Teresa Morgan - One Fine Day

“Roo, don’t worry about it, I’ll go with the flow. You’re doing me a huge favour.”

“Okay, let’s do this. Gosh why do I feel nervous?”

“I don’t know, you’re not the one pretending to be Clark Kent.”

“Stuart, Stuart, Stuart,” Ruby mumbled as she left her office.

***

Steve was going to look at all this as experience. Research . You never know when something like this might be needed for acting. He followed Ruby out of her office, his heart beating faster with nerves, his palms sweating. His polyester-cotton mix shirt was making him hot and uncomfortable. He pushed the glasses up. The damn things were hurting behind his left ear and across the bridge of his nose. Did he risk returning to get them adjusted? He needed them to be comfortable as he couldn’t risk not wearing them.

How hard could the work be? It had to be pretty straightforward and he’d do the job adequately. He did worry he’d let Ruby down. All his life he’d acted, though admittedly, he’d done every job imaginable before the acting had taken off. He’d done those successfully, too. Dredging through his memory, he’d done all sorts from waiting tables, serving drinks to working for a pizza delivery company. All in between bit part acting and gigs. Where did fifteen years go when you looked back on them?

“Okay, you’re predominantly going to work in the bar area. You’ll need to learn how to work the coffee machine too, I’ll get Callum to show you.” Ruby spoke as she walked and Steve nodded, running a finger around his collar. “And at quiet periods you may need to man the reception desk. We’re a small hotel, so we have to muck in where we can. You’ll have to work otherwise the others will complain, you understand?”

“Yes, boss.”

She scowled at him.

“Stuart Fisher,” Ruby said, more to herself than Steve as they headed towards the reception desk.

“Stuart Fisher.” He nodded and placed an arm on her shoulder. “Relax, Roo, it will be fine.”

“Yeah, why am I the nervous one here? Just remember to act nerdy, you know, like Clark.”

“Yeah, yeah, but I don’t want to be too clumsy…”

Lois hadn’t fancied Clark – not initially.

“Yes, but too confident and they may see through the disguise. And work on your accent.” Her eyes narrowed. “Right, I need to find Alice,” she mumbled.

They almost bumped into a skinny lad with mild acne as he walked out of the lift.

“Ah, Callum, I want you to meet Stuart,” Ruby said, as Steve held out his hand. As Callum returned the handshake, tucking the tray he carried under his other arm, he wore a puzzled expression, as though he’d done nothing so formal in his life. “He’s going to be working with you behind the bar.”

“Hi, Stuart.” Callum looked from Steve to Ruby.

“He’s my older brother,” she said.

“Yeah, Ruby’s helping me out. I need a job for a while.” Steve tried very hard to lose his American accent but at the same time not sound like Benedict Cumberbatch. He remembered Ruby’s advice, and his memories of the old Superman movie, trying to mimic Clark, to make his gestures jittery. Clark never stood as tall and straight as Superman.

Steve was naturally confident from years of girls falling at his feet, so now he needed to look less secure about himself – especially standing in front of a guy barely out of his teens.

“Ruby never said she had a brother.” Callum frowned.

“Well, I’ve been away, um, travelling for a while,” Steve said, not really sure where it had come from. Stupidly, they’d never managed to get around to making up a back-story. Maybe they should have thought harder about a past for him.

“Yeah, and he didn’t leave on a good note so I didn’t like talking about him,” Ruby added, “but we’re over that now. We’ve cleared the air.”

“Oh, right,” Callum said, scratching his head. “Nice to meet you, Stu.” Steve frowned. “Oh, you don’t like Stu?” Callum grinned wickedly.

“No, no, Stu’s fine.” Steve rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled. He’d have to get used to ‘Stu’ from now on.

“Well, you’re Stu now,” Callum said, laughing. The two men joked for a bit, the nervous atmosphere ebbing away, and Steve was able to relax. He wasn’t looking at him as if he was a Hollywood film star. Phew!

“I’m going to introduce Stuart” – Ruby almost said Steve, but he was the only one to notice – “to some more staff then I’ll bring him over to the bar.”

“Yes, boss.” Callum saluted, then turned on his heel and marched away. Ruby rolled her eyes as Steve smirked at Callum’s cheek. Steve had said the same thing and clearly Ruby didn’t like it.

“Firstly, I need to see Alice about some order issues she raised yesterday, so you can come with me,” Ruby said, patting Steve’s arm for attention.

Ruby led Steve along a corridor and through some double doors with a sign above them reading “Tranquillity Relaxation Centre”. Instantly a lemony and floral fragrance hit him. The interior had changed from the hotel’s rich colours, to soothing natural pastels, as if he’d walked into another world. The reception desk had a huge vase full of fresh flowers in yellows and whites. To the right of the desk there was a cream leather couch for guests to wait. A glass coffee table sat in front of it, with a neat pile of glossy magazines. Steve gulped. He hoped he wasn’t inside one of them.

Being early, the place was deserted, including the reception desk.

“Where is she?” Ruby said, impatience lacing her words as she drummed her fingers against the desk.

“I’m here! Just made myself a coffee,” called a woman Steve could only assume was Alice. “Though don’t tell the guests, because to them I only recommend herbal teas.”

Now Alice was Steve’s type of girl. She strode across the wooden floor, and arrived in front of Steve with a steaming mug of coffee in one perfectly French manicured hand. She had chestnut hair, clipped up, with loose tendrils framing her attractive face. As she approached Steve, she smiled a million dollar Hollywood smile.

“Hello,” Alice said, fluttering her long black eyelashes. Big, chocolate eyes looked him over. Her dark eyes were enhanced by black eye-liner and thick mascara lashes, and her pouty lips were glossy. The spa uniform accentuated her figure perfectly – beige trousers and a matching lotus tunic with a mandarin collar. Even though the tunic wasn’t revealing Steve could still appreciate the swell of her breasts.

Hello, Alice!

The woman had curves, and knew how to show them off.

She wasn’t wearing a wedding or engagement ring. Result!

“This is Stuart.” Ruby nudged him, and then looked at Alice sternly, reminding her that Ruby was the boss. Alice kept her eyes on Steve, the corner of her mouth twitched. She really wasn’t listening to Ruby.

“Hi, I’m the new boy.” Steve returned with his own million dollar smile, and then remembering Clark Kent, albeit probably too late, slung his hands into his pockets as if nervous.

“He’s my brother, and will be working here for a while. I’m just showing him around. I’ve come to discuss those orders with you.”

“Oh, yes.” Alice led Ruby over to the reception desk, leaving Steve to mull around in the spa.

Would Alice recognise him? She had a stack of glossy magazines on the coffee table after all. In her line of business she would be up on fashion and looks. She was the type of woman to take care of her appearance. The type of woman to follow what celebrities were up to.

Just deny everything. You’re Stuart Fisher. You’ve been travelling for the past few years and now you’re home. Or something like that.