he whispered in her ear, “anything else interesting there?”
Charlotte blushed a little as she tried to regain her composure. Hastily, she shuffled through the envelopes again, not daring to look at her husband at the moment, but not bothering to hide her smile either.
“There’s one from Jason Cashe, no doubt he’s hoping we’ll let him back in the hotel. You would think he would have gotten the message by now that we don't want him here after all the damage he’s done. I’d almost admire his perseverance if he wasn’t so damn annoying.”
Eli took the hotel from her and tossed it over his shoulder into the door behind him. It disappeared without a trace.
“Next.”
Charlotte felt his hungry eyes burning into her. She turned her back on him and bit her lip nervously as she looked through the envelopes again.
“A few offers from local cable companies, wanting us to switch over to them and upgrade our internet.”
Eli reached around and took the envelopes from her. Charlotte sensed he tossed them over his shoulder, through the door where they’d never be seen again. She flinched a little as she felt her husband wrap his arms around her.
“Anything else,” he asked, as he began kissing her neck.
“Yes,” she stammered, trying to focus on what she was doing. “There’s, ahem, there’s a few residual cheques for both of us from the Splat Network for the shows we’ve been on.”
Charlotte tried to hand them to Eli, but they fell from her fingers as he kissed her neck again. She closed her eyes and allowed herself a few moments of bliss, falling back against him. Eli had to take a few steps back to balance himself.
“Anything else,” he whispered, his hands beginning to roam up and down her body.
Charlotte managed to pull herself together and opened her eyes. She looked at the remaining envelope in her hand. The smile on her face disappeared.
“There’s one here from your father.”
She felt Eli tense up behind her and his arms fell away from his waist. Charlotte turned around to her husband and saw the pained look on his face had returned. He looked into her eyes and she felt her heart breaking for him. She coughed and tried to smile again.
“It’s okay, we don’t have to open it. He clearly didn’t get the message when we told him we didn’t want any part of him after what he did back in Mexico.”
Charlotte walked around Eli. She lifted the envelope up and tried to toss it into the open doorway. Eli gently grabbed her by the wrist to stop her and took it from her hand. She let out a sigh and tried to take it back from him, but Eli stepped away from her, bringing himself even closer towards the open doorway.
“Don’t do this to yourself, Tiger,” Charlotte begged him, “After everything he’s done to Holly, Riel, and especially what he’s done to you, don’t give that man a chance. You know he’s just trying to manipulate you again. Please, Tiger, throw it away. Throw it away.”
Eli didn’t answer her. He tore the envelope open and from it pulled out a card. Tossing the envelope aside, he hardly noticed it landed by the doorway. He opened the card and read it. A slow scowl formed on his face and he swore under his breath.
“It’s a wedding invitation. The son of a…”
He handed the card to Charlotte, who quickly took it and began to read outloud.
“You are invited to celebrate the wedding of Beverly Collins and Elijah Buchanan Sr…”
Charlotte was cut off by a roar from her husband. She looked up from the card in time to see him spin around and punch the wall beside the doorway. Something glimmered inside that room, and Charlotte let out a gasp.
“Tiger, you need to calm down,” she said.
“I can’t believe him. The audacity of the man!”
He punched the wall a second time and Charlotte jumped. Doors flung open throughout the main level of the hotel once more and people came flooding out to see what was going on. Charlotte chose to ignore them this time, her attention split between her husband, as he paced back and forth, and the glow coming out of the cursed room.
“I’m going to kill him, Charlie,” Eli yelled, “I’m going to kill that old man!”
“Eli,” Charlie replied, trying to keep her voice sounding far more calmly than she felt, “please come away from the door.”
“I hate him, Charlie! I hate him so much!”
Eli punched the wall for a third time and Charlotte could hear the growing crowd behind her let out a gasp. They all saw the danger now as well and many of them began to step back, concerned what was about to happen. Charlotte tried to put them all out of her mind and concentrate on calming her husband.
“Eli, I need you to calm down and come away from the door. Please, Tiger, I know you’re upset, I am too. Please, let’s go outside and get some fresh air. I can get the Captain to bring us some lemonade. Maybe we can get Azalo and Nizbel to entertain us with something or, better yet, someone. I think the mailman is still hanging around here somewhere.”
Eli stopped his pacing and looked at her. The torment was back in his eyes.
“Why her though, Charlie. Why is he marrying my old nanny? Did he cheat on Mom when we were kids with her? Was that why he tried to have Mom…”
Charlotte grabbed by the face with both hands and stared into his eyes.
