Page 25 of Proslo

“Yes, and my bride, Betty.”

“Betty Lewis, yes, I have you both right here,” he said, the keyboard clacking quietly as his fingers flew across the keyboard.

“You’re on the thirtieth floor,” he said, handing me a set of room keys. “Ramon will bring up your bags…” his voice trailed off as he took in the lack of luggage, unless you counted Pumpkin’s carrier as one.

“You do realize there is an extra charge for the cat?” he said, recovering from his surprise.

“I do. That’s fine,” I smiled at him in what I hoped was a reassuring manner. Our mating was still new enough that I kept my teeth carefully hidden, all too aware that they were still a bit sharper than most humans were likely to be comfortable with. I hadn’t missed the way his eyes kept straying towards my scales.

“Excellent. Um, as I was saying, once your luggage arrives, Ramon will bring it up.”

”No luggage,” Betty told him breezily. “We decided to buy everything here. We can bring the clothes home with us, as practical souvenirs.”

He blinked. “I see.” His smile widened. “I’m sure you’ll be able to find what you need to outfit yourselves. Just take the walkway over there to The Plaza, where you will find a variety of shops and places to eat.”

“That’s where I found the shop I got the sunscreen from. I thought that mall was part of the resort.” This from Mrs. Titchmarsh.

“Oh, goodness no.”

“Well, the gentleman asked me for my room number so he could charge it.”

“Were you at the small pharmacy, by any chance? The one closest to the entrance?”

“Yes.”

He smiled. “We do have an arrangement with them for that. You’ll wish to make sure you have money at the rest of the stores, however.”

“I’ll give you one of the cards,” I told her, reaching into my trousers’ pocket to pull out the slim card case the quartermaster had had waiting for us at the shuttle this morning. “They gave me three.”

“I’ll not splurge too much,” she giggled, “and give it back to you before I go home.”

I smiled down at her. “I know you will and please, don’t feel you need to be cheap.”

“Oh, he’s definitely a keeper,” she told Betty.

“Good thing, because we’re already mated,” Betty laughed.

“Could you recommend a place to eat?”

“I might be able to get you reservations at the Taotao Tasi Beach Dinner Show,” he replied. “Most of our guests recommend it, and it has excellent reviews.”

That would sort out our evening meal and tonight’s entertainment quite nicely, I decided.

“Yes, please.”

“For two or three?”

“Three.”

“Should I call your room or text the number we have for you to let you know if I’ve been successful?”

“Text please. We’ll go up and let the cat out, then we’re going shopping for sunscreen and clothes.”

“Just so you know, we don’t provide a litter box or bowls.”

“There’s a folding one in the back pouch along with a zip top bag full of a small amount of litter, and his bowls are inside the carrier. We will buy more litter and cat food while we are out.” I knew Pumpkin would be fine for a couple hours as he’d used the box and eaten before the trip down. That, and Betty also had a can of cat food inside her purse.

“Oh, I almost forgot. I need to verify your card before you go up. The software needs me to enter its information before it will let me complete the check in, sorry.”