“Stop! Just stop, please. Don’t think that way. Don’t even let that thought enter your mind. That asshole has managed to manipulate you for too long. Don’t give him the satisfaction any more, Eli. Please?”
Charlotte held his gaze for as long as she could. Behind her everyone seemed to be holding their breath. Finally, Eli’s shoulders sagged. He nodded his head and looked down at the floor.
“You’re right, Charlie” he whispered. “Of course, you’re right. I hate him so much.”
Charlotte lifted her husband’s chin and smiled at him.
“I know,Tiger. I know.”
She kissed him softly and they hugged one another. Everyone behind her let out a sigh of relief and began to disperse. Crisis averted once again. Just another exciting chapter for the residents here at Hotel California. Charlotte and Eli held each other close until only Captain and a few others remained.
“I love you,” Eli whispered in her ear.
“I know,” she whispered back.
Charlotte winked at her husband and the two laughed.
“Come on, let’s go,” she said to him before turning her attention to Captain, “Bring a pitcher of lemonade outside right away to our usual spot, please.”
The Captain bowed.
“Right away, Mistress.”
As he hurried off to get the lemonade, Charlotte took her husband by the hand.
“Come on, let’s go.”
The two of them began to walk towards the reception desk, but Eli stopped and turned his head.
“Yeah, I’ll be with you in a moment,” he replied, gently pulling away from her.
Before she could stop him, Eli walked back towards the room at the end of the hall. Charlotte watched as he kneeled down and picked something up. Standing back up, he waved the envelope at her.
“Might as well get rid of this,” he told her, as he turned towards the room with no door.
“Eli, no!”
Charlotte closed the distance between them, but before she could stop him Eli had already crumpled up the envelope and tossed it through the door. There was a brief glimmer of movement from inside, and then… nothing. Eli caught her staring at the door and turned around to look at the doorway. Turning back around he smiled at her.
“Nothing to worry about. Come on, Charlie, let’s go get that lemon…”
Before he could finish that sentence, an arm reached out of the doorway and grabbed him by the wrist. Eli gasped and turned his body towards the door and tried to wrench his wrist free, but two more arms sprang out from the room and grabbed him further up the arm.
~ Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
Not so long ago. In a place much closer than you think.
“Master Eli, are you certain this is wise?”
Eli Buchanan stared long at the open doorway in front of him before he answered. Sadness creased his face, making him appear much older than his twenty-nine years. Eventually he nodded his head and turned to Captain, Hotel California’s concierge.
“Yes, I need to move on with my life. Have it done.”
“It shall be done, Master.”
Captain bowed and walked away, whispering beneath his breath. Far be it for him to question his master’s motives, but he wondered exactly where Eli’s head was these days. This request seemed out of character for the Master of Hotel California, and a foolish one at that.
As he walked down the hall towards the reception desk, he passed by Charlotte O’Neal. The two of them shared a silent glance with one another, as if reading each other’s minds, before continuing on their separate ways. There was a tension in the air, they both could feel it, and Eli was in the middle of it all.
Charlotte glanced back at Captain for a second, before hastening towards her husband. She tapped the stack of envelopes in her hand against the palm of her other hand and nervously bit her lip. As she approached him she forced a sweet smile and tried to hide her concern. She kissed him on the cheek.
“Here you are. What’re you up to?”
Eli didn’t turn to face her. He continued to stare at the doorway in front of him. When he spoke, Charlotte could hear the sadness in his voice.
“I’m having this door closed off.”
Charlotte looked with shock at her husband. She found herself fighting the urge to step away from her husband. Instead, she wrapped an arm around his waist and held him close.
“You want to close ‘The Room With No Door’? Your special place, the room you go to soul search and recharge. You want to close up the room where you discovered Him. Do you think that’s a good idea, Tiger?”
“Yes I do. Why do people keep asking me that?”
He finally pulled away from Charlotte and finally turned to face his wife. She now saw the pain in his eyes. He had been crying and fresh tears began to run down his cheeks. Her normally strong husband looked tormented and she felt her heart breaking for him.
“I’m so tired, Charlie. For years I’ve felt this weight slowly dragging me down. Everything I’ve done to stop it has failed! No matter who I’ve tried to become, no matter how I’ve attempted to go about things, I keep getting dragged deeper and deeper. I’m slowly drowning, Charlie, and I can’t see the surface anymore.”
He turned back towards the open doorway, his reddened eyes glaring at it with disdain.
“That place was supposed to help me, Charlie. It was supposed to heal me, to help me find my way again. But what has it really done for me? How has it helped me? All it has done, all that HE has done, is make me feel like I don’t belong even more than I already do; to make me feel like more of an outcast. I don’t even know who I am anymore, Charlie.”
Eli screamed with obvious frustration. He picked up a vase and tossed it at the doorway. The vase flew through, making no sound at all, and disappeared into the abyss on the other side.
Disappointed, Eli dropped to his knees and covered his face with his hands as he began to cry again. Charlotte tossed the envelopes aside and rushed to comfort him. She wrapped her arms around him and held him as he wept. The two of them huddled there, not saying a word for a long time.
Several doors in the hotel opened at the sound of the commotion. People stepped out into the hallways, or peaked their heads out of doorways, curious at what was happening. Charlotte lifted her head up and silently glared at them. The onlookers quickly got the message and faded away back to their own business; it wasn’t a wise move to make Charlotte, the queen of this castle, angry at you. Heads would roll, sometimes literally.
Eventually, Eli’s sobs subsided. Charlotte helped him to his feet and hugged him gently.
“Alright,” she said, her voice little more than a whisper, “let’s close off the door.”
Eli nodded his head, unable to speak for a time. The two shared a tender kiss and stood there a long time in each other's arms, resting their foreheads against one another. Finally, Eli pulled away from his wife and wiped his eyes again. He turned to notice the pile of envelopes which Charlie had discarded.
“What’s that, more bills?”
“A few,” Charlotte replied, “Mostly junk mail though.”
She bent down to pick up the envelopes and shuffled through them.
“There’s one here from those idiots at the House of the Rising Sun, offering to make peace. Honestly though, haven’t they heard of using email? At least then I could mark them as spam and delete them right away.”
She handed Eli an envelope.
“Think that’s the documents you were waiting for from our lawyer’s office.”
Eli opened the envelope and pulled out the documents. For the first time since she had approached him, Charlotte saw him smile. He chuckled to himself and folded the papers back up before putting them away back in the envelope.
“Good news, I take it,” Charlotte asked.
“Let’s just say that we finally have a use of that property in Houston we’ve been holding onto since twenty-sixteen.”
Eli handed her back the envelope and kissed her passionately. He picked her up and spun her around as they embraced. When he finally set her back down again, his back was towards the open doorway.
Charlotte felt her knees quiver. She held onto him for a moment, fearing she’d fall if she didn’t.
Eli chuckled to himself, clearly feeling better and enjoying what he was doing to his wife.
“So,” he whispered in her ear, “anything else interesting there?”
Charlotte blushed a little as she tried to regain her composure. Hastily, she shuffled through the envelopes again, not daring to look at her husband at the moment, but not bothering to hide her smile either.
“There’s one from Jason Cashe, no doubt he’s hoping we’ll let him back in the hotel. You would think he would have gotten the message by now that we don't want him here after all the damage he’s done. I’d almost admire his perseverance if he wasn’t so damn annoying.”
Eli took the hotel from her and tossed it over his shoulder into the door behind him. It disappeared without a trace.
“Next.”
Charlotte felt his hungry eyes burning into her. She turned her back on him and bit her lip nervously as she looked through the envelopes again.
“A few offers from local cable companies, wanting us to switch over to them and upgrade our internet.”
Eli reached around and took the envelopes from her. Charlotte sensed he tossed them over his shoulder, through the door where they’d never be seen again. She flinched a little as she felt her husband wrap his arms around her.
“Anything else,” he asked, as he began kissing her neck.
“Yes,” she stammered, trying to focus on what she was doing. “There’s, ahem, there’s a few residual cheques for both of us from the Splat Network for the shows we’ve been on.”
Charlotte tried to hand them to Eli, but they fell from her fingers as he kissed her neck again. She closed her eyes and allowed herself a few moments of bliss, falling back against him. Eli had to take a few steps back to balance himself.
“Anything else,” he whispered, his hands beginning to roam up and down her body.
Charlotte managed to pull herself together and opened her eyes. She looked at the remaining envelope in her hand. The smile on her face disappeared.
“There’s one here from your father.”
She felt Eli tense up behind her and his arms fell away from his waist. Charlotte turned around to her husband and saw the pained look on his face had returned. He looked into her eyes and she felt her heart breaking for him. She coughed and tried to smile again.
“It’s okay, we don’t have to open it. He clearly didn’t get the message when we told him we didn’t want any part of him after what he did back in Mexico.”
Charlotte walked around Eli. She lifted the envelope up and tried to toss it into the open doorway. Eli gently grabbed her by the wrist to stop her and took it from her hand. She let out a sigh and tried to take it back from him, but Eli stepped away from her, bringing himself even closer towards the open doorway.
“Don’t do this to yourself, Tiger,” Charlotte begged him, “After everything he’s done to Holly, Riel, and especially what he’s done to you, don’t give that man a chance. You know he’s just trying to manipulate you again. Please, Tiger, throw it away. Throw it away.”
Eli didn’t answer her. He tore the envelope open and from it pulled out a card. Tossing the envelope aside, he hardly noticed it landed by the doorway. He opened the card and read it. A slow scowl formed on his face and he swore under his breath.
“It’s a wedding invitation. The son of a…”
He handed the card to Charlotte, who quickly took it and began to read outloud.
“You are invited to celebrate the wedding of Beverly Collins and Elijah Buchanan Sr…”
Charlotte was cut off by a roar from her husband. She looked up from the card in time to see him spin around and punch the wall beside the doorway. Something glimmered inside that room, and Charlotte let out a gasp.
“Tiger, you need to calm down,” she said.
“I can’t believe him. The audacity of the man!”
He punched the wall a second time and Charlotte jumped. Doors flung open throughout the main level of the hotel once more and people came flooding out to see what was going on. Charlotte chose to ignore them this time, her attention split between her husband, as he paced back and forth, and the glow coming out of the cursed room.
“I’m going to kill him, Charlie,” Eli yelled, “I’m going to kill that old man!”
“Eli,” Charlie replied, trying to keep her voice sounding far more calmly than she felt, “please come away from the door.”
“I hate him, Charlie! I hate him so much!”
Eli punched the wall for a third time and Charlotte could hear the growing crowd behind her let out a gasp. They all saw the danger now as well and many of them began to step back, concerned what was about to happen. Charlotte tried to put them all out of her mind and concentrate on calming her husband.
“Eli, I need you to calm down and come away from the door. Please, Tiger, I know you’re upset, I am too. Please, let’s go outside and get some fresh air. I can get the Captain to bring us some lemonade. Maybe we can get Azalo and Nizbel to entertain us with something or, better yet, someone. I think the mailman is still hanging around here somewhere.”
Eli stopped his pacing and looked at her. The torment was back in his eyes.
“Why her though, Charlie. Why is he marrying my old nanny? Did he cheat on Mom when we were kids with her? Was that why he tried to have Mom…”
Charlotte grabbed by the face with both hands and stared into his eyes.
“Stop! Just stop, please. Don’t think that way. Don’t even let that thought enter your mind. That asshole has managed to manipulate you for too long. Don’t give him the satisfaction any more, Eli. Please?”
Charlotte held his gaze for as long as she could. Behind her everyone seemed to be holding their breath. Finally, Eli’s shoulders sagged. He nodded his head and looked down at the floor.
“You’re right, Charlie” he whispered. “Of course, you’re right. I hate him so much.”
Charlotte lifted her husband’s chin and smiled at him.
“I know,Tiger. I know.”
She kissed him softly and they hugged one another. Everyone behind her let out a sigh of relief and began to disperse. Crisis averted once again. Just another exciting chapter for the residents here at Hotel California. Charlotte and Eli held each other close until only Captain and a few others remained.
“I love you,” Eli whispered in her ear.
“I know,” she whispered back.
Charlotte winked at her husband and the two laughed.
“Come on, let’s go,” she said to him before turning her attention to Captain, “Bring a pitcher of lemonade outside right away to our usual spot, please.”
The Captain bowed.
“Right away, Mistress.”
As he hurried off to get the lemonade, Charlotte took her husband by the hand.
“Come on, let’s go.”
The two of them began to walk towards the reception desk, but Eli stopped and turned his head.
“Yeah, I’ll be with you in a moment,” he replied, gently pulling away from her.
Before she could stop him, Eli walked back towards the room at the end of the hall. Charlotte watched as he kneeled down and picked something up. Standing back up, he waved the envelope at her.
“Might as well get rid of this,” he told her, as he turned towards the room with no door.
“Eli, no!”
Charlotte closed the distance between them, but before she could stop him Eli had already crumpled up the envelope and tossed it through the door. There was a brief glimmer of movement from inside, and then… nothing. Eli caught her staring at the door and turned around to look at the doorway. Turning back around he smiled at her.
“Nothing to worry about. Come on, Charlie, let’s go get that lemon…”
Before he could finish that sentence, an arm reached out of the doorway and grabbed him by the wrist. Eli gasped and turned his body towards the door and tried to wrench his wrist free, but two more arms sprang out from the room and grabbed him further up the arm.